Poof! The 46-year-old Trump-appointed Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk banned mifepristone, the FDA-approved abortion pill, under the 1873 Comstock Act. The law prohibits the mailing of contraceptives, “lewd” writing and any “instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing” that could be used in an abortion.
I have no words to describe how I feel about all of this. This white man who’s a judge has made a decision based on his beliefs and choices not the laws or medical needs. It has been clear every since the law suit was filed how he was going to rule...how he was going to rule! Just that sentence right there says something. It’s a man’s world, men rule, religion rules, MAGA rules. I call BS on of that!! I am an older woman with daughters and grand daughters and I will be damned if I will stand back or let my daughters stand back and let the religious bigots, political hacks and especially judges who can’t put aside the personal beliefs tell women how we live, what we do with OUR bodies!! Now I don’t know but if it was a known fact that this judge had very strong opinions about a woman’s right to reproductive rights, abortion then maybe he should have recused himself from the case, if it was possible. I will say this last thing, ladies and gents if you are sick and tired of this nonsense then it’s time we get out there make our voices heard and especially get to the ballot box in the next elections. Just look what happened in Wisconsin recently, we can change things with every single vote!!!
Teresa Rabanes ty … you made me laugh … I’m eighty in May ..mother,
And grandmother and gave spent my life volunteering and writing grants to save kids lives with surgeries for brain, heart, lung and orthopedic needs….people in America stop this insanity ..vote Straight democratic
Our saving Democracy Depends on Each of Us .. get YOUNG people to resister and VOTE and help them understand it’s voting every four years for president BUT MuST Vote Every Two years if we don’t our freedoms are lost dead and buried
John Lewis: "Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."
"HOPE Exists IF we Work!" Thank you Marsha and Teresa and this community . Together we will Fight and win! Let's make some noise and Vote! XO
Marsha, I totally agree with you on getting out to vote democrats into office! If we don’t we will continue this madness that is going on right get now! The GOP is a lost party and will continue to be lost until someone in that party grows a big set of balls and begins the long process of cleaning out the rift raft!! Marsha, you have filled your life with doing very worthy and important work for children! TY Marsha!
On this insane ruling by the creepy, controlling, cruel Kacsmaryk, I'll reproduce something i posted here many weeks ago:
[...] it's so crucially important for Democrats to face the abortion issue head on and show that Republicans (originally for political purposes in the late 1970s) have fetishized the insentient fetus at the expense of fully sentient beings (babies, children, adults). Thus, their sloganeering about "the sanctity of life" and "sacredness of the person" are empty rhetoric.
In a housefire-- which do you rush to grab and save first -- your pets or your plants? Every person of sound mind and morals says, "of course i save the pets first." And why? Because they are sentient beings.
Plants have no nervous system and are not sentient. They are ALIVE, but NOT SENTIENT. And of course embryos and then fetuses up to 18-20 weeks are not sentient, either-- not until a fetus develops an incipient, inter-connected nervous system somewhere nearing the 5th month of pregnancy.
Until then, the fetus is INSENTIENT. It is ALIVE, but NOT SENTIENT.
So right-wing religionists and politicians self-righteously, hypocritically go on and on about "the sanctity of life," but they are fetishizing INSENTIENT LIFE, and ignoring all the atrocious harm they wreak upon fully SENTIENT beings through an extensive array of cruel GOP policies --slashing the welfare support systems, food stamps, Head Start funding, minimum wage increases, sensible universal healthcare solutions, clean air / water and other environmental protections, global warming mitigation efforts, etc. etc. etc.
And when Kacsmaryk refers to a fetus as an “unborn human” or “unborn child, according to the logic of this linguistic trick, a person on terminal life support is an “undead human,” an “undead senior.” Family members almost always agree (including most Republicans) to finally “pull the plug,” and take their vegetative, no-longer-personal, no-longer-a-sentient-human relative off life support so that their body can die.
In the former case, the fetus until the 5th month certainly cannot yet be considered a “person”; and in the latter case, the terminally ill, vegetative, non-responsive, insentient relative is no longer a “person,” which is why it is not considered “murder” to take that vegetative entity off life-support.
So also, because the fetus is not a person, it is not "murder" to terminate a pregnancy before the 20th week of pregnancy.
Thank you, Peggy. I'm hoping to find the time in the next few weeks to pull all these thoughts together into an Op-Ed for a major periodical (i've been hugely busy dealing with my late wife's estate, and preparing for a delayed memorial service).
It's just unconscionable what the GOP and religious extremists have done to girls & women....
Stan, thank you for your condolences.... And yes, this thinking about abortion in terms of distinguishing between sentient life and insentient life is a distinction not being made.
We vegans learned this distinction decades ago, and it's incredibly useful for the abortion debate.
Very well said. You forgot to mention how these cruel individuals will ( and have, I'm sure) send their pregnant wives, daughters, granddaughters and mistresses elsewhere to discontinue their un-wanted pregnancies without a second thought. The hypocrisy is staggering.
We Democrats should take back the language being used by the bullshit GQP that has not a care or concern for babies and certainly doesn’t give a shit about saving lives, especially the life of the mother. We should be the party that calls itself PRO WOMEN’S LIVES. We should be hammering that over and over again - in response to everything they are saying. We are the party that is PRO WOMEN’S LIVES.
Good one. Even more inclusively, I always say that Democrats' policies usually promote THE SANCTITY OF ALL SENTIENT LIVES, whereas GOP fetishizes and worships the INSENTIENT FETUS. (And it's all sham, because this issue is merely a very effective, culture-war "cover" for their real agenda: sustaining and increasing the plutocratic, oligarchic takeover of the USA that they engineered decades ago.)
Thank you, Timothy, and all here on this most important issue. I hope that the Truth of how much the MAGA/GOP really cares about 'Children' and 'Life' can be exposed by showing photos and names of the hundreds of children that have been slaughtered and or traumatized by gun violence, especially in their schools, which are supposed to be SAFE! The GOP hypocrisy could not be more clear. They do NOT care about 'Life'!!
Thanks you Teresa, I am 81 years old and have a daughter and granddaughters - i want to march on someplace, NY Washington, someplace, but don't know how to get it together. Move On used to do this, now all they do is ask for money.
Marching is not all. Barrage your voting representatives- local, state if you’re in one, Federal - with handwritten letters. I’ve learned they get attention. Check Syracuse Cultural Workers for postcards and buttons. Influence in every way you can!
It is totally absurd that one man can have the ability to do this. This drug has undergone EXTENSIVE testing, and a huge challenge to be approved in the first place. It is a matter of life and death for some women, (who ARE intelligent, competent people, although some men seem to think otherwise). As a woman who has been denied positions that I have actually done well enough to be highly praised for, (in an acting position) but was refused the job officially because I was a woman, I am ANGRY!
A man in a black robe thinks he can control our bodies because he just did - this is going to be the death of the GOP. Between the crooks, liars, idiots and traitors, women don’t have a chance. I will not sit on the sidelines while these Christo Fascists take women back to the dark ages. Resist.
Don’t forget that there has been 22 years since the FDA approval and those years of experience has borne out the safety and effectiveness of the drug. Judge Kacsmaryk should never have been allowed to hear this challenge given his background as an anti-abortion activist. Can you imagine how the MAGAts would howl had a (hypothetical) Judge Cecile Richards (former head of Planned Parenthood) heard this case?
We all must stand for women’s their reproductive rights. Safe and legal contraceptives must be available to all women for their self-determination. Ohio is currently circulating a petition to put women ‘s right to control their reproductive rights on the November ballot. I’m done protesting. Now I’ve joined the fight! This is where it begins.
Then, two gentlemen and one woman from Tennessee, showed us how it’s done. They veered outside the lines. They drove home their message. They marshaled our forces. They galvanized a movement. They impassioned our country. *They provided a template.*
So wishing something like that had happened when McConnell stole our Supreme Court appointment. I still can’t get over how the Dems just stood around and allowed him to get away with that.
Another reason why we must vote in every election & teach our kids to do the same.
Plant seeds!!! My kids vote even though they think their voices aren’t being heard. Let’s get someone in office that’s articulate & not afraid to hurt people’s feelings!!!
I sit with my fingers hovering over my keyboard trying to get my thoughts and anger into typed words., it is difficult. I am angry, I am disgusted and so disappointed. Shocked. I continue to be shocked. The men of this country (not all) are strutting around so proud of themselves as they treat women and girls as less than. I honestly think they would treat their dogs better.
The Democrats, good grief, people are begging them to step up. But they remain passive. Their passivity is literally killing people
Please paying attention. Joe talks about this, members of Congress talk about this, our candidates talk about this. The only people who seem not to listen are those in the media, who mock Biden, roll their eyes and normalize the madness. Not all, but most. In addition, look at elections in PA, WI, MI--we have beaten back the crazies and are winning back control. In addition, Biden spoke to and out for the TNN 3, sent the VP down there, and outlets like Pod Save America--whose arm Vote Save America--raised thousands of dollars for them in a matter of hours. Blaming Dems doesn’t help. As Steve says it’s up to all of us, to get out there and spread the message and get involved.
You are right. It seems I just want something I really can’t describe. Perhaps it is a bit of fantasy. You know, the good guys riding in and clearing out all the bad. Difficult for me to articulate right now. I don’t necessarily blame the Democrats, but guess I am holding them accountable. Not sure that makes sense. Maybe it is as simple as I am really angry.
Spending the day outside, cleaning up and digging in the dirt. Will sort through it. Thanks for your reply.
Gardening is the BEST way to clear your head! I understand your frustration (and will be outside as well). The GOP’s behavior is unprecedented--and the cruelty is the point. They revel in it. We on the other side--all of us opposed to the madness, regardless of label--are struggling with how to fight back. But the answer is simple: vote and get more people out to vote.
Many of our fellow citizens are so disconnected. They don’t watch or listen to the news or understand how politics affects their lives. If you don’t want to knock doors, get involved with local organizations and meet new people, which can lead to conversations. As odious as FB and other social media can be, use it to amplify important info and fight back against disinformation. Write letters to the ed of your local paper. Little things like that help. There are mor of us than them, even in red states. They count on people not showing up for primaries and elections. Let’s prove them wrong.
No time to mince words, to dance around, to demure...
Let's get visible and actve...a body in motion and all that.
There is a rumbling of a national day of protest Apr 21- a show up where you are type of thing- in local communities- to protest slaughter by gunfire, but, really, to stand up for rights, esp after the TN debacle.
But also, we need to go bigger and show up in numbers that cannot be denied
Wearables: try SyracuseCulturalWorkers.com - a second mention. I order from them. I don’t work for them. NARAL & PPFA too. If you’re involved in planning or attending conferences in states with these laws, go to socialoffset which like carbon offsets can offset the biz trip you must make by donations. We can do more and spread the word.
Women and minorities must join together to win the political battle. There are many more of us than their are of the MEGA right and even Republicans. We must bridge the gap between our two groups and come together to create a force to be reckoned with, like the MEGA movement.
I start my morning and it’s sometimes in the middle of the night with Heather Cox Richardson who posts then followed by The Warning. Thom Hartmann too. Today was a smart but scary alignment of our history. As someone who is 75, in a way I’ve heard all this but not with such clarity and as a much needed reminder of who we were meant to be as a nation. A lot happens in 75 years and despite what we may know we need to be reminded of the good-very, very good and the bad currently unbelievably bad. For years I’ve asked why civics was not taught in school any more. Though I can’t articulate that issue I always knew how it would end for us as a nation.
I also wonder what the MAGA army of grippers think is in it for them. Big hugs from the billionaires, dinner at the White House? There never is anything for the peons of a movement. The rich get richer rewarded by their avid followers and then discard them. It’s a club they’ll never belong to as they serve the purpose of the higher ups.
Though I am signed up to participate in the April 15, 2023 National Weekend of Action to protest the war against women via bans on abortion better referred to as bans on women’s health care, I would love to hear from others what else we can do to “stop the movement cold”. As Michael Moore has said, “There are more of us than there are of them.”
Joan, I gotta tell you: Maryland had a very late gubenatorial primary last year. I worked the polls in PG for a local candidate, and you would not believe the mind-boggling crap I heard from young Democratic volunteers about Biden and, of course, Hillary. I'd like to be optimistic about influencing the young, but truthfully I wonder. Then again, at that age, I used to think Bill Clinton was practically a Republican. People change. Have a wonderful (rest of) Passover.
I read the first two paragraphs and had to write this now. Bodily autonomy, healthcare, morality.
Bodily Autonomy of Women. Healthcare of Women. Morality of Women and Men about conception and pregnancy and life, and the girls and boys under their care. Separation of Church and State.
Statistics. Since abortion became legal, abortions went down dramatically. Planned Parenthood and such services for women are a fundamental reason why abortions went down. Planned parenthood. Separation of Church and State.
Cruelty. It is the cruelty of power that shatters all actual gains in society. When people are seen and the problems are confronted, actions take form and produce the preferred societal results. By force and unilateral dictamina we regress to the place where societies fail by reigniting, in this case, misogyny and the hubris of religious man interpreting sacred texts and the law, while stressing thus how irrelevant time and progress are for the good of all by forcing such unilateral reversals by raw force. It was wisely foreseen and written in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights what gave us Roe v. Wade. It is men in power now, Republicans by political affiliation, who have repudiated the Separation of Church and State and force women to succumb to a most horrid future. But this will not end like this. What a travesty of the power of the electorate!
First I got a warning for following Steve’s link. Then I retweeted Steve’s link. Now I’ve been put in twitter jail for saying someone should slap that judges face. And I’m not mad. Great article Steve, I will tweet it once in out of jail! 🤣
Thank you for your call to action. I stand with you and other like minded people who share our vision for a free and fair America. I am not talking about the maga extremist movement, but rather for an America that is inclusive and has room for everyone. I am sick and tired of reading of continuing gun violence in our neighborhoods across this nation. Enough is enough. We need to take back our country from people who want rule instead of govern. We need to get out the vote for change. We need to eliminate the dark money that has polluted our political systems. We need to get back to a country where the little guy is represented with the same rights that Republicans gave to big business. Equal for all, not just those who agree with you or have the biggest pocket book. We need to fix our voting district maps so representatives actually represent the counties where they live.
First and foremost, we need a ban on assult weapons. We need to enforce crimes committed with weapons as a priority. We need to repeal permit less carry laws. They do not make sense and put everyone in danger. I have no problem with people who are trained and certified carrying a handgun. However, I would prefer that all guns were banned but that is not realistic. We will always have guns because it is part of our culture. That doesn't mean we have to be Dodge City of the 1870s. We need meaningful gun legislation and an amendment to the 2nd amendment so there is no ambiguity. Our Justice system is broken and people no longer believe it to be fair. The way back to an equal system is to hold accountable all who break the laws not just street level crimes but white collar crimes as well. If you are serious about your convictions I will march with you no matter who you identify as or the color of your skin. Please rise up with me and let your voice be heard. Let us take back our country the way our forefathers envisioned we would change things, Peacefully an through our elections not by denying people the right to vote but by expanding the right to vote to include everyone equally, not by income but rather by citizenship. Let us march for freedom.
I have no words to describe how I feel about all of this. This white man who’s a judge has made a decision based on his beliefs and choices not the laws or medical needs. It has been clear every since the law suit was filed how he was going to rule...how he was going to rule! Just that sentence right there says something. It’s a man’s world, men rule, religion rules, MAGA rules. I call BS on of that!! I am an older woman with daughters and grand daughters and I will be damned if I will stand back or let my daughters stand back and let the religious bigots, political hacks and especially judges who can’t put aside the personal beliefs tell women how we live, what we do with OUR bodies!! Now I don’t know but if it was a known fact that this judge had very strong opinions about a woman’s right to reproductive rights, abortion then maybe he should have recused himself from the case, if it was possible. I will say this last thing, ladies and gents if you are sick and tired of this nonsense then it’s time we get out there make our voices heard and especially get to the ballot box in the next elections. Just look what happened in Wisconsin recently, we can change things with every single vote!!!
Teresa Rabanes ty … you made me laugh … I’m eighty in May ..mother,
And grandmother and gave spent my life volunteering and writing grants to save kids lives with surgeries for brain, heart, lung and orthopedic needs….people in America stop this insanity ..vote Straight democratic
Our saving Democracy Depends on Each of Us .. get YOUNG people to resister and VOTE and help them understand it’s voting every four years for president BUT MuST Vote Every Two years if we don’t our freedoms are lost dead and buried
HOPE Exists IF we Work! Marsha
John Lewis: "Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."
"HOPE Exists IF we Work!" Thank you Marsha and Teresa and this community . Together we will Fight and win! Let's make some noise and Vote! XO
It’s all about getting people to vote.
Marsha, I totally agree with you on getting out to vote democrats into office! If we don’t we will continue this madness that is going on right get now! The GOP is a lost party and will continue to be lost until someone in that party grows a big set of balls and begins the long process of cleaning out the rift raft!! Marsha, you have filled your life with doing very worthy and important work for children! TY Marsha!
On this insane ruling by the creepy, controlling, cruel Kacsmaryk, I'll reproduce something i posted here many weeks ago:
[...] it's so crucially important for Democrats to face the abortion issue head on and show that Republicans (originally for political purposes in the late 1970s) have fetishized the insentient fetus at the expense of fully sentient beings (babies, children, adults). Thus, their sloganeering about "the sanctity of life" and "sacredness of the person" are empty rhetoric.
In a housefire-- which do you rush to grab and save first -- your pets or your plants? Every person of sound mind and morals says, "of course i save the pets first." And why? Because they are sentient beings.
Plants have no nervous system and are not sentient. They are ALIVE, but NOT SENTIENT. And of course embryos and then fetuses up to 18-20 weeks are not sentient, either-- not until a fetus develops an incipient, inter-connected nervous system somewhere nearing the 5th month of pregnancy.
Until then, the fetus is INSENTIENT. It is ALIVE, but NOT SENTIENT.
So right-wing religionists and politicians self-righteously, hypocritically go on and on about "the sanctity of life," but they are fetishizing INSENTIENT LIFE, and ignoring all the atrocious harm they wreak upon fully SENTIENT beings through an extensive array of cruel GOP policies --slashing the welfare support systems, food stamps, Head Start funding, minimum wage increases, sensible universal healthcare solutions, clean air / water and other environmental protections, global warming mitigation efforts, etc. etc. etc.
And when Kacsmaryk refers to a fetus as an “unborn human” or “unborn child, according to the logic of this linguistic trick, a person on terminal life support is an “undead human,” an “undead senior.” Family members almost always agree (including most Republicans) to finally “pull the plug,” and take their vegetative, no-longer-personal, no-longer-a-sentient-human relative off life support so that their body can die.
In the former case, the fetus until the 5th month certainly cannot yet be considered a “person”; and in the latter case, the terminally ill, vegetative, non-responsive, insentient relative is no longer a “person,” which is why it is not considered “murder” to take that vegetative entity off life-support.
So also, because the fetus is not a person, it is not "murder" to terminate a pregnancy before the 20th week of pregnancy.
This is one of the most cogent arguments I’ve heard in all the years of abortion rhetoric. Thank you.
Thank you, Peggy. I'm hoping to find the time in the next few weeks to pull all these thoughts together into an Op-Ed for a major periodical (i've been hugely busy dealing with my late wife's estate, and preparing for a delayed memorial service).
It's just unconscionable what the GOP and religious extremists have done to girls & women....
I'm sorry for your loss...
But incredible, sharp (and original?) thoughts on this matter, sir.
Stan, thank you for your condolences.... And yes, this thinking about abortion in terms of distinguishing between sentient life and insentient life is a distinction not being made.
We vegans learned this distinction decades ago, and it's incredibly useful for the abortion debate.
Too bad you can't reason with these people using logic. The views are based on emotion, religion and politics.
Very well said. You forgot to mention how these cruel individuals will ( and have, I'm sure) send their pregnant wives, daughters, granddaughters and mistresses elsewhere to discontinue their un-wanted pregnancies without a second thought. The hypocrisy is staggering.
I bet most right-wing "Christian" women and girls who terminate pregnancies do so in secret, behind the backs of their authoritarian husbands.
This is true. I've met some at the clinic. They say "they don't believe in abortions, but..."
It's nice to have a choice, isn't it?
Well said!
Bravo!
We Democrats should take back the language being used by the bullshit GQP that has not a care or concern for babies and certainly doesn’t give a shit about saving lives, especially the life of the mother. We should be the party that calls itself PRO WOMEN’S LIVES. We should be hammering that over and over again - in response to everything they are saying. We are the party that is PRO WOMEN’S LIVES.
Good one. Even more inclusively, I always say that Democrats' policies usually promote THE SANCTITY OF ALL SENTIENT LIVES, whereas GOP fetishizes and worships the INSENTIENT FETUS. (And it's all sham, because this issue is merely a very effective, culture-war "cover" for their real agenda: sustaining and increasing the plutocratic, oligarchic takeover of the USA that they engineered decades ago.)
Thank you, Timothy, and all here on this most important issue. I hope that the Truth of how much the MAGA/GOP really cares about 'Children' and 'Life' can be exposed by showing photos and names of the hundreds of children that have been slaughtered and or traumatized by gun violence, especially in their schools, which are supposed to be SAFE! The GOP hypocrisy could not be more clear. They do NOT care about 'Life'!!
Thanks you Teresa, I am 81 years old and have a daughter and granddaughters - i want to march on someplace, NY Washington, someplace, but don't know how to get it together. Move On used to do this, now all they do is ask for money.
Marching is not all. Barrage your voting representatives- local, state if you’re in one, Federal - with handwritten letters. I’ve learned they get attention. Check Syracuse Cultural Workers for postcards and buttons. Influence in every way you can!
It is totally absurd that one man can have the ability to do this. This drug has undergone EXTENSIVE testing, and a huge challenge to be approved in the first place. It is a matter of life and death for some women, (who ARE intelligent, competent people, although some men seem to think otherwise). As a woman who has been denied positions that I have actually done well enough to be highly praised for, (in an acting position) but was refused the job officially because I was a woman, I am ANGRY!
It’s like Steve said “a man in a black robe “ is making decisions about how we the women of this country live our life’s.
A man in a black robe thinks he can control our bodies because he just did - this is going to be the death of the GOP. Between the crooks, liars, idiots and traitors, women don’t have a chance. I will not sit on the sidelines while these Christo Fascists take women back to the dark ages. Resist.
Don’t forget that there has been 22 years since the FDA approval and those years of experience has borne out the safety and effectiveness of the drug. Judge Kacsmaryk should never have been allowed to hear this challenge given his background as an anti-abortion activist. Can you imagine how the MAGAts would howl had a (hypothetical) Judge Cecile Richards (former head of Planned Parenthood) heard this case?
We all must stand for women’s their reproductive rights. Safe and legal contraceptives must be available to all women for their self-determination. Ohio is currently circulating a petition to put women ‘s right to control their reproductive rights on the November ballot. I’m done protesting. Now I’ve joined the fight! This is where it begins.
Yes!! It all comes down to the ballot box!! Get out the vote is the battle cry!!!
My rights as a human should not be subject to the whims of the electorate! Women’s rights are human rights!
Stay within the lines. The lines are our friends.
Then, two gentlemen and one woman from Tennessee, showed us how it’s done. They veered outside the lines. They drove home their message. They marshaled our forces. They galvanized a movement. They impassioned our country. *They provided a template.*
Pass the megaphone. This isn’t business as usual.
.
So wishing something like that had happened when McConnell stole our Supreme Court appointment. I still can’t get over how the Dems just stood around and allowed him to get away with that.
Another reason why we must vote in every election & teach our kids to do the same.
Plant seeds!!! My kids vote even though they think their voices aren’t being heard. Let’s get someone in office that’s articulate & not afraid to hurt people’s feelings!!!
Act daily if you can. No waiting. Write and call. Donate to opposition candidates.
Those two black men in Tennessee were standing up and speaking out for 6 white people. That's a helluva lot more than the GOP legislature would do!
I sit with my fingers hovering over my keyboard trying to get my thoughts and anger into typed words., it is difficult. I am angry, I am disgusted and so disappointed. Shocked. I continue to be shocked. The men of this country (not all) are strutting around so proud of themselves as they treat women and girls as less than. I honestly think they would treat their dogs better.
The Democrats, good grief, people are begging them to step up. But they remain passive. Their passivity is literally killing people
Please paying attention. Joe talks about this, members of Congress talk about this, our candidates talk about this. The only people who seem not to listen are those in the media, who mock Biden, roll their eyes and normalize the madness. Not all, but most. In addition, look at elections in PA, WI, MI--we have beaten back the crazies and are winning back control. In addition, Biden spoke to and out for the TNN 3, sent the VP down there, and outlets like Pod Save America--whose arm Vote Save America--raised thousands of dollars for them in a matter of hours. Blaming Dems doesn’t help. As Steve says it’s up to all of us, to get out there and spread the message and get involved.
You are right. It seems I just want something I really can’t describe. Perhaps it is a bit of fantasy. You know, the good guys riding in and clearing out all the bad. Difficult for me to articulate right now. I don’t necessarily blame the Democrats, but guess I am holding them accountable. Not sure that makes sense. Maybe it is as simple as I am really angry.
Spending the day outside, cleaning up and digging in the dirt. Will sort through it. Thanks for your reply.
Gardening is the BEST way to clear your head! I understand your frustration (and will be outside as well). The GOP’s behavior is unprecedented--and the cruelty is the point. They revel in it. We on the other side--all of us opposed to the madness, regardless of label--are struggling with how to fight back. But the answer is simple: vote and get more people out to vote.
Many of our fellow citizens are so disconnected. They don’t watch or listen to the news or understand how politics affects their lives. If you don’t want to knock doors, get involved with local organizations and meet new people, which can lead to conversations. As odious as FB and other social media can be, use it to amplify important info and fight back against disinformation. Write letters to the ed of your local paper. Little things like that help. There are mor of us than them, even in red states. They count on people not showing up for primaries and elections. Let’s prove them wrong.
Let's go.
Let's go.
LFG.
No time to mince words, to dance around, to demure...
Let's get visible and actve...a body in motion and all that.
There is a rumbling of a national day of protest Apr 21- a show up where you are type of thing- in local communities- to protest slaughter by gunfire, but, really, to stand up for rights, esp after the TN debacle.
But also, we need to go bigger and show up in numbers that cannot be denied
We are way too silo'd ..
How about a wearable.
MAGA has insufferable hats.
Let's get visible.
Wearables: try SyracuseCulturalWorkers.com - a second mention. I order from them. I don’t work for them. NARAL & PPFA too. If you’re involved in planning or attending conferences in states with these laws, go to socialoffset which like carbon offsets can offset the biz trip you must make by donations. We can do more and spread the word.
TFG and MAGA are experts at slogans and wearables. We need to step up to this. It is time to play Hard Ball!
I would love one item that identifies us all as simply together in non-MAGA reality based community- the large tent.
What would that look like?
Women and minorities must join together to win the political battle. There are many more of us than their are of the MEGA right and even Republicans. We must bridge the gap between our two groups and come together to create a force to be reckoned with, like the MEGA movement.
Yes. Disappointed to have spend a lifetime working for reproductive rights and poof.
And the hypocrisy to call it prolife but not protect those born with healthcare; from guns; with housing!
Passive, really?? I see the Democrats fighting these kooks all day, everyday.
Welcome to the morality police state of America, without the head veil.
Back to the damn streets!!!!!!
I for one Steve am fighting back and will continue with all my effort to see this movements eradication before I die!
To hell with decorum! My "ladylike" language has retired and I've joined "Fuck You Facists".
There must be no safe harbor for facism in America. Protest, vote, and help your fellow citizens vote them out of existence.
I start my morning and it’s sometimes in the middle of the night with Heather Cox Richardson who posts then followed by The Warning. Thom Hartmann too. Today was a smart but scary alignment of our history. As someone who is 75, in a way I’ve heard all this but not with such clarity and as a much needed reminder of who we were meant to be as a nation. A lot happens in 75 years and despite what we may know we need to be reminded of the good-very, very good and the bad currently unbelievably bad. For years I’ve asked why civics was not taught in school any more. Though I can’t articulate that issue I always knew how it would end for us as a nation.
I also wonder what the MAGA army of grippers think is in it for them. Big hugs from the billionaires, dinner at the White House? There never is anything for the peons of a movement. The rich get richer rewarded by their avid followers and then discard them. It’s a club they’ll never belong to as they serve the purpose of the higher ups.
Though I am signed up to participate in the April 15, 2023 National Weekend of Action to protest the war against women via bans on abortion better referred to as bans on women’s health care, I would love to hear from others what else we can do to “stop the movement cold”. As Michael Moore has said, “There are more of us than there are of them.”
And we can influence more especially young voters who only know reproductive rights not prohibitions.
Joan, I gotta tell you: Maryland had a very late gubenatorial primary last year. I worked the polls in PG for a local candidate, and you would not believe the mind-boggling crap I heard from young Democratic volunteers about Biden and, of course, Hillary. I'd like to be optimistic about influencing the young, but truthfully I wonder. Then again, at that age, I used to think Bill Clinton was practically a Republican. People change. Have a wonderful (rest of) Passover.
So then what do we do to educate?
(And thank you.)
I read the first two paragraphs and had to write this now. Bodily autonomy, healthcare, morality.
Bodily Autonomy of Women. Healthcare of Women. Morality of Women and Men about conception and pregnancy and life, and the girls and boys under their care. Separation of Church and State.
Statistics. Since abortion became legal, abortions went down dramatically. Planned Parenthood and such services for women are a fundamental reason why abortions went down. Planned parenthood. Separation of Church and State.
Cruelty. It is the cruelty of power that shatters all actual gains in society. When people are seen and the problems are confronted, actions take form and produce the preferred societal results. By force and unilateral dictamina we regress to the place where societies fail by reigniting, in this case, misogyny and the hubris of religious man interpreting sacred texts and the law, while stressing thus how irrelevant time and progress are for the good of all by forcing such unilateral reversals by raw force. It was wisely foreseen and written in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights what gave us Roe v. Wade. It is men in power now, Republicans by political affiliation, who have repudiated the Separation of Church and State and force women to succumb to a most horrid future. But this will not end like this. What a travesty of the power of the electorate!
Of all the terrible damage Trump has inflicted on this country, hijacking the judicial branch is his greatest achievement.
Federal judges are appointed for life. This Commander from "The Handmaid's Tale" in a robe will be wreaking havoc on our lives for decades to come.
"But her emails..."
He didn’t do alone. It’s others we must vote out.
I’m all in coach! As a two-daughter daddy with a granddaughter, the sideline is No place for me...
First I got a warning for following Steve’s link. Then I retweeted Steve’s link. Now I’ve been put in twitter jail for saying someone should slap that judges face. And I’m not mad. Great article Steve, I will tweet it once in out of jail! 🤣
Twitter jail is a badge of honor. Mention it always. Looks who’s running that joint.
Angela, being in Twitter jail just shows that you said something good! Own it be proud of it!
They better be 'warned' about The Warning -We Play Hard Ball! Way to go, Angela!
Thank you for your call to action. I stand with you and other like minded people who share our vision for a free and fair America. I am not talking about the maga extremist movement, but rather for an America that is inclusive and has room for everyone. I am sick and tired of reading of continuing gun violence in our neighborhoods across this nation. Enough is enough. We need to take back our country from people who want rule instead of govern. We need to get out the vote for change. We need to eliminate the dark money that has polluted our political systems. We need to get back to a country where the little guy is represented with the same rights that Republicans gave to big business. Equal for all, not just those who agree with you or have the biggest pocket book. We need to fix our voting district maps so representatives actually represent the counties where they live.
First and foremost, we need a ban on assult weapons. We need to enforce crimes committed with weapons as a priority. We need to repeal permit less carry laws. They do not make sense and put everyone in danger. I have no problem with people who are trained and certified carrying a handgun. However, I would prefer that all guns were banned but that is not realistic. We will always have guns because it is part of our culture. That doesn't mean we have to be Dodge City of the 1870s. We need meaningful gun legislation and an amendment to the 2nd amendment so there is no ambiguity. Our Justice system is broken and people no longer believe it to be fair. The way back to an equal system is to hold accountable all who break the laws not just street level crimes but white collar crimes as well. If you are serious about your convictions I will march with you no matter who you identify as or the color of your skin. Please rise up with me and let your voice be heard. Let us take back our country the way our forefathers envisioned we would change things, Peacefully an through our elections not by denying people the right to vote but by expanding the right to vote to include everyone equally, not by income but rather by citizenship. Let us march for freedom.
Well said, Patrick! Thank you. I'm ready to get out and march, too, for equality and our rights!
Great comment!
46, still just a kid really, making decisions for everyone, who voted him in?
Trump appointee I believe