This is his aim, if a Dem Justice has to recuse herself, then a Rep Justice must do the same.
“In addition, Crow reportedly provided Ginni Thomas some $500,000 to start her tea party group, Liberty Central, which pays her so well. Ginni Thomas openly lobbies issues that have or will come before the Supreme Court, such as health care reform.
When 74 Democratic members of Congress requested that Justice Thomas disqualify himself from any ruling on the new health care reform law, which is making its way toward the Supreme Court thanks in part to the efforts of the tea party and Ginni Thomas to have that law ruled unconstitutional, he ignored the request. This is his standard operating procedure. Thomas simply is not troubled by those who are concerned that a justice and his wife directly and indirectly receive financial benefits from “a friend” with both financial and political interests before the court.”
I think you're right, that Dean's purpose in writing appears to be to add what he can to a liberal drumbeat for Thomas's recusal at a minimum, and possibly his resignation.
But in this case he offers cognitive dissonance. The donor to Ginny Thomas's interests is Harlan Crow, son of the late F. Trammell Crow. Harlan Crow is also a trustee of Bush 41's presidential library and of American Enterprise Institute. SourceWatch has an entry for Harlan Crow here:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Harlan_Crow
Harlan's brother Trammell S. Crow (there were five Crow brothers and a sister) is the other scion active in the affairs of the (publicly-owned) company group and family holdings is also active in GOP affairs, being a board member of the Republican Leadership Council and on the boards of, or otherwise involved in, Thanksgiving Square, a multi-denominational center for the promotion of gratitude and religious tolerance. Past and ongoing involvements include the Dallas County Community District Foundation, University of Texas at Dallas, Museum of African-American Life and Culture, Dallas Children’s Theater, Trinity River Association, The Friends of the Katy Trail, Asia Society, Planned Parenthood of North Texas, ProChoice Texas, Population Connection, Deep Ellum Film Festival, McKinney Avenue Contemporary, and Mayor’s Recycling Task Force - Dallas.
I should think that, whatever Harlan Crow has been doing, it's Trammell S. who has been behind the booming-up of Rick Perry first as governor-for-life of Texas, and second as a candidate for the Republican nomination. You can search for Perry on FR and find a dozen recent -- very recent -- thread titles all put up by one FReeperette in particular.
But the cognitive dissonance lies in this, that as major employers (including the Wyndham Hotel chain), the Crow companies would actually benefit financially by dumping their employee health plans and allowing Obamacare to gobble up their employees as new client-serfs of the Democratic Party Plantation.
That Obamacare was fully intended to do this, and that many large employers behind the Republican Party and its ancillary brain-trust organizations like the American Enterprise Institute (see above) had already signed off on the Democrats' ambitions before the 2008 election, was outlined in an October 2008 article in Conde Nast Portfolio written by Howell Raines, former editor-in-chief of The New York Times. (Which is why John Boehner has done nothing, and will do nothing, about repealing Obamacare, and why he slapped down Michele Bachmann's bid for more policy responsibility within the GOP, asserting the "it's not your turn now" RiNO Club Rule.)
Ergo, Ginny Thomas's involvement with a Tea Party group and Harlan Crow's support of it is counterintuitive if one accepts at face John Dean's argument about Big Bidness subornation of the Supreme Court's only sitting black Associate Justice.