Supreme Court Fire Sale

Maureen Dowd has some fun today tearing into AG nominee Alberto Gonzales, which is certainly worth a look. But the second part of her column was, to me, far more interesting. She takes a deeper look at possible future Supreme Court Chief Justice Clarence Thomas. You may have already heard about the recent report on the various "gifts" that this guy has received, but Dowd does her usual, piercing job of cutting through the fog and hitting the highlights.

In The Los Angeles Times, we learn that Bush fave Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas "has accepted tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts since joining the high court, including $1,200 worth of tires, valuable historical items and a $5,000 personal check to help pay a relative's education expenses."

A guy we pay nearly $200,000 a year can't pop for his own tires? Whatever happened to the dignity of the robe? At least we know where our possible future chief justice stands: on the side of personal corruption.

"He also took a free trip aboard a private jet to the exclusive Bohemian Grove club in Northern California - arranged by a wealthy Texas real estate investor who helped run an advocacy group that filed briefs with the Supreme Court," the paper said.

The L.A. Times reviewed the disclosures of all nine justices for the years 1998 through 2003 and found that "Thomas accepted $42,200 in gifts, making him the top recipient. Next in that period was Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who accepted $5,825 in gifts, mostly small crystal figurines and other items."

Excellent questions.