The Perversion of Morality in America’s Political Class

Reblogged from The Secular Jurist:

By Robert A. Vella

Remember Anthony Weiner, that congressman from New York who was forced to resign his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2011 because of widespread “outrage” over his sexting scandal?  Let’s refresh your memory.

From The New York Times – Weiner Agrees to Get Treatment as Calls for Resignation Intensify:

Published: June 11, 2011

Defying forceful demands for his resignation, Representative Anthony D. Weiner of New York said on Saturday that he was entering a psychological treatment center and seeking a leave of absence from the House to deal with a pattern of reckless online behavior with women.

The announcement came as three top Democratic leaders declared that Mr. Weiner, 46, once a rising star in the party, needed counseling and should step down from Congress.

Pressure on Mr. Weiner to leave the House, and spare the Democratic Party from an increasingly embarrassing scandal, had been building all week, but intensified on Friday, after it was revealed that Mr. Weiner had traded private messages with a 17-year-old girl in Delaware.

[…]

The House Democratic leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, spoke to Mr. Weiner on the phone Saturday morning and, notably, released her statement calling for his resignation after he told her of his plan to get treatment and to take the leave. Mr. Weiner received a similar phone call from Representative Steve Israel of New York, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, urging him to resign.

That pressure had been exerted on Weiner from his own political party in addition to the avalanche of opportunistic condemnation from Republicans.

While it’s true that Republicans are much more forgiving of their members’ sexual misadventures than are Democrats (see: the David Vitter Scandal and the D.C. Madam Scandal), compare the American political class’ reaction to Weinergate with the current controversy surrounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA).

From ThinkProgress – There Is Only One Congressman Demanding Scalise Resign Over Ties To White Supremacist Group:

On Monday, Congressman Steve Scalise “acknowledged that he spoke at a conference of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO),” a white supremacist organization run by David Duke, a former Grand Wizard in the Klu Klux Klan.

But, in the aftermath, Speaker John Boehner said that Scalise will maintain his central role in the House Republican leadership. Only one Congressman of either party, Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) has called on Scalise to resign his post as House Whip, the chamber’s third most powerful position.

In a statement, Maloney said that “[i]t is beyond offensive that a member of House leadership would knowingly court such a hate group, and it is doubly insulting that Congressman Scalise asserts that he didn’t know who David Duke was or the hate promoted by that group.” Maloney added that “Speaker Boehner should demand Congressman Scalise resign his leadership post immediately.”

The Chicago Tribune and USA Today have also called on Scalise to step down from leadership.

By any reasonable moral compass, a politician’s association with a white supremacist organization would be far more scandalous than texting sexual images of one’s self.  The only explanation for this discrepancy must be a profound perversion of morality in America’s political class.  Today in the corrupted halls of government, hatred towards racial, ethnic, and religious minorities – however egregious – is even more completely absolved than the illegal hiring of a prostitute by a Republican Senator from Louisiana.

Yes, there really are two Americas… one set of secret rules for rich, white, conservative Christian males… and another secret set for everyone else.  These “rules” supersede everything else – ethics, morality, and even the law.  This is why America will fail.  It is destroying itself from within.

Conservative Media Still Denying How Racism And History Fueled Ferguson

Despite the conservative media narrative that racism against minorities is a thing of the past, race, racism, and inherent biases on all sides are a part of what’s happening in Ferguson and communities across America — as are systemic and institutional factors spanning several generations, from the Watts riots in 1965 to the riots in various cities in 1967 and ’68, to Los Angeles in 1992. While an inciting incident — usually involving the police and communities of color — sparked the violence, a tinderbox of underlying frustrations awaited that spark.

After each of these incidents, reports issued by government commissions seeking answers cited hauntingly identical findings. Police brutality, poor relations between the police and the community, a sense of hopelessness fueled by a lack of jobs, economic inequality, inadequate schools, discriminatory housing practices, an unresponsive political system many felt shut out of, along with policies that created segregated neighborhoods which further isolate communities of color were highlighted again and again. Again and again the recommendations included expanding community policing strategies and social programs, making them more consistent with the extent of the problems.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/12/03/conservative-media-still-denying-how-racism-and/201751

Criminal prosecutions likely against U.S. governors Scott Walker and Chris Christie

Reblogged from The Secular Jurist:

By Robert A. Vella

As we have detailed many times on this blog, corruption is rampant in American politics and has been getting progressively worse since the U.S. Supreme Court unleashed torrents of special interest money with its Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions in 2010 and 2014.  The problem has gotten so bad that some politicians are no longer using rhetorical pretenses to conceal this “pay-to-play” system which enables quid pro quo exchanges between public officials and their financial benefactors.

During his second inaugural speech in January, New Jersey governor Chris Christie had this to say about the purpose of government:

“I will not let up. I will insist we work together,” he said. “And I will make this government truly work for those who pay for it.” [emphasis added]

In 2011, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker – who survived a recall election the following year – discussed conspiratorial plans to destroy the union-backed labor movement in his state with a journalist impersonating himself as the radical right-wing billionaire David Koch (see:  Scott Walker Gets Punked By Journalist Pretending To Be David Koch).

Fortunately, some level of institutional justice remains in America.  It appears now that these two embattled governors will face criminal prosecutions in the coming months.

From PoliticusUSA – Prosecutors Drop The Hammer On Scott Walker and Accuse Him Of Running a Criminal Scheme:

Court documents were unsealed today in Wisconsin that reveal prosecutors alleging that Scott Walker, the state’s Republican Governor, was at the center of a “criminal scheme” to illegally coordinate fundraising among conservative groups – including Karl Rove – during 2011 and 2012.

* * * * *

Walker has not been formally charged yet, as federal Judge Rudolph Randa has temporarily put the John Doe investigation on hold, but it looking more and more like it is only a matter of time until the hammer falls and corrupt reign of Scott Walker comes to an end in Wisconsin.

From Salon – Report: Prosecutor zeroing-in on Chris Christie:

Esquire reports that [U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul] Fishman is, to some degree, faced with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to choosing which charges to level against Christie allies and potentially the governor himself. “Christie’s Port appointees — not only [David] Samson, but former [Port Authority] Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni and his oddball sidekick David Wildstein — all face near-certain indictment and are being pressed to hand up Christie,” Esquire claims.

In regard to Samson, a Christie mentor and former attorney general of the state, one source tells Esquire that the septuagenarian — who reportedly has Parkinson’s disease — “got sloppy, arrogant, and greedy” during his time as Port Authority chairman, awarding contracts to various firms with ties to his legal practice. “Samson will want a deal,” the source tells Esquire. “This way, he’d get one or two years. He’d have a future on the other side. He won’t want to die in jail.”