When Judges Become Politicians Who Wins? DRUG LORDS
Experts believe it is all a warm-up for 2008, as pro-business groups and trial lawyers bring their fight over tort laws to the state level and as partisan groups vow a greater role in the elections.
Judicial elections are an almost uniquely American invention, with a patchwork of more than 16 selection systems spread across the country. In the 21 states that hold direct partisan and nonpartisan elections for the high court, some already have evolved from quiet, down-ballot contests to full-blown campaigns with consultants and multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns.
The heightened spending and increasingly aggressive tone of the contests have alarmed nonpartisan groups and judges from around the country. Retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a longtime critic of judicial elections, has taken the lead in denouncing what she has called the “arms race” in campaign fundraising.
“The reputation of the American judiciary is in the hands of the state courts,” Justice Stephen G. Breyer said. The rising demands on judges to raise money for their expensive campaigns — plus the spending of outside groups — could lead to the impression that the courthouse door “is open to some rather than the door is open to all.”
Thomas R. Phillips, a retired chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, said canons of conduct outside the courtroom make judges “uniquely unable to defend themselves from attacks” from groups angry about unpopular decisions that judges have made.
The “new politics” of judicial elections, Bert Brandenburg, executive director of the Justice at Stake campaign said, “demands that judges be Huey Long on the campaign trail and Solomon in the courtroom and not miss a beat in between.”
The connection between drug money, illegal arms and corruption is a given. The motives are too clear. There is no way to determine how much dirty money campaign donations contain. Money laundering is a fine art. With all the drug money available to purchase politicians and judges, the direction this nation is going holds no surprises.
After War For Oil, the War On Drugs is the biggest money hole in our country. There is a too obvious connection here. BossKitty connects the dots. BossKitty went to college in a “dry” county in Texas. Every election had a provision to lift the “no alcohol” ban. The biggest contributors to keep the county dry were the smugglers and black market retailers. Their entire profit margin depended on their ability to inflate black market prices on beer, liquor and whatever recreational pharmaceuticals they could collect. They provided discreet discounts to Judges and politicians, as well as a few preachers who frequented their products. There are so many ‘dots’ to connect.
The cultural upheaval in this country together with frustration over a protracted combat war turns our population into addicts. Prescription drugs, recreational drugs and the sub-culture of violence is brought together easily. Violence increases when a population gets sucked into extremes. Who do you think is behind the war effort besides “big oil”? Who do you think is behind the “war on drugs” besides drug cartels? If this country did the math it would be more profitable and efficient to legalize and tax this unregulated contraband. The medical industry and pharmaceuticals industry would benefit greatly. The billions we spend yearly in aid to countries to police the illegal crops they grow could be spent for better things like the environment and health care. The United States cannot keep track of Taxpayer Dollars as it is and pouring it into corrupt pockets is stupid. Congress cannot keep up with oversight. Corruption abounds and we continue to encourage this behavior. Drugs are NOT TAXED but the American Taxpayer funds the War On Drugs, DEA, DHS, FBI, CIA, and Local Anti-drug Agencies. Drug Lords buy judges and politicians to keep their machine going. The American underground economy is dominated by the illegal drug machine. The US Taxpayer pays for this underground economy over and over and still is cheated out of fair health coverage, marginal education, media elected politicians, judges and a crooked mortgage industry. All the while the cost of addressing climate change, water and air quality remains out of reach to most Americans. American government is too distracted with staying put.
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October 28th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
It is quite a web, and will be a next to impossible thing to dismantle. Yep all those dots and they sure do connect. and lets not forget the prison “industry” big money there too. sigh…..