HERE COME DE JUDGE: CLARENCE THOMAS

“‘tis, better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak remove all doubt”

          Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has just proven Abraham Lincoln’s observation to be on point. Thomas often called the “silent” member of the Court for not having asked a question during oral arguments for at least seven years, has just spoken and removed any doubt as to his stupidity. This judge is not only a fool but may well have violated civil and criminal statutes. And by the way, he is one of the guys that are the final arbiters of the law in our country.

          Thomas is not only silent but deaf and dumb. It seems that old Clarence is married to a lady by the name of Virginia, “Ginnie” to her friends. This good woman is gainfully employed, a commendable effort on her part. Far be it for me to suggest that her employment was a perk thrown Thomas’ way. From 2003 to 2007 she was employed by the Heritage Foundation of Washington, D. C., a conservative think tank, and Hillsdale College of rural Michigan and was paid a substantial sum for her efforts, $686,589 to be exact.

          It is unclear what exactly Virginia did to earn this salary but from available sources she was the author of a number of position papers with such arresting titles as Restoring Integrity to Government with Performance, Results, and Accountability; Not More Laws – More Oversight; Time for Congress to Hold Legal Services Corporation Accountable, and Legislation without Adequate Oversight. Emphasis Supplied. She clearly stood for oversight, accountability and full disclosure. Good for her!

          In 1978 the Ethics in Government Act was passed with the admirable purpose of ordering all public officials, including Supreme Court Justices, to provide financial disclosure of their, their spouses’ and certain dependents’, income and liabilities. Failure to do so in a timely and truthful fashion made the filer liable for fines for late filing, civil liability for willfully filing false information and potential criminal prosecution. Old Thomas filed the required forms for the years in question but somehow failed to note that Ginnie was gainfully employed and by whom. By the way, the Supreme Court Financial Disclosure Form does not require disclosure of the amount of her compensation.

          When this tiny oversight, after all it was only $686,589, was brought to Thomas’ attention by Common Cause, a liberal advocacy group, he promptly filed amended financial disclosure statements for six years claiming that this financial bagatelle was “inadvertently omitted due to a misunderstanding of the filing instructions”. Either he is a fool, the more likely scenario, or he takes us for fools. If you believe that lame explanation you may well be interested in a bridge that I am trying to sell, the Brooklyn Bridge.

          The Supreme Court disclosure form entitled FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE INDIVIDUAL AND SPOUSE, SEE PP. 17-24 INSTRUCTIONS]. Part A is FILER’S NON-INVESTMENT INCOME. Old Clarence filled out that part properly. But then he was stumped by Part B, SPOUSE’S NON INVESTMENT INCOME.  He was stumped by that one presumably after reading the instructions. After all the $686,589 was not investment income so why bother reporting it. Whatever!

          Old Clarence was not deterred in his false non reporting by the language of the Certification Section: I CERTIFY THAT ALL INFORMATION GIVEN [INCLUDING INFORMATION PERTAINING TO MY SPOUSE AND MINOR OR DEPENDENT CHILDREN, IF ANY] IS ACCURATE, TRUE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF…… Nor was he deterred by the language directly below his signature: NOTE: ANY INDIVIDUAL WHO KNOWINGLY AND WILFULLY FALSIFIES OR FAILS TO FILE THIS REPORT MAY BE SUBJECT TO CIVIL AND CRIMINAL SANCTIONS [5 USC app §104].

          Now Thomas went to law school and not just any law school but Yale Law School. One would think that he is aware that §104 allows the Attorney General to bring a civil action “against any individual who knowingly willfully falsifies or who knowingly and willfully fails to file or report any information that such individual is required to report” and seek a civil penalty not to exceed $50,000. Being not only a lawyer but a judge to boot he should be aware that 18 USC §1001 provides that “whoever…knowingly and willfully…conceals…a material fact; makes any materially false…statement or representation; or makes…a false writing or document knowing the same to contain materially false…statement or entry; shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years…or both”.

          Clarence Thomas called himself an “Uppity Black” during his confirmation hearings. It will be interesting to see if American justice is truly color blind and whether the powers that be, the Establishment, calls him to task in accordance with the law as it is now stands.

         

SEX WILL SAVE EUROPE AND THE EURO

          Last week the Litchfield County Times ran an Op/Ed column entitled The Sin Business Is Not for States. In the electronic version the County Times’ editors dropped “Not for States” from the title. Unlike the dumb columnist they were aware that sin is, in fact, the state’s business.

          The column was about state and local governments’ sorry forays in the sin business [gambling, sex and booze] resulting in bankruptcy or, at best, mediocre profits. You can access the article on The Litchfield County Times' Internet web site or at ttp://www.countytimes.com/articles/2011/01/14/opinion/op-ed/doc4d2f27da6483ae531500359.txt. 

          My advice to governments, both domestic and international, was to leave sin well enough alone and to the private sector. The “pros”, the bookies, bootleggers, pimps, madams and hookers, they know what they’re doing; after all they have been doing it for centuries. It is unseemly for government to engage in booze, gambling and prostitution. These are not proper governmental functions.  My unsolicited advice to government was to let them be, but tax the living beejesus out of them.

          Europe’s financial “pigs” [Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain] are desperately trying to stave off financial collapse and support a floundering Euro. There are rumors that the Euro is facing its demise. The cost of borrowing to keep governments afloat is soaring, now in the double digits. Soon the “pigs” will have to pay interest rates that American consumers have been coping with for years. Welcome “pigs” to the 19% interest rate on you international Visa and Master Card debt.

          The “pigs” are scrambling to find new revenues, restructure debt, cut costs and services and save the Euro as a currency. Retirement age is no longer 60 or 62, we are now talking   70. Even Europe’s non “pigs” are putting safety measures in effect. England has tripled university tuition and sharply reduced welfare benefits. France has instituted draconian pension reforms. Public sector wages have been slashed. Income taxes have risen. Because of this the Euro’s existence is threatened, so they say. 

          Holland, has sagely taken my advice. They have seen the writing on the wall and have found a new untapped source of revenue: commercial sex. Now do not be alarmed, the canny Dutch are not going to plunge headfirst into the sex business. They will leave sex to the “pros”, as in prostitutes, already toiling in the industry, and to the ladies sitting and trolling for customers in the windows of Amsterdam’s Red Light District [Rosseburt].    

          No, as a matter of fact, Holland is going to encourage the ladies of the night to do their utmost, to ramp up their efforts, to go the extra mile, or in this case millimeter, with the aid of Viagra to help their country. To become the Rosie the Riveters of the sex industry in this time of dire need. Holland will raise the much needed revenue by enforcing that uniquely New York City solution, the Parking Tax.

          For you foreigners and non New Yorkers, let me explain: You drive your car to Manhattan, a congested place and with little if no public parking. Parking is very much like sex, you got to, you need to, and so you must. And when you do, New York City slaps you with an 18.5% tax on top of the exorbitant ransom that those few minutes of parking cost. When you add the sales tax, the income tax paid by the owners and workers in the industry you have huge amount of cash, not to be sneezed at.

          That is exactly what Holland is doing. Since legalizing prostitution in 2002 Holland has taxed sex earnings as just plain income. While the sex trade is significant, generating a least $865 million in income according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, it remains substantially untaxed. Following New York’s example there is a 19% sales tax on each sexual transaction. Enforcing the tax on sex will generate millions of dollars in revenues.    

The Dutch are ahead of the curve. They are going to permit, then promote, then enhance sex and then tax the beejesus out of it, all to balance the budget. Now if the Greeks, the Portuguese and the rest of Europe would just follow their lead, austerity will be avoided, budget balanced and the Euro saved.

         

OF ASS & ASSES

In the eyes of a prude the female derrière is “obscene and indecent”. In this case the prudes are members of the Federal Communications Commission, truly a bunch of first class asses who so decided. In the eyes of others a derrière, an ass in plain English, is a thing of beauty, something to admire, something to marvel at.    

If you had to conjure up an iconic image of a prude, who would it be? For me it would be Eleanor Roosevelt, the prune faced First Lady who was often seen sporting a Minnie Pearl hat. Would it surprise you if I told you that Eleanor once sent a congratulatory telegram to Gypsy Rose Lee, the First Lady of Burlesque, “May you bare ass always be shining” she wrote.

Gypsy Rose Lee was voted the most popular woman in America in 1940, more popular than that First Lady. That year she stripped before thousands of adoring fans at the World’s Fair in Flushing, New York. It was reported that she shed all her clothes keeping certain strategic spots covered with ribbons and sequins. She wasn’t naked.  “I was completely covered by a blue spotlight” she said and that blue spotlight sure highlighted her golden assets.

Here we had the First Lady, the first Chair of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, and in my eyes the First Prude, lauding a stripper that dared to bare it all, including her world renowned and acclaimed ass. But Gypsy Rose Lee was not just a stripper. As she often quipped “There is more to see [of me] than meets the eye”. There sure was. This was a woman of wit and intelligence. Her assets were but a bonus

In the case of the "asses" sitting on the Federal Communication Commission, it seems that the TV show NYPD Blue aired an episode entitled “Nude Awakening”. In it, one of the characters disrobes as she prepares to take a shower. Her nude buttocks, in other words her ass is visible. There is another shot which fleetingly reveals her ass once again. This flagrant display of “obscene and indecent” material took up less than seven seconds of air time. For this “explicit and graphic” depiction of “sexual organs” [the ass?] the FCC fined ABC $1,210,000. That’s more than a million bucks, to you and me.

But it took two years and a Federal appeals court to put the asses in their place and void the fine. What galls me is that we have Mike “The Situation”, Jenni “JWoww” and “Snooki” Polizzi, along with many other social retards, cavorting and shouting bleeped out obscenities on TV's Jersey Shore. I know, “That’s Cable” you say, and I say “Whatever”!

Let’s put it to a vote: Would you rather see Snooki’s fat derrière in full color, with ultra sonic sound or Gypsy’s in black and white, with a scratchy sound track playing “Let Me Entertain You”?