If the news out of Washington is true, and if the Supreme Court is about to overturn Roe v Wade, all I can say is that it was pretty much inevitable.
Ever since Mitch McConnell essentially stole two seats on the court, a solid right-wing majority has been poised to take down Roe and take away the right of American women to have legal abortions.
The senator from Kentucky has said that his proudest accomplishment as a senator was refusing to allow President Obama to fill a court vacancy nine months before the 2016 election. Then he went ahead and allowed President Trump to fill a vacancy one month before the 2020 election.
Consistency?
Precedent?
No, McConnell did what he did for the same reasons dogs lick their genitals.
Because he could.
If you’re expecting this to be a commentary on Roe v Wade, it won’t be. I certainly will have something to say at some point, but this is about the disintegration of politics in our country and how it is resulting in the disintegration of the country itself.
There are two different arguments McConnell and those on his side can use. One is that they are fighting to defend innocent life, and that as such, whatever means they employ to accomplish their goal of banning abortion are justified by their end goal.
Of course they’re not banning abortion at all.
What they are banning is safe and legal abortions for women who don’t have the money to get them elsewhere.
And the second argument?
Republicans good, Democrats bad.
Keeping people stirred up and electing Republicans because of abortion enables those on the right to drag them along for the rest of their agenda, which of course is primarily keeping taxes low for the very wealthy. This might seem almost impossible to believe, but if we look back to the presidential debates of 1960, Republican Richard Nixon was telling viewers that the difference between the two parties was more about methods than goals.
Both parties wanted what was good for the American people.
There really weren’t any issues — other than maybe integration — that large numbers of people on both sides had no hope at all of finding common ground.
This issue will be different. Just as those who call themselves pro-life have been battling for nearly 50 years, those on the other side will fight this every bit as tenaciously.
Compromise?
Don’t make me laugh. That’s why the outrage from Republicans today has nothing to do with the issue itself and everything to do with someone spilling the proverbial beans.
They’re terrified that the calculus has just changed for this fall’s midterm elections.
I think it’s a lot worse than that.
I think the calculus has changed as to whether we will remain one country.