Short and Not So Sweet
I have a conspiracy theory.
I think Ginni Thomas was the leak. Nobody in all of America would be more thrilled about denying abortions to women than Ginni Thomas, a woman who has never given birth.
I think she probably had someone else do the actual leaking bragging. And I think she picked Politico to make it look like normal people did it.
Ginni Thomas wasn’t “leaking.” She was bragging. She eventually wants to take credit for getting her life’s mission done.
Write this down somewhere. They are coming after birth control next. By my count six of the nine justices are Catholics, and the only progressive justice among them is Sonia Sotomayor.
Please be right! We’ll know for sure, if Roberts’ “investigation” of the leak gets shut down quickly. We already know she’s a menace and, if this is proved, would set off a firestorm demanding Clarence’s resignation.
Charlie Pierce is already saying that Roberts has lost control of his court and this would simply clarify that. He is not a happy camper this morning. And I have absolutely no sympathy for him.
1I don’t think there’s any doubt about her involvement (and clarence). I also suspect that a candidate (or more) in the upcoming primaries that would benefit from this story are involved. They’ll immediately be using it in their campaigns. Supposedly the FBI is going to do an investigation and I hope they do. Unfortunately, as with all the other stuff that has gone on, like the Jan 6 investigation involving congress critters and trumpf/associates, nothing will happen. Just more votes for the bad guys.
2As for Politico reporting making it seem normal, that’s a crock. They’re not an unbiased news organization anymore.
Here’s another theoretical possibility: We don’t know who leaked the preliminary decision which itself was an action completely beyond normal SC protocol , but maybe the bigger question is not who, but rather why it was released now? Perhaps whoever leaked it got wind that the SC was planning to not publicly release their decision until AFTER The Midterm elections, knowing in advance that it would not be a popular decision & perhaps voter motivating?
the bigger question is why the preliminary decision was leaked completely out of SC protocol ,
3Nothing about the Supreme Court would surprise me any more. Certainly not that.
4I think that’s a great guess. But what’s next, birth control, same sex marriage . . .
5BC is next. I will never forget walking through the Capitol Bldg in Austin with a groups who went up to plead for the passage of the ERA. The halls were full of men. While waiting to see our state senator, some of these old men confronted us and told us we would all go to hell because we were going against the will of God. Nothings much changed.
6I would love to know why it is that TFG got so many justices, if indeed you may call them that, installed FOR LIFE, when our previous president couldn’t even get one in….I’m sure there is a long convoluted leagalese type of explanation but I still want to stamp my foot and screech, pout, moan and complain that I think that as far as credentials and interview process I think I’ve been grilled more for minimum wage jobs than some of the yoyos that are taking over our government. It’s like we’re going backwards and somethings were not as good as hindsight made them look.
7It’s possible that the SCOTUS leak came from Alito’s office. Proves conservatives can deliver to their base. Alito is the most political of all the Justices, and he loves thumbing his nose at those he considers enemies of the state.
It will be interesting to see how Repubs move forward if all of their number one hits go their way. They will have to look for new cudgels to keep their folks on board.
8Grandma Ada,
9What comes next? A woman who has had an abortion likely will lose their right to vote in about eighteen states since they would be a felon.
6 Crone: the will of God. What exactly is that? Is this the same God who created us and the rest of the universe? Which I bet most do not have a contemplative idea of the size, complexity, time frame or the segment of human existence within vs passing references in the various medias in the same manner as “Ain’t that a pretty moon out tonight?” If this is so, then why does He allow these negatives to exist? Do we not exist in a world of opposites; eg, up vs down, hot vs cold? Then where is the opposite of God otherwise all the religious admonitions don’t mean a damn thing?
10Going further, is there anything new about human nature since any kind of recording? Except maybe change of clothing?
How about free will choice? Is this not involved in everything we do; eg, do I eat this pie now or hold out for the spinach? If someone puts a gun to your head and says “Do this or die!” is it still not our choice because the gun is just an influencing factor?
Why is there this great dichotomy between universal creation (assuming the eternal existence of the laws of nature) and our short existence? I don’t know – Ain’t my ballgame.
IMO, as I may have noted before, the US is just another empire that seem to have an average lifespan of 300+/- years and we are not exempt from human nature or history.
So, some cheap philosophy: we all are familiar with “Sh** happens.” This didn’t seem to be complete to me. I then added, “It happens to the good and the bad. Therefore, when it happens to me, I don’t take it quite so personal.”
10
11I will start caring a copy of JB Phillips book ‘Your God is Too Small’ as this old conflict is coming up one more time. We used to give one to all the kids we knew when they were confirmed.
I did ask those guys where they attended church. You know their answer. But their God is an old white man so what do they know?
It was Ginny in the bathroom with a cellphone, as opposed to Colonel Mustard with a crowbar in the library. Just kidding, I’m with JJ, it was Ginny, she likes to brag.
A few of you are asking what’s next, buckle up buttercups, it’s worse than you think. Roe v. Wade is based on the “right to privacy.” I the majority opinion by SCOTUS suggests that the constitution does not protect the right to privacy, and that opens up a Pandoras Box of Court Cases. A Sampling:
For starters: Griswold v. Connecticut: Decided (1965), protects the ability of married couples to buy contraceptives without gov. interference. As JJ says, contraceptives are next. Catholics “are prohibited from using contraception,” so you should be too.
Then there’s Loving v. Virginia: (1968), which permits interracial marriages, was decided based on the right to privacy if there is no protection from that without a right to privacy….
Obergefell v. Hodges: (2015)Legalized same sex marriage it used the right to privacy and the equal protection clause to do so.
Lawrence v. Texas: Decided in 2003, the Right to Privacy (RTP) to determine that it’s unconstitutional to punish people for committing sodomy. The ruling has the potential to criminalize homosexuality.
I could go on; Stanley v. Georgia, Meyer v Nebraska, the list is extensive, but you get the point. The Opus Dei Trump Appointed, Court is poised to roll back individual rights by decades.
One more thing: The erosion of abortion rights is extremely rare in the world, and almost exclusively occurs in backsliding democracies. Max Fisher has a story about this in the New York Times.
12I think I’m going with Amy (no, not THAT one!) on this:
13https://twitter.com/akapczynski/status/1521494553877962754
If Mrs. Clarence Thomas was the source of the leak, then he had to have aided and abetted her actions. He needs to be removed from the Supreme Court ASAP. They are both threats to democracy.
14Time to increase the number of justices to 13. Adding 4 new justices may be needed to protect us all.
1513
16Ruth Marcus at WaPo says something similar. Roberts may be close to pealing away Kavanaugh to something less draconian. Someone in the Alito/Thomas camp is trying to stop it. I’m not sure Roberts has any power left, but if he does, maybe the HVAC to go out in one or two justices offices and be unfixable for a while.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/03/alito-roe-leaked-draft-disaster-for-supreme-court/
They are coming after my gay marriage next. The Army taught me how to fire a rifle and a pistol. Finally these skills my be useful.
17Meanwhile the totally boring land of steady habits has passed the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act https://www.axios.com/connecticut-bill-safe-haven-abortion-providers-roe-7f6bb5ba-283c-4e3a-928c-d938312e2846.html
18Our scenery is middling, our winters cold, but we do like science.
It is not just criminalizing birth control by outlawing contraceptives on the judicial “originalists” radar “to do” list.
Note that “Roe v. Wade is based on the ‘right to privacy.’ If the majority opinion by SCOTUS suggests that the constitution does not protect the right to privacy” then these events will follow, as these are all based on a presumption of privacy precedent through the 14th Amendment
* criminalizing homosexuality
* allowing states to prohibit who people could marry (e.g., interracial)
* outlawing pornography
* outlawing same sex marriage
* outlawing children learning a language other than English
* allow states to forcibly sterilize people. (criminals, disabled people or BIPOC)
https://twitter.com/a_h_reaume/status/1521316453944758273
Also in the reactionary’s target zone:
Desegregation (overturn Brown vs Board of Education)
https://twitter.com/nickmartin/status/1521555176515014656
19Grandma Ada @ 5,
After Gay marriage and interracial marriage:
The right to privacy in you bedroom
birth control
the right to control your money
the right to own property.
Democrats and voters need to get really loud. Now. Clarence needs to resign along with those supremes who lied to Congress.
20G Foresight- I think obliterating the separation of church and state should on your list even though it’s in the constitution. I don’t think that matters to the current far right SCrOTUS. That separation is already blurry in many areas and rulings.
21As for why (and a general who), a Yale law professor who once clerked at the Supreme has a not too different guess: https://mobile.twitter.com/akapczynski/status/1521494553877962754 Professor Kapczynski thinks the leak was to freeze out a more moderate take by consenting judges.
22G Foresight, I hadn’t seen Brimelow, a comments on the website VDARE, saying: “Next stop Brown vs. Board!” I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised by this.
Steve- you are spot on with regards to separation of Church and State.
23Jen Jay
24Thank you for posting Professor Kapczynski’s thread, it was a very worthwhile read not to mention a good follow on Twitter.
Steve (21): yes, correct.
The (19) message just focused on listing some of the historical “right to privacy” rulings probably becoming targets now.
As for church & state, read the book (or view the series) “The Handmaid’s Tale” and think of the words of musician Frank Zappa from 1986 that sound foreboding: “The biggest threat to America today is not communism. It’s moving America toward a fascist theocracy.” Zappa said on the CNN “Crossfire” program back then.
25https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9856_xv8gc
Deb
26You’re welcome. I was glad I came across it. I bookmarked her, too.
Well, Ginni DOES tell (son) Clarence what to do .
27Well, when I first heard it I actually got a whiff of red herring. This is so off the rails for the SC to do. Then, as more leaked out, I got a whiff of Alito. That is one sour, sour guy. Don’t even ask him about the weather!
Does the proposed decision impact any other parts of life? Well, there has alwatys been a packet of people in the country at all levels that want to bring back segregation, take the vote away from women and people of color, disallow marriage between white and colored, disallow voting privileges for women, disallow equal housing ( they are in favor of ghettos), delegitmize contraceptive sales and on and on. All they need is a little more space under the door so they can crawl in and dominate. As for the number of Catholics on the court, Catholics as a generality also do get abortions and use contraceptives and marry whoever they wish. The actions of those Catholics on the SC could make life in the country for the rest of Catholics very, very harsh, for instance in hiuring. Ever hear of the signs in the shop windows of yesteryear “No Irsh Allowed”? There are enough morons inthis country to actually make all this happen.
The Prez is also a Catholic who wants to codify Roe and he must be blowing several fuses right now. I bet he feels stabbed in the back.
28On the upside, at least the smarmy Madison Cawthorn is no longer page 1 news.
29Have to agree with most comments here.
Our nascent Rethuglikan Fascist Theocrats have had banning ‘birth control’ ready to go right after eliminating Roe v Wade.
A disgusting little known aspect of the whole ‘absolute old male WASP’ total control scheme is something that I just heard of:
The Texass Lege has rejected, not once but several times over years, removing the regressive state sales tax on women’s menstrual products.
Really, I had never thought of it, just assumed such basic things would be exempt from the sales tax like most other basic essential items.
But consistently maintaining this very unfair tax on –women only– is a dead giveaway as to their twisted actual motives.
“Tampon tax repeal is about equality, period
State House Rep. Donna Howard working to repeal tampon tax”:
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2022/05/04/tampon-tax-repeal-is-about-equality-period/
And how about this aspect of ‘the tyranny of an evil minority’:
78% of Texas voters think abortion should be allowed in some form, UT poll shows:
https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2022/05/04/78-of-texas-voters-think-abortion-should-be-allowed-in-some-form-ut-poll-shows/
AVAILABILITY OF ABORTION (APRIL 2022):
https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/set/availability-abortion-april-2022
.
Surely the Texas Democrats can turn things around in the upcoming election cycle ?
A good start, taking down my US Rep, Henry Cuellar [who is nominally a Democrat, who I’ve had to vote for, and will again if necessary unless the R gerrymander has me in a different district], by selecting Jessica Cisneros in our ‘fajita’ District :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%27s_28th_congressional_district
Send Ms. Cisneros some dinero:
30https://jessicacisnerosforcongress.com/home/
https://ballotpedia.org/Jessica_Cisneros
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Cisneros