Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project Puts the Ginny Thomas Scandal in Perspective.

[babylonsister]

Last edited Sat Mar 26, 2022, 07:46 PM - Edit history (1)

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/3/25/2088163/-Rick-Wilson-puts-the-Ginny-Thomas-scandal-in-perspective

Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project Puts the Ginny Thomas Scandal in Perspective.
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Friday March 25, 2022 · 5:42 PM EDT


So Rick Wilson of the Lincoln project has basically demonstrated in a pretty nice Twitter rant, the hollowness and hypocrisy of the Republican party regarding the Ginny Thomas scandal, but also how Republicans have really become masters at working the referees and how outrageous that has become. To save time I’ve consolidated the thread in a quote below:

Imagine for a moment what the Republicans would say if the spouse of a Supreme Court Justice nominated by a Democrat joined in a conspiracy..to overthrow a free and fair American election. Imagine she or he was part of a conspiracy to launch a violent, shock-and-awe attack on the Capitol in its furtherance. An attack that led to lives lost, our Capitol desecrated.

Imagine their response as she was discovered in the days leading up to the attack to be texting and emailing a Democratic White House Chief of Staff, encouraging him to illegally overturn the election and promote lurid conspiracy nonsense. Imagine she promoted the idea Republicans were "being arrested & detained for ballot fraud right now & over coming days, & will be living in barges off GITMO to face military tribunals for sedition.”

Now imagine her husband was the sole vote to protect the losing President from scrutiny. I'll tell you what they'd do.They'd burn Washington to the damn ground.They'd salt the earth.They'd call for sanctions, impeachment, removal.

Their powerful media apparatus would turn it into a 24/7 scandal story that would never ever disappear. Facebook would amplify (and monetize!) a million pages calling for the removal of said Justice.

They'd hold hearings and drag every person involved before them...in a televised Great Spectacle. It would become a centerpiece of their messaging for ages. It would be a drumbeat about the corruption of the opposing party.It would motivate no end of earnest op-eds from the gentry media.

The GOP silence now is telling. They've become masters are working the media refs. This isn't a trivial little scandal. It's real, it stinks, and it's outrageous.

One of the reasons I wanted to post this is because right now, Democrat's in the Senate are demanding Clarence Thomas recuse himself from any cases involving Jan 6th or Trump’s election.

To me that seems about 1/1000th as strong as it should be. Democrats should be demanding Thomas recuse himself permanently from the Supreme Court! They should be calling for hearings They should be asking their colleagues during the current confirmation fight why they are not speaking out about this outrage? They should be talking about the corruption of past decisions. This isn’t even the first time with the Thomas's. Democrats should be loudly pointing out if you don’t Believe in Free elections or Democracy itself, how can you be trusted to serve on the highest court in the land?

In my opinion we can learn from Republicans on messaging. They would salt the earth as Rick Wilson has stated. I realize we don’t have talk radio and our own news network but that doesn’t mean we can’t do something. We need bring the kind of outrage Republicans would to this issue. We need to call on our elected officials and ask for hearings ask for resignations We need to embrace the power of spectacle.

MAKE THIS WOMAN TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS!!!! PUT IT ON TELEVISION!! Don’t say things like “This is disturbing!” call it an attack on our Democracy. IT IS! Call it Corruption. IT IS! Say that this has placed the entire legitimacy of the Supreme Court in question. IT HAS!! Just don’t be mild in your response.

[skylucy]

1. Absolutely. Rick Wilson speaks the truth.

[2naSalit]

2. The Susan Collins treatment isn't goint to cut it here...

She needs to face the public.

[NHvet]

13. what??

You don't think a sternly worded letter or two.... maybe a furrowed brow...will work? I'm sure that will show everyone this is serious, it's worked before. /s

[2naSalit]

16. Personally...

Drawn and quartered is too good for her kind of treason.

[lastlib]

28. I'm sure GinniT has learned her lesson....

...and will do it again--because the first time had no adverse consequences..........

[calimary]

35. THIS. I want to see actual CONSEQUENCES.

Consequences you can really sink your teeth into!

[2naSalit]

37. Been going on for years...

And likely to continue until they are both made to suffer consequences.

[Grasswire2]

44. EXACTLY

This is why we are where we are.

NO CONSEQUENCES for Republican crimes. For decades.

[Samrob]

3. +1000% nt

[Mr.Bill]

4. The biggest problem is

no one would show up to testify at any hearings. Nothing would happen to them and they know it. And that is out fault for not arresting people when they don't show up.

[sop]

5. "Ginni Thomas Dismisses Text Messages To Mark Meadows As Regular, Run-Of-The-Mill Infidelity"

WASHINGTON—Following the publication of text messages that suggested she had urged the White House chief of staff to overturn a presidential election, conservative activist Ginni Thomas told reporters Friday her controversial exchanges with Mark Meadows were nothing more than regular, run-of-the mill infidelity. “I know how it sounds, but when I texted Mark, ‘Help this Great President stand strong,’ I was referring to his penis,” said the wife of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, explaining that she and Meadows had long engaged in extramarital, erotic roleplay that toyed with power in a way she understood might come across to the uninitiated as treason. “What may have sounded like talk of overturning an election was really me saying I wanted him to turn me over. And pound me. Hard. Look, these were very intimate, very private texts that were never intended for consumption by a public that can’t possibly understand how fucking hot I get when a man tells me ‘the King of Kings’ always triumphs in ‘a fight of good versus evil.’ That got me wet as a mop!” Thomas went on to explain that the only reason she attended President Trump’s rally on Jan. 6 was to find a group of patriots who would run a train on her.

https://www.theonion.com/ginni-thomas-dismisses-text-messages-to-mark-meadows-as-1848704513

[Cha]

6. KR TY & Rick Wilson!

💙💛

[Snackshack]

7. Yep-

The GOP over the last few years has given Dems one monumental failure after another on a silver platter but they never seem to have the intestinal fortitude to apply the law and play hardball.

[luvtheGWN]

20. And those of us outside the US

cannot, for the life of us, understand why not.

[calimary]

36. Hell, none of us inside the US can understand why not!

Jellyfish aren’t much good at going on offense…

[TeamProg]

8. LOCK HER UP !!!!!!!!!

[onetexan]

15. +1 -K&R

[Emile]

27. No wonder why Trump thought the fix was in.

[pnwmom]

10. Now, just imagine that spouse was a Black woman. n/t

[SilasSouleII]

46. And doing the same thing?

Trying to overturn a presidential election to keep an autocrat republican installed as a defacto dictator who bends to far right aspirations for a christian theocracy government? I think she would get the same treatment here.

[pnwmom]

51. I was referring to the treatment the spouse would get from the rightwing. n/t

[BMW2020RT]

11. The Republican party is carnival of deceit.

Will Sommer at The Daily Beast reported that one of Ginni Thomas' stolen election whisperers is Steve Pieczenik, a kook even Infowars conspiracist Alex Jones won't abide.

On March 11th of this year justice husband spoke in Salt Lake City about the danger of policizing the court. He said, "You can cavalierly talk about packing or stacking the court. You can cavalierly talk about doing this or doing that. At some point the institution is going to be compromised. By doing this, you continue to chip away at the respect of the institutions that the next generation is going to need if they’re going to have civil society."

Um, okay.

[GB_RN]

23. Irony Is Dead When...

(In)Justice Clarence “Uncle Slappy” Thomas (R-🚫❓ ) accuses others of politicizing or destroying the credibility of the SCOTUS, when that clown is one of the very people responsible for doing both. 🙄😑

[jaxexpat]

12. But you've failed to ask the decider in chief, Joe Manchin, if he would approve.

[live love laugh]

17. ✓ ... Because we don't have the majority enjoyed by TFG due to Manchin and Sinema.

[jaxexpat]

26. That means.................we don't have a majority of the votes for virtually anything progressive.

[OnDoutside]

14. You need guys like Ted Lieu as committee chairman...the old guard

need to go.

[Joinfortmill]

18. Right on!!

[SleeplessinSoCal]

19. Why do we not get as outraged as the religious hypocrites on the right?

We've observed that the Christianists in our military and halls of Congress have been a danger to our democracy since the Ayatollah ascended in 1979. But exposing them hasn't stopped them. They just get more outrageous and dangerous.

Look at outrageous abortion and LGBTQ laws blanketing red states. Christianists have no allegiance to the country or the Constitution. They make that perfectly clear daily.

[dchill]

21. * Y E S * !

[FoxNewsSucks]

22. more and more, I can't help but wonder

about what motivates some Democratic officeholders. Even ones I like.

Why do they let one thing like this after another slide? We are the side that is not "the right", but IS RIGHT. They all need to show spine and act like it. Not just a few. All.

Go after the fucking criminal republicans with some tenacity and don't give up until they're locked up.

[DLevine]

24. Yup. Absolutely agree. nt

[Hekate]

25. Once again, Rick Wilson is right

I wish Dems would listen — and act.

[niyad]

29. Disgusted KNR.

[kacekwl]

30. Yep. n/t

[Jarqui]

31. "They've become masters are working the media refs"

Six entities control about 95% of the US media.
None of those entities like paying their fair share of taxes.
Only one party has assured they're going along with that.

There are no "media refs" or not nearly enough.
That's the problem.

That's why Biden's approval numbers are where they are.
That's why Donald Trump got elected and Hillary got cheated.
That's why Mitch McConnell gets to do what he does.
That's why the Russians got away with influencing the US election.
That's why the GOP get away with gerrymandering, violations against voting rights, Citizens United, etc.
That's why Trump is getting away with his crimes.

Media is supposed to be the great arbiter for democracy.
The GOP own it.
The propaganda they generate sustains the MAGAts.

Americans need to stand up to this like the Ukrainians are standing up to the Russians.
I don't mean a violent civil war - I mean they have to fight it rather than muddling along presuming the media refs will eventually catch on because that will never happen on its own.

[MsLeopard]

34. Completely agree

Thugs get to do whatever the hell they want while Democrats play by the rules. It’s a travesty that has been playing out for far too long and I’m sick of it. The people have GOT to vote out these treasonous bastards out and put progressives in charge. We’ve had 40+ years of right wing rule and look what it’s gotten us - inequality so great it’s never been seen before, quality of life standards for Americans in the toilet, two justice systems (one for the wealthy, one for the rest of us), on and on and on. Enough is enough.

[Jarqui]

38. If we can't find a way around the tainted media refs,

it is tough to get the message out to get people to vote them out.

It seems like they sense we'll catch on and they seem to be working to prevent being voted out with all the shenanigans at the state level designed to overturn the results like they tried to do in 2020.

This is a racist group who at its core fear the shifting demographics, do not believe all men are created equal and that the "inferior" races must be kept 'in their place'. They have not been able to control it from slipping away to date so they're ratcheting it up as a last desperate grab at sustaining their "racial dominance".

We have to solve this problem with the media refs and do it quickly. Because everyday, they are consolidating their grip by subverting democracy.

This is a far more serious a threat to America than Vlad Putin.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

47. This post needs to be an OP !! FREAKIN nailed it !

It's not a fair fight to be heard or even to frame an argument.

By the time we are barely done framing an issue, they have a whole echo chamber repeating their weak ass response.

[3Hotdogs]

32. Problem is, ain't nuthin' gonna be done about it.

He ain't gonna resign and Rep. senators will not risk alienating the base with a conviction vote.

And besides, he owns the lib'tards every day.

[msfiddlestix]

33. Absolutely Spot On. Babylonsister. (Note to those who ask "what crime did Clarence Thomas commit"?)

Don't even go there, no democratic principle, legal or otherwise, can justify ignoring the facts laid out in Wilson's rant.

[HUAJIAO]

39. Democrats need to learn to fight like Ukrainians !!

[karin_sj]

40. YES!!!!

Agree 1000 percent! This is not the time to be meek and timid. He needs to be OUT of the Supreme Court YESTERDAY!

[FakeNoose]

41. The optics are bad for the moment

If Dems were to suddenly start screaming for the removal/impeachment of Clarence Thomas (a black man), how would it impact the instatement of Ketanji Brown Jackson (a black woman)?

I believe the right move is to get Judge Jackson sworn in to the SCOTUS bench first, then go after Thomas. After all, he's hiding out in the hospital for now, and he can't do much damage while he's there. I would hope the plan is to get him later after this dies down a bit.

[ancianita]

43. Then have Hollywood step in and help, because real daily governance in the middle of a war,

swearing in a new SCOTUS justice, passing a clean energy climate legislation, etc., etc., take up the 24 hours that everyone gets and don't do nearly as much with -- so embracing the power of spectacle should be outsourced to those who do it well.

How to MAKE anyone testify before Congress, that doesn't take two years to get a court enforcement, is the problem, isn't it.

The only branch mild in its response is the overburdened Executive Branch's the DOJ processing almost 800 federal charges on Jan 6, convicting and sentencing 342 to-date.
The Legislative Branch's Jan 6 special committee has issued over 89 subpoenas, and literally has a clearinghouse site that tries to keep up with all the rest it's doing.
The president himself keeps the West united over Putin's unprovoked threat to the Ukraine and its allies, while being a great commander-in-chief by indirectly supporting another democracy with money, weapons and humanitarian supplies, and directly by meeting our U.S. troops in Poland.

The power of spectacle is a false power.
Let Rick Wilson get the ball rolling and Hollywood handle the spectacle. Democrats are doing their jobs of empowering the country and the West, which is more important than the spectacle of power, or even the power of spectacle.

We absolutely do not have to be like our opponents who create false pride, fear, and trepidation with their false power of spectacle.

Outrage and spectacle drive conflict, but have never governed the U.S. at all, nevermind well.

[pandr32]

45. Should be flung in the biased media's and GOP stooges' faces.

[Martin68]

48. I agree 100%.

[The Wizard]

49. Thomas should have been impeached

for ruling in Bush v Gore as his wife was on the Bush Transition team, thus rendering monetary gain for the Thomas family. Scalia should have also recused as his son works for the firm representing Bush. Repubic ethical and moral shortcomings are an anathema against democracy. No wonder they support Putin.

[Pepsidog]

50. Sadly, our best fighters are never Trumpers.