Try a little tenderloin.
Many are outraged at Rolling Stone’s revelation that the right-wing evangelical group Liberty Counsel led “conservative” Supreme Court justices in prayer inside the Court itself. The outrage is appropriate, as a members of single subsect of a single religion performing secret ceremonies in the halls of government is not only an egregious violation of the Establishment Clause, but also much too close to the Simpsons’ Stonecutters for comfort.
Still, while there is reportedly power in prayer, it’s not the kind that moves and shakes the power players of Washington. Which is why our theocratic aspirants hedged their bets with the old, reliable lobbying tool: chow.
Politico reports how Rob Schenck, once head of the same bunch that are now bragging about their prayer sessions (not big Matthew 6 fans) recruited a score of wealthy supporters to wine and dine Scalia, Alito and Thomas and their wives at Washington’s finest troughs.
Rob Schenck, an evangelical minister who headed the Faith and Action group headquartered near the Supreme Court from 1995 to 2018, said he arranged over the years for about 20 couples to fly to Washington to visit with and entertain Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and the late Antonin Scalia.
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Schenck said the goal was to create an ecosystem of support for conservative justices, as a way of making them more forthright in their views.
The previously undisclosed initiative by Faith and Action illustrates the extent to which some Supreme Court justices interacted with advocates for the religious right during a period when the court grappled with social issues such as abortion and gay rights. The calculated nature of Faith and Action’s efforts shows how outside actors can use social activities and expensive dinners to penetrate the court’s highly sealed environment.
Ah, yes, “social activities and expensive dinners,” noshes enlivened with such sparkling bon mots as “It’s so important for a child to have a father and a mother” and “You were born for a time like this.”
Now you’re lobbying, brother! Prayer’s all well and good, but if you really want to bring some High Court souls to the altar rail, I suggest a stop by the Capital Grille first (Sorry, Kavanaugh, but Morton’s sucks).
If this all seems a bit, um, bribe-y, not to worry. The High Court, in its wisdom, exempts itself from the code of conduct imposed on all others in the federal judiciary, continuing its unbroken tradition since Marbury v. Madison that “the rules are whatever we say they are.”
Imagine, judges who not only have no rules, but literally decide what laws apply to them. Who like steak. Casino Jack could only dream…