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Every year for the past few years, this particular judge and I are both invited to speak to a local high school class about politics and St. Louis and how those topics interact with our jobs.

It’s a tough assignment for the judge. As a federal judge, he can’t really talk about politics. But he gives the students a wonderful lesson about the U.S. Constitution, including an explanation of why he can’t talk about most of the topics I discuss.

I hope some of those students have been reading lately about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He’s been under fire for and detailed stories from ProPublica, and also The New York Times and The Washington Post, about his propensity to accept lavish gifts from billionaires who are, apparently, friends of his. Thomas has not been reporting those gifts on his ethics disclosures.

Most elected Republicans in Missouri and elsewhere have defended Thomas, which really is just a testament to how much that party has lost its way. Just read this one sentence from the most recent ProPublica piece on Thomas:

“At least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas; 26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter; a dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events, typically perched in the skybox; two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica; and one standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast.�

One of the things I do when thinking about political stories, particularly when it comes to ethics or corruption, is simply imagine how one party would react if somebody in the other party, or specific people in the other party, were guilty of doing the same things.

Imagine these headlines:

“Hillary Clinton accepted 38 luxury vacations from billionaires.�

“Billionaire tied to Hunter Biden took Joe Biden on an unreported voyage on a luxury yacht.�

“Mayor Tishaura Jones has standing invitation to uber-exclusive golf club.�

The same Republicans defending Thomas now would be in an uncontrollable feeding frenzy. But they need Thomas on the court, so they turn a blind eye and pretend not to notice what they know is a massive case of corruption on the bench.

There are state lawmakers I know who have accepted a few luxury trips before; and most find their way to various sporting events, with tickets provided by lobbyists or paid for with campaign funds. This is common in politics, in both parties. But the largesse is generally disclosed, and if it’s not, a scandal ensues.

But 38 destination vacations? On private jets and helicopters and yachts?

This is terribly, terribly wrong. Thomas knows it, which is why he’s editing his disclosures. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. knows it. My friend, the federal judge, knows it. Every single person who has ever put on the black robe knows it.

Because I spend a lot of time writing about the criminal justice system, I know a lot of judges, men and women in both major parties. I don’t know a single one of them who wouldn’t be scared to death of a news story about just one luxury trip paid for by a donor making its way into the newspaper. That’s the sort of thing that ends careers.

But not Thomas. Not yet, anyway. Not in the Age of Trump when the Republican Party standard-bearer faces literally dozens of state and federal criminal charges in three indictments (and counting). No, Thomas is off in the country somewhere, driving peacefully in the quarter-million-dollar luxury RV whose lien was secured by another billionaire, a questionable transaction, , with no clear paper trail about who really paid for what.

It’s a story with legs whose ending hasn’t been written yet. Until Thomas fesses up or faces consequences, every black robe in America loses just a little bit of its shine.

That’s the biggest tragedy of all.