“Lib law professors, you’re just trying to scare people with boogeymen or something about ‘Oh, my God, Griswold is at risk,’
So yapped Yale Law prof Akhil Reed Amar, on a recent podcast, then following it up with an extensive WSJ Op-ed ('The End Of Roe v. Wade', May 14-15, p. C1) wherein he essentially controverted Harvard Law professor Lawrence Tribe by arguing that: "overturning incorrect or outdated prior rulings is an essential function of the court" and "is done all the time." I.e. no biggie.
Again proving you can't assume the Ivy League schools are a bastion of liberal thought or opinion. (Though Amar claims to be a "pro choice Democrat" and "constitutional scholar". I belief Prof. Tribe would differ.) In this case, trying to make the case women - especially minority - need to cease all 'hair-on- 'fire' reactions to the soon to be confirmed ruling. And oh, by the way, ignore all those columnists in the NY Times, and bloggers (like me), trying to scare the bejeezus out of our lackadaisical or paralyzed Dem voters to get the hell out and vote - at least in the November mid terms.
Meanwhile, today's primaries may be a fair first test of what might transpire 6 months in the future, since I keep reading about the Democratic "passion deficit". I don't see how that can be possible, but when recent polls showed 47 percent of Dem voters say any final Roe decision from the Supremes will not make a difference in their willingness to vote, it does make one wonder. As to the Yalie whining about using "boogeymen", well, uh YEAH! If it gets the benumbed brain cells of too many energized and revved up for the mid terms - in what has to be the biggest turnout since November, 2020.
Why? Well, because the GOP is already laying plans to embed their autocratic, fascist state and if they do - we may never recover the nation of liberty so many trust will never perish. But it will if too many millions get lazy, lackadaisical or - god forbid - vote for anyone in the sedition - autocrat- bigot party out of desperation or misplaced yen for "change". Say to seek relief after being hammered by inflation. Look, inflation is bad, no gainsaying that, but our nation being taken over by autocrats is worse, far worse, which is why I already wrote a blog post on why the fear card must be played, e.g.
In the context of today's primaries there's a lot to fear, about how the GOP rats plan to seduce too many to vote against their own interests. There's no secret here, it's so the Trump cult can ice its control over the nation, as blogger Aaron White noted yesterday:
The authoritarian Right is rapidly cementing its institutional control of US politics.
This is not hyperventilating. In political battlegrounds - like Michigan , Wisconsin, Pennsylvania - the GOP rats basically gerrymandered themselves into power with little chance of Dems overturning seats short of massive landslides. Now they are poised to take full control, after Hitler and the Nazis did with the Enabling Act, and are carefully crafting a GOP future. That future includes: no abortion, no artificial contraception, no abortion pills, and possibly the outlawing of all gay or LGBTQ references as well, following on from Florida's dictatorial bill. Think of thousands of text books "cleansed" in all those states, like they were in Ron DeSantis' Florida.
Which brings us to the massive abortion rights demonstrations Saturday, from Pittsburgh to L.A. As one marcher put it (quoted in Sunday's Denver Post, p. 6A,'Abortion Rights Backers Rally in Anger'):
"This has never been just about abortion, it's about control."
In other words, WHO - Trumper pro-Insurrection Repukes - or you, controls your mind, your body, your decisions and choices? Basically, today's primaries are a very real first test of the responses, or rather how voters will respond.
Most important, given the GOOPr control of so many state legislatures, especially in battleground states, are the state judicial offices. For perspective, no less than 32 states will cast ballots this year on state supreme court seats. These seats have become an ideological magnet for anti-abortion interest groups because they know if they can control the courts - as well as state legislative seats - they have the U.S. autocratic fascist future basically in hand. Especially with the Supreme Court already sewed up.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice - at NYU's Law School - conservative groups and super PACS have outspent liberal groups in state court races. This is a bad omen given, as Brennan Center attorney Doug Keith has noted (ibid.):
"State courts are going to be front and center in their fight over abortion access. These races in some states are likely to take a prominence they have never had before."
Again, he's not exaggerating, and seeing the energy of the Radical Right extremists, it is disturbing. But if the word about those seats' critical importance can be disseminated, it is possible we can hold off the red tide by arousing voters to act. To save what's left of our democracy by voting against the radical white nationalist autocrats. Yes, again, negative voting has its role, and this year will be more important than ever.
Especially in states like North Carolina where this year's voting will determine whether the state Supreme Court remains under Democratic control, or flips to Republicans. The latter case will have adverse consequences for redistricting and the progressive issues championed by Dem Governor Roy Cooper.
Today's results may tell us a lot about whether sufficient fire has been stoked for Democratic voters, as well as independents who shun autocracy. Or whether the bad guys may secure a blood bath in the fall.
See Also:
The primaries foretell a spike in GOP turnout
And:
by Robert Becker | May 15, 2022 - 6:38am | permalink
Excerpt:
Thanks to the terrifying clarity of extremism at the barricades, voting choices now for sensible centrists should be a slam-dunk, vs. that time past when two intellectually-defensible parties held sway. I recall voting for anti-Vietnam War Republican Pete McCloskey when I lived in San Mateo, CA. Once, the party of Lincoln and TR spawned honorable, evidence-driven voices. Upwards of half-dozen, principled dinosaurs remain at large (though far less committed to human rights than forebears).
And:
by Alex Henderson | June 4, 2022 - 7:39am | permalink
And:
by Aaron White | May 16, 2022 - 5:49am | permalink
Excerpt:
The authoritarian Right is rapidly cementing its institutional control of US politics. Last week's leaked draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v Wade is just the latest brick in the wall.
This likely ruling—which would drastically restrict or ban abortion in nearly half of US states—is the culmination of decades of strategic coordination and funding of right-wing think tanks, legal societies and political representatives by Republicans and their billionaire backers.
Same-sex marriage, contraception, public education and environmental regulations might all be next on the chopping block of this 'Christofascist' agenda.
And:
Excerpt:
The crisis with the Supreme Court; the racist mass shooter in Buffalo; Republican primary candidates trying to one-up each other on how they will refuse to count all the ballots in the 2024 election; and our hitting 1 million deaths from Covid all derive from the same thing: the destruction of trust.
And:
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