Just when you think things couldn’t get worse…the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Sure, we all knew this was coming since the leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion a month ago. But, now it’s Real.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas suggests this opens the door to overturning gay marriage, contraception, and transgender rights. With their super majority, Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett can do whatever they want.
There are Dark Days ahead, my friends. Real Dark!
I am not happy, my friend.
Jerry, fast your seat belt because this conservative Supreme Court has just started their reign of terror.
Reactionary is not conservative.
Todd, yes, but there are reactionary conservatives.
I will respectfully disagree. It’s very much like the difference between a liberal and a leftist. Though the consistent attempts to intentionally confuse them is a contributing factor to our current crises.
Todd, there’s a lot of overlap in labels. But, when you look at the results…everything comes into focus!
This of course is all over the media in Europe too.
Are the USA or at least parts of it really turning into a kind of fascist regime or at least going back a hundred years in time?
In Europe there are already speculations on what will happen to gay marriage etc.
There is a very sad example of what can happen. In Poland you have similar laws and at the end of last year there was a horrible case (reported in Newsweek and the Guardian eg).
A woman expecting twins came into a hospital when one fetus had problems and the hospital would not do an abortion even after the fetus was no longer “functioning”.
In the end all three died …
PS:
Laws relating to sexuality were of course extremely strict under the Nazis – but our Christian parties after WW2 continued with those, very slowly things changed.
When I was a student in the 60s homosexuality was still forbidden – a friend of mine finished his studies but could not find a job at a state school. He was lucky to get a job at a private school – much better for him!
Abortions were allowed when the “Christian Fascists” lost the election the first time in 1969 but “advertising abortion” was still forbidden until right now in 2022 – and the CDU again voted against allowing it.
“Advertising abortion” means that a doc writes on paper or the internet that they are advising women on the topic …
But there were even worse aspects:
As a member of the Humanist Student Union I helped organizing an event where a doctor reported about his experiences with sterilizing women who already had several children – he had talks with them and their husbands before doing it but the authorities still wanted to send him to jail.
That law was also abolished in 1969, so our activities had results – I’m proud.
PPS:
We financed our activities by selling buttons “Make love not war” – many students wore these.
Wolf, the U.S. is a divided country. Red States had “trigger laws” that went into effect as soon as the Supreme Court issued their opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade. So women in Red States now have to travel to a Blue State to get attention for their reproductive health. What a mess!
Welcome to the fascist theocracy the right-wing has dreamed of since Reagan was elected. Every cultural/social advance of the past half-century regarding individual rights is about to be rolled back. I fear for the future. Dark days ahead indeed.
Deb, the Clarence Thomas opinion actually encouraged Right-Wing groups to bring cases involving contraception, gay marriage, and sexual rights before this conservative court. Next year’s Supreme Court decisions will roll back many rights. Our children will be less free than we were.
The scum who wanted a fascist theocracy brought this about by voting for fascist theocrats. They became one issue voters, and now they’ve won. Sane, decent people have got to follow the same protocol. Start with NEVER voting for a Republican. EVER! Not even for dog catcher. The days of thinking “oh, they won’t do that, so I’ll vote for lower gas prices” is over.
Michael, the Republicans and the conservatives grew their power base in Red States from top to bottom. This has been a 40 year project. Now, flush with Victory, these same groups intend to push more of their extreme agenda on the rest of us. Gas prices will fall, but it’s going to be a struggle to regain our freedoms under this Supreme Court.
I love that Susan Collins was “shocked, shocked I tell you” that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh voted this way after they promised her most sincerely that Roe was settled law and they wouldn’t think of ever overturning it, nosiree Bob. Did she fall off a turnip truck last week? EVERYONE knew they were lying except her, apparently.
Can’t they be impeached for perjury?
Clarence and the Missus have got to go and soon.
Meanwhile, even Catholic countries in Europe and South America are allowing abortions now, yet we are going back to 1868.
Yes, it has been getting dark for years and this is just making it worse. It would be bad enough if a Reagan-like majority was foisting their opinions on the rest of us, but it makes it even worse (if possible) that ALL of this is being done under Minority Rule – the Supreme Court appointments, the non-filibustering filibusters, etc. Yet somehow, when the Democrats are in the minority, all they can do is wring their hands, whine and NOT BLOCK ANYTHING.
Just pathetic.
Jeff, the Democrats ignored the warnings. “Moderate” Republicans like Susan Collins were duped. And now we’re facing years of Supreme Court decisions that threaten our liberties and personal rights.
Jeff, also remember that Clarence lied to Congress about Anita Hill during his confirmation hearings. That was cause enough to reject him, but the Republican propaganda machine was too powerful. He should have been impeached long ago.
Jerry, I watched those Clarence Thomas hearings and I knew Anita Hill had her facts straight. But Politics triumphed over Reason and Justice.
Joseph Biden and his default to Back-Room Deal-Making during the Thomas confirmation hearings was my introduction to him, and part of why I’ve never respected him (most of his behavior since hasn’t improved my impression).
Todd, there’s a lot of pressure on Biden not to run again. But that raises the question, who can beat Trump?
Anyone running a competent campaign can beat Trump. HRC didn’t bother, and she still outpolled him.
Todd, but Hillary didn’t have the Russians helping her.
Speechless!
Patti, we had a heads up last month with that leak that Roe v. Wade was going to be overturned. But, it’s still a gut-punch. As Edmund Burke once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.”
And the Democrats as a whole continue to do nothing. Well, not quite. The neoliberal playbook of Everything is an Excuse for Fundraising is going forward.
Todd, the Dems spent too much time on Social Issues and ignore the Basics like the Economy, Inflation, and Jobs.
No, the neoliberals in charge of the party have spent most of their time fundraising and cozying up with corporate interests, ignoring their base and its interests while cultivating as much upper middle class as they could find, ignoring local races to a ridiculous extent, and, for example, Pelosi’s hostility to the left-leaning Dems hasn’t helped one scrap.
Todd, the Dems have their own divisions to contend with. “A house divided cannot stand.” I’d modify that to “A house divided cannot win.”
Well as I said before, representative government had a good run here, and I for one, will look back on it with pride.
Dan ,Winston Churchill once said that: “Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.” The U.S.–especially women who live in this country–are going to have to deal with some Hard Times ahead.
I remember an episode of Designing Women in which they discussed Clarence Thomas, citing the fact that he had been rated either unqualified or barely qualified, and still got the appointment.
I personally am against abortion, but that only means that I wouldn’t have one. I don’t feel I have the right (nor should anyone else) to tell another person what they can or can’t do with their bodies. This is going to enable further restrictions or removal of rights (gay marriage comes to mind).
I think it started with Reagan, but TRUMP certainly embraced it and ran with it. SHAME on the GOP and anyone who votes for them
Maggie, the overturning of Roe v. Wade has been a long time coming. But too many people were in denial that it would ever come to pass. Well, yesterday it did and we all have to live with the consequences. Women’s Rights took a hit. LGBQT groups better prepare for being in the Supreme Court’s crosshairs next. I’m convinced that Dark Money funded this effort. The Russians, Chinese, Iranians, North Koreans and enemies of freedom and the U.S. everywhere are rejoicing at the divisions fueled by this decision.
The Republicans and their dark-money Medici patrons ran the long game and won. The Democrats had decades of warning but did nothing, pivotally including those registered Dems who refused to vote for Hillary in 2016, even knowing well this is what lay ahead for RvW with a Trump win. With the current Congress that can’t even pass anything more than a weak-tea gun law after the repeated massacres of children (and dopes or liars like Collins who said, gosh, I believe Kavanaugh when he says he won’t mess with settled law), there’s no hope in hell for a legislative solution. And yet according to the polls, 65 percent of Americans said RvW should have been let stand. The tyranny of the few and the ruthless. Do I hear the ghost of Robespierre chuckling?
Fred, your summary checks all of the boxes: Dark Money, Long Game, befuddled Democrats, Legislative Gridlock, and Trump. It took 40 years to get into this mess…it may take us 40 years to recover from it.