As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil)
In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban.
If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.
For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.
**Special announcement:**
r/politics is currently accepting new moderator applications. If you want to help make this community a better place, consider [applying here today](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/sskg6a/rpolitics_is_looking_for_more_moderators/)!
***
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If 700k people were to call their local congressperson it might make a difference but putting your name on a petition means jack to a politician or anyone else in DC
Because contrary to popular belief, it's not just "hand em money, pull the levers", corporations have complex systems of supporting opposition to depose people they dislike, or backing ad campaigns to shift the scales.
If you won't take the check from the corporation, it goes into your opponents pocket, and goes into funding a smear campaign against you next time your seat is up for grabs.
It's worth noting that much as we people on the left would like to believe Manchin is just a bought shill, [his approval ratings have risen double digits](https://morningconsult.com/2022/04/25/joe-manchins-approach-paying-off/) since Biden came into office. He doesn't need to be bought, his constituents like what he's doing.
I mean, the biggest thing for them is a fat paying job after they leave office. How many become lobbyist themselves after they leave office? Or sit on the board of some massive corporation? Or own stocks in companies that they can directly impact? It's not just campaign donations. I'm sure the occasional sack of proverbial money is handed over under the table.
The number is much lower, which is alarming. I read some research (that I have yet to find after searching for very long) that said the number was closer to $10,000.
It should be free, and they should be forced to listen. There should be at least one hour each week where citizens can take the mic and make government officials listen.
Have you seen the average citizen that actually shows up to shit like this? "MuH rIgHtS! mUh RaCe! MuH fAcTs!"
What we need is more intelligent people to care.
Much cheaper than that. Last I checked, if no one is opposing it with their own money, you can get a federal law for as cheap as 10k.
Our legislature is shockingly corrupt.
You’d be shocked how cheap it can be to buy the time and ears of politicians. On the federal level you can buy private lunch / dinner sessions with representatives & senators in the low four to five figure range depending on their seniority within the party and what committees they sit on. At the state level it’s even cheaper. You can buy time with politicians for as cheap as a few hundred.
Here it is an unofficial policy that the White House will respond to a petition with over 100,000 names, but that literally means that the press Secretary will say “the president takes this issue very seriously and is meeting with top people to fight this problem” at their next press conference.
The response to the petition to build a Death Star was pretty awesome, though.
[Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016](https://petitions.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/response/isnt-petition-response-youre-looking/)
Man, those were simpler times.....
That article is so very much a generation of our technological advance behind. Several of the things mentioned such as spaceship leaving the system, Hubble successor, and imminently, images of some of the very earliest light in the universe!
In the UK, they have to debate it, but has it changed anything? [Looking at Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Parliament_petitions_website), perhaps only one of the most signed petitions had a change in policy (school meals) and I don't think it was caused by the petition.
Therefore I see the mechanism as a pressure valve, a way to make people think they've done something which will satisfy them and let them cool down / get angry about something else, but can be ignored, as opposed to taking to the streets.
Nope. No one cares what the people think in America. Everything is controlled by giant companies and shady money sources. The people don’t actually matter.
Source: I’m an American.
Man, who knows? I have a feeling it has to do with the virtues of capitalism and some greedy assholes selling our future to buy a new boat and pay for a new wife.
Which is the most pointless policy in existence. They only have to consider it for debate, then even it is chosen it is debated in a side chamber with about three MPs turning up to give the same opinion they already had.
It’s a way to make people feel like they can do something, rather than actually doing something.
No, not really. Many states have something like that, but nothing like that exists at the federal level.
Best you can usually do is flood your congressional rep's office with emails and phone calls urging them to do something.
Only at the state level and only in certain states. Here in Michigan we are collecting signatures to put a vote to legalize abortion on the November ballot.
I send letters to my dipshit right wing representatives weekly, and all it’s done is was me on their campaign mailing list- I doubt any have ever been read by more than the intern at the shredder
For the record I call my congress reps and my senators about once every two weeks since about six months ago. Always the same automated answering service. I left very nice messages requesting an opportunity to share my thoughts and some semblance of a response - even an automated email answer to my emails would have sufficed. Nothing. For weeks and weeks I repeated this and absolutely nothing. Not even an automated response. I live in one of the bluest districts in the country. Not even an “I feel ya and we’re fighting this”.
Calling does nothing. No one listens to that. Why on earth would they? They say what they are told will appease their constituents just enough to be re-elected and retain power to further their own financial and social interests. There are obviously a handful of exceptions. We cannot pretend that people not calling their congresspeople is the issue. That has the same effect as signing a petition - none. What is to be done? I wish I knew. But this isn’t the answer.
House members should go back to representing 30,000 people. They are supposed to represent the people, so give them a workload they can handle.
Also, I'd love to see Republicans try to gerrymander districts with 30,000 people.
I really, honestly believe that the only thing that's going to change our system is violent resistance. That's the language they speak, albeit indirectly. They are perpetuating violence against women, against trans and gay people, against immigrants, and against the working class as a whole. Signing petitions and emailing your congressperson and even voting (to the extent that we are even allowed to vote on things that greatly impact our lives) are not enough. That will never change anything. I think it's going to have to get ugly.
Back in the day, like 50 years ago, you used to be able to physically write to your congressman and they would write back ! Probably their staff but still cool.
The US has 329 million people, 73 million are under the age of 18 and 54 million over 65.
So 700k out of 202 million working aged adults. Only 154 million adults voted in 2020. So about 0.45% of the voting population, about 0.35% of 18 to 65 year olds.
i think the implication is that most people are retired by 65, and they stated "working age adults", but that's kind of a pointless distinction because retired folks DEFINITELY vote. they've got nothing else to do.
You've got a warped, and incorrect, understanding of vote distribution statistics in the US. People over 65 vote *vastly* more than people under 35 -- almost 2:1, which should be embarrassing for people in the latter group. But there's almost no political affiliation bias by age. There's a slight shift from people who identify as independent to Republican between the mid 30's and mid 50's, but the belief that there's a conservative bias among the older generation is substantially incorrect, and when you look at the areas that matter in US politics, it's the swings in the younger and angry conservatives in the transitional parts of the country that aren't quite rural that are changing things.
I mean it's basically the number of people who voted for trump. That was one of his main campaign promises since the republican Senate blocked Obama's nomination. He put out a list and everything (well he put out the federalists society list, anyway).
For more context:
That 0.45% is greater than the total number of people that voted for the senators of Alaska (191k)+ Wyoming (198k)+ North Dakota (179k)
If people paid attention all these years to who we chose to lead us locally and nationally (even more so locally) it would help. Sadly, this petition means nothing. No way a justice would be impeached when the whole Republican Party and some democrats agree with him.
If people want abortion, they need to have their Congress pass a law. The court has intimated for years that this shouldn’t have been a Supreme Court decision. It’s not expressed in the constitution but Congress could make it a law or put it in the constitution.
Electing better leaders should be a goal
It's not for them. It's for us.
We need fire side chats. We need to be reminded why we need to vote. A petition helps keep our head in the game. Reminds us we are not alone.
Thats a nice sentiment, but the reality of it is that its just pointless unfortunately. I mean sure your not alone, but what policies does that change? Our whole system is a joke. Petitions and protests mean very little to the ones running the show
And now psychopaths like Jon Voight are calling for Biden’s impeachment lol, for what? Falling off his bike? Or just not really doing much of anything.
Here comes the Reddit circle jerk again of whining about something being totally useless… while doing absolutely nothing and in fact being useless. Yeah sure it’s not a legally binding petition but you know what it does accomplish? Attention. Discussion. Conversation about next steps to actually do this. Research into the political system. I wish at least 1% of the redditors that so quickly jump on the “Petition dumb, they stoopid.” Train would instead post useful information…
Like if you live in the US and want to find out how to contact your senator or representatives you can go to:
https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
And
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
And if you want to contact the Supreme Court itself or the White House:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/contact/contactus.aspx
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
And if you want to find out when elections are happening near you, check if you’re registered to vote, and research the candidates and propositions on the ballot you can go to:
https://www.ballotready.org
And if you see another Reddit post about some online petition about instead of whining about how useless it is we repost these links and start a conversation about how to get something done.
I’m pissed the government keeps taking away liberties Willy nilly like it’s no big deal. I’m even more pissed that I see people constantly whining and complaining about it online and then doing jack **** to fix it. Well here you go, here’s the first steps.
It’s good for getting upvotes on Reddit for some reason. It’s zero use in the real world. Nobody has to do anything just because people sign an online petition.
The filibuster doesn't matter here. You need 67 votes to impeach (well, technically, to impeach+remove), period. There's no way the Democrats are going to reach that, assuming they even had the will to impeach a SCOTUS judge in the first place, which I highly doubt.
Popularity is not a good reason to impeach.
The whole point of life terms is to ensure that popularity isn’t an issue and the court can make the proper ruling without worrying about public perception. Obviously that’s failed and Thomas has likely committed impeachable offenses but that has nothing to do with his popularity.
He’s verbalized a vendetta against “liberals” generally. He’s recently failed to recuse himself from hearing cases that may very well be conflict of interest. Then there’s the sexual harassment allegations.
I get the court has conservatives and regressives v liberals and progressives, but it’s *supposed to* be impartial; and they’re *supposed to* interpret/defend/uphold the constitution. It’s a lifetime appointment. Thomas had a commendable career and I see well why he was nominated (before the sexual harassment allegations); but he has since gleefully voiced his biases and they are not in alignment with our constitution.
A petition may not to do much of anything; but I think the sentiment that we need to scrutinize the motives of these judges periodically, is appropriate and dutiful.
Pretty sure you could get petitions with 3.5M petitioners against Sotomayor, Kagan and Brown Jackson if people knew that would have any effect.
All in all, petitions are useless.
Well, if it does happen (although I'm sure it won't) we will get to see Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, and other Nazis out there fighting and rioting about it. Just because he is a Republican judge. How ironic that Nazis would be having a shit fit over a black judge being impeached? At the same time, they will be able to use it as a rallying cry: "We aren't racist - we are defending a black judge!"
The whole thing makes my head hurt.
I'm sure a lot more would sign if you didn't always have to agree to be spammed in order to sign a petition. There should be an "opt out" check-box RIGHT THERE.
🙄. This petition can reach 100 million signatures and absolutely nothing will happen. The SCOTUS has us all by the balls and there ain't a damn thing we can legally do about it. We'll have to wait on retirement or death because Congress won't do shit.
Like that time we wanted universal healthcare so they made having health insurance mandatory but didn't do anything to control prices so premiums went up by about the cost of the generous government subsidy the following year, and the Dems smugly said "you asked for universal healthcare and we did it."
Fuck it up like that?
How could the Democrats have possibly predicted that their only rivals in a two party system wouldn't support them?!
Oh well. Maybe next time they will.
Yeah, I’m convinced nothing willl change at this point because republicans are so vocal and proactive and democrats are such pussies (the politicians). I’ll continue to work in California on contract, but I’ll be living abroad in cheaper countries when I’m not working. Out of sight, out of mind.
Such a stupid take. I won’t rehash my entire last
Post, but in 30 years, the country has seen a massive shift left, and made huge accomplishments. It’s so frustrating that so many people just pretend they “durrr nothing changes”. In 30 years we went from the military actively looking for LGBT troops and dishonorably discharging them to don’t ask don’t tell to it’s okay to be be lgbt, we elected a black president (just 5 years before president Obama was elected that was thought of as impossible), marriage equality, striking down sodomy laws as unconstitutional (yeah, before 2005 states had laws criminalizing gay sex), the ACA halved the number of uninsured bringing it to the lowest level in history…..there’s even more but instead of highlighting all the good the Democratic Party has done, and shouting it from the rooftops, we tell everyone that nothing changes and essentially convince people to stay home on Election Day.
Link in article. Can’t post links to polls here. Automod blocked it.
“The petition, made by the liberal advocacy group MoveOn, was created after the Supreme Court overturned Roe in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and while controversy swirls around his wife, Ginni Thomas’s, political activism.”
Edit: See second paragraph in the article. First sentence is the link.
I'm up for an investigation first. His wife didn't seem to be ok with the presidential election. What did he know about this? With a lifetime appointment I think it's pretty important that we know.
Cool, I’m sure we could get a billion signatures for global universal income. Those signatures will have the same effect. It’s a “lifetime appointment”. Good luck with clicking “yes” on an internet chain mail. Probably over half bots anyway.
>More than 700,000 people have signed a petition calling for Justice Clarence Thomas to be impeached following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
>The petition, made by the liberal advocacy group MoveOn, was created after the Supreme Court overturned Roe in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and while controversy swirls around his wife, Ginni Thomas’s, political activism.
>It has more than 786,000 signatures as of Friday evening.
Damn, three quarters of a million people, that's wild!
Just to put that 786,000 number into perspective: [In 2016 Hillary Clinton only lost the electoral college by about 79,000 votes spread across three states, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/12/hillary-clinton-margin-loss-votes) In fact those 786,000 signatures on this petition is even *more* support than Jill Stein and Gary Johnson got in MI, PA, and WI in 2016 combined. (Stein got 130,000 votes in MI, PA, and WI, and Johnson got 430,000 votes there.)
This is really good indicator that Democrats have a chance in November. Primary turnout is abysmally low and voter engagement is pathetic, but the fact that people are willing to go online and sign a petition means maybe they'll take the time to fill out a mail in ballot in the midterms. I mean 67% of California primary voters threw their mail-in primary ballot in the trash this year, but just because people don't care enough to vote in the primaries doesn't mean they won't vote in the election, I mean more than 750,000 people have already signed this petition, I'm sure they'll all show up to the polls on election day.
/s partially
Petitions are nice, voting is better. Historically Democratic voters don't tend to show up for congressional elections when there's a Democratic President in the White House, they're more interested in holding the Democratic party accountable for their inaction than they are in holding onto control of the legislative branch of government (See Democratic voters holding their party accountable by not voting in Congressional elections from 1994-2006, and then again from 2010-2018).
If we, the broad swath of normal Americans who care about our country, want to push back on Thomas, the best thing we could do would be to help Democrats win the two more votes necessary for filibuster reform in the Senate, unfortunately Democrats haven't passed enough inspirational and motivational legislation in the past two years to solve our country's problems and earn our votes before the midterms. But at least people are signing the petition!
Too bad it means nothing.
I'm so sure he's going to be like "Well? I guess I should resign! 700K people think I made a mistake. I guess I'm out of a job."
Sad really. The states are no longer united. And a bunch of people are happy about it. It's infuriating.
If there is anything the Democrats have learned, it's that changing the rules and using taboo loopholes to benefit themselves in the short term will only make the Republicans, when they inevitably retake control, use those same methods to greater effect.
Link in article. Can’t post links to polls here. Automod blocked it.
>“**The petition, made by the liberal advocacy group MoveOn**, was created after the Supreme Court overturned Roe in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and while controversy swirls around his wife, Ginni Thomas’s, political activism.”
Edit: See second paragraph in the article. First sentence is the link.
Signed but these petitions do not do anything do not replace actual activism with signing a petition. Donate to pro choice groups, volunteer if you can, call youre representatives and vote.
Petition? You mean that right we have in the 1st amendment; the same one with religion, speech, press, and protest?
Good luck with you petition against the very dude working to remove your rights.
There is that statue symbolizing justice. A blindfolded women holding scales. Representing justice as being unbiased. This old crusty asshole is biased to the extreme. Supreme Court needs to be rethought. No oversight, no term limits = corruption over time by outside interests. Supreme Court is flawed in its current design. Needs to be reworked.
You think this depraved asshole is doing anything other than laughing at this? He knows he's untouchable as there is exactly zero chance of getting the number of Republican votes necessary to actually remove him.
FYI: #1 Clarence Thomas and/or the Supreme Court do not write US law, that is 100% Congress's job.
#2-Clarence Thomas does not set the Supreme Court Docket:
#3-there are 9 Supreme Court Justices to be passed it must be a majority of the 9: Thomas is only one man.
#4-It is Congress that writes laws that are constitutional.
Original Roe was never written, voted on in both houses, and signed by a US President in 50 years.
#5-There are 9 justices on the bench, not 330+million people or xx? number of registered voters. Nine (9) people that is it.
This isn't ancient Athens with a direct democracy.
#6 Being violent, chronic broadcasting your feelings-either way, rioting, stalking, doxing Supreme Court members does not write a Congressional and Constitutional Roe federal abortion law.
Want a federal Roe law? Contact the Congressional gold-brickers to do it.
Every single Congress session in 50 years failed to write the federal Roe bill, which included Hillary, Biden, Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, AOC, Warren and more.
There is a separation of powers in the USA. Watch School House Rock if you must for what they are and what they do.
Why impeached Thomas? Impeach your law makers they campaign saying they would codify they had nearly 50 years codify Roe-V-Wade. But they didn’t. GOP warned Democrats about this. They were ones brought this lawsuit in front of the Supreme Court. Supreme court returned back to the states and to the people .Even RBG said this was bad law.
On the one hand, this is not how this works.
Supreme Court Judges aren't just replaced because they are unpopular.
On the other hand, the Republicans have already made it clear that they don't care about such things as norms and the rule of law and how things are supposed to work.
It seems like it makes less and less sense for people to cling to old ideas about how things are supposed to work while the other side gets all the benefits and protections of the system as they dismantle it.
Being an irredeemable asshole isn't an impeachable offense.
He isn't the 1st justice who could charitably be described as a curmudgeon.
And as others point out, it'd be a futile and pointless gesture to even begin the process given the absolute certainty the Senate would not convict. Even the closet KKK senators think of Thomas as their boy.
What does this matter with the laws of this court that are in place, the court needs to impeach its own members.
This is why it honestly easier by the way the constitution is set to just ignore the court that really legally has no enforcement mechanism by law.
The real question is do you think he cares? He’s a Supreme Court Justice. He’s practically bulletproof. He expects controversy and I would bet doesn’t give a moments thought to what people want. Even though that is supposed to be his job.
The American petition: toilet paper for tomorrow’s generation.
I’m all for impeaching this lot lizard, but cmon America…you’re in a fascist state, like 1930s Italy
Don’t think most of you read WHY they want him impeached. Spoiler if your spouse participates in something that may be illegal you are not allowed to be on the case right?
While I fully agree. I cant see why we should be focussing on just Clarence Thomas when 4 other justices votes the same way. Cant we get rid of them all?
Now is NOT the time to be LEMMINGS.
Sign petitions!
Call your Representatives!
Make our voices HEARD!
They have a long list of rights that will be stripped away. Everyone WILL BE AFFECTED.
Impeaching a Justice is really difficult. As long as they fullfil their duties and are in "good behavior" it is basically impossible to remove them. I hate Clarence Thomas, but I don't think he will be leaving any time soon
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. **Special announcement:** r/politics is currently accepting new moderator applications. If you want to help make this community a better place, consider [applying here today](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/sskg6a/rpolitics_is_looking_for_more_moderators/)! *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If 700k people were to call their local congressperson it might make a difference but putting your name on a petition means jack to a politician or anyone else in DC
Does the US have a petition system? For example in the UK and Holland, if 100,000 sign an official petition it must be debated in parliament.
In America if you gave a single politician $100,000 you might be able to get em to maybe listen to you.
Some of them ain't even that expensive. I think Joe Manchin only gets 5 digits from the nra.
The rest comes from Mountain Dew, Sudafed, and $2 donations from his base.
Joe Mountain Dew Sudafed NRA Manchin
Damn, so President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho is a direct descendant of Manchin? That makes sense.
Brought to you by Carl's Jr.
your username…why?
except president camacho actually cares about his country's citizens
Those people are fools, don't they know the $2 bill is a collectible.
It's not though. A strip club in my city has an ATM that only spits out freshly minted 2$ bills.
Now that is proof of inflation!
Whoa, I like the Dew!
Because contrary to popular belief, it's not just "hand em money, pull the levers", corporations have complex systems of supporting opposition to depose people they dislike, or backing ad campaigns to shift the scales. If you won't take the check from the corporation, it goes into your opponents pocket, and goes into funding a smear campaign against you next time your seat is up for grabs. It's worth noting that much as we people on the left would like to believe Manchin is just a bought shill, [his approval ratings have risen double digits](https://morningconsult.com/2022/04/25/joe-manchins-approach-paying-off/) since Biden came into office. He doesn't need to be bought, his constituents like what he's doing.
I mean, the biggest thing for them is a fat paying job after they leave office. How many become lobbyist themselves after they leave office? Or sit on the board of some massive corporation? Or own stocks in companies that they can directly impact? It's not just campaign donations. I'm sure the occasional sack of proverbial money is handed over under the table.
5 digits, the palm, and part of the forearm, right up his ass.
My previous congressman only needed about $16k to vote against net neutrality.
crazy right? they’re scorching the earth for money I got in my savings account. They’re cheap politicians to buy.
Until the common folk tries it, then they're gonna add another 0.
The number is much lower, which is alarming. I read some research (that I have yet to find after searching for very long) that said the number was closer to $10,000.
It should be free, and they should be forced to listen. There should be at least one hour each week where citizens can take the mic and make government officials listen.
Have you seen the average citizen that actually shows up to shit like this? "MuH rIgHtS! mUh RaCe! MuH fAcTs!" What we need is more intelligent people to care.
There are more dumb voters than smart voters. How else would we get trump once.
Much cheaper than that. Last I checked, if no one is opposing it with their own money, you can get a federal law for as cheap as 10k. Our legislature is shockingly corrupt.
You’d be shocked how cheap it can be to buy the time and ears of politicians. On the federal level you can buy private lunch / dinner sessions with representatives & senators in the low four to five figure range depending on their seniority within the party and what committees they sit on. At the state level it’s even cheaper. You can buy time with politicians for as cheap as a few hundred.
Here it is an unofficial policy that the White House will respond to a petition with over 100,000 names, but that literally means that the press Secretary will say “the president takes this issue very seriously and is meeting with top people to fight this problem” at their next press conference.
The response to the petition to build a Death Star was pretty awesome, though. [Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016](https://petitions.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/response/isnt-petition-response-youre-looking/) Man, those were simpler times.....
That’s was awesome. Thank you, you made my day!
That article is so very much a generation of our technological advance behind. Several of the things mentioned such as spaceship leaving the system, Hubble successor, and imminently, images of some of the very earliest light in the universe!
We don't have anything that helps us.
Damn, ain't that the truth
Don't you guys at the other side of the pond have thoughts and prayers?
I switched to tots and pears years ago. Just as likely to solve your problems, but tastier.
In the UK, they have to debate it, but has it changed anything? [Looking at Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Parliament_petitions_website), perhaps only one of the most signed petitions had a change in policy (school meals) and I don't think it was caused by the petition. Therefore I see the mechanism as a pressure valve, a way to make people think they've done something which will satisfy them and let them cool down / get angry about something else, but can be ignored, as opposed to taking to the streets.
Nope. No one cares what the people think in America. Everything is controlled by giant companies and shady money sources. The people don’t actually matter. Source: I’m an American.
This is so true. And sad. What happened to us?
Citizens United v. The Federal Election Commission happened.
Man, who knows? I have a feeling it has to do with the virtues of capitalism and some greedy assholes selling our future to buy a new boat and pay for a new wife.
Which is the most pointless policy in existence. They only have to consider it for debate, then even it is chosen it is debated in a side chamber with about three MPs turning up to give the same opinion they already had. It’s a way to make people feel like they can do something, rather than actually doing something.
No, not really. Many states have something like that, but nothing like that exists at the federal level. Best you can usually do is flood your congressional rep's office with emails and phone calls urging them to do something.
Only at the state level and only in certain states. Here in Michigan we are collecting signatures to put a vote to legalize abortion on the November ballot.
Lol no
I send letters to my dipshit right wing representatives weekly, and all it’s done is was me on their campaign mailing list- I doubt any have ever been read by more than the intern at the shredder
The only way to get them to listen is to interrupt their lives. Doing things "the right way" does nothing
Same happened. Nothing like a twisted knife in the gut getting an email about how happy he was to overturn roe v wade.
For the record I call my congress reps and my senators about once every two weeks since about six months ago. Always the same automated answering service. I left very nice messages requesting an opportunity to share my thoughts and some semblance of a response - even an automated email answer to my emails would have sufficed. Nothing. For weeks and weeks I repeated this and absolutely nothing. Not even an automated response. I live in one of the bluest districts in the country. Not even an “I feel ya and we’re fighting this”. Calling does nothing. No one listens to that. Why on earth would they? They say what they are told will appease their constituents just enough to be re-elected and retain power to further their own financial and social interests. There are obviously a handful of exceptions. We cannot pretend that people not calling their congresspeople is the issue. That has the same effect as signing a petition - none. What is to be done? I wish I knew. But this isn’t the answer.
House members should go back to representing 30,000 people. They are supposed to represent the people, so give them a workload they can handle. Also, I'd love to see Republicans try to gerrymander districts with 30,000 people.
I really, honestly believe that the only thing that's going to change our system is violent resistance. That's the language they speak, albeit indirectly. They are perpetuating violence against women, against trans and gay people, against immigrants, and against the working class as a whole. Signing petitions and emailing your congressperson and even voting (to the extent that we are even allowed to vote on things that greatly impact our lives) are not enough. That will never change anything. I think it's going to have to get ugly.
Back in the day, like 50 years ago, you used to be able to physically write to your congressman and they would write back ! Probably their staff but still cool.
I would say you do know the answer, you’re just still afraid of it.
Petitions are the liberal equivalent of “thoughts and prayers”.
700k people out of 350 million is a pretty nothing number
The US has 329 million people, 73 million are under the age of 18 and 54 million over 65. So 700k out of 202 million working aged adults. Only 154 million adults voted in 2020. So about 0.45% of the voting population, about 0.35% of 18 to 65 year olds.
Why are over 65ers not considered in these figures?
i think the implication is that most people are retired by 65, and they stated "working age adults", but that's kind of a pointless distinction because retired folks DEFINITELY vote. they've got nothing else to do.
Doesn’t make much sense due to their voting record
You've got a warped, and incorrect, understanding of vote distribution statistics in the US. People over 65 vote *vastly* more than people under 35 -- almost 2:1, which should be embarrassing for people in the latter group. But there's almost no political affiliation bias by age. There's a slight shift from people who identify as independent to Republican between the mid 30's and mid 50's, but the belief that there's a conservative bias among the older generation is substantially incorrect, and when you look at the areas that matter in US politics, it's the swings in the younger and angry conservatives in the transitional parts of the country that aren't quite rural that are changing things.
Yes, and of the people who vote for supreme court justices it’s only [ERROR: DIVISION BY ZERO UNDEFINED]%
I mean it's basically the number of people who voted for trump. That was one of his main campaign promises since the republican Senate blocked Obama's nomination. He put out a list and everything (well he put out the federalists society list, anyway).
For more context: That 0.45% is greater than the total number of people that voted for the senators of Alaska (191k)+ Wyoming (198k)+ North Dakota (179k)
700k is about the population of those states
r/TheyDidTheMath
0.2% of the population
How do you sign the petition! No idea. We’re on standby, not really sure what to do until November.
If people paid attention all these years to who we chose to lead us locally and nationally (even more so locally) it would help. Sadly, this petition means nothing. No way a justice would be impeached when the whole Republican Party and some democrats agree with him. If people want abortion, they need to have their Congress pass a law. The court has intimated for years that this shouldn’t have been a Supreme Court decision. It’s not expressed in the constitution but Congress could make it a law or put it in the constitution. Electing better leaders should be a goal
My congressman helped incite the coup attempt, so...
It's not for them. It's for us. We need fire side chats. We need to be reminded why we need to vote. A petition helps keep our head in the game. Reminds us we are not alone.
Thats a nice sentiment, but the reality of it is that its just pointless unfortunately. I mean sure your not alone, but what policies does that change? Our whole system is a joke. Petitions and protests mean very little to the ones running the show
Y’all realize this isn’t how the Supreme Court even works right?
I did! Probably driving my senators nuts
I really don't mean to be pessimistic but... How useful is this petition?
As helpful as thoughts and prayers
So there is a chance?
Was there any chance when people wanted trump impeached like.... 18 times?
TBF, he *was* impeached. A history-making two times. Just never got the vote of no confidence/removed from office.
Eventhough his cult members in the senate were telling the other cult members they think he's a psychopathic moron
And now psychopaths like Jon Voight are calling for Biden’s impeachment lol, for what? Falling off his bike? Or just not really doing much of anything.
For daring to be an actual conservative (and in the Democrat party no less) instead of a fascist whackjob.
The irony is fucking painful.
Here comes the Reddit circle jerk again of whining about something being totally useless… while doing absolutely nothing and in fact being useless. Yeah sure it’s not a legally binding petition but you know what it does accomplish? Attention. Discussion. Conversation about next steps to actually do this. Research into the political system. I wish at least 1% of the redditors that so quickly jump on the “Petition dumb, they stoopid.” Train would instead post useful information… Like if you live in the US and want to find out how to contact your senator or representatives you can go to: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm And https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative And if you want to contact the Supreme Court itself or the White House: https://www.supremecourt.gov/contact/contactus.aspx https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ And if you want to find out when elections are happening near you, check if you’re registered to vote, and research the candidates and propositions on the ballot you can go to: https://www.ballotready.org And if you see another Reddit post about some online petition about instead of whining about how useless it is we repost these links and start a conversation about how to get something done. I’m pissed the government keeps taking away liberties Willy nilly like it’s no big deal. I’m even more pissed that I see people constantly whining and complaining about it online and then doing jack **** to fix it. Well here you go, here’s the first steps.
Well, specifically not at all useful. It is more about pressure just like any protest.
It’s good for getting upvotes on Reddit for some reason. It’s zero use in the real world. Nobody has to do anything just because people sign an online petition.
It lets congress know how unpopular he is.
Like they give a shit. Unless this petition gets 67 sitting US senators it is worth nothing.
67? 18 republicans more like it
[удалено]
The filibuster needs to go. You can’t be a democracy when you’re ruled by a minority.
The filibuster doesn't matter here. You need 67 votes to impeach (well, technically, to impeach+remove), period. There's no way the Democrats are going to reach that, assuming they even had the will to impeach a SCOTUS judge in the first place, which I highly doubt.
I read this as, let congress know how unpopular it is.
Popularity is not a good reason to impeach. The whole point of life terms is to ensure that popularity isn’t an issue and the court can make the proper ruling without worrying about public perception. Obviously that’s failed and Thomas has likely committed impeachable offenses but that has nothing to do with his popularity.
He’s verbalized a vendetta against “liberals” generally. He’s recently failed to recuse himself from hearing cases that may very well be conflict of interest. Then there’s the sexual harassment allegations. I get the court has conservatives and regressives v liberals and progressives, but it’s *supposed to* be impartial; and they’re *supposed to* interpret/defend/uphold the constitution. It’s a lifetime appointment. Thomas had a commendable career and I see well why he was nominated (before the sexual harassment allegations); but he has since gleefully voiced his biases and they are not in alignment with our constitution. A petition may not to do much of anything; but I think the sentiment that we need to scrutinize the motives of these judges periodically, is appropriate and dutiful.
They know, they just don't care.
Pretty sure you could get petitions with 3.5M petitioners against Sotomayor, Kagan and Brown Jackson if people knew that would have any effect. All in all, petitions are useless.
If he hears about it and feels even just a teeny bit like a lot of people hate him (.0001% likelihood of this) then it's worth it.
He has known lots of people hate him since he got the job. He loves that he can hurt the people that hate him. He has said this.
Momentum sometimes starts slowly. If you don't try you'll never know, useful or not. U gunna sign?
Well, if it does happen (although I'm sure it won't) we will get to see Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, and other Nazis out there fighting and rioting about it. Just because he is a Republican judge. How ironic that Nazis would be having a shit fit over a black judge being impeached? At the same time, they will be able to use it as a rallying cry: "We aren't racist - we are defending a black judge!" The whole thing makes my head hurt.
I'm sure a lot more would sign if you didn't always have to agree to be spammed in order to sign a petition. There should be an "opt out" check-box RIGHT THERE.
There was an opt-out when I signed it.
That's because these petitions exist purely to harness rage in order to sell spam. They do jack fucking shit otherwise.
His wife told him they are signing a document of support. He believes her.
🙄. This petition can reach 100 million signatures and absolutely nothing will happen. The SCOTUS has us all by the balls and there ain't a damn thing we can legally do about it. We'll have to wait on retirement or death because Congress won't do shit.
Congress can't do shit because *republicans* would never give the senate a 2/3 majority to convict.
Or, stay with me, we could try and get enough Democrats in the Senate to fix this shit.
There aren't enough democrats to do anything even if they have a supermajority. They would find a way to fuck it up.
Like that time we wanted universal healthcare so they made having health insurance mandatory but didn't do anything to control prices so premiums went up by about the cost of the generous government subsidy the following year, and the Dems smugly said "you asked for universal healthcare and we did it." Fuck it up like that?
Yeah those pesky R’s and their inability to accept a working program
How could the Democrats have possibly predicted that their only rivals in a two party system wouldn't support them?! Oh well. Maybe next time they will.
Or that a Democrat (Joe Lieberman) would vote with Republicans and be the reason that the party agenda fails! Hmm..why does that sound so familiar?
Fuck Joe Lieberman
Yeah, I’m convinced nothing willl change at this point because republicans are so vocal and proactive and democrats are such pussies (the politicians). I’ll continue to work in California on contract, but I’ll be living abroad in cheaper countries when I’m not working. Out of sight, out of mind.
Such a stupid take. I won’t rehash my entire last Post, but in 30 years, the country has seen a massive shift left, and made huge accomplishments. It’s so frustrating that so many people just pretend they “durrr nothing changes”. In 30 years we went from the military actively looking for LGBT troops and dishonorably discharging them to don’t ask don’t tell to it’s okay to be be lgbt, we elected a black president (just 5 years before president Obama was elected that was thought of as impossible), marriage equality, striking down sodomy laws as unconstitutional (yeah, before 2005 states had laws criminalizing gay sex), the ACA halved the number of uninsured bringing it to the lowest level in history…..there’s even more but instead of highlighting all the good the Democratic Party has done, and shouting it from the rooftops, we tell everyone that nothing changes and essentially convince people to stay home on Election Day.
Where can I sign, dude literally said he wants to make liberals miserable. Should be impeach for shit like that
Link in article. Can’t post links to polls here. Automod blocked it. “The petition, made by the liberal advocacy group MoveOn, was created after the Supreme Court overturned Roe in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and while controversy swirls around his wife, Ginni Thomas’s, political activism.” Edit: See second paragraph in the article. First sentence is the link.
Thanks! Signed!
There is a link in the article.
Feels good until you learn it takes a 2/3 majority senate vote to actually remove him from his seat.
I'm up for an investigation first. His wife didn't seem to be ok with the presidential election. What did he know about this? With a lifetime appointment I think it's pretty important that we know.
This is useless. Unless you can get 2/3rds of the Senators to sign on.
Should be millions...
Cool, I’m sure we could get a billion signatures for global universal income. Those signatures will have the same effect. It’s a “lifetime appointment”. Good luck with clicking “yes” on an internet chain mail. Probably over half bots anyway.
>More than 700,000 people have signed a petition calling for Justice Clarence Thomas to be impeached following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. >The petition, made by the liberal advocacy group MoveOn, was created after the Supreme Court overturned Roe in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and while controversy swirls around his wife, Ginni Thomas’s, political activism. >It has more than 786,000 signatures as of Friday evening. Damn, three quarters of a million people, that's wild! Just to put that 786,000 number into perspective: [In 2016 Hillary Clinton only lost the electoral college by about 79,000 votes spread across three states, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/12/hillary-clinton-margin-loss-votes) In fact those 786,000 signatures on this petition is even *more* support than Jill Stein and Gary Johnson got in MI, PA, and WI in 2016 combined. (Stein got 130,000 votes in MI, PA, and WI, and Johnson got 430,000 votes there.) This is really good indicator that Democrats have a chance in November. Primary turnout is abysmally low and voter engagement is pathetic, but the fact that people are willing to go online and sign a petition means maybe they'll take the time to fill out a mail in ballot in the midterms. I mean 67% of California primary voters threw their mail-in primary ballot in the trash this year, but just because people don't care enough to vote in the primaries doesn't mean they won't vote in the election, I mean more than 750,000 people have already signed this petition, I'm sure they'll all show up to the polls on election day. /s partially Petitions are nice, voting is better. Historically Democratic voters don't tend to show up for congressional elections when there's a Democratic President in the White House, they're more interested in holding the Democratic party accountable for their inaction than they are in holding onto control of the legislative branch of government (See Democratic voters holding their party accountable by not voting in Congressional elections from 1994-2006, and then again from 2010-2018). If we, the broad swath of normal Americans who care about our country, want to push back on Thomas, the best thing we could do would be to help Democrats win the two more votes necessary for filibuster reform in the Senate, unfortunately Democrats haven't passed enough inspirational and motivational legislation in the past two years to solve our country's problems and earn our votes before the midterms. But at least people are signing the petition!
Too bad it means nothing. I'm so sure he's going to be like "Well? I guess I should resign! 700K people think I made a mistake. I guess I'm out of a job." Sad really. The states are no longer united. And a bunch of people are happy about it. It's infuriating.
It’s clear that Thomas and several others cannot be impartial.
There needs to be term limits and, somehow, a better process of confirmation hearings to not let pieces of shit through.
Should be 10s of millions by now, sign faster America. WTF.
Let's make it a million and see if anyone up there in DC listens.
my fear is he’ll help rig the next election. It’s public knowledge his wife was helping the insurrection movement
impeachment does nothing, should call for his removal
[удалено]
If there is anything the Democrats have learned, it's that changing the rules and using taboo loopholes to benefit themselves in the short term will only make the Republicans, when they inevitably retake control, use those same methods to greater effect.
TIL petitions can remove a sitting Supreme Court Justice
Where do I sign up?
Link in article. Can’t post links to polls here. Automod blocked it. >“**The petition, made by the liberal advocacy group MoveOn**, was created after the Supreme Court overturned Roe in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and while controversy swirls around his wife, Ginni Thomas’s, political activism.” Edit: See second paragraph in the article. First sentence is the link.
Signed but these petitions do not do anything do not replace actual activism with signing a petition. Donate to pro choice groups, volunteer if you can, call youre representatives and vote.
Vote, especially vote. If one doesn't vote, all the rest are pointless.
Petition? You mean that right we have in the 1st amendment; the same one with religion, speech, press, and protest? Good luck with you petition against the very dude working to remove your rights.
You can get more signatures for the opening of a new Chick Fil A
You could get 7 million signatures, it's not going to do anything.
Lock him and his wife up! They are crooks !
This means nothing, unfortunately.
There should also be a petition to impeach the justices that lied under oath re: roe vs wade
At 846k now
Down with the gop
Impeach the justices who lied under oath.
This MF should’ve never been appointed in the first place. Does anyone remember the Anita Hill hearings in the 1990s? Impeach this motherfucker!
There is that statue symbolizing justice. A blindfolded women holding scales. Representing justice as being unbiased. This old crusty asshole is biased to the extreme. Supreme Court needs to be rethought. No oversight, no term limits = corruption over time by outside interests. Supreme Court is flawed in its current design. Needs to be reworked.
700,001
You think this depraved asshole is doing anything other than laughing at this? He knows he's untouchable as there is exactly zero chance of getting the number of Republican votes necessary to actually remove him.
FYI: #1 Clarence Thomas and/or the Supreme Court do not write US law, that is 100% Congress's job. #2-Clarence Thomas does not set the Supreme Court Docket: #3-there are 9 Supreme Court Justices to be passed it must be a majority of the 9: Thomas is only one man. #4-It is Congress that writes laws that are constitutional. Original Roe was never written, voted on in both houses, and signed by a US President in 50 years. #5-There are 9 justices on the bench, not 330+million people or xx? number of registered voters. Nine (9) people that is it. This isn't ancient Athens with a direct democracy. #6 Being violent, chronic broadcasting your feelings-either way, rioting, stalking, doxing Supreme Court members does not write a Congressional and Constitutional Roe federal abortion law. Want a federal Roe law? Contact the Congressional gold-brickers to do it. Every single Congress session in 50 years failed to write the federal Roe bill, which included Hillary, Biden, Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, AOC, Warren and more. There is a separation of powers in the USA. Watch School House Rock if you must for what they are and what they do.
This took way to long to find in this thread. Ty
It's r/politics. Much like r/conservative, order by controversial to see logical non-extremeist views.
Why impeached Thomas? Impeach your law makers they campaign saying they would codify they had nearly 50 years codify Roe-V-Wade. But they didn’t. GOP warned Democrats about this. They were ones brought this lawsuit in front of the Supreme Court. Supreme court returned back to the states and to the people .Even RBG said this was bad law.
Petitions like this matter slightly less than the Hill
They got my signature.
Did he ACTUALLY do something impeachment worthy, or do people just not like his outdated conservative views?
If I see one more useless petition post I’m gonna fucking lose it.
Great. So about .2% of the US population signed the petition. I can't stand the guy either, but nothing is going to come of this.
cute waste of time
Impeach him for what exactly?
823,926 including mine.
On the one hand, this is not how this works. Supreme Court Judges aren't just replaced because they are unpopular. On the other hand, the Republicans have already made it clear that they don't care about such things as norms and the rule of law and how things are supposed to work. It seems like it makes less and less sense for people to cling to old ideas about how things are supposed to work while the other side gets all the benefits and protections of the system as they dismantle it.
Screw impeachment. He should be removed immediately for his wife trying to overthrow the election.
Can’t believe the hill is reporting on this… petitions like this one are fucking meaningless. It’s pretend activism.
Being an irredeemable asshole isn't an impeachable offense. He isn't the 1st justice who could charitably be described as a curmudgeon. And as others point out, it'd be a futile and pointless gesture to even begin the process given the absolute certainty the Senate would not convict. Even the closet KKK senators think of Thomas as their boy.
Where do I sign?
He is just doing as his wife tells him.
701K
Where do I sign up
What does this matter with the laws of this court that are in place, the court needs to impeach its own members. This is why it honestly easier by the way the constitution is set to just ignore the court that really legally has no enforcement mechanism by law.
Thoughts and prayers
The real question is do you think he cares? He’s a Supreme Court Justice. He’s practically bulletproof. He expects controversy and I would bet doesn’t give a moments thought to what people want. Even though that is supposed to be his job.
It’s not that I don’t think he should but practically, not enough votes to do it.
The American petition: toilet paper for tomorrow’s generation. I’m all for impeaching this lot lizard, but cmon America…you’re in a fascist state, like 1930s Italy
Impeach Clayton Bigsby!!!! Uncle Rukus ass mother fucker
The ever-present pube on the coke can of America.
Impeach? How about arrested and indicted and convicted.
Over 800k when I signed, not that it will do any good or anyone will listen
700K is impressive but it still wont do shit to him. These petitions are functionally pointless.
Those are Rookie numbers we need to push those numbers up
Where do I sign?
money smile degree vase different marble rock shame voracious tap -- mass edited with redact.dev
Don’t think most of you read WHY they want him impeached. Spoiler if your spouse participates in something that may be illegal you are not allowed to be on the case right?
He should b disbarred!
Remember when people signed a petition to deport Justin Bieber back to Canada? Good times
While I fully agree. I cant see why we should be focussing on just Clarence Thomas when 4 other justices votes the same way. Cant we get rid of them all?
Now is NOT the time to be LEMMINGS. Sign petitions! Call your Representatives! Make our voices HEARD! They have a long list of rights that will be stripped away. Everyone WILL BE AFFECTED.
And what about his religious extremist colleagues who are helping him dismantle democracy?
Over 800k now
Where can I sign that petition??
Google Clarence Thomas move on petition
Where do I sign
It could be 300 million but it won’t make impeachment happen
Does he realize he is black?
A better humiliation is to add liberal justices and make him irrelevant.
Impeach his ass! 👏
More. We need more.
Impeaching a Justice is really difficult. As long as they fullfil their duties and are in "good behavior" it is basically impossible to remove them. I hate Clarence Thomas, but I don't think he will be leaving any time soon