your astonishing roll continues with this piece, which managed to take my own inchoate thoughts (because I'm basically speechless with a mixture of rage, bewilderment and...I dunno, but definitely something else) and make them sing. unfortunately, it's a dirge. we knew this was coming, but I sure as shit tried to tell myself that there MIGHT be a little hope that it wouldn't. now it has. and thank god for the leak (or maybe best to thank the leaker). someone who read the SCOTUS "blog" said that the leak was more damaging than the act of any suicide bomber could ever be. fuck that. those scumbag, partisan hacks (for some reason, Barrett's sickly sanctimonious smile makes me want to slap her in the mouth really hard...and I don't hit girls or even think about it, save in a few obvious cases). the blog--of course--got it wrong. the metaphorical suicide bomber is Alito and his pals. and for all talk about Roberts, the "institutionalist," let's remember that he was behind the most horribly consequential opinions his court has yet produced..Shelby, Citizens United, always backing the corporate interests he was appointed to serve. the first time I sat down to study SCOTUS history, a long time ago, Marbury stuck in my craw as being a more or less "arbitrary" piece of bullshit because Marshall was overreaching and wanted SCOTUS to have a little more of an "identity." and since then, these scumbags (which they mostly have been) have been able to hold the rest of us hostage. we were lucky to have lived through the only significantly liberal Court in history, but it ended. Jim Hightower's most recent newsletter spells out the history of the Court's devolution since Nixon. this is very, very grim...but if it spurs a huge anti-SCOTUS backlash, it might just backfire in their faces. that was my seldom-heard optimistic voice. seldom for a reason. oy.
it's funny, Tom...at this point, you know me well enough to know that your take on what happened in the post is completely dead-on. thanks for that and AGAIN, for your terrific post.
I was thinking about what you mention. Feeling rage, bewilderment, but “I dunno, but definitely something else”.
Any man empathetic enough to understand the rage of women right now will be feeling same. How can you not? Men have been screwing women forever. With little regret.
I can only say that I know enough good men to know that millions will be standing shoulder to shoulder with women. This is about humans and not just a particular gender being made an example of.
They’ve only banned safe abortion. This cruelty insures the death of many women. I wonder if the possible Judiciary Act weighed on their decision. I’m certain Rep Raskin is correct. They’re going for all of that and more. But I’m sure this microscope will only be trained on the masses… those above the law have no fear of the laws they ignore.
Question. If/When SCOTUS overturns Roe, causing a Democratic sweep in November, will the newly elected Democratic Congress still be able to codify Roe or will we have to start all over again?
If this doesn’t motivate millions to vote democrat in November, nothing will. I have been viewing the probability of this decision as an opportunity and a wake-up call. The nation has been lied to by not only virtually every elected republican but also most damningly by the appointed members of our highest court, it’s time to add members to the court and send the liars that now sit on the court to the dissent minority where maybe they will quit in frustration.
Someone with a higher level of knowledge would need to answer that question. For expanding the Court, I asked over on Robert Hubbell's substack how expanding the court would ensure a more liberal court if we end up having a Republican Congress
Appalling indeed. I am just reading 'The Road to Unfreedom' by Timothy Snyder. It is very clear Trump Republicans are playing by the same book as Putin, his oligarchs and his fascist philosophers. And vice versa, the flag of Russian occupied Crimea is similar to the old Confederate flag.
I posted this elsewhere, but it reinforces the points made by Jamie Raskin, Heather Cox Richardson, and TC. I think we are right.
This decision certainly goes beyond abortion. I read the 98 page majority ruling last night before going to rest. It is a rambling and repetitive mess, probably because it returns to points of argument and appeals. It is dangerous for three reasons to me. The first two being that it argues that Roe was erigous as it did not in any way base its decision on the U.S. Constitution explicit rights requirements (originalism) and that the majority of states (26, the same 26 now coming forward?) had enacted antiabortion laws in the 18th and 19th century (states rights, each of which is included as an appendix). The third is a labored argument that the 14th Amendment neither applies nor is under threat by this decision exceptd by its introduction establishes the next tranch for undermining settled law around voting, rights implied or decided, protections found in modern liberal societies, and the power of the people as a whole to determine laws that bind us as a union. The 14th Amendment we all know is the amendment to ensures that all people, not just land owning white males, are equal in determining the laws of this nation, but also that the laws of this nation must be applied equally to protect all of us, and cannot be used to favor or control one group over another. This decision, IMHO, sets in motion the potential tumbling of the pillars of a free and democratic society and the beginning of a 21st century confederacy.
TC wrote: "This decision declares the end of stare decisis, the judicial theory that deference should be paid to precedent in decision-making by the court. The six conservative justices have now effectively stated that there is no previous decision by the court that they are bound to respect."
And you wrote: "This decision, IMHO, sets in motion the potential tumbling of the pillars of a free and democratic society and the beginning of a 21st century confederacy."
I have a few thoughts in tandem. 1) The "argument" or excuse that since the word "abortion" isn't in the Constitution, RvW should not exist either can be applied to a whole host of laws that contain words or elements that did not exist in times past. This is just an excuse for taking away rights and returning this country to ownership and rule by rich white MEN. 2) God bless whoever that intrepid "leaker" might be and please protect whomever from the wrath of those five plotters. Obviously that "dedicated and loyal" staff of which Roberts is so very proud contains some true believers in Democracy - their moles are our heroes. And 3) Over half this country are of the gender that will be the first punished by this HUGE mistake by the Stench Bench. Those standing next in line to lose their rights - same sex couples, POC, etc., will see the axe coming their way. Not only will women vote in November like never before, but I see that blue wave becoming a tsunami with the addition of others who see a need to reclaim Democracy. Perhaps by then we can see the end of the damn filibuster and some laws actually get through the Senate and onto the desk of the president.
I have long not been proud of being white in this FUBAR Republican country. Now I am ashamed of being male! Republicans, who didn’t have the balls to join Nancy Pelosi in the streets of Kiev are the party of the American Taliban.
It behooves all men and the women they love to get out the vote in every election going forward from this day. Every man who has benefited from the love and strength of a woman, a mother, and unconditional love of those who raised you has to take their hand, joining with, as they go to the polls to take back American freedoms. It won't be guys who lead us out of this mess, but moms and young women who are going to get this right. As a male, I can vote with you and carry coffee at the same time. Time to man-up, guys. Thanks TC.
If this decision does not have every woman who is not a Trumpista going to the polls and wreaking revenge in the party of the Christian Taliban, there is no hope..... Many of the states that are right now making new laws banning abortion are making it illegal to go out of state to get an abortion, so many women will have no legal way to obtain one. Note especially that there is no exception for rape or incest, and in Texas, no exception for women carrying deformed fetuses that will not survive past birth. This is the Anti-Christ in action, the inhumanity of evil men against women. Many daughters and wives of the main perpetrators in the red states will be among those who have to obtain illegal abortions, since the red states are the ones that bar comprehensive sex education classes and birth control for students. There will be "underground railroads" for abortions as there were for runaway slaves - people risking prison to help women in need.
We now need to pass laws mandating that men who father children WILL provide full child support, including wage garnishment if needed - don't do the crime if you can't do the time..... Blue states will be sanctuaries for women in need unless, of course, the Repubs take both houses of Congress and the White House and make all this illegal nationally. We are facing our own existential crisis of freedom and liberty here and the rule of law, and all we heard from the MSM was, "But, her emails!" This decision will go further toward creating two separate countries in the US than anything else the Republicans and conservatives could have done. The net result will be blue states where peoples' rights are protected and red states where they are not. So the smart, ambitious and talented people will flow to the states of freedom and respect for rights and the red states will further decline into poverty. I'd even expect some blue states would refuse to administer or honor restrictive laws passed by a conservative national government - states' rights and all that.....
Welcome to Dred Scott, redux. Motherfuckers. We all knew it was coming, so this clusterfuck dress rehearsal is a practice run for what will be handed down in June.
your astonishing roll continues with this piece, which managed to take my own inchoate thoughts (because I'm basically speechless with a mixture of rage, bewilderment and...I dunno, but definitely something else) and make them sing. unfortunately, it's a dirge. we knew this was coming, but I sure as shit tried to tell myself that there MIGHT be a little hope that it wouldn't. now it has. and thank god for the leak (or maybe best to thank the leaker). someone who read the SCOTUS "blog" said that the leak was more damaging than the act of any suicide bomber could ever be. fuck that. those scumbag, partisan hacks (for some reason, Barrett's sickly sanctimonious smile makes me want to slap her in the mouth really hard...and I don't hit girls or even think about it, save in a few obvious cases). the blog--of course--got it wrong. the metaphorical suicide bomber is Alito and his pals. and for all talk about Roberts, the "institutionalist," let's remember that he was behind the most horribly consequential opinions his court has yet produced..Shelby, Citizens United, always backing the corporate interests he was appointed to serve. the first time I sat down to study SCOTUS history, a long time ago, Marbury stuck in my craw as being a more or less "arbitrary" piece of bullshit because Marshall was overreaching and wanted SCOTUS to have a little more of an "identity." and since then, these scumbags (which they mostly have been) have been able to hold the rest of us hostage. we were lucky to have lived through the only significantly liberal Court in history, but it ended. Jim Hightower's most recent newsletter spells out the history of the Court's devolution since Nixon. this is very, very grim...but if it spurs a huge anti-SCOTUS backlash, it might just backfire in their faces. that was my seldom-heard optimistic voice. seldom for a reason. oy.
Excellent post sir. If I helped you organize your thoughts, that makes me glad. You hit everything dead-center.
it's funny, Tom...at this point, you know me well enough to know that your take on what happened in the post is completely dead-on. thanks for that and AGAIN, for your terrific post.
I was thinking about what you mention. Feeling rage, bewilderment, but “I dunno, but definitely something else”.
Any man empathetic enough to understand the rage of women right now will be feeling same. How can you not? Men have been screwing women forever. With little regret.
I can only say that I know enough good men to know that millions will be standing shoulder to shoulder with women. This is about humans and not just a particular gender being made an example of.
United, David.
thanks so much for that, Christine.
They’ve only banned safe abortion. This cruelty insures the death of many women. I wonder if the possible Judiciary Act weighed on their decision. I’m certain Rep Raskin is correct. They’re going for all of that and more. But I’m sure this microscope will only be trained on the masses… those above the law have no fear of the laws they ignore.
Question. If/When SCOTUS overturns Roe, causing a Democratic sweep in November, will the newly elected Democratic Congress still be able to codify Roe or will we have to start all over again?
They can codify Roe. There's a bill introduced to do that.
If this doesn’t motivate millions to vote democrat in November, nothing will. I have been viewing the probability of this decision as an opportunity and a wake-up call. The nation has been lied to by not only virtually every elected republican but also most damningly by the appointed members of our highest court, it’s time to add members to the court and send the liars that now sit on the court to the dissent minority where maybe they will quit in frustration.
Would a constitutional amendment protecting abortion work? Or how about expand the Court? To 11 justices.
Someone with a higher level of knowledge would need to answer that question. For expanding the Court, I asked over on Robert Hubbell's substack how expanding the court would ensure a more liberal court if we end up having a Republican Congress
Well, we have an uber conservative court now with a Dem Congress. And look at the sh*t they are pulling.
Also, Heather posted her Letter on FB but haven't seen it yet on substack
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-2-2022?s=r
Appalling indeed. I am just reading 'The Road to Unfreedom' by Timothy Snyder. It is very clear Trump Republicans are playing by the same book as Putin, his oligarchs and his fascist philosophers. And vice versa, the flag of Russian occupied Crimea is similar to the old Confederate flag.
yes indeed, to all of it.
I posted this elsewhere, but it reinforces the points made by Jamie Raskin, Heather Cox Richardson, and TC. I think we are right.
This decision certainly goes beyond abortion. I read the 98 page majority ruling last night before going to rest. It is a rambling and repetitive mess, probably because it returns to points of argument and appeals. It is dangerous for three reasons to me. The first two being that it argues that Roe was erigous as it did not in any way base its decision on the U.S. Constitution explicit rights requirements (originalism) and that the majority of states (26, the same 26 now coming forward?) had enacted antiabortion laws in the 18th and 19th century (states rights, each of which is included as an appendix). The third is a labored argument that the 14th Amendment neither applies nor is under threat by this decision exceptd by its introduction establishes the next tranch for undermining settled law around voting, rights implied or decided, protections found in modern liberal societies, and the power of the people as a whole to determine laws that bind us as a union. The 14th Amendment we all know is the amendment to ensures that all people, not just land owning white males, are equal in determining the laws of this nation, but also that the laws of this nation must be applied equally to protect all of us, and cannot be used to favor or control one group over another. This decision, IMHO, sets in motion the potential tumbling of the pillars of a free and democratic society and the beginning of a 21st century confederacy.
TC wrote: "This decision declares the end of stare decisis, the judicial theory that deference should be paid to precedent in decision-making by the court. The six conservative justices have now effectively stated that there is no previous decision by the court that they are bound to respect."
And you wrote: "This decision, IMHO, sets in motion the potential tumbling of the pillars of a free and democratic society and the beginning of a 21st century confederacy."
I have a few thoughts in tandem. 1) The "argument" or excuse that since the word "abortion" isn't in the Constitution, RvW should not exist either can be applied to a whole host of laws that contain words or elements that did not exist in times past. This is just an excuse for taking away rights and returning this country to ownership and rule by rich white MEN. 2) God bless whoever that intrepid "leaker" might be and please protect whomever from the wrath of those five plotters. Obviously that "dedicated and loyal" staff of which Roberts is so very proud contains some true believers in Democracy - their moles are our heroes. And 3) Over half this country are of the gender that will be the first punished by this HUGE mistake by the Stench Bench. Those standing next in line to lose their rights - same sex couples, POC, etc., will see the axe coming their way. Not only will women vote in November like never before, but I see that blue wave becoming a tsunami with the addition of others who see a need to reclaim Democracy. Perhaps by then we can see the end of the damn filibuster and some laws actually get through the Senate and onto the desk of the president.
Stand by for more thoughts to that "whole host of laws that contain words or elements that did not exist in times past."
“FredNotes”. 😁
I have long not been proud of being white in this FUBAR Republican country. Now I am ashamed of being male! Republicans, who didn’t have the balls to join Nancy Pelosi in the streets of Kiev are the party of the American Taliban.
Exactly right.
Exactamente. Political cowards.
Total cowards
It behooves all men and the women they love to get out the vote in every election going forward from this day. Every man who has benefited from the love and strength of a woman, a mother, and unconditional love of those who raised you has to take their hand, joining with, as they go to the polls to take back American freedoms. It won't be guys who lead us out of this mess, but moms and young women who are going to get this right. As a male, I can vote with you and carry coffee at the same time. Time to man-up, guys. Thanks TC.
If this decision does not have every woman who is not a Trumpista going to the polls and wreaking revenge in the party of the Christian Taliban, there is no hope..... Many of the states that are right now making new laws banning abortion are making it illegal to go out of state to get an abortion, so many women will have no legal way to obtain one. Note especially that there is no exception for rape or incest, and in Texas, no exception for women carrying deformed fetuses that will not survive past birth. This is the Anti-Christ in action, the inhumanity of evil men against women. Many daughters and wives of the main perpetrators in the red states will be among those who have to obtain illegal abortions, since the red states are the ones that bar comprehensive sex education classes and birth control for students. There will be "underground railroads" for abortions as there were for runaway slaves - people risking prison to help women in need.
We now need to pass laws mandating that men who father children WILL provide full child support, including wage garnishment if needed - don't do the crime if you can't do the time..... Blue states will be sanctuaries for women in need unless, of course, the Repubs take both houses of Congress and the White House and make all this illegal nationally. We are facing our own existential crisis of freedom and liberty here and the rule of law, and all we heard from the MSM was, "But, her emails!" This decision will go further toward creating two separate countries in the US than anything else the Republicans and conservatives could have done. The net result will be blue states where peoples' rights are protected and red states where they are not. So the smart, ambitious and talented people will flow to the states of freedom and respect for rights and the red states will further decline into poverty. I'd even expect some blue states would refuse to administer or honor restrictive laws passed by a conservative national government - states' rights and all that.....
Welcome to Dred Scott, redux. Motherfuckers. We all knew it was coming, so this clusterfuck dress rehearsal is a practice run for what will be handed down in June.
Fuck this country.
I do not envy you weighing the mixed blessing of a small mercy for your partner.
It's amazing how prescient some people are/were. From Willie Brown to Gil Scott-Heron https://youtu.be/vwSRqaZGsPw
That's a great point you make about the economic consequences of this decision.
"Abortion didn’t start with Roe; it just became safe with Roe." Yes.