DL Open Thread: Thursday, June 22, 2023

The Story That Led To Alito’s ‘Pre-buttal’:

In early July 2008, Samuel Alito stood on a riverbank in a remote corner of Alaska. The Supreme Court justice was on vacation at a luxury fishing lodge that charged more than $1,000 a day, and after catching a king salmon nearly the size of his leg, Alito posed for a picture. To his left, a man stood beaming: Paul Singer, a hedge fund billionaire who has repeatedly asked the Supreme Court to rule in his favor in high-stakes business disputes.

Singer was more than a fellow angler. He flew Alito to Alaska on a private jet. If the justice chartered the plane himself, the cost could have exceeded $100,000 one way.

In the years that followed, Singer’s hedge fund came before the court at least 10 times in cases where his role was often covered by the legal press and mainstream media. In 2014, the court agreed to resolve a key issue in a decade-long battle between Singer’s hedge fund and the nation of Argentina. Alito did not recuse himself from the case and voted with the 7-1 majority in Singer’s favor. The hedge fund was ultimately paid $2.4 billion.

Alito did not report the 2008 fishing trip on his annual financial disclosures. By failing to disclose the private jet flight Singer provided, Alito appears to have violated a federal law that requires justices to disclose most gifts, according to ethics law experts.

Experts said they could not identify an instance of a justice ruling on a case after receiving an expensive gift paid for by one of the parties.

Corrupt AND entitled.  Speaking of which, this Leonard Leo, who has quietly done more to destroy America than pretty much anybody, was involved, just as he was with Thomas’ dalliances with billionaires:

Leonard Leo, the longtime leader of the conservative Federalist Society, attended and helped organize the Alaska fishing vacation. Leo invited Singer to join, according to a person familiar with the trip, and asked Singer if he and Alito could fly on the billionaire’s jet. Leo had recently played an important role in the justice’s confirmation to the court. Singer and the lodge owner were both major donors to Leo’s political groups.

Question: How many overturned migrant boats equal one submersible vessel with billionaires on board?  I mean, in terms of press coverage.

Just Another Day For Batshit-Crazy Rethuglican House Caucus:

It’s been a while since we checked in on the goings-on with the House GOP majority and … what in the holy hell, y’all?

• Voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) for his role in investigating Donald Trump;
• Embroiled in internal fight over impeaching President Joe Biden;
• Rep. Marjorie Tayor Greene (R-GA) called Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) a “bitch” or a “little bitch” (accounts vary) on the House floor; and
• Ripped into corrupt Special Counsel John Durham for not being corrupt enough.

And that was just another Wednesday on the House side on the Hill.

Can You Feel The Lisa-mania?  Hasn’t been such political excitement in Delaware since gubernatorial candidate Minner revealed those bumper stickers reading ‘Ruth Ann!’  All the focus is on the historic nature of her candidacy, not on what she will, you know, do, if elected.  We can only hope that she will be more reliably-progressive than her predecessor.  That, at least, would be something.

Yet Another Plague Is Visited Upon Florida.  G-d’s will?  Giant African Land Snails.  They move slowly, but inexorably:

An invasion of giant African land snails has alarmed residents in south Florida, where authorities have established a quarantine area to try to deal with the destructive pests.

The invasive snails have voracious appetites and consume at least 500 species of plants, according to Florida’s department of agriculture, which is fearful for the state’s lucrative growing industries of citrus and other fruits and vegetables.

In response, it has set up a “treatment area” covering several dozen blocks of the city of Miramar, south west of Fort Lauderdale, and is warning residents that the slimy creatures snails also pose a serious health risk to humans by carrying parasite rat lungworm, known to cause meningitis.

Hmmm, the Miramar Mollusks.  Has a nice ring to it.

Money For Nothin’:  Serial Feeder At The Public Trough Michael Brown is suing City Council.  Claims that ‘age discrimination’ is why he didn’t get the job as Council Chief Of Staff.  I guess that one can’t sue for ‘competence discrimination’.  Read the article to see how dysfunctional Council is.

What do you want to talk about?