By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on May 5, 2013
An Editorial Opinion
In recent weeks, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas has made one thing very clear: He is definitely billionaire GOP businessman and mega donor Harlan Crow's "House Nigga" at "Candyland" (which is my new name for the U.S. Supreme Court).
The relationship between Clarence Thomas and Harlan Crow is NOT a life-long friendship. The one-way flow of millions of dollars in tangible, unreported, financial benefits from Crow to Thomas (and his family) began ONLY after Thomas became a Supreme Court justice. What is more, the relationship started with Thomas hustling a "free" flight on Crow's large private jet.
As was the case with all of Clarence Thomas' "free" flights on Harlan Crow's private jets over a 27-year period, this first flight was not disclosed on Thomas' annual ethics form.
Just so my readers know, there are no "free" flights on large private jets. The plane's owner-benefactor always gets something of value from the passenger-beneficiary in exchange for the "free" flight. This is particularly true whenever the flights are made available to a beneficiary (who happens to be a sitting Supreme Court justice) on a routine and unreported basis -- for decades.
The same truism applies with respect to "free" trips on fancy yachts and "free" vacation stays in luxury resorts at exotic ports of call around the world. The benefactor always gets something of equal or greater value from the beneficiary in this circumstance.
Whenever the benefactor pays off the mortgage on the home of the beneficiary's mother, the beneficiary most certainly feels a special obligation to do something in return of equal or greater value.
The same truism applies whenever the benefactor pays the expensive tuition at the private high school of the beneficiary's adopted son. The beneficiary most certainly feels obligated to do something in return of equal or greater value.
In Clarence Thomas' case, the only thing he could give Harlan Crow in return for his millions of dollars in undisclosed financial generosity was his vote on the Supreme Court on cases that mattered to Harlan Crow and those in his friendship circle. This, Thomas did, repeatedly.
This is a classic case of "pay-to-play" involving a federal official, which is a felony.
A Real-Life "Django" Relationship
Clarence Thomas acts just like actor Samuel L. Jackson’s fictional character “Stephen” in “Django Unchained," a 2012 Hollywood movie about slave life on a brutal Mississippi plantation in 1859. Stephen was the trusted “House Nigga” at “Candyland.”
Harlan Crow acts like Calvin Candie (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), the shady owner of the infamous Candyland plantation where Stephen served as Master Candie's loyal, faithful, trusted, and treacherous "House Nigga."
Clarence Thomas and Harlan Crow have brought this fictional "Candyland" relationship to life in the modern era. They are the twins of evil. The photo below says it all.
In addition to Harlan Crow's "gifts," Leonard Leo funneled secret payments of at least $80,000 to Clarence Thomas' wife, Ginni Thomas, in 2012, along with instructions to middle-woman/GOP powerbroker Kellyanne Conway to make "no mention of Ginni" in this unreported payment arrangement. Leonard Leo is one of the Harlan Crow friends depicted in the photo above.
Clarence Thomas Has Defecated on the Supreme Court's Reputation for Integrity
Clarence Thomas has defecated on the Supreme Court's centuries-old reputation for integrity, repeatedly. Nobody respects Clarence Thomas, including his colleagues on the Supreme Court and his Republican supporters in Washington.
Republicans "like" Clarence Thomas and tolerate the stench from his unrelenting ethical lapses only because Harlan Crow has "bought" Thomas, owns him outright, and controls his vote on the Supreme Court.
All of my readers know that Harlan Crow and his buddies who are depicted in the photo above would not give Clarence Thomas the time of day if Thomas was not a Supreme Court justice who was willing to prostrate himself like "Stephen" whenever Crow demanded that Thomas assume the position.
Epilogue
Clarence Thomas has always been a low-life "hustler" who has never displayed an ounce of integrity in his life. As such, it is no surprise to me that Clarence Thomas votes on the Supreme Court the way Harlan Crow tells him to vote.
Why Attorney General Merrick Garland has not convened a grand jury in Washington to probe this obvious "pay-to-play" bribery scheme is beyond my comprehension. I am thoroughly unimpressed with Merrick Garland and his Department of Justice.
Merrick Garland is about as useless for seeking justice in high profile white collar criminal cases as a stallion with a vasectomy is for breeding a herd of mares. It ain't happening!
By the way, were the millions of dollars in "gifts" Clarence Thomas received from Harlan Crow over the years reported on Thomas' tax returns? Merrick Garland has the power and authority to get the answer to this question, but he clearly lacks the backbone to do so.
In closing, Clarence Thomas' vote has always been "for sale," and this flaw in his character will never change. It's in Thomas' DNA to sell his vote on the Supreme Court. Pay-to-play is his game.