SCOTUS overturns Roe megathread (pg 53 - confirmed)

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

I actually do think that Manchin knew that the nominees were lying about Roe being settled law. It was painfully obvious he would've spiked Kavanaugh if he could have even though he was up for reelection. You have to hand it to him, he is his own dude with his own beliefs; he genuinely believes in his whole moderate shtick, but he's also a Democrat for a reason.

I neither know nor care if Murkowski or Collins knew that Gorsuch and Barrett/Kavanaugh respectively were lying.

You do not, under any circumstances, have to hand it to him. Sincerely believing stupid and/or immoral things is not a virtue.

But yes, everyone knew they were lying, no one cared. Manchin was always a no and Collins and Murkowski flipped a coin to decide who has to vote to confirm.

[Hermit For Peace]

https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1540368313041272834

Susan Collins lives life totally with rose colored glasses on. Frankly she seems like such a flake so often....

[Del Tachi]

https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1540369903328399360


These people pre Trump would have all been celebrating this decision so yah they are nothing but grifters and I am happy they no longer are Republicans

The people who fund/run the LP now were never Republicans.

[OSR stands with Israel]

https://twitter.com/SenatorRomney/status/1540369075964092419?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoo...

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Alright. Effortpost up, I had a lot of scattered thoughts about this but I figured I'd try to make a coherent defense of my points. One that isn't raging at the neolibs.

I'm more focused on Democrats' role because we expect this from the GOP. From a court that constantly tramples precedent, where one of their justice's spouses openly endorsed a political coup, appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote, and three of its members knowingly and willfully perjured their way to their nomination. The Democrats have blame here as well - their prioritization of nominal power over actual power, the prioritization of their own political careers and fundraising over meaningful change, and civility over policy.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is merely a symptom of the problem - a party that is obsessed with reliving the 1990s. A party that squandered its supermajority to show a country that didn't care how bipartisan it was. Ginsburg stayed on the court because she believed retiring during a Democratic midterm would "politicize the court". A court where open hacks are nominated without scrutiny, blatant perjury is overlooked because it's politically convenient, and precedent is merely a suggestion. Checks and balances have utterly failed.

Pelosi is the one that comes to mind, still talking about how America needs a "strong Republican Party", but even Biden is guilty of this. In reality, the people who caused this have been here since then. The good old days of bipartisanship and kumbaya were never here in the first place. Mitch McConnell has been around since 1985. Clarence Thomas has been serving since 1991. George W. Bush appointed Alito and Roberts.  This isn't Donald Trump's party that overturned Roe or pushed an activist court. This is Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, and Adam Kinzinger's GOP. There's a difference between praising these people and the outright hero worship we see from Democrats today.

The Democratic Party not only believes people like OSR would vote for them, but actively believes its energy is better spent persuading him than motivating its base. As the party has professionalized, it feels like they see more in common with their affluent, educated comrades across the aisle than the rubes they represent. Democratic leadership will gladly accept you as their ally if you say the magic words - "Trump bad" - even if you continue to support his lackeys and ideas. Liz Cheney, #Resistance hero and Good Republican, publicly supported and celebrated Roe being overturned. Mitt Romney confirmed Barrett and would have confirmed Kavanaugh. If you give lip service to the thought of opposition, Democrats laud you as a hero and hold you as proof that there's Good in the Republican Party.

The whole argument about "voting for Democrats" is what I talk about when I say they're more concerned with nominal power than actual power. The Cuellars and Manchins and Schraders and Sinemas of the world need to be stopped, but there are plenty more waiting in the wings. Take the minimum wage discourse, for example. While everyone was outraged about Sinema's thumbs-down dance, Tom Carper and Chris Coons did the exact same coordinated dance. More disgustingly, Hassan and Shaheen voted against raising the minimum wage at the behest of the owner of the largest restaurant chain in the state. This isn't a localized incident. There's a bloc of these people in the House and the Senate, willing to screw us over for a quick campaign donation, often elected because of "electability".

What good is electing a "Democrat" if they just get into office and vote like a Republican?

And that's not even talking about the Andrew Cuomos of the world, who actively campaigned for more Republicans to get elected. Or the heads of various state and local parties that openly endorsed Trump entryists because a progressive would risk defeating their own machines. Hell, that's how Manchin got his start in politics! By losing a primary, endorsing the Republican, and burning down the party to remake in his conservative image.

I don't necessarily think that Democrats are secretly pro-life or whatever. I think they just care about incumbency and civility more. It doesn't matter that Henry Cuellar is in a D+5, Trump-trending district. It doesn't matter that Cisneros was outside the lockstep of the district. It doesn't matter that Henry Cuellar is pro-life and anti-union. Leadership backed Henry Cuellar because he's One of Them. He's on the whip team. He's been in office for 18 years, going on 20. So leadership campaigns for him and gets him elected, despite his lack of support for the Democratic agenda in a district that's less hostile than Sinema's.

And those who support his challenger get blackballed from the caucus, and get passed over for key committee assignments. Even if it means appointing the deciding vote against prescription drug reform. After all, Cuellar's views make for awkward conversation at the caucus's weekly brunch.

The Democratic Party has learned nothing from 2008, let alone 2020. They believe voters value "bipartisanship" and act on a agenda that enriches the ruling class at their expense. You don't see Republicans do this type of masturbatory crap when they talk about tax reform or COVID relief or whatever. They just get it done. Leadership operates as if the Republicans are good-faith actors, and those who pay lip service are lionized as honorary Democrats. Those responsible for stifling the agenda are allowed to thrive in the name of "norms and civility", and those who speak truth to power are silenced at the expense of the agenda.

The more I see the party try the same thing, and the more they attempt to stifle those looking for the structural change they claim to want, the less I trust our politicians to save us. Democrats aren't heroes. RBG and KBJ aren't heroes. The Squad and the Bernie wing aren't heroes. We are the only ones who can save ourselves and fight for our rights. And whether you believe we can change from within, we cannot rely on our politicians or the Democratic Party when they've proven they won't get in the mud.

We need to stop being complacent and expect better from our politicians. We need to find who stands with us ourselves, and not their clique or their people. We need to channel our energy towards those who do, and show those who sell us out that we control their job. Donating to a broken party and voting for its candidates wholesale is not enough. Our emancipation will come from our own fight and our own labor.

Good post, thank you.

Your post led me to think more on some of what's been roiling around in my head in recent months, and I'm going to attempt a response that touches on some of my own, I think related, thoughts.

It's not that the Democratic Party establishment believes that people like OSR will vote for them, it's that they believe people like OSR will vote for the status quo (for their own, Republican, version of the establishment). The party hacks and flaks do see more in common with the Republican hacks and flacks than they do with any sort of leftist seeking significant economic and electoral change. Both Republican and Democratic establishments support the continued existence of a political elite that revolves around catering to well-heeled donors, easy and plush fundraising gigs, and  eventually followed by lucrative sinecures they've earned from years spent keeping the status quo stable and the wealthy influential. Their concern for liberal "meat and potatoes" (civil rights for everyone, a strong social safety net, increased opportunity for everyone, ending gross wealth inequality) is very much secondary to their desire to keep their familiar, comfortable, and rewarding (to them) system going. They loathe Trump insofar as he threatens their status quo - while leftists despise Trump because he is antithetical to the future they wish to create.

As a leftist, the theoretical utility of the big tent that includes both me and those even further left, and back all the way out to Manchin and those like him, is that we all (again, in theory) agree that our country is moving in a very wrong direction and that we need a 180-degree turn. Sure, we disagree about how far we need to go after that turn, but getting things turned around and moving in the correct direction is something we all ought to be able to agree on.

But, as it is increasingly made very apparent, so long as they think their rice bowls will remain unbroken and their own oxen ungored, the Democratic Establishment is quite happy to be a permanent minority party. From a certain point of view, that's far easier for them. They can rail against the excesses of Trump, or Generic Conservative Republican endlessly, without every being expected to do anything. The "we're helpless to change things for the better" narrative becomes a lot more work when they're actually in power.

They don't give a damn about "bipartisanship" but they damned well want to keep serving (and being part of) the ruling class. You'll note that while the Republicans are swift to make real change that favors the wealthiest Americans, substantial populist changes in governance never seem to materialize. Roe v. Wade, gun control, and trans rights are all great examples - we can spend years voting for Democrats, getting a majority, re-taking the court and finally "winning" on these issues... but somehow, what will not be addressed are the root causes of wealth inequality, or the flaws in our system that cripple our democracy. There will always be Machin & Sinema, or their successors on the left or right, ready to find a "principled centrist" reason why we can't have a strong social safety net, a high minimum wage, or an end to a system that is barely representative.

Saying that we need to end our complacency, and enabling of the Democrats (who in turn enable Republicans) isn't wrong, but what methods do you propose? The best I can come up with is to support politicians like AOC and Bernie, not simply because of their politics, but because they break the fundraising cycle. Their campaigns run on small-dollar donations from the bulk of Americans. "Campaign reform" legislation is a pipe dream. We will not get it until and unless we no longer need it. (At which point its a safeguard of sorts, but it will never, can never, be an end in itself.)

As I write this, my phone is blowing up with fundraising messages. And for this election cycle and future election cycles, I'm thinking use a simple algorithm: I will donate as much as I can to any decent candidate who refuses corporate and big-ticket donors, but not a penny to those who choose to make themselves beholden to America's wealthiest.

In the end, I don't know if even that will be sufficient. America faces many challenges in the near future: an established system that is choking itself and the rest of the country, a right-wing movement that will (if it can) tear everything down to make itself feel better, and a series of geopolitical challenges which the above two internal struggles have made us shockingly unprepared. I'm really thinking that getting out and moving somewhere with better fundamentals and a more agile government, may be the only sane choice. (If America does break up peacefully, there's at least a chance that some successor states will also meet that description.)

[PSOL]

^^^ this is a whole load of fluff used to deflect from terrible messaging and terrible governance.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

AG Garland: States can't ban FDA-approved abortion pills on safety grounds

[Hermit For Peace]

AG Garland: States can't ban FDA-approved abortion pills on safety grounds

I hope this holds true.

[lfromnj]

AG Garland: States can't ban FDA-approved abortion pills on safety grounds

I hope this holds true.

FYI it's likely that mailing abortion pills may be illegal.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

AG Garland: States can't ban FDA-approved abortion pills on safety grounds

I hope this holds true.

FYI it's likely that mailing abortion pills may be illegal.

But no Democratic DOJ would ever enforce that.

[GoTfan]

Guns now have more rights in the US than women.

[lfromnj]

https://twitter.com/crampell/status/1540383691280904192

Woke capitalism for the win?

A nice touch but people who work for JPMorgan Chase aren't really the people for whom such travel would be economically unviable.

? Bank Tellers are not that wealthy.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Can France and the UK take the Northeast back under their control, please? I think independence was a mistake.

But really, is it weird that the 6-3 decision actually makes me feel a little better than a 5-4 decision would have? It suggests to me that this was inevitable.

I've said it before, but with all the speculation of how the makeup of the court would be if Ginsburg retired, Garland was confirmed, or Clinton elected I don't think any of that would have led to a majority decision upholding Roe/Casey. I don't think a 5-4 liberal court was ever in the cards-things just don't work out that well for our side ever.

If we ever were to get a majority on the court it would probably have involved either, or both, of the 1988 and 2000 elections going the other way. And even then, considering the butterfly effect, who knows what other consequences would have happened.

We have no choice but to just try and stop things from getting even worse. That's all we can do. Too many Americans lacked the foresight to see this coming in nearly ever past election, save for 2020, and I can only hope that those who care about reproductive rights actually remain proactive, politically, in the future. We only seem to learn lessons as a country when we are already in the abyss. And even then, that's me being optimistic.

I have always thought that this country was doomed from the start, but it's getting ridiculous now and I still can't shake the feeling that things are still going to get even worse. Can you really blame me for thinking that?

AG Garland: States can't ban FDA-approved abortion pills on safety grounds

For now...

Guns now have more rights in the US than women.

"The GOP treat objects like women, man!"

[The Dowager Mod]

https://twitter.com/BNNBreaking/status/1540458178500263936

[lfromnj]

Anyone here who is pro-choice but believes that it should be a legislative matter?

A surprising amount of atlas is generally in this field.

[Schiff for Senate]

https://twitter.com/BNNBreaking/status/1540458178500263936

Oh my God

[LAB-LIB]

This isn't going to have an impact on the midterms, it will be forgotten about within two weeks.

Spoken like a man who has never had sex before.

I guess you can make this personal if you want, but the fact is that we've seen the right get away with just about everything under the sun whether it be January 6th or any of their reactionary proposals. I thought that the draft opinion in April would have far more of a splash, but instead, people focused on the leak! The leak! People are going to be focused on inflation more than anything else, and Republicans are going to get to move on to the next front in their culture war, which is limiting the right to birth control and the right to gay marriage. And I hope I'm wrong, but my fear is that not a single swing voter is going to bat an eye.

[Orwell]

LMAO

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

This Roe reversal is definitely gonna hurt Rs in the Fall

[Horus]

LMAO

Best messaging I've seen from Dems in quite some time, outside of Fetterman's Twitter and Warnock's ads.

[Orwell]

LMAO

Best messaging I've seen from Dems in quite some time, outside of Fetterman's Twitter and Warnock's ads.

I thought it was fake at first, then I looked at the twitter account it was from. It was posted by a Detroit Free Press reporter.

[HillGoose]

everything only gets worse forever

watch them come for gay marriage next

[Progressive Pessimist]

everything only gets worse forever

watch them come for gay marriage next

That'll be on my tombstone.*

*I don't actually want to be buried, but I think I made my point.*

[Adam Griffin]

Can France and the UK take the Northeast back under their control, please? I think independence was a mistake.

Hell, just take the Original 13: 56-44. #WelcomeBackLabour

[Progressive Pessimist]

Can France and the UK take the Northeast back under their control, please? I think independence was a mistake.

Hell, just take the Original 13: 56-44. #WelcomeBackLabour

Sure, that'll do as well. Sorry for leaving you out.