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ChillPenguin ,

Bro… Fuck this country.

ssladam ,

Saw the title, figured it couldn’t be that bad. Read the article. It is that bad.

AA5B ,

Then they at the end they give that know an extra twist by specifically mentioning two justices notorious for receiving substantial bribes rewards who didn’t feel the need to recuse themselves.

ChillPenguin ,

That’s exactly what I did too. I was like “they’ve gotta be exaggerating.” Nope, not at all. Ffs

exanime ,

And with this final blow… the entire government of the USA is up for sale!

kjaeselrek ,

🌎🧑‍🚀🔫🧑‍🚀

Corkyskog ,

I don’t think this decision would apply to like federal purchasing officials… so not yet.

Maggoty ,

It’s a federal law, and federal SCOTUS. there’s no reason why it wouldn’t.

Corkyskog , (edited )

Is there somewhere with more details?

Also I meant non elected officials like purchasing officials.

Maggoty ,

I know but if kickbacks are legal for the town mayor in federal law then it’s hard to see how they wouldn’t be legal for purchasing officials. The logic is that after the fact “gratuities” are just gifts.

Corkyskog ,

Ethically one would say so, but legally there are different laws written that directly constrain things around bribery for career employees.

Somehow I am extremely skeptical this ruling even applies, and if it does I think it only invalidates one of plethora of laws and regulations…

If you take any training on how to get a contract with the government there is without fail a section that goes over the at least two laws, if not more, about why you can’t bribe them and how you shouldn’t bribe them in various ways.

exanime ,

regular federal officials were up for sale way before this… the combined “corporations are people” and “money is free speech” nonsense meant anyone can openly throw money at anyone up for election and that’s A-OK because free speech

Corkyskog ,

I meant more like non elected officials, like a Contracting Officer.

exanime ,

who cares about those?, when the Secretaries and all the high level officials running everything can be bought

Corkyskog ,

Because you get things easier and faster that way.

Maggoty ,

It proves that it already was and has been. Citizens United tipped their hand that anyone with money (regardless of citizenship) is welcome to play.

BruceTwarzen ,

That’s not really news, but i’m always shocked how cheap they are.

r0ertel ,

Isn’t this simply the natural progression of capitalism in action? Everything’s for sale, everything has a price.

Moobythegoldensock ,

Clarence Thomas: “Come on guys, I really need this ruling.”

HawlSera ,

…Am I allowed to pass on to a better place now?

BleatingZombie ,

I know you’re probably just kidding (and it’s funny), but please don’t. I don’t even know you and I can promise this world is a better place with you in it

indepndnt ,

For one, it sounds like they oppose corrupt courts, so that’s a plus!

HawlSera ,

I’m not kidding, but I also cannot self-terminate so I’m not going anywhere anytime soon unless it’s a case of “Mind that bus!” “What bus?” splat

Which again I wouldn’t do intentionally because that would be self-termination and I can’t do that.

BleatingZombie ,

I’ve been there. The only thing that’s ever helped me feel like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel was talking to someone

derf82 , (edited )

People are way overreacting to this. This decision was 100% about a federal statute. Unaffected are the MANY, MANY state and local laws preventing state and local government employees from taking gifts.

Edit: for y’all downvoters, even the linked article states

In any event, the decision in *Snyder *is narrow. It does not rule that Congress could not ban gratuities. It simply rules that this particular statute only reaches bribes.

barsquid ,

What state’s jurisdiction covers DC?

derf82 ,

This case isn’t about a fed, it’s a local official.

There are other rules governing most federal employees. This is only one specific federal criminal law.

pdxfed ,

A little less prosecution a little corruption please

All this misdirection is satisfactionin’ me

A little less bite and a lot more dark

A lot less right just to serve the sharks

Close your mouth, evil off the chart baby pacify me

pacify me, baby

some_guy ,

It’s why they got elected.

Maggoty ,

*Appointed

lolcatnip ,

They weren’t elected.

some_guy ,

Oh, I thought the headline meant that elected officials (state officials) could engage in corruption. I didn’t read it as Justices of SC could do so, only that they said it’s ok.

31337 ,

If they ever flip back to a Democrat majority, it’s going to take decades to undo all the damage this court has done (and they’ll still have the incentive to not undo stuff like this).

anon_8675309 ,

Longer than that. Democrats are pretty centrist these days, so some of this will linger on for long long time.

jorp ,

Joe Biden nearly got 1 food truck in to gaza from the 300 million dollar pier and one of Israel’s bomb shipments was 10 minutes late thanks to him though. That’s bringing the left and liberals together.

collapse_already ,

Gee, I wonder why Justice Thomas might be friendly towards the accused in a public corruption case. Maybe Harlan Crow encouraged him.

Snapz ,

“Encouraged him” before or after?

collapse_already ,

The critical question, apparently.

Snapz ,

You can tell if it’s a bribe based on whether the gift was delivered by an African Swallow or a European Swallow?

ZombiFrancis ,

Unladen?

Snapz ,

You get it.

Maggoty ,

No, before is fine as long as they don’t have you on tape calling it a bribe and laughing maniacally. The last part is important as without it they cannot prove you knew you were committing a crime.

Happywop ,

I think SCOTUS isn’t relevant anymore. If i were a state governor I would flat out refuse to abide by or use a guidance anything coming from this “court”.

Zink ,

At this point it’s pretty easy to imagine a governor or president giving the SC the finger and doing what they want.

Unfortunately when I see that play out in my mind, it’s a Republican doing it. Yes, even though the SC is biased in their direction.

31337 ,

I believe this happened, and is still happening in regards to Texas ignoring the SC ruling about letting federal Border Patrol agents access to certain parts of the border.

frostysauce ,

Greg Abbott would certainly ignore any decision he didn’t agree with.

JovialMicrobial ,

The Supreme Court members who outed themselves as pro-corruption need to be given the 'Vote of No Confidence" treatment. Not just Kavanaugh, Alito, and Thomas, also remove the ones who quietly voted for post action bribes to be legal.

samus12345 ,
@samus12345@lemmy.world avatar

They’ve made their decision, now let them enforce it.

MehBlah ,

These people are all trash. All of them. Not a single decent MAGA in existence.

OldChicoAle ,

So is the difference “I’ll give you money to do this thing” versus “I’ll give you money if you do this thing”?

They both sound like bribes to me. Money, goods, or services are just handed over at different times.

I fucking hate these people. No shame. No morals. No humanity.

orcrist ,

My interpretation of the article is that it’s a question of timing. If you offer me money in order to hook you up, that’s a bribe. But if I hook you up and later you give me money in thanks, that’s not a bribe.

Obviously both of them are corrupt. But apparently this law can only target the former.

talentedkiwi ,

No see the first one is a bribe, the second one is a job. I’m paying you for your time! /s

Silentiea ,
@Silentiea@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

That was actually the argument made by the official in question. Called it a “consulting fee”.

acetanilide ,

I should’ve been a consultant. I could have a few yachts by now…my country would be destroyed, but at least I could be in my own little world.

Maggoty ,

It’s a kickback. They just made kickbacks completely legal.

Snapz ,

If you write “NOT BRIBE” on the cheek, it obviously CANNOT be a bribe.

jeffw OP ,

I nominate this guy for SCOTUS

uis ,

“Envelope marked BRIBE. Empty.”

Nicoleism101 ,

my condolences

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

I guarantee this is happening in your country too whether or not it’s legal.

androogee ,

I guarantee this is happening in your country too whether or not it’s legal

So is murder, that doesn’t make it not bad if the highest court in the land makes murder legal

Jesus Christ. What a comment. 🤦

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

I never said it wasn’t bad. Of course it’s bad. I’m just saying politicians are being bribed everywhere and getting away with it all the time whether or not it’s legal. So yes, this is bad, but I also don’t think much will change because of it.

You literally have to be hoarding gold bars to get punished for that sort of thing in America.

Plus, as others have pointed out, this doesn’t actually legalize corruption because the issue here can still be covered by other laws.

Nicoleism101 ,

Yeah like squid get some sugar in the blood or hydrate or smh are you all right

Nicoleism101 ,

Whether it is legal or not is the whole crux of the thing…

If it isn’t legal then it is purely a matter of the skill of law enforcement. If it is legal then well, condolences.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

it is purely a matter of the skill of law enforcement

This is America. Law enforcement exists to protect the rich and powerful, especially from this sort of thing. The politicians get caught are just too stupid to figure out how to hide it.

Also, as others have pointed out, this doesn’t actually legalize corruption.

Nicoleism101 ,

Well, my condolences x2 then

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

That’s the bigger thing to have condolences about, honestly. In general, if you’re rich and powerful, you can do whatever the hell you want in the U.S. and the law will be on your side. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so amazing that Trump was found guilty in the New York trial.

Nicoleism101 , (edited )

I hear you, well that’s just plain depressing, hope it changes at some point. Sometimes it has to get worse to get better.

When the illusion of a successful country dissipates that’s when the real changes can be introduced.

Unrestrained capitalism will never solve your country mounting problems that one I am sure. At some point the problems will become too severe to brainwash even the most easily influenced voters. As long as they have it good or ok, they can be recruited but there’s a limit and populism is inherently short-sighted and thus short-lived. It’s akin to burst of anger out of denial that can’t survive long in it’s powerful but unstable state of constant crisis. Trump is a harbringer of change and a proof that we hate changes but there’s nothing anyone can do to stop them and those trumps and such only accelerate the inevitable societal progress. I wouldn’t say let him rule because this would be unfair to many people but it will eventually pass and will be a building block for the better tomorrow.

There’s no power in the world that could bring back catholic medieval society at this point.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

I hope so too.

uis ,

If it is legal then well, condolences.

Law enforcement still has their… ways. They might suddenly find bad of white powder.

uis ,

Navalny, is that you?

IzzyScissor ,

Haha, what a silly Onion article!

:checks URL:

Oh. Oh no.

uis ,

Welcome to Russia post-Covid world

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