Slate: “A few short weeks ago we learned, while in the throes of an historic Supreme Court confirmation hearing, that a sitting Supreme Court justice had participated in at least one case in which his wife was (at minimum) an interested party. When news dropped that Virginia “Ginni” Thomas has been texting strategic advice to Mark Meadows, the Trump White House’s chief of staff, while helping coordinate groups making efforts to set aside the 2020 election results, even as the Trump White House planned a litigation strategy around the 2020 election that involved the Supreme Court, there were some immediate overreactions (impeach Thomas) and underreactions (who cares?) followed by the frenzied cacophony of hands wringing and then, nothing.
With the exception of some week-after apologetics and philosophizing, the Thomases, who have not offered up one word of explanation or justification for this new apparent conflict, yet again surf the wave of public outrage to the peaceful shore of “Nothing Matters LOL.” Clarence Thomas will not be removed. He will not recuse himself from future Jan. 6 cases. Ginni Thomas will not comply with a subpoena or testify before the Jan. 6 Committee. New ethics rules will not be produced by the court that might bind the court such that future conflicts don’t arise. Chief Justice John Roberts will do little or nothing to prevent justices from sitting on cases in which their spouses assist with amicus briefs and do work for parties. Nothing whatsoever will change, and as a consequence, the next revelation about a product of the Thomases’ amazing marriage of openly political work will also someday wash up on the sandy beaches of “Nevermind.””