So how the hell did Thomas get away with....

[crickets]

15. 👆👆 Agreed.

Norms and the honor system are not always enough. Some of the children on the bench really do need rules to keep them coloring inside the lines, but the Supreme Court (Roberts in particular) doesn't want them.

https://thehill.com/regulation/administration/587848-roberts-calls-for-judicial-independence-in-year-end-report

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts called for judicial independence in his annual year-end report on the federal judiciary, saying it is crucial to maintaining public trust in the courts.

"The Judiciary’s power to manage its internal affairs insulates courts from inappropriate political influence and is crucial to preserving public trust in its work as a separate and coequal branch of government," Roberts wrote in his 2021 year-end report on the federal judiciary, which was released on Friday.

What public trust? It's pretty well trashed these days, and Roberts' argument is a load of hogwash. "Independence" does not mean there is no need for codified norms, which (as you point out) the Court could impose upon itself. Voluntarily imposing ethics rules upon themselves might do some good in reestablishing trust with the public. This would have nothing to do with politics and everything to do with ethics, but Roberts chooses to ignore that.