The WSJ editorial (Ohio Is Another GOP Abortion Warning ) got one thing right, p. A14 yesterday :
“The ballot
question in Ohio on Tuesday said nothing about abortion, but it was a proxy
battle, and everyone knew it. The side arguing for abortion rights won by
14 points in a state Trump carried three years ago by eight points….The measure Ohioans rejected, called Issue 1, would have raised the
threshold for amending the state’s constitution to 60% of voters.”
But the
editorial got a lot wrong with this twaddle:
“It’s hardly
a crazy idea in principle. The founders were wary of direct democracy, and
sometimes it runs off the policy rails”
But the Founders were more wary of changing the rules midway in a political process and before a major election. Especially, they'd have been incensed that any political body would have used such deception as the GOP extremists used in Ohio to get their way: namely to try to stop an amendment to put abortion rights in the Ohio constitution in November. Bloomberg columnist Andreas Kluth articulated it ('Ohio Shows The World How To save Democracy') , where the WSJ editors couldn't:
But the ploy didn't work. That amendment can now pass with a simple majority. If approved - which it should be given Tuesday's vote, it reads:
“Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions,”
And further, the state cannot unduly burden the person pursuing such intervention. The sole exception being: “Abortion
may be prohibited after fetal viability,” except if a physician believes it’s
necessary “to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.”
Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who pushed Issue 1, said it was needed “to raise the standards for future amendments.” Other GOP spinners, in an effort to disinform, asserted Issue 1 wasn’t even about abortion. It was more in line with parents being allowed to oversee more decisions affecting their kids, including trans-LGBTQ teaching etc. (According to Chris Hayes, assessing the vote on All In Tuesday night)
But Ohio voters, those with IQs over 100 anyway, weren't gobbling La Rose's codswallop. They knew it was a blatant effort to “change the rules in the middle of the game” which no red-blooded American could tolerate. At a Lincoln Day event in May LaRose - finally coming clean- admitted it was “100% about keeping a radical, pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution.”
The victory for abortion-rights groups in Ohio on Tuesday, following similar wins in Kansas and Michigan last year, ought to fire up abortion-rights advocates to put the issue on ballots in more states next year and beyond. Thereby leading to more Dem wins, and potentially more Senate, House victories in 2024. Thus, such proactive moves can boost Democratic turnout given many party leaders are worried about low enthusiasm for reelecting President Biden because of his age and weak job-approval ratings.
None of which is surprising given too many citizens are falling prey to the incessant anti-Biden propaganda spouted by the reactionary Right media. including that he's "too old", his economic policies are terrible, inflation is still soaring and half the time he doesn't know his left foot from his right, e.g.
Hence, his approval polls have been underwater (less than 50 %) for a long time and the 'country in the wrong direction' is polling near 70 %. (Candidates seldom win elections when the latter rating is over 74%) Worse, both Real Clear politics averages and NY Times' polls have him polling neck and neck in a potential race with Trump: 43% each. This is mind boggling given he's matched up with a known traitor and insurrectionist.
“a cynical attempt to sabotage the power of the people to secure abortion access and they failed.”
“It’s pretty
clear what direction this stuff is going in. I do think it sends a pretty
strong incentive for Democrats to get that on the ballot especially in the 2024
presidential election.”
And especially given so many younger (i.e. Gen Z) voters are down on his age and certain policies (e.g. drilling in AK). They need to grasp that no one – certainly no REEP - is going to preserve their reproductive rights more than President Biden. A vote for Trump, meanwhile, would be an invitation to catastrophe, not just for cratering what’s left of our democracy but also eradicating all access to abortion as well as contraception. (The next self-professed target of the MAGA-GOP extremists).
Meanwhile the WSJ editorial ended with this balmy baloney:
“Republicans spent half a century working to overturn Roe, yet they weren’t prepared for the democratic policy
debate when that finally happened in Dobbs last year. Now they’re seeing abortion regimes as loose
as Roe, or potentially looser, imposed by voters even in conservative
states. This political liability will persist until the GOP finds an abortion
message that most voters can accept.”
Trouble is, no voter in his -her right mind believes any Reepo message will reflect genuinely sensible action on abortion, especially after Roe was overturned. As a reality check, what does the Reep MAGA base of lunatics want right now? Well, a NATIONAL ABORTION BAN!
Those who believe that committing to voting for Biden (and only Dems now) is premature, aren't paying attention. They may not be in touch with what's happening beneath the surface or out of the main news' spotlight. Such as a rally and "revival" (Fire and Glory) held last week here in the Springs. It featured speakers like MAGA pastor and faith healer Mario Murillo who blasted out: "We need to break the demonic power of the left in Jesus's name!" Designated for special opprobrium? All trans, as well as LGBTQ folk. (And recent studies show Gen Z much more "gender fluid" than other generations.)
Point? As one commenter on the WaPo put it, "The only choice is to vote Dem, the other side is a cult that only wants to take more rights away." He (or she) nailed it to a tee.
Yes, we can say (as per the following Bloomberg piece) Ohio just showed the U.S. - and the world - how to save democracy. That is assuming we are invested and really want to!
See Also:
Ohio Just Showed the World How to Save Democracy - Bloomberg
And:
by Robert Reich | August 14, 2023 - 7:02am | permalink
— from Robert Reich's Substack
Excerpt:
Think of it this way: The indictments, Trump’s 2024 campaign, the grievances of millions of Americans against a system that has bullied them for years, and Trump’s pathological narcissism are all fusing into a single, unalterable, irrational mass movement.
“I am your justice, I am your retribution,” Trump said when announcing his campaign.
“I’m being indicted for you,” he said in June, after being charged with retaining government secrets.
“I AM BEING ARRESTED FOR YOU,” he posted in all caps on August 3, the day of his indictment for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election.
At a campaign event in New Hampshire last week, he claimed, “They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you.”
The philosopher Hannah Arendt has pointed out that the fascist leader fuses his identity with his followers, so that followers lose their capacities for independent thought.
As the fascist leader takes over the factual, psychological, and moral premises of the world his followers inhabit, the followers relinquish their freedoms. They suspend critical judgment. They become automatons.
And:
by Amanda Marcotte | August 10, 2023 - 7:19am | permalink
Excerpt:
For decades, Republicans had bamboozled the press into believing that the country was "bitterly divided" over abortion. Mainstream media misled Americans into believing that this was practically a 50/50 issue nationally and that abortion rights were deeply unpopular in the red states. Responsible pollsters kept trying to correct the narrative, pointing out that strong majorities of Americans believed it should be a right. But Republicans and their handmaidens in the "both sides"-obsessed press kept relying on shoddier polls that used ambiguous or misleading language to exaggerate the opposition to abortion. Republicans started to believe their own B.S., convincing themselves that the public, at least in red states, would be fine with abortion bans.
Well, ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, bringing a flood of state-level abortion bans, both Republicans and the press have quickly learned what the better pollsters had been trying to tell them: Americans do not like abortion bans. In every state where abortion rights have been put on the ballot, no matter how red, voters have turned out to protect their rights. As many pro-choicers have been saying for years, people may vaguely say they're "against" abortion when the idea is abstract, but they sure as hell want the keep the option open in case they're the ones facing an unwanted pregnancy.
And:
What Ohio voters have to say to America about abortion rights
And:
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