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About Mr. Crow and friendship... [1]

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Date: 2023-05-23

So the Atlantic has an article where Graeme Wood got to visit Harlan Crow and hear about his side of the story of great friendship with Clarence Thomas. I'm willing to allow some slack for memorabilia that seems questionable. But the friendship issue and how it affects disclosure has got me thinking.

I'm pretty sure Mr Crow sees himself as being pristine in his motives. All of us see ourselves that way. Most of us don't have billions to make anyone else agree.

And that's the crux. For a lot of money, I can overlook a lot of moral gray areas. I might even develop a blindness to genuine wrong.

So let's try a hypothetical. Instead of real estate (I know. Not that morally clean, but bear with me), what if the benefactor were, say, someone facilitating a drug cartel. Not a kingpin, just someone who greased the wheels, overlooked some stuff himself, did things that might not be convictable but also not from the purest of intentions. And who then pours money into vacations and retreats and even real estate for this sitting justice.

Could we, on the outside, tell the difference?

I would argue no. We couldn't. In fact, according to the argument offered by Mr. Crow, unless and until an actual case came before the justice, gifts from El Chapo himself would not have to be reported, as long as they are gifts of friendship.

Yikes.

What would help us distinguish them is the willingness to disclose. Yes, making something public seems risky. But if your friend is genuine, it can stand the scrutiny. It is being unwilling to disclose that raises suspicion, that makes moguls look like drug lords.

We know you don't like us, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Crow. But I read in a book somewhere that whatever is whispered in secret will be shouted from the rooftop. You might think about looking that up sometime.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/23/2170959/-About-Mr-Crow-and-friendship

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