Mind the Gap
We went on a family vacation to San Francisco. It used to be that you could go away and leave your troubles behind. With connectivity, all of our troubles seem to follow us everywhere. In the span of a week we saw two landmark Supreme Court cases hit the news.
Everything old is new again. It would be wrong for me to suggest the court is reaching new ground here. In a way it is, but for the most part we have been here before. Brown vs. Board of Education created new law back in 1954. It also likely went against what the majority of the population felt at the time. We had no public opinion polling back then, so that is merely a guess, but I feel like it is a good guess.
The court is there to interpret the constitution and not to bend to the whims of a fickle majority. I think we can agree with that much. However, it is fair to question whether following legal precedent matters and conservatives have long maintained a disdain for activist judges. The court (by vote of 6-3 both times) just actively created new law on both counts. They created two radically different interpretations of the constitution on both counts.
There is also no denying what they are after. Clarence Thomas mentioned gay marriage in his majority opinion and we know our very own John Cornyn mentioned Brown vs. Board of Education. It doesn’t take much of a stretch to include interracial marriages as well. We are literally going back a century on human rights.
In an odd way, the backdrop of San Francisco is kind of telling here. You have never seen a town more into Pride Month than San Francisco. You couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting a pride flag. Stores had pride messages painted on their windows. Different companies offered pride products. It was the most inclusive, welcoming environment I had ever seen. How does all of this happen in the same country?
It happens because a minority of citizens have managed to control government and the courts. The GOP has effectively won a majority in a presidential election once since 1988. Many of their politicians have suggested that we live in a center-right country right now. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that based on national voting records or public opinion polling. None.
What there is evidence of is plenty of gerrymandering and voter suppression tactics that have kept progressivism at bay. This is where things get dicey. It is fair for people to look at Democrats in general and liberals and progressives specifically and claim they have failed. They didn’t codify abortion into law. They have been ineffective at stopping gerrymandering and have allowed the courts to be dominated by conservatives. There is no denying that.
The question is what happens now. We can go down two roads. One road would be for enough voters to punish Democrats either by staying home or voting for third party candidates. That way, you’d insure a Republican victory. The second road is to recognize the threat and where it is coming from. There you would overwhelm the GOP with a blue wave and then slowly rebuild what they have broken.
There are some that think the first road is tempting. After all, maybe if things get really bad then systemic change will be easier to obtain. That thinking has two problems. First, you are hurting millions along the way and secondly you are assuming there will be a democracy left to get back. Clearly, the GOP doesn’t care what the majority wants. They never have. Your only real bet is to block them from tearing this thing down any further.
For the “stay home and punish the Democrats” crowd, I’d suggest that they consider the “punish underperforming schools by cutting their funding” tactic. All it does is make bad situations worse, and confirm people’s beliefs that things are hopeless.
Please understand that the Thomas Court is limiting rights to the Right. Next stop: returning the First Amendment to the “clear and present danger” standard, and arresting anyone daring to criticize Republicans for “sedition.” Think it can’t happen? It was pretty routine during WW1:
Source: Smithsonian Magazine,
1When America’s Most Prominent Socialist Was Jailed for Speaking Out Against World War I
I expect this isn’t taught in Florida…
At the current time, I’m thinking the situation will only grow worse until it gets better. The right is taking over at an alarming pace in local elections in many formerly blue areas. School boards, city councils and the like are easy targets in this economic climate, but national and state legislatures and governorships are also at risk. I believe it will get worse until it’s so bad an overwhelming blue wave might swamp repugnanticans and the electoral college. I believe that happened in 2020 when TFFG proved he was so bad, he had to go. But since then, the vocal minority is taking advantage of the situations that grew out of Covid and a war that have driven the other economic issues such as inflation and shortages (and a lot of this can be traced back to TFFG).
2It’s going to take a presidential candidate of the caliber of Barack Obama to lead a blue wave. He was smart, charismatic, communicated better, connected with voters, showed leadership skills and was strong (and young). He overwhelmed the right after the Bush era. I don’t see any such candidates on the horizon which is disappointing. All this has opened the door to let TFFG back in or equally troubling candidates such as Desantis or Pence. Democrats need to get going.
Reading the article on Debs, noticed the power points of his oppressors sure struck a deja vu moment; ie, nothing new here except change the clothing. Sing along now, “And the beat(ings) go on”.
3Steve at 2: Obama struck the right chord in the 1st run and had a Howard Dean running the party with a 50 state in the field campaign.
4I, and others who voted for him, were expecting him to drop the hammer on mcconnel and kept waiting for a 3-D chess movement. Turns out Obama was apparently a repub lite. He and the party quickly forgot about Dean’s playbook going back to usual DC tactics whatever. As smart as he is, he misjudged his enemies. Perhaps a little too much arrogance? Lack of experience?
San Francisco is a beautiful city!
‘You can not fix something till you know what the problem is.’
The problem is Conservatives declared open war, take no prisoners, on Liberalism and our Democracy with the Powell Memo. They have been slowly, but now speedily, demolishing every law, rule and regulation that keeps our rule of law in balance. They came into this fight with guns a blazin and Dems don’t even know what hit them.
Until we understand it’s a fight to the finish we stand no chance. Just sayin …
Again …
“Conservatives really want to change the basis of American life, to make America run according to the conservative moral worldview in all areas of life.
To defend that freedom as an individual, you will of course need a gun.
This is the America that conservatives really want. Budget deficits are convenient ruses for destroying American democracy and replacing it with conservative rule in all areas of life.”
5https://blogs.berkeley.edu/2011/02/22/what-conservatives-really-want/
Van heldorf – don’t disagree with your Obama comments (not sure I’d say too arrogant, though). but it was a team effort to not put the hammer down. It was a miracle to get Obamacare passed but lots of missed opportunities outside of that. I guess my points were it’s going to get worse before it gets better and will take a candidate like Obama (to “strike a chord”) to lead a blue wave. Oh, and get re-elected.
6There are those in my profession that have asked me why I don’t become a principal. The answer is simple. Based on the way education is going, the primary function has become being an instructional leader of a department (or departments) and deciding who stays and who goes. I recognize a need for that, but also know I am not the person that’s right for the job of telling people they no longer work here.
Similarly, I don’t think the Democratic problem is one of arrogance. It is a problem of people not realizing that you sometimes have to fight harder than you think is warranted or wise. It means going against historical norms. It means going places you never dreamed possible or necessary. You have to prosecute politicians that break the law. You have to expel Congresspeople that violate the insurrection clause in the 14th amendment. You simply have to. I hate the idea of criminalizing politics but you have to do it now. We don’t have a choice anymore.
7Steve @6: As I recall, mcconnel right off the get-go on tv said goal #1 was to make Obama a 1-termer. Obama thought he was smarter than mcconnel in foresight as well as IQ. He underestimated his enemies. Again, Dean had worked out a proven format to win back the rural areas. IMO, had Obama stuck to that goal instead of trying to prove that he could outfox mcconnel and had he been a genuine moderate to left Dem, very likely mcconnel would have lost that war. I would also hazard a guess in hindsight that mcconnel knew Obama in this arena better than Obama knew himself because of his extensive subversive experiences.
8I do not hold Obama up to that high of a pedestal just because of his gifts of high IQ and very likable personality.
Van heldorf- OK. I’m probably a little like you. I need to reply when I should probably drop it. I’m just going to leave this alone except to wait with baited breath to find out who you do like.
9Steve @9: On the lighter side of no breath vs baited ;>)
10I am not looking at this as a contest for last word. I try to learn by asking or providing a point. Of course, when to quit?
I think most here are rational caring beings and much better writers than I am. Over the years here I have not seen too many dead horses to beat.
You are doing ok. Keep it up.
Mitch McConnell (R-acist) is out this morning with a video saying “some women’s rights are outdated and wrong.”
https://twitter.com/JJohnsonLaw/status/1541735704077766657
11I was a young woman during the late 60s and 70s and well remember having to get my husband’s permission to get a credit card, open a bank account and have a tubal ligation. Luckily they didn’t require notarization on the surgery permission and I could copy his writing well, or I would have hbeen pregnant every year and poor as heck. Instead I was able to finish School (after divorcing him) and make a success of life. We are heading backwards, sadly!
In large part, I think it’s because so many of our citizens fail to vote – or even keep informed about what is at risk. We have wasted our republic. Franklin was right when he said “a republic, if you can keep it”
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