.

Imagine a woman in a monogamous relationship. She has recently discovered texts on her partner’s phone to a young, attractive woman, but the partner dismisses these are innocent conversations with a friend. He’s allowed to have friends, right? The she uncovers gifts to the woman in question, but they too are innocent he protests, it was her birthday and people give gifts to people on their birthday.  Her friends bring photos of her partner enjoying upscale dinners and theater and the man continues to insist all of this, none of which he had shared with his partner means anything at all. After all, she has never seen him screwing this other woman, so there’s no proof that he’s been misbehaving.

With everything that has been concealed and hidden she would utterly right in suspecting him. He has shredded his reputation with her without a private eye snapping photos of him in her bed. The reputation, the belief that he was worth of trust exists only in her mind and once that questioned it is very difficult to ever hold again.

This is precisely the situation with Justice Thomas. No one can prove that he exchanged a single vote for all the elaborate gifts and lifestyle he has enjoyed at the benefit of his conservative billionaire friend. But that proof is immaterial to shattering of trust.

The courts survive entirely on reputation. They have no armies, no police, no real enforcement capability. If you doubt that look up the Trail of Tears. They work because everyone accepts that they are fair and if that is questioned everything crumbles.

The court must clean house or our very nation will teeter even closer to a point of no return. No nation is guaranteed a tomorrow.