<Found on Facebook (I changed the color):
Just about says it all, doesn't it?
The Reckoner>
<i.>
Let's cut to the chase. This is the bleakest Fourth of July I can remember. The U.S. Supreme Court has just wrapped up one of its most horrific terms in recent memory. Thanks to the Federalist Society, and its originalist genetic engineering, the six-member reactionary supermajority -- "Chief Justice"* John Roberts, and the Frightful Five, "Justices"* Sam Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorusch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomas -- have just finished lobbing a cascade of wrecking balls at our great democratic experiment.
We've seen the end of legal abortion (Roe v. Wade); the hobbling of the federal government's regulatory authority, even as the planet continues to bake, broil, and burn; the continual shrinkage of inmates' ability to challenge convictions, and the potential end of Miranda rights; and the reintroduction of prayer in schools, thanks to an activist football coach who saw no problem with psychologically coercing players to join in his public celebrations of God, his co-pilot, on the 50-yard line (after he'd promised, at first, to keep such impulses to himself).
Any one of these rulings would feel tough enough to process, but when we look at the resulting legal avalanche, it's pretty clear where we're heading -- back to the 1860s, if we're lucky, or possibly to the 1750s, or the 1600s, when the likes of Alito's legal hero, Matthew Hale, ran roughshod over those who dared to wonder, "Aren't all these witch burnings getting rather over the top lately?"
As the dissenting justices stated, clearly and succinctly, in the ruling (Dobbs v. Jackson) that led to Roe's demise: "No one should be confident that this majority has done its work." Indeed. Let's not forget what happened on June 30, as the court finished its term -- by agreeing to take a case (Harper v. Moore) that would essentially allow states to overrule local election bodies, and interfere in federal races, if they don't accept the outcome. If that holds up, the 2024 presidential election will make the 2020 one look like a picnic, in comparison.
Condemnation has come fast and hard, from all over the world, but I'll let this excerpt from Claudia D. Stravato, a former Planned Parenthood CEO from Texas, suffice (see below):
"They based their opinion on the fact ‘abortion’ is not found in the constitution! Neither is the word 'woman' found in the constitution! Nor, for that matter, is the word 'God' or 'black,' 'white,' 'slavery,' 'all men are created equal,' 'pursuit of happiness,' or 'separation of church and state!' What a pitifully weak way to take away a right just to satisfy their own personal, religious beliefs. They are attempting to turn us into a theocracy, their theocracy. We have always been a secular nation and we should remain that way."
Senator Susan Collins's Twitter Feed,
(caglecartoons.com), Take I:
Sums it up, eh?>
<ii.>
I can now add the fall of Roe to my surreal memories of other big news events. I learned of Michael Jackson's death (2009), during a men's group meeting when one of our members broke the news, fresh from his bathroom break. The morning after Trump won the Presidency (2016), I endured an emergency tooth extraction.
When Biden toppled Trump, four years later, I was glued to my computer, helping the Associated Press monitor the local vote count. And when the meat axe fell on Roe last month, I was again parked in front of a computer screen, struggling to focus on some Webinar or other -- ironically, about eating well, on a budget -- as I tried to process what had just happened.
Don't worry, though. The Democratic Party that you know and love is on the case! This past week alone, I've received three dozen or so fundraising emails. Most of them hail from the Democratic Governors Association, urging me to support preferred pro-choice candidates -- like Stacey Abrams, or Beto O'Rourke -- sign email petitions, or fund some other initiative of theirs ("Action needed," "Signature requested," and so on).
While I have no problem supporting the likes of an Abrams, or an O'Rourke, I doubt that restoring our democracy will happen if we just dig deep enough. Money makes a difference, yes, but it's hardly a magic elixir, as we saw in 2020, when the Democrats failed to flip the Senate, despite a $100 million-plus spending spree.
Of course, all the spending means nothing if it's burned up on the wrong messengers (Cal Cunningham, come on down; Sarah Gideon, anyone?). The email blitzes also don't square with the Democratic establishment's current preoccupation of pumping dirty money to oust progressives -- like Marie Newman, who just fell in Illinois, for instance -- who dare to cross them.
Someone should gently explain to the faces behind those money-grubbing, power-playing charades -- specifically, the Bay Area Borgia, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and her current protege, Hakeem Jeffries -- that, if our democracy slips away and disappears, there won't be any electoral empire left for anyone to lord over. But I digress.
<"In Case Of Outrage...":
Scooped Up From
Senator Susan Collins's
Twitter Feed, Take II>
<iii.>
So what exactly can we do, now that six rogues in robes have effectively canceled out much of what the 81 million who voted to ditch Trump in 2020 wanted, expected, and even demanded? Not much, in the short run, but the long term is a little different. So I'll throw out some suggestions, without the "listicle" baggage.
Be the change you want to see: become a precint delegate! You won't earn fame or fortune, but something way more powerful and tangible. Here in Michigan, for example, precint delegates register new voters, turn out the vote on Election Day, and help party leaders keep tabs on important local issues.
Delegates serve two-year terms, and get to attend the state convention (typically held in August or September), where they play a role in determining policy. So, while the national party apparatus sucks, you can at least strengthen the one in your area, and help the Democratic Party start making an investment that it's often neglected nationally.
Don't support those who undercut our interests, and dog them relentlessly when they do. Can I say this message more plainly? We saw this disconnect when Pelosi went to the mat for Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, the House's Representatives' last anti-abortion Democrat. We're seeing it again, as Biden apparently gears up to nominate another Federalist Society wackadoodle to a federal judgeship in Kentucky (see links below).
Such incidents serve as a reminder, if we need one, that the mainstream party goes rogue when it suits them. But we must voice our full-throated displeasure, whether it's flooding their inbox, jamming their phone lines, or picketing their offices. They may do whatever they damn well please, anyhow. That's why it's time to bring back an old school idea, that actions -- or inactions, or the wrong actions -- have consequences.
Don't feel guilty about drawing red lines. Whether it's the August primary, or November midterms, make it a point to only back candidates who support taming the Supreme Court, and checking its rampant power grabs. We don't need anymore empty suits treating the Supremes like untouchable demigods. And we don't need anymore appeals to "bipartisanship" that's really shorthand for, "You're still getting rolled, and you're still getting screwed. We just haven't figured out how to explain it yet."
To put it more bluntly: yes, Virginia, there are good reasons for litmus tests. You might then reduce the ranks of political cosplayers like Senator Joe Manchin, who mouth the words, but don't seem to support core Democratic positions. If that's their attitude, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask, "Why are you here?" Make it clear that your support rides on their answer.
Get involved with like-minded local, regional and state activists. Take a look around locally, and you'll probably find some type of social justice group that needs money, time or warm bodies to make something happen. There are plenty of excellent regional and national groups, like Demand Justice, or Justice Democrats, who aren't resigned to soldiering on through the national party's shenanigans.
Neither should we! Working with like-minded people not only feels empowering, it's just good common sense. There's a reason why John Sinclair, the former MC5 manager, said: "Separation is death." He wrote those words in 1968 for the band's debut album, Kick Out The Jams (1969). They're as true now as they were then. Take them to heart!
Join the calls for new national leadership. Much of the Democratic normie establishment acts as though it's never heard the celebrated Frederick Douglass maxim, "Power concedes nothing without a demand." That's old news to those in the know: as I joke, we probably wouldn't have codified Roe, even if we had 100 Democratic Senators, because timidity is hard-wired into the Donkey Party DNA. Sad to say, but it's true.
That stasis reflects the longevity of the current House leadership troika of Nancy Pelosi, 82, and her trusty Sancho Panzas, Steny Hoyer (83) and James Clyburn (82) have strode the national stage. They've all held their various titles since 2003, leaving Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as the relative spring chicken, at 71. Call them the Sclerotic Four, if you must. And we wonder why our democracy looks like a multi-car pileup on the highway!
Perry Bacon has written an excellent column in the Washington Post (see link below) that examines the harm of allowing a gerontocracy to go about its business, untouched and unruffled. I'll let the opening sentence suffice to give you the full flavor of his thinking here:
"The overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the underwhelming reaction from senior Democratic leaders to that huge defeat, make the case even clearer that the party’s too-long-in-power leaders — including President Biden — need to move aside. On their watch, a radicalized Republican Party has gained so much power that it’s on the verge of ending American democracy as we know it."
The only upside of a Democratic blowout this fall is that it would accelerate the the Sclerotic Four's departures, but it's not worth risking the growth of Gilead. Even if the midterms pan out better expected, we should make sure to hand them their gold watches, with a whisper of, "Well done! Now it's time to make room for fresh faces." Otherwise, we'll get dragged through the "same old, same old" muck and mire, as we saw this year -- when Pelosi broke her promise to finally retire.
Raise awareness of what's at stake. It's not hard to see where the fallout from Roe's demise is heading, whether it's the Texas Attorney General's vow to look at prosecuting sodomy again, or the various red state efforts to restrict birth control. But the pro-Roe fervor won't do any good, unless we make the case -- implicitly and explicitly, to friends and neighbors, letters to the editor, or a post like this one -- that democracy itself is on the ballot. Because, frankly, it is.
Guess what, though? Not everybody's paying attention, which is hardly surprising, given the struggles with inflation, and gas prices. That's what Republicans are counting on, of course, to impose their extremist vision on a nation that largely wants no part of it. Don't let them "pivot," as the talking heads call it, to their canned baby talk.
Barely a month ago, Ryan Kelley -- a Kalamazoo area real estate broker, and election denier, who faces charges stemming from his participation in the January 6 insurrection -- was polling in single digits. Last time I checked, he's on track to win the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Does it mean he'll win? Not necessarily, but we shouldn't miss the chance to tell others what he really wants. And what -- and who -- he really represents.
Senator Susan Collins's
Twitter Feed, Take III:
You could call this image
"The Cheap Date," because that's
they called her, after all...>
<iv.>
Notice that I haven't said anything about civil disobedience, direct action, good trouble, passive resistance, whatever you want to call it. That's because I've already covered that subject in previous entries of this series, so we need not it revisit here. If you agree, you're probably already planning a response along those lines.
Yes, it's an essential building block of the overall recipe. By all means, we should do whatever it takes to put the machinery of repression out of business, as they crank it up in places like Florida, or Texas. It will require putting our bodies, our careers, and our lives, honestly, to a greater degree of risk than we've ever known before. That goes without saying.
Inspiring as those actions sound, however, it's equally critical to keep the bigger picture in mind. If we wake up from our decades-long nightmare, and find the same rotten infrastructure still standing in place -- our eldercrat-driven Congress, with all its entitlements, or its lifetime judges, and all well-paid speeches they give their political patrons -- then we didn't accomplish much.
This unblinking acceptance of the new normal, no matter how twisted, has also crept into our mainstream media's reporting. And we need to push back hard there, too. That means reminding them the Supreme Court is a co-equal branch of government, but not one that makes laws: only Congress can do that, as AOC recently reminded viewers of "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert."
When the Supreme Court oversteps its bounds (deciding what laws pass constitutional muster), and runs roughshod over public opinion, Congress must step in, and correct the problem, she continued. As always, AOC delivered a pithy and passionate civics lesson, but it shouldn't fall on her to do that.
For me, the Roe debacle brings to mind how little Americans understand how their government's supposed to work -- something that we should have learned in government or civics classes, assuming they haven't gone by the wayside after 20-plus years of standardized testing became the national norm. But we really need to bring them back, or at least, start spreading the word among ourselves. Without that awareness, we'll have a harder time snatching our democracy back from the brink.
Time will tell where this madness takes us. But three lessons stand out to me, as I close out this series, and my appeal. First, you only get the rights you codify. Next, you only keep the rights that you defend. And last, but definitely not least, what's the penalty for shrugging off those pesky civics lessons? Three Supreme Court "Justices"*. Onward and upward! --The Reckoner
(*The term is going in quotes, for the foreseeable future, since most fair-minded people wouldn't see anyone who grabs so much power for themselves as dispensing "justice" on behalf of white Christian nationalism, in any way, shape, or form. Hence, it's unfair to call them Justices, even if that happens to be their title.)
Links To Go (Hurry, Hurry,
The Christian "Taliban" Wants To Impose
Their Religion On The Rest Of Us:
Rolling Stone: Biden Is Nominating
An Anti-Abortion Lawyer To Become A Federal Judge --
Secret Biden-McConnell Deal
