While the country yawns over the latest Wikileaks revelations, think on this:

Thanks for this from Prairie Weather today.

Let's toss that "impeach" word around again, only this time...

... let's talk about it in the context of the Supreme Court.  You can't impeach a Supreme Court justice because you disagree with his opinions.  But maybe you can if his private life gets just too, too tawdry and too political.

There's the tawdriness of the lies Clarence Thomas doubtless clung to during his harrowing confirmation hearings.  That nastiness has surfaced again and will -- plenty of us hope -- do him the damage he has deserves after decades in a position he lied to achieve.

But even that's cheap goods compared to the general tawdriness of the newer conservative justices on the Court, the damage they are doing to the Court and the nation.  As we acknowledged the other day, John Roberts is no prize.  But Thomas and Scalia (maybe some Americans are also waiting for the Alito shoe to drop) are using their position on the Court to play footsie with the conservative and libertarian movements and with the people who pour billions into influencing legislation. 

Even leaving aside Ginni Thomas's work (and outside interests), we are confronted once again with Antonin Scalia's and Clarence Thomas's playtime activities among the vote buyers.

A secretive network of Republican donors is heading to the Palm Springs area for a long weekend in January, but it will not be to relax after a hard-fought election — it will be to plan for the next one.

Koch Industries, the longtime underwriter of libertarian causes from the Cato Institute in Washington to the ballot initiative that would suspend California’s landmark law capping greenhouse gases, is planning a confidential meeting at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa to, as an invitation says, “develop strategies to counter the most severe threats facing our free society and outline a vision of how we can foster a renewal of American free enterprise and prosperity.”

The invitation, sent to potential new participants, offers a rare peek at the Koch network of the ultrawealthy and the politically well-connected, its far-reaching agenda to enlist ordinary Americans to its cause, and its desire for the utmost secrecy. ...

Yes, indeed.  Look at the guest list.

The participants included some of the nation’s wealthiest families and biggest names in finance: private equity and hedge fund executives like John Childs, Cliff Asness, Steve Schwarzman and Ken Griffin; Phil Anschutz, the entertainment and media mogul ranked by Forbes as the 34th-richest person in the country; Rich DeVos, the co-founder of Amway; Steve Bechtel of the giant construction firm; and Kenneth Langone of Home Depot.

The group also included longtime Republican donors and officials, including Foster Friess, Fred Malek and former Attorney General Edwin Meese III.

Participants listened to presentations from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as people who played leading roles in John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008, like Nancy Pfotenhauer and Annie Dickerson, who also runs a foundation for Paul Singer, a hedge fund executive who like the Kochs is active in promoting libertarian causes.

To encourage new participants, Mr. Koch offers to waive the $1,500 registration fee. And he notes that previous guests have included Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court, Gov. Haley Barbour and Gov. Bobby Jindal, Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn, and Representatives Mike Pence, Tom Price and Paul D. Ryan.

Just like the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, the get-together reeks of partisanship, megabucks, and secrecy. Attending the State of the Union speech is optional for the justices;  responding to the Koch brothers' invitations is de rigeur.

Imagine what our courageous forebears -- who dreamed up America and brought it into being -- would think of what we've made of their gift!