The impending demise of Roe v. Wade is something like a waking nightmare. That it was predictable (and predicted) does little to blunt the emotional force. Access to safe and legal abortion is an elementary part of women’s health, and criminalizing the procedure will result in many women putting their lives on the line as they pursue shady illegal procedures. The pre-Roe period was a nightmare for those with unwanted pregnancies, and many died from the infamous “back alley” procedures that were commonplace. In a post-Roe world, inequality will deepen as affluent women will be able to travel to states where abortion is legal or out of the country to get the procedures they need. And the specific language used by Samuel Alito in his opinion seems likely to call other basic social rights into question.
My friends, yesterday I wrote a post about my intent to remove inflammatory off-topic conversations, which have proven to be a problem. Then, as I probably should have expected, those conversations broke out, first in meta form, so out of frustration I turned off comments. I am prepared to do it again. Argue passionately, even intemperately, for what you believe in. But if you're jamming your pet issue into this post's comments when it's not germane I will be giving you a temporary ban.
Completely agree. Been thinking practicalities since the draft was leaked. I wonder what you make of an idea for those liberals and leftists who live in deep red states: organizing them into a voting block in Republican primaries. I know it's not a new idea but I wonder if it might be an idea whose time has come.
I don't think there are 5 votes for that scorched earth opinion. Seems to be the assumption that this is fully baked. Even before public outcry, I don't think that's right. The rumor at the time was the whole point of the Kavanaugh nomination was that McConnell felt he wasn't a vote to overturn Roe. Maybe the 15 week threshold stands with Roberts & Kavanaugh writing something separate.
When I think about the time and cost of leaving the MW to protest in DC various times for various things and compare it to the time and the cost of buckling down to the less performative work of being a precinct captain--HANDS DOWN local beats national. I felt excited about those protest in DC. The local precinct work was like shopping for lentil soup ingredients. But guess what? A very bad ordinance was overturned in my county when we got the right person elected. The national protests didn't get us anywhere except on the TV news.
I disagree that this will be a major issue driving elections.
We've been told that the Current Thing is of existential importance perpetually over the past five years. Voters are inured.
There are reasons that loan forgiveness has been much more prominent on the radar the past few years - downwardly mobile affluents in the Accela corridor and on the West Coast are parochial and don't care as much about broad social isseus that affect the less fortunate as they profess to.
And, abortion restrictions will be popular in many areas of the country. Evangelicals flocked to Trump in part because the establishment GOP 'couldn't deliver.' Well, they have.
I don't want to bang the drum endlessly, but this was a totally unnecessary outcome. RBG not retiring, 'Her Turn,' Reid escalating politicization of judicial appointees - all of these factors were contingent.
After Trump getting elected and now this, it's not clear to me why anyone should listen the progressive legacy media millennial *thought leaders* at all.
People will order misoprostol by mail. They will get on the bus to go to a different state. But the laws won't change until people's minds are changed, and the Left seems particularly bad at that.
My biggest complaint is with those politicians who manufacture anger in these situations for fundraising/popular appeal reasons. Less talk more strategic action.
There is indeed a lot of anger out there in the United States these days, as the minority exerts a greater and greater degree of political and legal control over the majority. I think we have to wonder: what is going on here? What is so odd about the United States that mass protests toppling a regime doesn't happen? Is it living standards, which are actually quite good by any objective measure? Something else?
If you want to know about, and possibly learn from, a movement putting in a hell of a lot of work, strategy, and ruthless realism about the impotence of rage, look at the one that's about to gain the (hopefully temporary) victory in this case.
Black and white litmus tests on abortion for all Democrats? This seems extremely counterproductive to a number of other liberal goals that would be well served by the Democratic party competing better in conservative areas. Let Eddie Rispone get elected and block Medicaid expansion because John Bel Edwards is pro-life? Seems bad.
Your daily reminder that the most important swing vote isn't affluent suburban women - rather it is working class Hispanics who are under-represented in the ID of the commentariat.
Go full 'Yay abortion!' and see if that helps those numbers.
Part of the problem is that Democrats don't see how unlikeable and contingent their 'coalition' is.
My friends, yesterday I wrote a post about my intent to remove inflammatory off-topic conversations, which have proven to be a problem. Then, as I probably should have expected, those conversations broke out, first in meta form, so out of frustration I turned off comments. I am prepared to do it again. Argue passionately, even intemperately, for what you believe in. But if you're jamming your pet issue into this post's comments when it's not germane I will be giving you a temporary ban.
Completely agree. Been thinking practicalities since the draft was leaked. I wonder what you make of an idea for those liberals and leftists who live in deep red states: organizing them into a voting block in Republican primaries. I know it's not a new idea but I wonder if it might be an idea whose time has come.
I don't think there are 5 votes for that scorched earth opinion. Seems to be the assumption that this is fully baked. Even before public outcry, I don't think that's right. The rumor at the time was the whole point of the Kavanaugh nomination was that McConnell felt he wasn't a vote to overturn Roe. Maybe the 15 week threshold stands with Roberts & Kavanaugh writing something separate.
When I think about the time and cost of leaving the MW to protest in DC various times for various things and compare it to the time and the cost of buckling down to the less performative work of being a precinct captain--HANDS DOWN local beats national. I felt excited about those protest in DC. The local precinct work was like shopping for lentil soup ingredients. But guess what? A very bad ordinance was overturned in my county when we got the right person elected. The national protests didn't get us anywhere except on the TV news.
I disagree that this will be a major issue driving elections.
We've been told that the Current Thing is of existential importance perpetually over the past five years. Voters are inured.
There are reasons that loan forgiveness has been much more prominent on the radar the past few years - downwardly mobile affluents in the Accela corridor and on the West Coast are parochial and don't care as much about broad social isseus that affect the less fortunate as they profess to.
And, abortion restrictions will be popular in many areas of the country. Evangelicals flocked to Trump in part because the establishment GOP 'couldn't deliver.' Well, they have.
I don't want to bang the drum endlessly, but this was a totally unnecessary outcome. RBG not retiring, 'Her Turn,' Reid escalating politicization of judicial appointees - all of these factors were contingent.
After Trump getting elected and now this, it's not clear to me why anyone should listen the progressive legacy media millennial *thought leaders* at all.
People will order misoprostol by mail. They will get on the bus to go to a different state. But the laws won't change until people's minds are changed, and the Left seems particularly bad at that.
This wouldn’t be happening if the 2016 nomination had gone to Martin O’Malley. But noooo it had to go to Hillary.
And don’t get me started on RBG. Really you fuckin’ fossil you couldn’t retire at an appropriate time? What the hell were you thinking?
Chelsea Manning suggesting that people need more guns to defend abortion rights truly sounds like a Babylon Bee headline.
My biggest complaint is with those politicians who manufacture anger in these situations for fundraising/popular appeal reasons. Less talk more strategic action.
There is indeed a lot of anger out there in the United States these days, as the minority exerts a greater and greater degree of political and legal control over the majority. I think we have to wonder: what is going on here? What is so odd about the United States that mass protests toppling a regime doesn't happen? Is it living standards, which are actually quite good by any objective measure? Something else?
If you want to know about, and possibly learn from, a movement putting in a hell of a lot of work, strategy, and ruthless realism about the impotence of rage, look at the one that's about to gain the (hopefully temporary) victory in this case.
Black and white litmus tests on abortion for all Democrats? This seems extremely counterproductive to a number of other liberal goals that would be well served by the Democratic party competing better in conservative areas. Let Eddie Rispone get elected and block Medicaid expansion because John Bel Edwards is pro-life? Seems bad.
Your daily reminder that the most important swing vote isn't affluent suburban women - rather it is working class Hispanics who are under-represented in the ID of the commentariat.
Go full 'Yay abortion!' and see if that helps those numbers.
Part of the problem is that Democrats don't see how unlikeable and contingent their 'coalition' is.
Freddie, have you read Glenn Greenwald's take on the draft opinion, which he posted yesterday on Substack? If so, what did you think of his argument?