Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

The lights are all blinking red.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

White supremacy is terrorism.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Friday Night Open Thread: There Will Be Blood

Friday Night Open Thread: There Will Be Blood

by | 210 Comments

This post is in: , , ,



Short thread:


Merlan’s a real journalist and a good writer. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does with this:

On the other hand, David French is… a Republican, to his bones:

Reader Interactions

210Comments

  1. 1.

    Mallard Filmore

    The court is saying that women with ectopic pregnancies or weak hearts must die in order to forge a Christian Nation.

  2. 2.

    AnnaN

    In a Stand Your Ground state, is abortion legal if it’s done with a gun and the mother’s life is in danger?

  4. 4.

    TriassicSands

    Sharia Law? Absolutely the worst possible thing in all of life.

    Imposing my personal religious beliefs on everyone? Perfection!

  5. 5.

    Alison Rose

    I wrote a long rant about this on FB, but I’ll just say here that I’ve already seen the age-old comments from forced-birthers, “what about all the people who aren’t here because of abortion??????”, to which I say: I–an actual living human being–am ONLY here because of abortion, as are my two brothers. Our mother had an abortion years before she moved to California and met our father. She was not in a time or place in her life, nor in the right relationship, to have a child. She wanted to be a mother, but she was not ready to do so at that time. Though this was pre-Roe v Wade, she was fortunate to have parents who supported her and had the means to take her somewhere she could have an abortion. She was able to continue her life as she wished, which included moving to California a few years later (well, that was certainly not something she’d planned, it was rather based on whim, but it worked out pretty nicely), where she met my dad and they made three pretty fucking cool kids.

    So I wanna know why these assholes think theoretical people matter more than I do? Not that I’d actually want to hear their answers.

  8. 8.

    Percysowner

    Re: David French’s take, my belief is Clarence Thomas was upfront about what the Supreme Court will do. They will say contraception, same sex marriage, same sex relationships, will all be unprotected. The only reason the other Justices said otherwise is because elections are coming up and if they are honest, they are afraid more people losing their rights will bring out voters for the Democrats. They are planning on the raise the temperature on the boiling frog method of destroying any and all rights for living breathing people and expanding rights for corporations and religious bodies.

  9. 9.

    Suzanne

    @O. Felix Culpa:  I love her so much.

    I should also note that the human garbage that is SuzBioDad just shared on Facebook that he joined “dateover70.com”.

    Lord.

  10. 10.

    Urza

    @O. Felix Culpa:  Right idea for this, but the moment it happens it opens a door that can’t be closed. It was opened once in the 1860s. It won’t end the same way this time, and I don’t think anyone can predict where it goes.

  11. 11.

    TriassicSands

    @Alison Rose :  …what about all the people who aren’t here because of abortion?

    To which I would respond: The last thing this planet, already grotesquely overpopulated and in dangerous decline, needs is more American consumers.

    To which an insightful forced birther might respond: They wouldn’t be that big a problem because most of them would be really poor.

  13. 13.

    bbleh

    Well, from the Silver Lining Department, it might be worthwhile noting that precisely this kind of issue has been the glue that has kept the RWNJs laboring away for literally decades at all levels and that has led ultimately to their dominance at the state legislative level and (thank you Madisonian Compromise, not that anything else necessarily was feasible at the time) in the US Senate and thus to today’s Court, and therefore may similarly be something that galvanizes progressive activists and voters in the long term and thus ultimately helps to mitigate some of the current damage.

    But it ain’t gonna be easy or quick. Those nutcases have been banging away at this for decades, and yes they’re basically revival-tent suckers and marks who don’t give a damn about the health of women OR children (once they’re born, they’re moochers, doncha know), but they’ve been organized and persistent, and that’s the only way we’re gonna beat ’em.

    Soldier on!

  14. 14.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Urza:

    The Supreme Court opened that door, not me and not the venerable Maxine.

    “One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

  15. 15.

    Tony G

    If I understand the logic of this ruling, it is that Roe versus Wade was an inappropriate ruling because it is based on a right to privacy that is not explicitly named in the Constitution. It is also the case that the Constitution does not explicitly describe a right to racially integrated public schools. Therefore, on the basis of this “reasoning”, we can expect Brown versus Board of Education to soon be overturned.

  16. 16.

    syphonblue

    I’m not blaming Democrats for what’s happening, but it is absolutely true that the current Democratic leadership is completely out of touch with what is happening and they have absolutely no idea how to respond to this. They’re still too worried about comity and civility while all of our rights from the last century are summarily being stripped away.

     

    I mean, come on! Reading a poem? Singing God Bless America?? FOH

  18. 18.

    sdhays

    @Percysowner: I think they also just reflexively lie, perhaps even to themselves to some degree. “That’s not the question we’re reviewing today.” I think they still think of themselves as “above the fray justices”, as absurd as that is.

    Thomas is old and tired of pretending to care about that shit, now that he has his super majority.

  19. 19.

    taumaturgo

    Senate Democrats in a display of almost indifference, in a communication declared that they would scheduled hearings for next month when they return from summer recess. Business as usual, nothing major is happening now. If the base continues to give a pass to this failure of leadership, then nothing significant will change and the leaders will continue to take the voters for granted allowing the American Taliban to have their way.

  21. 21.

    Ruckus

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    @Suzanne:

    Auntie Maxine is one tough broad. She can swear better than most sailors I ever met, or have seen in a mirror, her don’t give a fuck gene is in full view, and she doesn’t mess around. I’ve been blessed to see her live in action and she is one of my favorite human beings.

  22. 22.

    Anne Laurie

    @syphonblue: Singing God Bless America??

    The Dems did that to ‘celebrate’ passage of the new gun law, weak as it might be.

    Big problem with This Modern World — too many stories, all at the same time.

  25. 25.

    bbleh

    @Tony G:  Yes, and since neither traffic signals nor even automobiles are mentioned in the Constitution, it follows that, even if Congress passes a law VERY EXPLICITLY allowing SPECIFIC agencies to emplace signals to control the flow of automobile traffic, such laws must be declared unconstitutional because they interfere with the right of … uh … interstate commerce, yeah!  And also FREEDOM!!™  Besides, anyone injured in an automobile accident always has the right to sue for civil damages, or if they’re killed, their estate does, so it’s all good.

  26. 26.

    Cameron

    @syphonblue: I know.  I personally would have found it far more satisfying if Speaker Pelosi had told them, “Your agonizing death awaits you, slimy crawlers!  Go now, hide in the sewers, and cower at the sound of our boots marching down the street above your tiny heads….”

  27. 27.

    catothedog

    I am trying to think about how to get out of this hell. Because make no bones about it. We are in hell now, not some temporary funk.

    –A minority of people can democratically get all federal power in the United States now. The election rules are stacked. It is all perfectly legal now. There is no Jan 6 like insurrection needed.

    —This minority will stack the rules even more, to never give up power.

    –This Court will let them get away with it.

    –You cannot fix the Courts because this minority selects the court.

    –States cannot escape this tyranny because the same Court will declare federal and state rules apply as they want it to be

    People are not even realizing this. Unless you realize the problem, how can you even think about addressing it?

    People still  think that stacking the Court and nuking the filibuster are too extreme!!!.

    After two more elections, those 2 options will look like they were moderate. It will be even harder to get back to normal.

    Nuke the filibuster and thirteen on the court now. If you cannot explain that to people and make that the midterm platform, there is no point.

  28. 28.

    Mnemosyne

    @syphonblue:

    Hey, I’m sure that focusing on the minor missteps of Democrats rather than the actual bad actions of Republicans will totally work to get the Republicans out of office this time!

    Have I mentioned on this thread that I came back specifically so I could remind Berniebro morons that I was fucking right and that their utter wrongness about the “Democratic establishment” is about to have a body count? Because that’s what I’m fucking here to do.

  30. 30.

    Mnemosyne

    @taumaturgo:

    Go fuck yourself. You enabled this. You don’t get to fucking come in here and pretend to have some kind of moral high ground about the result we fucking told you would happen if you didn’t support the Democrats.

    Fuck you.

  31. 31.

    Dangerman

    Each of the Fucked Up Five will never be able to go out for a meal again without wondering what’s in their food (see “Secret Sauce”, “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle”).

    Not that that is the right thing to do. I’m just saying that is a possibility.

  33. 33.

    catothedog

    @Mnemosyne:

    remind Berniebro morons that I was fucking right and that their utter wrongness about the “Democratic establishment” is about to have a body count?

    Absolutely.

    This was the underpants theory of the pure left politics

    1)Teach Democrats a lesson

    2) ????

    3) Liberal policy and laws get implemented. !!!!

  35. 35.

    Ruckus

    @taumaturgo:

    And what would you have them do?

    This political time is basically a perfect storm, even numbers of senators, and not all of ours seem to be willing to work with fellow dems. Are they supposed to go in shooting? Or attempting to have a replacement law in 15 minutes, that will be struck down? This isn’t textbook democracy, this is about as opposite of that I’ve seen in my lifetime. They struck down an almost 50 yr old law. On bullshit concepts. This isn’t ruling, this isn’t democracy, this is just bullshit.

  42. 42.

    bbleh

    @Mnemosyne: It’s possible to criticize the approach of “establishment” Dems without being a “Berniebro moron.”  I think Pelosi is one of the most important political talents in over a generation, Biden continues to pleasantly surprise me (albeit in minor ways), and I am in awe of how Bennie Thompson and crew have organized the 1/6 Hearings Show, but I sympathize with the feeling that a lot of the Dem leadership has seemed like that “this is fine” dog for way too long.

  44. 44.

    taumaturgo

    @syphonblue: Is not about blame is about holding leaders accountable. The party as an organization has failed to protect women’s right to reproductive freedom.

  45. 45.

    Ruckus

    @Mnemosyne:

    OK, now that’s rich. I haven’t laughed that well in quite some time.

    I do believe you’ve set them straight. If they don’t know now, there is no helping them whatsofuckingever.

  46. 46.

    MisterDancer

    @O. Felix Culpa: Goddamm this.

    Denying people Abortions is immoral and inhumane. Dr. King laid it out; you stand up against immoral laws, yet you also accept the punishment, as inhumane as that can be, as well.

    That is what Rep. Waters is talking about. That is how you break the law in ways that keep from also breaking the country. You own your actions like an Adult, and you show how horrific these forced birth laws are, along the way.

    Indeed, it’s the opposite of everything the Conservative Movement has done to force this moment. They run like hell from every possible consequence like the moral cowards they are!

    Mz Waters knows what she’s saying, and why. We’d do well to listen.

  48. 48.

    Mnemosyne

    @bbleh:

    Today is not the fucking day to focus on the papercut caused by “establishment Democrats” when the Republicans just ripped our guts open with a dull knife. Is that fucking clear enough?

    Try to stay focused on the actual enemy for fucking once.

  55. 55.

    Mnemosyne

    @taumaturgo:

    Why not hold the fucking Republicans responsible for their own fucking actions instead of immediately blaming the Democrats for what the Republicans did? Maybe, you know, just fucking once? As a treat?

  59. 59.

    bbleh

    @taumaturgo: I don’t think they’ve made nearly enough noise about guns either.  And I’m not at all impressed with the recent gun bill — the mountains have labored and brought forth a mouse — and I’d give even money that it will quickly be enjoined and eventually struck down based on Thomas’s recent opinion.

    Our side is running from fights.  And it’s important in the long run to fight about some issues, even if you know you’re gonna lose in the short term.

  62. 62.

    Urza

    @O. Felix Culpa: Sure, but that whole states rights thing started with slavery, and will go right back to it very quickly once they get moving with it.  Unravel the nation very fast to let states negate federal laws and rulings on a whim.

  65. 65.

    Anotherlurker

    @taumaturgo: You berniebros are really tiresome.

    All you do is trash Democrats but you don’t describe a way to accomplish your goals.

    Assholes

    FOaD.

  66. 66.

    Ruckus

    @Mnemosyne:

    I think I passed that mark for some a long time ago.

    And not in my book you haven’t.

    Sorry it took this much shit to get you back but it is really good to see you here.

  67. 67.

    Suzanne

    The Dems have certainly been insufficient on this, but come the fuck on. I know there’s always a tendency on our side to infight and get pissed at one another for not being strong or perfect enough and we police another too much. It is one of the biggest failures of this movement.

    But I remember who the real enemy is.

  68. 68.

    bbleh

    @Mnemosyne: My goodness, you really don’t seem to be able to take “yes” for an answer, unless it is entirely without even an implicit “but.”  Reminds me of a lot of Berniebros …

  73. 73.

    Ruckus

    @Anotherlurker:

    They have goals?  Who’da guessed?

    They must be very tiny goals, almost invisible, unimaginably small, single atom sized, if that big. Tis certain that they have zero idea what those goals might actually be or might actually accomplish but they do carry on about them as if they had any size, shape, definition, thought whatsofuckingever.

  74. 74.

    livewyre

    @bbleh: This is a good example – thank you – of what we’re fighting against. If you keep doing it, it’s clear enough where you stand.

  77. 77.

    livewyre

    If the Republicans can teach us anything, it’s that loyalty is good for something. Is there any actual doubt about what the Democratic Party is actually working to accomplish, however we may question their methods? If they’re on our side, can we be on theirs – or even, heavens forbid, part of them?

    No, seriously, why do we have to quibble and qualify our support and act ashamed to be part of this?  Are they that bad that we have to distance ourselves? This is bewildering, especially at such a moment in history.

  78. 78.

    Johnnybuck

    @Ruckus: Yeah, maybe not, if you’re first comment is that Democrats have been “insufficient on this”  What the fuck?

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    @Mallard Filmore:

    I think my bag of fucks is getting filled here on this posting. I mean sure we can all use a few more fucks, and Mems seems to have found an entire stash, a truck load if you will, but there seem to be a rather rich supply being flung about….

  81. 81.

    Hilbertsubspace

    Readers should probably note that the thaumaturge is being disingenuous.  Hence the name choice.

  82. 82.

    Mnemosyne

    @bbleh:

    I have zero fucking tolerance for any amount of “both sides” bullshit today. This isn’t a fucking car accident where the insurance company decides what percentage each person is to blame.

    The fucking Supreme Court just made American women second-class citizens and all you fucking care about is making sure everyone knows you’re a deep thinker who’s decided that the Democrats are just as much to blame because you can’t pull your head out of your ass long enough to point the finger at the actual culprits.

    I’m not here to make friends or soothe egos. If you can’t be bothered to stand as a united front with the Democrats today of all days, you’re not an ally.

  86. 86.

    MisterDancer

    @Ruckus: thanks! That said, I think it’s time to switch off the browser and open the eReader for tonight.

     

    Be well, folx.

  87. 87.

    Mai Naem mobile

    I am so angry right now. We are just going backwards in this fucking country. Biden needs to expand the court and he needs to threaten Manchin and Sinema with whatever the fuck he’s got. Threaten to prosecute Manchin’s greedy daughter. Fuck these people and I am pissed off at the Dems because they had opportunities. They fight nice instead of punching the fuck out of these bullies. Fucking Rick Scott should be in prison for Medicare fraud. Trump should be rotting in prison with his whole asshole crooked grifting scamming family.

  91. 91.

    frosty

    @Mnemosyne: Have I mentioned on this thread that I came back specifically so I could remind Berniebro morons that I was fucking right and that their utter wrongness about the “Democratic establishment” is about to have a body count?

    Why yes, yes you did, and I’m here for it. Hang on a sec, while I get some popcorn.

  93. 93.

    Cowgirl in the Sandi

    @Mnemosyne:

    Go fuck yourself. You enabled this. You don’t get to fucking come in here and pretend to have some kind of moral high ground about the result we fucking told you would happen if you didn’t support the Democrats.

    Well said!

  96. 96.

    livewyre

    @Mai Naem mobile: I have to take exception to this on principle, but also because it has something interesting in it. There’s a narrative about “fighting nice” that has been making the rounds and I think is part of an attempt to split us.

    Part of that’s because the conflict is not force vs. force, but between rule of force and rule of law. Lawyers and politicians could be said to “fight nice” in general, as opposed to sending in the goons to make something happen. We’re fresh out of an administration whose whole… I hesitate to say “organizing”… principle was to do everything underhandedly and half-assedly and not actually making sure it stuck. If anything, that’s something for us over here on the law side to count on.

    The other part is that we don’t have enough force to dominate in any case, even if that was our goal. If it comes to armed conflict, we all lose; it’s just a matter of how much. We could use more effort in preventing that rather than accelerating it.

  98. 98.

    Suzanne

    @Mnemosyne: Sinema sucks for a fat stack of reasons, but this is not on her.

    The reality is that everyone got comfy with Roe and the Dems didn’t want to spend limited political capital, when they had it, to put a right into law when it appeared that the precedent was safe. In retrospect, that was a shitty decision. Many people aren’t imaginative enough and they really are not willing to face the reality that the GOP is a terrorist organization. Fuck, even the Boomer Dems are all like “my esteemed colleague from Dumbfuckistan is a Good Man” and believe in that comity horseshit.

  101. 101.

    Mnemosyne

    @Suzanne:

    Oh, I didn’t mean this is Sinema’s fault. That was more to establish your non-troll bona fides even though we sometimes disagree.

    But I should go eat some dinner. I have writing to do tonight.

  102. 102.

    Fair Economist

    @Mnemosyne:

    Have I mentioned on this thread that I came back specifically so I could remind Berniebro morons that I was fucking right and that their utter wrongness about the “Democratic establishment” is about to have a body count? Because that’s what I’m fucking here to do.

    Amen.

  103. 103.

    Steeplejack

    @Suzanne:

    Can’t remember which earlier thread where you discussed SuzBioDad, but have you decided to lay into him on Facebook for his hypocrisy?

  104. 104.

    Fair Economist

    @Suzanne:

    The reality is that everyone got comfy with Roe and the Dems didn’t want to spend limited political capital, when they had it, to put a right into law when it appeared that the precedent was safe. In retrospect, that was a shitty decision.

    There has never been a time in the past 40 years when the Democrats could have codified Roe:

    1981-2: Reagan was President
    1983-4: Reagan was President
    1985-6: Reagan was President
    1987-8: Reagan was President
    1989-90: HW Bush was President
    1991-2: HW Bush was President
    1995-6: Republican Congress
    1997-8: Republican Congress
    1999-2000: Republican Congress
    2001-2: W Bush was President
    2003-4: W Bush was President
    2005-6: W Bush was President
    2007-8: W Bush was President
    2009-10: Tried but stopped by anti-choice majority in House.
    2011-2: Republican Congress
    2013-4: Republican Congress
    2015-6: Republican Congress
    2017-8: Trump was President
    2019-20: Trump was President
    2021-2: Tried but stopped by opposition from 51 Senators.

    So that leaves 1993-4 as the only other time the Democrats MIGHT have been able to codify Roe. But they only had a 3 seat majority in the Senate, and that included the antichoicers Shelby, Nunn, and Nighthorse Campbell. So probably not then either.

    There literally has not been ONE time in the past FORTY years where the Democrats had the power to codify abortion rights. Not ONE.

    And that’s why it didn’t happen.

  105. 105.

    syphonblue

    @Mnemosyne: And I have zero fucking tolerance today for your holier than thou “the only people who would dare mildly criticize Democrats are Bernie bros”

    I voted for Hillary in the general AND the primaries, and Warren in 2020, and think Bernie is a blight on the Democratic party who needs to fuck off and stop taking their money and time if he’s not going to be an actual part of the party but please do go on.

    I even said in the very first sentence that I’m not blaming the Democrats for this, but it is clear that this moment demands people to rise to the occasion and the current Democratic leadership is utterly failing. 

    Unless you count a tweet saying they’re “going to hold a hearing next month to explore the reality of it”  to be “doing something”.

  106. 106.

    Suzanne

    I should note that I got home at 2 AM today from a family trip to northern CA, and now I am wondering if I should have stayed.

    An unexpected treat: I was at the CA Academy of Sciences and looked across to the de Young museum, and the Obama Portraits were there! I was T H R I L L E D. I was in DC last October at the National Portrait Gallery to see them, and I didn’t know they were on tour and I was really disappointed. So I took an hour to myself to go say hello to BHO and my ForeverFLOTUS. I fucking WEPT. I miss them so much, and I miss how I felt about the country and myself while they were in the White House.

    I also went to see the show on Alice Neel, “People Come First”. I had read about it in the FTFNYT and I didn’t think I would get to see it. Walking around an art museum in some fucking peace and quiet is one of the joys I have missed the most since the pandemic.

  108. 108.

    Ruckus

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    If the world only worked that way, we’d have rainbow sprinkles every damn day.

    But it doesn’t, especially politics, especially in this country. We have a large segment of our population that would seemingly rather sell their grandmothers for dog food than actually have a reasonable government, IOW they are normalish human beings who think money is more important than people.

    Many of us are extremely pissed off. We aren’t politicians but we at least have a smidgen of a concept of how politics works or doesn’t.

    Others want something, something and have even less of an idea how to get that and it’s besides the point that they can’t even show even a tiny bit of how things work or don’t. They live in a fantasy world, or a bottomless pit without any light, but either way they want something that others don’t want and can’t imagine why they can’t get that. Then we have the conservative side. They think they want to go back a couple thousand years to a better time when men were men and women were silent and toilet paper and running water hadn’t been invented.

    The point is that many of us are pissed off. Many of us don’t see a reasonable way out of this, because likely there isn’t a reasonable way when one side wants the future to be better for everyone and the other side thinks hell is such a fine place. We can’t just stuff everyone we don’t like/agree with in a bag and pitch them over the side of the boat, there’d be no one left to zip up the bags.

  109. 109.

    Fair Economist

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    I am so angry right now. We are just going backwards in this fucking country. Biden needs to expand the court and he needs to threaten Manchin and Sinema with whatever the fuck he’s got. Threaten to prosecute Manchin’s greedy daughter.

    Manchin has said if the other Democrats pressure him like that he’ll switch caucuses and give the Senate to Mitch McConnell.

    Is that what you want?

  111. 111.

    Suzanne

    @Fair Economist: If they had been willing to do a lot of arm-twisting and buying off, I think we could have done it in 2009. But that would have probably required us to give up on every other legislative priority. That’s the counterfactual.

  112. 112.

    Mnemosyne

    @syphonblue: 

    It was already pointed out that you were completely wrong about the context of singing “God Bless America.” It had nothing to do with the Roe v Wade decision. So what other imaginary things are you angry about that the Democrats didn’t actually do?

  113. 113.

    Eljai

    @syphonblue:  The only work before us and the only way to turn things around is to win the next election. You can bitch about national Democrats all you want, but elections are determined at the local, state and regional level and we have many contests coming up that are in play.

  114. 114.

    Lethe

    @Alison Rose : “what about all the people who aren’t here because of abortion??????”

    To which I answer “what about all the other babies the mothers who died from the denial of an abortion might have had?” And what about their now-motherless children?

    I am so angry. I had 2 ectopic pregnancies before having my son. I wonder how many years I would have been sentenced to?

    @Alison Rose :

  116. 116.

    M31

    @Fair Economist: thanks for this summary, I’m fighting against some ill-informed progressives in my life who think the Dems ‘could have codified Roe’

    Even the so-called ‘filibuster-proof majority’ of Obama’s first term was only a few months long, was dominated by the economic crisis and passing the ACA

  117. 117.

    Johnnybuck

    @syphonblue: Please fucking explain to me how Donald Fucking Trump put 3 of these hacks on the Goddamn court who essentially did this, is somehow Nancy Pelosi’s fault?

  119. 119.

    Mnemosyne

    Anyway, dinner break! May or may not be back to battle later since I have a sequel to write and an in-person conference early tomorrow morning. Toodles!

  121. 121.

    taumaturgo

    @Mnemosyne: ​
      What’s your point, hate those within the party that have a different view of the leadership than you? Conservative Democrats are in charge, conservative Democrats should be held accountable. Silencing dissenting views is for the MAGAS, isn’t?

  122. 122.

    Suzanne

    @Anotherlurker: I never want to hear a Democrat ever say anything even vaguely complimentary or conciliatory to or about a Republican ever again. They want to use the force of law to assault women, they should be made to feel like the trash that they are. They get away with this because it is comfortable for them. These people should be mocked mercilessly every time they leave the house.

  123. 123.

    Fair Economist

    @Suzanne:

    If they had been willing to do a lot of arm-twisting and buying off, I think we could have done it in 2009. But that would have probably required us to give up on every other legislative priority. That’s the counterfactual.

    That’s just wishful thinking. And even if by some miracle they could have got codifying Roe past all the Blue Dogs in the House, it could never have gotten through the filibuster, which had been fully weaponized at that point.

  125. 125.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Fair Economist: yes. It doesn’t matter if he’s holding back on so much progress. Bidens gotten what’s he’s going to get.  If he switches parties he can actually own it. Also he becomes one of 51 assholes. He doesn’t stand out in any way. Manchin wants attention. How does he get it if he’s just another RW asshole.

  126. 126.

    CaseyL

    The only reason to pay attention to purity trolls like taumaturgo and syphonblue is if your BP is low and needs boosting.

    They are not, they are NOT, on anyone’s “side” but their own; and they have a GOP-like taste for cruelty, which is why they run here after horrible events to try adding salt to the wound (and are never seen otherwise).

  127. 127.

    Fair Economist

    @Suzanne:

    I never want to hear a Democrat ever say anything even vaguely complimentary or conciliatory to or about a Republican ever again. They want to use the force of law to assault women, they should be made to feel like the trash that they are.

    I get the anger, but there’s a reasonable chance that Biden sweet-talking McConnell and Cornyn is the reason the gun control bill got passed, likely saving the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands of abused women whose boyfriends/exes won’t be able to get guns to kill them with. Is having Biden say only bad things about McConnell worth that to you?

    I have long said: We all have our roles to play. Politicians aren’t opinion leaders, they’re negotiators. Being smooth with enemies to get something out of them is *their* job. Badmouthing McConnell is *our* job. Biden is doing an *amazing* job; the legislation list for his term is jaw-dropping – without precedent back to Johnson, even without BBB.

  131. 131.

    Suzanne

    @Fair Economist: Of course it’s wishful thinking. Look, the argument is that we would have had to make a really big fucking effort around it, and engage in a lot of persuasion to change minds. I think it would have been abstractly possible, but who fucking knows? It would have seemed deeply silly at the time to spend our effort that way and to campaign on the issue and primary the shitty Blue Dog Dems and all of the other things we may have done if we were singularly focused on it. And you’re maybe right, it may very well have failed, even if we had tried really hard. The point is that we never wanted to engage in that fight because it would have sucked really hard with no guarantee of success, and it wouldn’t have won anything new. Even I would have thought it was dumb at the time, considering the ACA fight.

    But we were all more complacent then.

  132. 132.

    Fair Economist

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    yes. It doesn’t matter if he’s holding back on so much progress. Bidens gotten what’s he’s going to get. If he switches parties he can actually own it.

    If Manchin switches parties, then no more judges. The Republicans get to keep all the currently open spots – like the Appeals Court judge appointed by Reagan in the Seventh (?) circuit who just died. The African-American judge just nominated to the the Fifth (?) circuit doesn’t get the job.

    Is that what you want?

  133. 133.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Fair Economist:

    Manchin has said if the other Democrats pressure him like that he’ll switch caucuses and give the Senate to Mitch McConnell

    Has he? I would think the real fuck you from Manchin would be retiring and letting Jim Justice pick his replacement.

    Also– I’m angry and frustrated too, but can we not with the Robert Ludlum/Stieg Larsson fantasies of blackmail, if only we have the ballz

    ETA: also: do people have some evidence that Bob Casey, Tom Carper and Angus King are ready to codify Roe? And what does that mean? what is are the main point/s of the law?

  134. 134.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Fair Economist: the Democrars never want to spend their limited political capital. They passed DACA….ooooh BFD because OMG they couldn’t pass anything for illegals. No worker program nothing. But mofo Dubbya and Trump pass massive tax cuts with limited political capital. They even manage to fuck the USPS. Yes, i know the core problem is the GOP but the Dems need to fight back strongly instead of this battered wife shit..puhhhllleeze don’t hit me.

  135. 135.

    Ruckus

    @CaseyL:

    Agreed.

    I call them BW  –  Basically Worthless.

    And you are correct their major joy in life seems to be getting BP spikes in others. The only appropriate food for them is pie.

  138. 138.

    livewyre

    @Fair Economist: Exactly, thank you. We need to remember what our job is in a democracy, and it’s not to beg for scraps from nobles and complain when we don’t get them. The whole point of an elected government is to make sure they do the negotiations that we don’t have the patience or study or influence for – which, in some form, they actually are, or we’d have a lot less infrastructure to type on and/or a lot less impunity in what we type. We can use this ability to further our goals in concert with them, and we’d better.

    I’m noting not a peep about the hearings from our anti-loyalism interlocutors. That’s not likely to be a coincidence. Mocking the whole idea of elected government is in the (rather substantially valued) interest of nobles. We don’t want those anymore.

  140. 140.

    frosty

    @CaseyL: … they have a GOP-like taste for cruelty, which is why they run here after horrible events to try adding salt to the wound (and are never seen otherwise).

    Good observation. I had one of them pied some time ago, I’ll have to renew it.

  141. 141.

    Fair Economist

    @Mai Naem mobile: It’s really weird to see complaints about “not spending political capital” when the Democrats have actually gotten a record amount of substantive legislation through:

    Covid Relief and Recovery
    Infrastructure.
    Safer Communities Act
    Postal Reform
    Anti-Lynching Act
    Aid for Ukraine.
    VA eligibility for burn pit victims
    Violence Against Women re-enactment
    Forced Arbitration Ban.
    Ocean Shipping Reform

    Seriously, no administration in my memory has come close to the amount of consequential legislation the Biden administration has pulled off – with the narrowest Congressional margins in history. They are fucking amazing. We are seeing, again and again, that electing Democrats makes life better. Yes, there are things they can’t fix, like the monstrously packed Court, but thank god they are in office and thank god this bunch is so good and effective.

  142. 142.

    livewyre

    @Mai Naem mobile: There’s a whole concept of “working with others” that I feel is getting left by the wayside here. Sometimes it isn’t weak to serve revenge cold. Ask Liz Cheney. The point is to make things happen, not to momentarily vindicate ourselves on the way to the camps. And while we’re not there yet, it’s our obligation – those of us who still can – to keep it from happening. Even if it looks weak.

    Also kinda telling on yourself by insulting victims of domestic abuse on this of all possible days that you could have chosen. Might want to reconsider, if that wasn’t the idea to begin with.

  143. 143.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @syphonblue:

    but it is clear that this moment demands people to rise to the occasion and the current Democratic leadership is utterly failing. 

    What does “rising to the occasion” look like?

  144. 144.

    Ivan X

    @taumaturgo: tell me how conservative Democrats are responsible for extreme gerrymandering in R controlled states, abuse of the filibuster, being denied a SCOTUS Justice for literally no reason, relentless media bothsidesing, the electoral college system enshrined in our constitution that denies majority rule, bad faith testimony from SCOTUS candidates, blue flight from red states, vote suppression in R controlled states, the fact that 4 in 10 Americans have no problem with voting for authoritarianism, and Comey’s 11th hour bloviating. Because those are things I see as being directly or indirectly responsible for today’s decision, and that’s just off the top of my head. What would better leadership have done differently to change the effects of any of these? Or are you a Green Lanternist?

    Also, R’s have wielded a tremendous amount of power just by sticking together. How is having a discussion about what our side’s leadership does wrong on a day that can can only be described as a grief filled catastrophe, and when the other side openly cheats, constructive or decent?

  146. 146.

    Mo Salad

    I found out that my daughter was going to bus in tonight from Ann Arbor to join the protest in downtown Detroit. I decided that my girlfriend and I should go down and join her as well. What I didn’t know is that they were going to do a 5K March in 90ﾟ heat. I was in jeans and long sleeve T-shirt because you’re not supposed to have exposed skin at these protests.I was the whitest dad type looking guy out there. A lot of these marchers were those red rose purity types that we complain about here.They were fucking amazing. They know how to do these protests. Medics. Water wagons. People on bikes and in cars blocking off traffic so that we could March down the streets throughout downtown Detroit. We pissed off a lot of people trying to get around downtown tonight and that’s fine. Thr March ended with us completely blocking Jefferson Avenue at the Windsor tunnel entrance for quite a while.Got in a dinner afterwards. Got in a visit with both my daughter and my girlfriend tonight. Got in a metric fuckton of steps tonight.  Got to drive my daughter home. Got in a bunch of pokemon go along with the chants tonight. Yeah, I know. I suck. But I also have a Snorlax parked at the Spirit of Detroit statue as we speak.​​

  147. 147.

    prostratedragon

    The Fair & Just Prosecutors’ statement was published as a pdf. I’ve extracted the text. Here’s some of it:

    Not all of us agree on a personal or moral level on the issue of abortion. But we stand together in our firm belief that prosecutors have a responsibility to refrain from using limited criminal legal system resources to criminalize personal medical decisions. As such, we decline to use our offices’ resources to criminalize reproductive health decisions and commit to exercise our well- settled discretion and refrain from prosecuting those who seek, provide, or support abortions. 2

    Prosecutors are entrusted with immense discretion. With this discretion comes the obligation to seek justice. And at the heart of the pursuit of justice is the furtherance of policies and practices that protect the well-being and safety of all members of our community.

    Prosecutors make decisions every day about how to allocate limited resources and which cases to prosecute. Indeed, our communities have entrusted us to use our best judgment in deciding how and if to leverage the criminal legal system to further the safety and well-being of all, and we are ethically bound to pursue those interests in every case.

  150. 150.

    Another Scott

    @Tony G: Of course, (as someone probably already noted) the Founders thought of that way back when:

    <blockquote>9th Amendment:

    The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.</blockquote>

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  151. 151.

    prostratedragon

    @prostratedragon:

    Enforcing abortion bans runs counter to the obligations and interests we are sworn to uphold. It will erode trust in the legal system, hinder our ability to hold perpetrators accountable, take resources away from the enforcement of serious crime, and inevitably lead to the retraumatization and criminalization of victims of sexual violence.

    Criminalizing abortion will not end abortion; it will simply end safe abortions, forcing the most vulnerable among us — as well as medical providers — to make impossible decisions. Abortion bans will isolate people from the law enforcement, medical, and social resources they need. When individuals know that they or someone they love could be investigated and prosecuted for having an abortion, they are far less likely to call for help in the event of an emergency. Prosecutors, police, and our medical partners cannot do our jobs when many victims and witnesses of crime or other emergencies are unwilling to work with us for fear that their private medical decisions will be criminalized.

     
    [Edited to clean up formatting]

  152. 152.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Mo Salad: ​ 

    Sounds like a helluva night, great night for you guys.

    In Texas, the signs we are creeping to open violence in the streets are getting bigger and brighter. There is a nastiness to the rhetoric that has been at least dampened in the past, but now the hate is palpable.

    Former Marine steps down as July 4 parade grand marshal of Texas town after threats of violence. A Houston conservative talk show host who started the deluge of taunts celebrated the threats against the woman’s family on Twitter.

  153. 153.

    Cameron

    I’ve gotta check out for the night.  Old fart needs his beauty sleep.  Today people had to come to terms with these awful SC rulings, particularly the one discussed on this post.  I’m hoping tomorrow to see some kicking around of ideas on how the resistance might be framed.  Have a great night, all.

  155. 155.

    livewyre

    Now that I think of it, there has to be some common motivation behind all these power fantasies and how-dare-they-nots – some with an almost triumphant note to them. It’s like the point is to keep from looking weak. Who cares about the tapes, they still aren’t doing enough – aren’t doing what I would. I’m better than them; stronger, more righteous, more in tune with the needs of the people. I, the archetypal voter, disapprove. And I get to say whether they’re good enough for me. Don’t I?

    It doesn’t even make a difference whether it’s out of fear of failure (from the same side) or fear of success (on either side). Mental state isn’t knowable. But it is out of coordination with the actual work being done. And it needs to stop, in order for that work to continue.

    Maybe we need a better general sense of what it is that politicians actually do. There might be an unawareness of what political negotiations actually consist of (unless they involve wooden canes or baseball bats). If we can open that up a little, that might help us get a sense of being on the same side. Easy for me to say.

  159. 159.

    livewyre

    @brendancalling: In case you didn’t scan the comments (don’t blame you), it was in ceremony with passing certain legislation. But I suppose it does look weak, if one’s on the hunt for signs of weakness.

    In that case, I would ask: why are we looking for signs of weakness, instead of using our own strength to correct for it?

  160. 160.

    Sally

    Pregnancy has major medical and health effects on the body.  People (eg. Amy) talk as if the body is similar to a catalyst, the embryo grows inside the body without affecting the function at all.  Many of us and our families know this is not usually true.  Pregnancy and birth can leave the body with life long incapacities and disfunction, and can cause death.  The idea that “she can just have the baby, give “It” away, and then go on with her life as if nothing happened” is ignorant, disingenuous and dangerous.  And “they” know it.  This is aside from the devastating psychological affects of the pregnancy, the birth, and a subsequent surrender.  Women who surrender a baby are much more likely to suffer more serious and life long mental health issues than women who have terminations (who have very few psychological after affects).  Even when recovery after a birth is good, the impacts of the pregnancy can affect women’s ability to work, care for others, travel, and pursue their lives in a manner of their choosing.   The physical and mental health impact of a pregnancy on young girls can be devastating.  I believe these short and long term health effects are aspects of the ban that should be emphasised.

  161. 161.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @syphonblue: Me and all the other women here officially became second-fucking-class citizens and you’re fucking complaining because your precious fucking feelings are hurt.

    Read the fucking room, fuckhead. And then fucking fuck off.

  163. 163.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Mnemosyne:

    Have I mentioned on this thread that I came back specifically so I could remind Berniebro morons that I was fucking right and that their utter wrongness about the “Democratic establishment” is about to have a body count? Because that’s what I’m fucking here to do.

    Say it loud!  Say it proud!

    Also, a mock up I found in 2016: Fuck All Y’All by Hillary Rodham Clinton

  164. 164.

    Bill Arnold

    @taumaturgo:

    Thank you for I didn’t realize con-servative Democrats have been ineffectual for so long.

    Say something negative about the Republican Party. I dare you.

  165. 165.

    brklyWest

    @syphonblue:I understand your anger with Nancy and I agree with the need to pass the torch.
    But we have to work with the hand we’re dealt with.  In the aggregate, Nancy has been an effective leader.  The fault doesn’t lie with the House.  Lets work to keep the house and net 4 new Senators in the upcoming elections.  Then we can do something about this mess

  167. 167.

    MomSense

    Today was brutal. We have summer employees who are college students and they broke down today.  We all marched together and I hope I impressed upon that the work continues.  We fight tomorrow and everyday until we achieve autonomy.

  168. 168.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Michael Cohen @speechboy71. 2h

    To all the smart people on Twitter complaining about Democratic politicians asking them to vote for Democratic candidates to protect abortion … you know who consistently votes for their party candidates, no matter how flawed? The people celebrating the death of Roe this evening

  171. 171.

    Kent

    Elections have consequences.

    And the three elections that gave us this are

    • 2000 Bush v. Gore when far too many dipshit pseudo-liberals voted for Nader or didn’t vote at all.
    • 2014 Midterms when shitloads of liberals didn’t bother voting and McConnell took over the Senate.
    • 2016 when too many liberal dipshits voted Jill Stein or didn’t vote at all.

    That is your 5 vote majority to overturn Roe right there.

    Yes, go vote Dem in the 2022 midterms like your life depends on it. But this was as 50-year project by the right.  And it might well take 50 years to completely undo.  Of course the Dems could fix this tomorrow if they really wanted except for Manchin and Sinema and the others who think so-called Senate customs are more important than democracy and civil rights.

  172. 172.

    JWR

    @Mnemosyne: (Cue Twilight Zone theme.) Wow! Just yesterday I was wondering to myself how you were doing. Honest! Here’s hoping you make more frequent appearances, and on better news days than today!

  173. 173.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mnemosyne:

    Some people were skeptical that it was really me.

    Just want to add my voice to those saying: Welcome back! and stay a while.

  174. 174.

    RaflW

    I believe that Leadership Democrats cannot really see that they are invested in institutions that have already failed. Heck, that’s a hard concept for me to grasp!

    But the coming phase in this (so far) cold civil war will be trifecta blue states testing out how far they can try to just ignore Scotus decisions they deem grossly unjust.

    There have been some interesting threads this afternoon about ways that the rift in this country will worsen. That this return to the experiment of “state’s rights” will fail as spectacularly as it did before.

    We must gird for this. It’s going to be really rough.

  176. 176.

    Kent

    @Fair Economist: That’s just wishful thinking. And even if by some miracle they could have got codifying Roe past all the Blue Dogs in the House, it could never have gotten through the filibuster, which had been fully weaponized at that point.

    An abortion rights bill has already passed the House.  The Senate is the only obstacle.  but it is obviously an unsurpassable one.

  177. 177.

    RaflW

    @RaflW: The above said, my partner and I are committed to helping elect Democrats in MN & WI – our home geographies.

    My goal is not to bash Dems, but to say that we have to build new power and new strength at the state level. Republicans want to devolve power? (while also seeking full control in D.C., so a tall order)  We have to meet and exceed them.

    Things like Four Directions and this newer BJ collaboration are good examples.

  180. 180.

    Urban Suburbanite

    Got back from the rally in Seattle. There were two big groups – one was led by Refuse Fascism (kind of shady group, but they’ve been leading a lot of people), the other was basically everyone else. I went with the former. Lot of people in that group,  waaaaaayyyyyyyy more people in the second. Also a gay and trans marching band. Really should have gone with the second.

    There’s a lot of ire at Democratic leadership right now. This isn’t about collecting both sides points, this is legit anger at the party leadership for continually ceding ground to the people who produced this court but never missing a chance for fundraising emails and texts.

    The anarchist ninjas have been stepping up lately, and it’s less of a fringe thing, where they just show up and wave a banner. They’re more tied into these events and kind of acting as security (looks like they wrecked a couple local nuisances tonight).

  181. 181.

    Urban Suburbanite

    Washington, Oregon, and California will be forming a pact to undermine a lot of the coming restrictions, and that includes setting up clinics reaaaallllll close to the increasingly insane state of Idaho (Nazis and retirees are a terrible combination, people). So at least our boring Democratic overlord is making some real steps. The scary communist councilwoman in Seattle, Kshama Sawant is pushing to go further.

    Everyone is furious and unsure where to go from here. Plus there’s a really encouraged fascist set who will be escalating their activities. This is going to be a bad summer.

  182. 182.

    Kent

    @Urban Suburbanite: There’s a lot of ire at Democratic leadership right now. This isn’t about collecting both sides points, this is legit anger at the party leadership for continually ceding ground to the people who produced this court but never missing a chance for fundraising emails and texts.

    What ground did the Dems actually cede?  Under what alternate history can you argue that any decisions by Dem leadership would have led to a different outcome?

    Of course none of that makes a tinker’s damn.  Seattle anarchists and anyone at a Seattle rally don’t make any damn bit of difference. Washington hasn’t voted GOP or sent GOP Senators to DC in ages.  What does a Seattle protest accomplish other than venting?  No one who matters is listening.

    The elections of 2000 and 2016 are what brought us to this point.  And those were mostly on the voters, not Dems.  The orcs are always at the fucking door in this country. And the moment you decide to take a break they claw their way in as happened in 2000 and 2016.  Neither of those elections should have been remotely close enough to steal.

  183. 183.

    prostratedragon

    Prosecutors signing the Fair and Just Prosecutions Dobbs statement include some from anti States, not all of whom are in the big metro jurisdictions. A-C:
    Patsy Austin-Gatson
    District Attorney, Gwinnett Judicial Circuit, Georgia

    Diana Becton
    District Attorney, Contra Costa County, California

    Wesley Bell
    Prosecuting Attorney, St. Louis County, Missouri

    Buta Biberaj
    Commonwealth’s Attorney, Loudoun County, Virginia

    Sherry Boston
    District Attorney, DeKalb County, Georgia

    Chesa Boudin
    District Attorney, City and County of San Francisco, California

    Alvin Bragg
    District Attorney, New York County (Manhattan), New York

    Aisha Braveboy
    State’s Attorney, Prince George’s County, Maryland

    Danny Carr
    District Attorney, Jefferson County, Alabama

    Christian Champagne
    District Attorney, 6th Judicial District, Colorado

    John T. Chisholm
    District Attorney, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

    John Choi
    County Attorney, Ramsey County, Minnesota

    Dave Clegg
    District Attorney, Ulster County, New York

    Shameca Collins
    District Attorney, 6th Judicial District, Mississippi

    Shalena Cook Jones
    District Attorney, Chatham County (Savannah), Georgia

    David Cooke
    District Attorney, Macon Judicial Circuit, Georgia

    John Creuzot
    District Attorney, Dallas County, Texas

     

    [Oh boy, style sheet loves those blank lines!]

  184. 184.

    prostratedragon

    @prostratedragon: ​

    D-K:
    Satana Deberry
    District Attorney, Durham County, North Carolina

    Parisa Dehghani-Tafti
    Commonwealth’s Attorney, Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, Virginia

    Steve Descano
    Commonwealth’s Attorney, Fairfax County, Virginia

    Joshua R. Diamond
    Acting Attorney General, Vermont

    Michael Dougherty
    District Attorney, 20th Judicial District (Boulder), Colorado

    Matt Ellis
    District Attorney, Wasco County, Oregon

    Keith Ellison
    Attorney General, Minnesota

    Ramin Fatehi
    Commonwealth’s Attorney, City of Norfolk, Virginia

    Kimberly M. Foxx
    State’s Attorney, Cook County (Chicago), Illinois

    Glenn Funk
    District Attorney, Nashville, Tennessee

    José Garza
    District Attorney, Travis County (Austin), Texas

    George Gascón
    District Attorney, Los Angeles County, California

    Sarah F. George
    State’s Attorney, Chittenden County (Burlington), Vermont

    Joe Gonzales
    District Attorney, Bexar County (San Antonio), Texas

    Deborah Gonzalez
    District Attorney, Western Judicial Circuit (Athens), Georgia

    Eric Gonzalez
    District Attorney, Kings County (Brooklyn), New York

    Mark Gonzalez
    District Attorney, Nueces County (Corpus Christi), Texas

    Andrea Harrington
    District Attorney, Berkshire County, Massachusetts

    Maura Healey
    Attorney General, Massachusetts

    John Hummel
    District Attorney, Deschutes County, Oregon

    Natasha Irving
    District Attorney, 6th Prosecutorial District, Maine

    Melinda Katz
    District Attorney, Queens County, New York

    Alexis King
    District Attorney, 1st Judicial District, Colorado

    Zach Klein
    City Attorney, Columbus, Ohio

    Lawrence S. Krasner
    District Attorney, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  186. 186.

    prostratedragon

    @prostratedragon: 
     
    L-P:
    David Leyton
    Prosecuting Attorney, Genesee County, Michigan

    Rebecca Like
    Prosecuting Attorney, County of Kaua’i, Hawaii

    Edward E. Manibusan
    Attorney General, Northern Mariana Islands

    Brian Mason
    District Attorney, 17th Judicial District, Colorado

    Beth McCann
    District Attorney, 2nd Judicial District (Denver), Colorado

    Karen McDonald
    Prosecuting Attorney, Oakland County, Michigan

    Colette McEachin
    Commonwealth’s Attorney, Richmond, Virginia

    Gordon McLaughlin
    District Attorney, 8th Judicial District, Colorado

    Ryan Mears
    Prosecuting Attorney, Marion County (Indianapolis), Indiana

    Brian Middleton
    District Attorney, Fort Bend County, Texas

    Stephanie Morales
    Commonwealth’s Attorney, Portsmouth, Virginia

    Michael W. Morrissey
    District Attorney, Norfolk County, Massachusetts

    Marilyn J. Mosby
    State’s Attorney, Baltimore City, Maryland

    Jamie Mosser
    State’s Attorney, Kane County, Illinois

    Dana Nessel
    Attorney General, Michigan

    Nancy O’Malley
    District Attorney, Alameda County, California

    Jody Owens
    District Attorney, Hinds County, Mississippi

    Alonzo Payne
    District Attorney, 12th Judicial District (San Luis), Colorado

    Joseph Platania
    Commonwealth’s Attorney, City of Charlottesville, Virginia

    Bryan Porter
    Commonwealth’s Attorney, City of Alexandria, Virginia

  187. 187.

    prostratedragon

    @prostratedragon:
    R-end:
    Dalia Racine
    District Attorney, Douglas County, Georgia

    Karl Racine
    Attorney General, District of Columbia

    Eric Rinehart
    State’s Attorney, Lake County (Waukegan), Illinois

    Mimi Rocah
    District Attorney, Westchester County, New York

    Jeff Rosen
    District Attorney, Santa Clara County, California

    Marian Ryan
    District Attorney, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

    Dan Satterberg
    Prosecuting Attorney, King County (Seattle), Washington

    Eli Savit
    Prosecuting Attorney, Washtenaw County (Ann Arbor), Michigan

    Mike Schmidt
    District Attorney, Multnomah County (Portland), Oregon

    Daniella Shorter
    District Attorney, 22nd Judicial District, Mississippi

    Carol Siemon
    Prosecuting Attorney, Ingham County (Lansing), Michigan

    Jack Stollsteimer
    District Attorney, Delaware County, Pennsylvania

    David Sullivan
    District Attorney, Northwestern District, Massachusetts

    Shannon Taylor
    Commonwealth’s Attorney, Henrico County, Virginia

    Raúl Torrez
    District Attorney, Bernalillo County (Albuquerque), New Mexico

    Suzanne Valdez
    District Attorney, Douglas County (Lawrence), Kansas

    Matthew Van Houten
    District Attorney, Tompkins County (Ithaca), New York

    Andrew Warren
    State Attorney, 13th Judicial Circuit (Tampa), Florida

    Phil Weiser
    Attorney General, Colorado

    Matthew J. Wiese
    Prosecuting Attorney, Marquette County, Michigan

    Jared Williams
    District Attorney, Augusta Judicial Circuit, Georgia

    Jason Williams
    District Attorney, Orleans Parish, Louisiana

    Todd Williams
    District Attorney, Buncombe County (Asheville), North Carolina

    [And signatures are still being taken.]

  188. 188.

    Matt McIrvin

    Everyone in the blue states knows that it will only take a Republican-controlled Congress and White House, which one way or another is only a matter of time, to make a federal abortion ban possible. They already did this for certain classes of abortion years ago during the George W. Bush administration.

  189. 189.

    Ruckus

    @Sally:

    They don’t give a damn about the pregnant woman. They want another constituent, another box checked off, another voter. And if they don’t get another voter on their side they will just hope that this person dies from some crappy disease. They care about power, about having their 10th century bullshit be the law of the land. Freedom? They don’t give a damn about that for anyone but them. Selfish bastards that they are.

  191. 191.

    Shalimar

    @Alison Rose : The decision was unusual because Roberts wrote a concurrence agreeing with the decision but refused to join the majority.  I don’t recall seeing anything like it in law school.  The majority decision was 5-4 but the final result was 6-3.

  192. 192.

    Urban Suburbanite

    @Kent:

    If you want to play Team Blue, take it elsewhere. Just because the alternative is the party of Judge Kegerator and Jim Jordan doesn’t mean the Democrats have done all that well on their part.

  193. 193.

    Urban Suburbanite

    @Matt McIrvin: There’s also the possibility of Republican majorities in state legislatures. For all the noise about Washington being safely Blue, it’s not untenable for the GOP to take over the state legislature (they’ve given up on the governor’s mansion) and they’ve only gotten crazier.

  194. 194.

    Aussie Sheila

    A bit late to the discussion here, but, first deepest sympathy to US women and the men who support them. Absolutely terrible and bodes badly for parts of the world where this will be something to hang their reactionary hats on.

    Now I have a question. If the SC has ruled that the right to bodily autonomy doesn’t exist in the US constitution, will that make moot any congressional law that codifies RvW? In other words, is the only solution a reversal of the SC decision by  new/different SC?

    Can Congress make laws beyond the reach of the SC?

    Sorry if this comes across as pettifogging in the circumstances. I am truly devastated for you all. Oh, and although I am pretty far left, anyone who does not doggedly vote for and support the lesser of two evils, ( if that is what you think about the Dem party)is both evil and stupid.
    In these circumstances, stupid is truly evil. I can’t stand the idea that voting in elections is an expression of personal aesthetics. Only privileged arseholes can afford this kind of reactionary individualism.

  195. 195.

    Sally

    @Ruckus: Yes, I know – as Kay says, the women are not even mentioned.  But there are many chronic and acute conditions that can and do result from pregnancy.  The devastation to a young body, 11, 12, 13 years old raped by her brother (Duggars), forced to carry to term and give birth, needs to be articulated to these guys.  I listen to them talking about the anti abortion and contraception legislation they introduce, and it’s clear they have NO IDEA how the human body works.  Contraception, by the way, that is medical therapy, and that we should refer to as medication, not contraception.  Prohibiting women’s access to medical care and medication.

  196. 196.

    livewyre

    @Urban Suburbanite: Sorry to break it to you, but Team Blue is where the action is right now. We’re in favor of things such as rights. If you’re not on board with those things – like, actively, substantively on board, as in willing to defend them – then there’s nothing at stake for you, and you’re putting up another obstacle. I wouldn’t recommend it.

  198. 198.

    Urban Suburbanite

    @livewyre: You’re not getting it. This isn’t about defending the only alternative in a two party system. The Supreme Court has fully moved into being an instrument of lifelong power for far-right creeps. This is a real political crisis, and the Democratic leadership has been outmanuevered consistently. Throwing up your hands and saying “oh well, we believed McConnell” while a justice is using a judge who condemned women for witchcraft and another has a grift-y wife who was involved in a couple attempt doesn’t leave people with much faith in institutions or the party. Ignoring that is a foolish choice.

  199. 199.

    Anne Laurie

    @Aussie Sheila: Am I in moderation?

    Not any more — on this ‘new’ site, everyone’s first comment (or comment from a new address) is treated as potentially spam.  But you should be good from this point on.

  200. 200.

    livewyre

    It was made clear and will only become clearer what side of history to act on. There’s no such thing as “not doing enough.” There’s no more room for armchair theater critique of how convincing a performance was put on and what the career trajectories of the actors might be.

    We do what we can in furtherance of the right to exist, or we stand in the way. Those are the choices while there still are. And the political party still inclined to enact policy in favor of the right to exist of those such as myself is the one that I support with everything I have. I’m paying attention because I have something at stake. This is a process that involves me.

    “Not doing enough” is a position of either lack of observation or worse. We do what we can with what we have. There’s nothing else to do, as long as rights are what one favors. And we can tell in action whether that’s the case.

  202. 202.

    Shalimar

    @Urban Suburbanite: No one ever believes McConnell.  But saying Democrats get out-maneuvered constantly is basically saying you’re a genius who would have done better if you had been in charge. You’re not, and you wouldn’t have.

    Republicans have an advantage.   It’s a lot easier to burn a building down than it is to build one.  Democratic leaders do their best within that constraint.

  203. 203.

    TriassicSands

    @Johnnybuck: Clarence Thomas is the de-facto Chief Justice of this court.

    I’m not sure what the point of your comment is. Someone said today that Roberts “had lost control of the Court.” The Chief Justice doesn’t control the Court. Roberts and the other Chiefs before him, have very limited ” powers.”  If the Chief is in the majority, he can assign the opinion and thus help shape its severity, generality, or limit its reach. If he’s in the minority, the senior justice in the majority gets to assign the opinion. Thomas, the senior justice in the decision to overturn Roe, gave the opinion to Alito, perhaps the most extreme theocrat among the five radicals. And Clarence already had his plum when he wrote the NY gun decision. He’s got to share.

    Other than that, the Chief has some reporting duties and that’s about it. Nothing about control. Since Thomas is the senior justice in the group of five, he gets to assign opinions, but that is the norm, so there isn’t anything novel or surprising there. It’s not as though he’s usurped the Chief’s job in some historically noteworthy way.

    What is more interesting to me is that in the NY gun rights case, Roberts was in the majority and assigned the opinion to the most extreme gun nut on the Court. Roberts only appears “moderate” when he’s trying to pretend he can salvage the credibility of the Court by siding occasionally with the liberals. He knows his name with always be on this period — the Roberts’ Court — and he doesn’t want history to see him as bat shit crazy like the other five. But history will get to look at his whole voting record and he’s no moderate.

    In the abortion decision, he didn’t join the five, because their radical activism, disregard for stare decisis, historical ignorance and misrepresentations, and their utter disregard for the integrity and legitimacy of the SCOTUS will inevitably be tied to the Roberts’ Court. Personally, I think his hope that he can separate himself from that is just wishful thinking.

  204. 204.

    Geminid

    There is a lot of condemnation of the Green Party’s role in the outcome of the 2016 election, and it is deserved. The party’s vote went from 469,000 votes in the 2012 presidential election  to 1,457,000 in 2016, an increase of almost one million.

    The Libertarian Party had a larger effect, I think. Gary Johnson polled 1,275,000 in 2012, and his vote jumped to 4,489,000 in 2016, an increase of over 3 million votes.

    Democrats tend to think of Green Party voters as “our” voters, and Libertarian Party  voters as “their” voters, because of these parties’ nominal positions on a linear right/left ideological scale. But I suspect that in 2016 Johnson’s extra 3 million voters were all over the place in political belief, and their most common attribute was misogyny. A second unifying factor may have been the belief that a Clinton victory was a sure thing, so they could cast a “free” protest vote.

    The Green Party’s advocates were so f**king obnoxious, though, that I can’t blame any Democrat for being mad at them, even if the Libertarian candidate may have hurt Clinton more. And the Libertarians did do the nation a service in 2020, when their Georgia Senate candidate got enough votes to hold David Perdue below 50%, making  Jon Ossoff’s runoff victory possible.

  205. 205.

    Gvg

    @Alison Rose : I suspect the onion pre wrote those cartoons which is where I have seen the 5-4. I think people were expecting Roberts to be on the moderate side.

    it was 6-3

  207. 207.

    AM in NC

    @Mai Naem mobile: The problem is that Republican priorities (tax cuts and judges) don’t require a filibuster-proof majority to pass, only bare 50+1 vote.

    Democratic priorities (DACA, Healthcare, Climate Change, Gun Safety legislation, etc.) ALL require 60 votes in the Senate, because they are not budget bills or judges.

    We need more Senate Democrats so we can nix the filibuster because it only constrains our priorities, not the GOP’s.  But nothing changes unless we elect more and better Democrats.  Working to flip a GOP-retiring seat here in North Carolina, myself.

  208. 208.

    AM in NC

    @Fair Economist: THANK YOU!!!!  The list is impressive, for sure.  If we had 5 more Democratic Senators would that list be far better? Absolutely.  Seems to me the best course of action then  is to work to support the Democrats and elect more of them rather than disparage them for never giving us everything we demand, thus driving other people away from supporting them.

Comments are closed.