South Dakota--Why it really Doesn't Matter
So the South Dakota Legislature has passed, and their Neanderthal Governer has signed into law, an
act criminalizing abortion, in direct contravention of American Constitutional Law, as determined by Roe v Wade and upheld on a number of occasions. Now of course, the obvious obscenity here is this law was passed by a body comprised overwhelmingly of white men. Men who, I'm afraid, could not detect irony with, well, an irony detector. These educated, informed 21st century elected legislators have determined that they have the right to make the most intimate and private decisions for all women in their jurisdiction. Not the woman and her doctor. Not the woman and her clergy. Not the woman and her husband, parents, boyfriend or counselor. Oh no. If you can't work up a good sense of outrage over this mind-bogglingly orwelian intrusion on private medical decisions, then I suspect you could still support slavery. Actually, this is fairly close to slavery, as these men seem to believe that they own a woman's uterus, and only they may make decisions about how she uses it.
As you might have guessed, the
pro-choice organizations are up in arms, working a multi-prong strategy to defeat this barbarous legislation both at the ballot box and in the courts. And just as predictably, the theocratic right wing has
come out loud and hard in support. So what I have to say about this may surprise you. But when you think it through, you might just agree with me.
So where do I come down on this South Dakota legal travesty? Well, it's pretty obvious that I fully support a womans right to make her own medical, health and reproductive decisions. And I am wholeheartedly opposed to government intervention in the personal lives of Americans. But in this case, I think the alarm is misplaced. Relax. In so many ways, South Dakota just doesn't matter. Let me give you a few reasons why this action by a few lunatic-fringe theocrats is of no consequence, and indeed, may have a major negative impact on the anti-choice forces in the US.
1.) The whole reason for passing this law was to get a challenge to Roe v Wade in front of the newly constitued Roberts-led Supreme Court. The Extreme Right's excitement and joy at the confirmation of Roberts and Alito was palpable, if not a little unseemly. And indeed, this court poses significant risks for individual rights, separation of powers and Establishment Clause cases. But remember this: The Renquist Court was 6-3 in favor of Roe. Renquist was replaced by Roberts, so nothing really changed. So with Alito replacing the estimable Sandra Day O'Connor, you still have a 5-4 court. Roberts, Thomas, Alito and Scalia will certainly look at this case as an opportunity to overturn Roe v Wade. But they'll still have Ginsburg, Breyer, Stevens, Souter and Kennedy on the other side. And Anthony Kennedy is the new swing vote. Even if he would be willing to roll back some of the provisions of Roe (the so-called "Alito Strategy", it is inconceivable that he would vote to throw out the entire decision. This incontravertable fact leads us to reason number 2.
2.) Roberts won't take the case. That's right, he'll send it right back to the Appeals court who will have already found it to be unconstitutional. Don't believe me? Your sitting out there saying "waitaminute, Roberts is as far to the extremist right as Alito or Thomas--why wouldn't he want to take the case?" Let me give you two reasons. First, as we were told over and over ad nauseum during his confirmation hearings, Roberts is a brillian lawyer. This being the case, he knows if he took the case and the court upheld Roe 5-4, that would probably be the nail in the coffin for overturning Roe. That would be 3 major decisions upholding the constitutionality of abortion on demand, and that would likely be the cement for legal precedent forever. Second, and even more importantly, you have to look at this as the legal hand-to-hand combat it is. Roberts has a lifetime appointment as chief justice. There is no power on earth that can realistically affect him in his job for the next 30+ years. So after all the talk about Stare Decisis, Roberts is going feel used, like a pawn in the game, and it's a game he doesn't have to play. He will not allow himself to be used as a tool by the religious right, especially in a case they're likely to lose anyway. He will look the part of moderate, thoughtful chief justice, send the case back down and wait for an opportunity to begin chipping away at the structure of Roe, a course advocated by Samual Alito nearly 30 years ago.
3.) But here's the important part. The Conservative Right
loves abortion. It gives them this great big boogyman under the bed. This giant, divisive issue that speaks to morality, religion, health care and (*ahem*) male dominance. They use it to raise funds, fire up the base, get out the vote and even to recruit campaign workers. Ask anybody working in the republican political machine and off the record they'll tell you this is a fight they don't WANT to win. Not only would they lose their best issue, they would end up with a whole bunch of unhappy republican women who would like to make their own reproductive decisions. There are already mutterings out of the RNC rank and file that the lunatics in South Dakota have over-reached. Now, they're not really worried, mostly for the reasons above, but if this agenda really began to gather serious steam, they would flex their considerable muscle to slow it down.
So while this administration and their counterparts in the other branches of government are working hard to strip your constitutional rights (remember the 4th amendment?), bankrupt the country in the name of ideology and short term corporate profits and reduce oversight and transparency to the point where they are effectively a totalitarian regime, this issue is not really a front burner problem. And I'm most certainly NOT advocating that the pro-choice community do nothing. We must stand up to every provocation, for the theocratic right is like a bully on the playground--if we show weakness they'll just take more. I'm just saying that this case will work out in our favor--Lets see what we can do about warrantless wiretaps and Iraq.
Immigration "Reform"--At least we still have Brown People to Hate
What is it with these Nutjob Right Wing extremists? You know, the ones who constitute the Republican "Base"? It seems as though every knee-jerk, emotional, ideology-driven choice they make runs directly counter to their own best interests. The old saw "People vote with their Pocketbooks" didn't survive the fear and hatred of the new millenium. Every Right Wing position--whether it be on Health Care, Privacy, Education, Economics, Civil Rights or Immigration--Every choice they make actually hurts them economically, socially or practically; and negatively impact the chances of their children to grow up healthy and prosperous.
A question for all those who support making every illegal alien, and all who support them,
felons under US law: When you go to McDonalds, do you like having lettuce on your hamburger? Tomatos? Do you want your children to grow up picking lettuce? Have you ever picked tomatos? What do you suppose a hamburger would cost if lettuce, tomato and onion pickers earned 8 or 10 or 15 dollars an hour? Oh, don't forget about the benefits. How much would a house cost if laborers were paid on the payroll, with taxes and benefits, and not with cash? The overall American unemployment rate hovers somewhere in the 5% range. If you were to actually kick out the 15 million or so undocumented workers, who would take those jobs? Restaraunts, Agriculture, Labor, all the jobs you want your kids to go to college so they DON'T have to work them--who will?
Once again, the angry theocratic right is letting their ideology and hatred run away with their brains. They so despise "brown people"--you know, people who are different, who don't speak english, who look and dress differently, who are a "blight on the community" when they stand in the Home Depot parking lot asking for a day labor job for less than the minimum wage.--They so despise them they are willing to drive yet another nail into their economic coffin. They hate gay people, so they open up terrible rifts in their own families, between parents and children, between brothers and sisters. They hate muslims and jews and sikhs and anyone who thinks they might know better who god is. They hate women who think they might have the right to make decisions about their own body and their own lives. Their ideology and their religion is nothing but ignorance, fear and hate.
But there's no news in any of that. The part that is so dificult to understand is WHY? When all of these decisions actually harm them, cost them jobs and put their children's future at risk, why do they do it? This position on immigration is a great example. Why would someone in middle America hate Latino immigrants? Why would they support such draconian anti-immigration measures? Well, they will tell you that they want these jobs for Americans. But if Americans would take them, they wouldn't be available for illegal aliens. They will tell you that it's a National Security issue. As I recall, the 9/11 hijackers did not sneak across the Mexican border in the dead of night. Nor did the "millenium bomber". Nor did the cell that first attacked the the World Trade Center in the early nineties.
These arguments are so weak, so easily refuted, that they might as well come out and say it: "We hate brown people. We want them as far away from us as possible, and we want them to suffer as much pain and deprivation as possible." It is appalling that people who call themselves christians would not have the slightest bit of empathy for people doing nothing more than trying to better the circumstances of their own families--and taking terrible risks to do so. It is this ugly, insular, Us vs. Them mindset that actually describes these types of people much more accurately than "Christian". They are exposed as the racist, xenophopic haters that they always were. It is more evidence that their real religion is nationalism, and nationalism trumps religion every time, in every part of the planet. But that's another post...
A Government of the People?
So the Bush administration's approval ratings are pretty much as low as they can go. Depending on the poll you read, somewhere around 65% of the American people are unhappy with the job they are doing, do not approve of the Iraq debacle and are unhappy with the direction the country is heading. When asked about these numbers, Bush said essentially that he didn't care. He said that America wanted strong leadership, and a strong and determined leader would not change his beliefs because of the polls:
"I think the American people — I know the American people want somebody to stand on principle, decide, make decisions and stand by them, and to lead this world toward a more peaceful tomorrow."
Now, I have a little more mixed feelings about this than you might imagine. On the one hand, since he's
clearly the worst president in history and his administration is clearly incompetent, he should pay attention to the people at whose behest he leads and try to be a little more responsive to their wants, needs and desires. On the other hand, however, he is actually correct in his statement that a strong, courageous, independent leader would not change strategies due to polling data. For example, we know that a majority of people in the south were quite happy with Jim Crowe and "Separate but Equal" in the 1950s, and would have been unhappy with the president's performance in invoking federal law to integrate schools, for example. Here was a very clear case of a president making a distinctly unpopular decision and not allowing the fact that a lot of people disagreed with it to cause him to change it.
I guess my ambivilence about this issue indicates that a single hard-and-fast rule is not going to be the most effective way to approach it. It seems that its a situation that calls for some common sense. Take Iraq, for example. If there ever was a situation that cried out for a reassessment, a situation where "stay the course" was the worst possible solution, Iraq is it. The Iraqi people are suffering, Americans are dying, the cost in wealth and prestige is immense and the world is actually less safe as a result of this illegal, foolhardy and doomed invasion. Anyone with a modicum of good sense would look at it and say, "hmmm, my intentions were good and I really thought this was the right thing to do, but it's clearly not going to work out, I guess we better figure out what Plan B looks like". And according to the polling data, the American people would very much like him to do exactly that.
It seems that there is more than just a commitment to his beliefs working in George Bush. It seems that there is pride, hubris, arrogance and a bull headed stubbornness that contribute to his unwillingness to reconsider and adjust his actions. I recall in the Presidential debates Bush was asked what his biggest mistake was and you know what? He couldn't think of a single mistake he'd made! This is not the kind of thoughtful, flexible, capable person we want in our leadership role. This type of rigid idealogue is, predictably, going to produce results like we saw in Katrina, Iraq, Harriet Miers and Dubai Ports World.
And at the end of the day, if this truly is a Government "Of the People, By the People and For the People" then what the people want should be a major consideration when the elected leadership makes a decision to go in a particular direction. In spite of the Rove-Inspired fear mongering, most people do NOT want their civil rights reduced or taken away. In spite of the shrill declarations of the Christian Taliban Right Wing, most people feel that access to abortion is a good thing for people and families. And in spite of Dick Cheney's hubris-driven personal opinions, most people feel that the leadership should be required to obey the laws of the land, as that's what we mean when we say "the Rule of Law". It's time for this administration to be responsive to more than just their corporate paymasters and political ideologues, and begin to extract this nation from the Iraq quagmire of their creation, not even just because it's clearly the right thing to do, but because it's what the American people want...
Blogs I Read
People ask me all the time what blogs I read. Actually, the most common question is how I have time to read the blogs I read. That one's a little tougher. But in conversation, I can never remember all of them (thank goodness for bookmarks!), so I'm going to list them here.
First of all, the can't do without, gotta read 'em every day blogs, often called the "A-Listers". Mainly,
Kos and
Think Progress are absolutely indispensible, along with
AmericaBlog and
Informed Comment. I read them twice a day, morning and afternoon. Similar blogs I like to also check throughout the day include
Atrios,
Talking Points Memo,
Crooks and Liars,
The Liberal Avenger,
Billmon's Whiskey Bar and
Huffington Post.
I also read a number of B-List (or lower) political blogs like
Mykeru, my favorite for pure unadulturated attitude,
Firedoglake,
Nitpicker and
Steve Clemons.
Some blogs are political, but extremely funny. The leader in this category has got to be
Fafblog, but I also get a lot of laughs from
World 'O Crap,
Sadly, No and
TBogg as they plumb the depths of online wingnuttery and bring back the gems for the amusment of all.
For a more serious view of America's new Militarism, particularly the Iraqi Debacle, I go first to
Baghdad Burning for a view of life on the ground in Iraq, and also to the always poignant
Main and Central. For a broader viewpoint I count on
Antiwar.com and
al Jazeera. They may not always get it right either, but it's important to get all the viewpoints.
If you've read my work, you know that the other area I am interested and active in is the topics around science, evolution, religion and atheism. Those of us who have devoted ourselves to a rational worldview have to suffer more outright hatred than most any other group. But some of the smartest people(and best writers, for that matter) are active in this community. People like
Brent Rassmussen,
Ed Brayton, and everybody's favorite biologist,
PZ Myers. So where does an atheist blogger go when he or she needs a good laugh? Why,
Normal Bob Smith, of course.
There's lots more, of course, from
BoingBoing to
Cosmic Variance, but this is really my "Must Read" list for any given day. So, what do you think? Am I missing anything? Let me know in comments....
On Patriotism
What does it mean to be a patriot? More importantly, if one is a patriot, how does that manifest itself in one's life? Well, first we can consider what does
not constitute patriotism. An American flag decal on your car does not make you a patriot. A mindless support of all government actions, regardless of cost or ideology, is actually the antithesis of patriotism. Governments are not infallible entities, and like all human endeavors, prone to error and the law of unintended consequences. To demand thoughtless, unexamined and illogical loyalty to a particular leader or party is not patriotic, indeed, it is the worst kind of cult worship.
A true patriot recognizes that, as much as he loves his country, it is not perfect and can always be improved. He knows that at any time his nation's leadership can take a wrong turn, leading the country in a poor or dangerous direction, or sometimes even making decisions that can undermine the very things that make our nation what it is. He knows what it is he loves about his country, what it represents that makes his chest swell with pride, and enough of its history to worry about its future.
So if you consider yourself a patriot, and you're not Glenn Reynolds, Assrocket or Alberto Gonzales, then you have to ask: Under the circumstances we find ourselves in today, what does my heartfelt patriotism require me to do? I would suggest you look to Cindy Sheehan and John Murtha and speak the truth. Don't fear the labels they'll apply to you out of fear. You are NOT a traitor, you are not "emboldening" the enemy, and if this actually is "wartime", its unlike any other wartime in recorded history. Speak the truth. Our children's lives are being wasted in the name of corporate profits and Bush's ego, and we must get them out. Our long-term economic survival as a nation is being put at risk, there is no concern for the less fortunate, science and education are being undermined, and there is tremendous opportunity for things to get much, much worse in the next few years. So speak up. Speak out. Write your congresscritter, write your senator, write your newspaper, write a blog. Talk to journalists--hold their feet to the fire. Don't let them cover over egregious behavior out of fear. Support progressive candidates in your region. If you have money, contribute. If you don't, consider donating some time. If you are a patriot, it is your duty to right this ship of state before it becomes something unrecognizable, and ugly. Face it-we are living under a dictatorship/police state now, and it is our obligation to reverse this movement before they can simply lock us up, or worse, to silence us.
