Roe v Wade

The Supreme Court Has Lost All Dignity, Respect, And Legitimacy, And The John Roberts Led Court Will Face Historic Repudiation!

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The Supreme Court of the United States was created in 1789 to judge the constitutionality of all laws and actions, and promote the rule of law.

In recent decades, it has become a weapon of right wing extremism, and has lost all dignity, respect, and legitimacy, and is in the worst constitutional crisis in a century!

The conservative movement to promote an extremist Court will cause a repudiation in history, as they have done great damage in the past generation in such cases as Bush V Gore in 2000 (interfering in the Presidential Election of that year); Citizens United in 2011 (that allowed corporations to be considered people); Shelby County V. Holder in 2013 (gutting of the Voting Rights Act of 1965); and now are almost certain to do in the abortion case before the Court (Dobbs V Jackson Women’s Health Organization).

Never has the Supreme Court taken away a right once granted, as in the case of Roe V Wade, alloing abortions in the first two trimesters of a pregnancy, and including the factors of rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

It is unseemly, and reprehensible, that women are being informed that religious fanatics can interfere with their personal rights to control their own bodies, and it will lead to many self mutilations and suicides by women desperate to end an unwanted pregnancy, often brought about by violence perpetrated by men!

The Chief Justice, John Roberts, will see his reputation as the 17th person to hold that position, sullied and repudiated in history, if he cannot convince at least one other conservative Justice to join him and the three Democratic appointments to uphold Roe V Wade!

The move to add membership to the Court, and promote term limits in the future, will be encouraged to occur, as the Supreme Court has lost whatever halo it has had over the past generations!

Republicans And Conservative Supreme Court Will Suffer By Attack On Abortion Rights!

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The Republican Party and the majority Conservative Supreme Court will suffer massively by their attack on Abortion Rights!

Vast numbers of Americans, and particularly women, will not sit idly by and allow a woman’s right to choose to be taken away without a massive negative reaction at the polls in 2022 and beyond!

It will be like the California Republicans who passed legislation in the form of Proposition 187 in 1994 under Republican Governor Pete Wilson to deny undocumented immigrants any rights to health care and education, with that legislation delayed and then declared unconstitutional, but with the Republican Party having committed suicide in the process.

So the California Republican Party, except for a few Congressional seats and a small number of state legislative seats, have been in the wilderness for the past quarter century, insuring that California is strongly Blue.

The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts will lose all credibility, and will damage the instition of the judiciary long term.

The Roberts Court will not go down as an outstanding, fair minded Court as with Chief Justice Earl Warren (1953-1969), and respect for the Court will decline rapidly.

If John Roberts has his scruples, he needs to work behind the scenes to convince Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to reject the extremist view of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito!

By all rights, both men should recuse themselves from the Roe V Wade challenge, as they should never have been allowed on the Court with their extremist views!

Both Thomas, appoinated by George H. W. Bush, and Samuel Alito, appointed by George W. Bush, were and are outside the mainstream of American constitutional law!

Roe v Wade Under Attack On Supreme Court With Case Heard On Wednesday

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Nearly half a century has passed since the Supreme Court decision in Roe v Wade on January 22, 1973.

Women have had the right to determine their own future, and yet, now, the majority of the Supreme Court are Republican and conservative appointments, and could end abortion rights completely in at least 12 states.

This would include making women criminals if they had an illegal abortion, or had even a miscarriage, and would not allow even for rape or incest or life of the mother.

The thought that this could happen in the 21st century in a nation supposedly advanced like the United States’ reputation is shocking and rprehensible, and will harm poor and minority women the most, as wealthy white women will always be able to fly out of states that ban abortion and accomplish their goals of ending unwanted pregnancies safely!

The concern over the unborn fetus ends when a child is born, as the same Republican and conservative forces have no concern about the life of poor women and their newborn babies!

There is hope that possibly one or more of the six Republican justices–Chief Justice John Roberts, likely, and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was backed by Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine for the Court membership, when he said he believed Roe V Wade was settled law–will save basic abortion rights, but the future is uncertain!

Also, Amy Coney Barrett, new to the Court, could surprise, but seen as highly unlikely!

Neil Gorsuch seems unlikely, also, to leave Roe V Wade alone, and as far as Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, both clearly are a “lost cause”, sadly!

The Supreme Court Majority Is Becoming Very Outspoken, Controversial In Actions And Statements!

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The Supreme Court of the United States is supposed to be a nonpolitical body, that balances the law and the Constitution.

Of course, there are, and always have been, so called “liberals” and “conservatives” on the Court throughout its history, but the present Supreme Court with six conservatives and three liberals is badly unbalanced, and it is clear that the Court is the most extreme one sided to the conservative side that it has been since the 1930s, nearly a century ago!

There are three appointments to the Court by Donald Trump (Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett); two appointments by George W. Bush (John Roberts, Samuel Alito); and one appointment by George H. W. Bush (Clarence Thomas).

There are already ethical and moral problems with Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas, regarding their behavior and treatment of women in their past; and Amy Coney Barrett was rushed through to confirmation more rapidly than normal after the sudden death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, so that Donald Trump had one more appointment close to the Presidential election, which should have been left to the winner of the election, which turned out to be Joe Biden.

Also, a majority of the Court was chosen by Presidents who lost the popular vote in 2000 and 2016, although the two Bush II appointees actually came in the second term when Bush II did win the popular vote.

And now, since the horrendous decision to allow the Texas antiabortion law to go into effect without a full hearing, taking away a constitutional right of women to control their own bodies, in effect since Roe V. Wade in 1973, the criticism of the Court’s action has led to Thomas, Barrett, and now Alito to issue political criticisms which are not appropriate for Supreme Court Justices. They should NOT be making public statements, no matter what they are thinking, but they clearly are on the defensive and have politicized the Court by their utterances, as well as their actions.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the reputation and public opinion rating of the Supreme Court has declined radically in the last few years, and particularly in the present year of 2021!

The Supreme Court is moving far to the Right as the nation is clearly moving to the Left, in a nation in which the white majority is rapidly declining, and will be the minority (under 50 percent) by 2045 at the latest.

So a constitutional crisis is at hand, and there is the danger of a future 7-2 conservative Court, with Stephen Breyer refusing to consider retiring at age 83, claiming he does not plan to die on the Court. This is a preposterous statement, and could end up denying Joe Biden any Supreme Court selection if a Democratic Senator dies or is incapacitated, or if the Senate goes Republican in the midterm Congressional Elections of 2022!

Schools Should Not Reopen With CoronaVirus Pandemic Raging In Much Of America!

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It is sadly clear that President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and other Trump Administration figures have no concern about the potential loss of human life in this CoronaVirus Pandemic.

All that they are concerned about is the reelection of Donald Trump, so to hell with senior citizens, children, and everyone in between!

They have never shown concern for human life, ironic for an administration and a Republican Party that is called “Pro Life”, but only really for women to be forced to have children when they become pregnant, forcing women to be parents after working to deny contraceptives to avoid pregnancy, and working to destroy abortion rights permitted under Roe V Wade in 1973.

So what the Republican Party means is protect every fetus, but once that fetus is born, to hell with any government responsibility to protect life and health, as they work to deny millions of Americans basic health care, as they have been on a ten year mission to destroy ObamaCare, the Affordable Care Act, without offering any alternative!

When Betsy DeVos talks about a “low” level of victims among children from potential infection of CoronaVirus, she is saying that some human lives, of any age group, are dispensable!

What a damned nerve of a super wealthy woman who never went to public school in her life, has never known anything but privilege, and has shown no concern for public education or children!

If some human lives are dispensable, how about her life, that of her super wealthy, privileged family?

And while we are at judging that some people’s lives and deaths, including children, are acceptable as statistics, why not Donald Trump, his children and grandchildren, instead of ordinary Americans who are now struggling in the midst of a second Great Depression, with no empathy or sympathy or consideration by the disgusting First Family, all of them!

While this pandemic is expanding, no way should schools reopen as normal, despite the reality that remote education is not preferable if conditions were normal, but they are far from that!

It is difficult on parents who need to work and have tight circumstances regarding physical space and the need to educate, but no one ever said being a parent is meant to be easy. Millions of people will suffer in this coming school year in many ways, but above all, survival and good health come first!

January 22-23, 1973, An Historic 48 Hours: The Death Of Lyndon B. Johnson, End Of US Involvement In Vietnam War, Abortion Rights Approved By Supreme Court

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Rarely in American history has there been a period of 24-48 hours with events occurring that have had such a massive impact on the nation, as January 22-23, 1973.

We saw the death of President Lyndon B. Johnson on January 22, 1973, at the age of 64, two days after he chose not to show up at the second inauguration of Richard Nixon, leaving no former President at those festivities. He died, depressed that the Vietnam War had not been ended, but 24 hours later, the Paris Accords were announced, ending US involvement in Vietnam, leading to withdrawal of all US military forces within two months, although later those Accords were violated by North Vietnam in April 1975, leading to the unification of North and South Vietnam.

Also, on the day that LBJ died, the Supreme Court came up with a decision that has more divided America to this moment, in a social sense, than any other, and that was Roe V Wade, allowing abortion rights to women in the first two trimesters, spurring a right wing “Pro Life” movement, and the promotion of Christian extremist movements in American politics, which helped to bring about the victory of Donald Trump and Mike Pence in 2016.

The Great Society programs of LBJ have been under attack since 1973, particularly under Ronald Reagan, and now Donald Trump, and the effects of the Vietnam War still permeate American society.

And if the right wing has its way, we will eventually see the reversal of the Roe V Wade decision, although the vast majority of Americans support abortion rights.

The Moment Has Come For Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Ben Sasse: Put Up Or Shut Up, And Be Never Believed Again!

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There are four Republican Senators who are drawing all the attention on the issue of Brett Kavanaugh:

Jeff Flake of Arizona

Susan Collins of Maine

Lisa Murkowski of Alaska

Ben Sasse of Nebraska

It is these four who will decide if Kavanaugh ends up on the Supreme Court, and besmirches the reputation of the Court.

Kavanaugh on the Court will never be accepted as legitimate by half the nation, particularly after he lost his temper and became partisan, worrying Court watchers that he would not recuse himself on cases involving left wing issues and Democrats, including anyone or anything that might show up in the Court regarding Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Kavanaugh lacks the judicial temperament, and self destructed in that rampage a week ago, and it is like an egg that has been broken, and it cannot be put back together again, even if he were to apologize.

It would paralyze the Court, or cause great controversy on many Supreme Court cases that will be divisive enough without his outburst.

So it is up to these four Senators to do what is right, even if it affects the long term career of Collins, Murkowski, and Sasse, with Flake retiring from the Senate.

The first and the third face election in 2020, and Murkowski in 2022.

Sasse may also plan to run for President, and it would be good if he demonstrated independence from Trump.

The two women want abortion to survive, but to believe Kavanaugh will not work to destroy Roe V. Wade, is to be naive.

So it is now that true “Profiles in Courage” are needed, as written about by John F. Kennedy in 1956.

23 Years Since Richard Nixon’s Death, Final Total Repudiation Of His Positive Legacy In Domestic Affairs

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Richard Nixon died on Earth Day 1994, at the age of 81.

He died, knowing that the Watergate and related scandals under his Presidency, would damage his reputation forever.

But Nixon also left a positive legacy, which now, a generation later, is, finally, totally repudiating his time in office.

Nixon, for all his faults, was the most “liberal” or “progressive” Republican President since Theodore Roosevelt, and no Republican President since has been anywhere near as much so.

Nixon could have prevented a lot of reforms, with his veto, but instead went along with a Democratic controlled Congress, and signed into law the following:

The Environmental Protection Agency

The Consumer Product Safety Commission

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Large increases in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, as well as the Food Stamp Program.

Enactment of the Supplemental Security Income program, providing a guaranteed income for elderly and disabled citizens.

Signed into law various environmental laws, and expanded national park land protection under the Department of the Interior.

Signed into law Title IX, guaranteeing equal access and opportunity to women in all educational and recreational activities in colleges and universities and public schools.

Signed into law the addition of Affirmative Action to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, for women, and ethnic minorities, in education and in employment–race, color, sex, religion, national origin.

Nixon also endorsed the proposed Equal Rights Amendment for women, also backed by his successor, Gerald ford, but opposed by Ronald Reagan, and failing of being added to the Constitution during the Reagan Presidency.

Finally, one of Nixon’s four Supreme Court appointments, Justice Harry Blackmun, turned out to be a very progressive member of the Court, and was the author of the majority opinion in Roe V. Wade, the abortion case, which has continued to divide Americans 44 years later, and which the Republican Party is attempting to bring about its reversal, with one step being the addition of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch.

Now, in 2017, President Trump and the Republican controlled 115th Congress seem to be on the road to destruction of all of these major achievements under Richard Nixon, a true travesty of justice.

We are witnessing the most reactionary, right wing extremist Congress and Presidency in American history, and progressives must fight tooth and nail to prevent this destruction of the “good side” of Richard Nixon’s legacy.

44 Years Ago: Death Of Lyndon B. Johnson; Abortion Becomes Legal; End Of Engagement In Vietnam War–We Must Learn From These Events!

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44 years ago, on January 22, former President Lyndon B. Johnson died at the age of 64, and the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in the case of Roe V. Wade, that women had a right to abortion in the first two trimesters.

44 years ago on January 23, announcement of an agreement to end US involvement in the Vietnam War was announced in Paris, therefore denying LBJ the ability to know of the peace agreement before his death, in a war that had forced him out of the Presidential race in 1968.

Looking back 44 years and to today in 2017, we can reflect that the Great Society of LBJ is under attack in a massive way, as is the New Deal of FDR. We are going backwards in so many ways under President Donald Trump.

Also, abortion rights are being taken away in many areas and by government policy, and the danger is that Roe V Wade could be reversed in a future Supreme Court decision, once a Trump appointed Justice is added to the Court. So women’s rights to control their own bodies will now face new restrictions, and will lead to more deaths, and abuses.

And our engagement in Vietnam, a massive mistake, has not been learned from, as now there are hints that Donald Trump is ready to send troops to fight ISIL (ISIS), committing us to a massive war in the Middle East, and with Trump asserting yesterday that America might just seize the oil of Iraq for ourselves, which would be a war crime, and a continuation of US imperialism overseas.

This is why we have intervened so much since World War II in other nations in the Middle East and in Asia, as well as Latin America.

And do not be surprised by a move to engage in war with Iran, in support of the right wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, and more warfare in the West Bank and Gaza Strip areas of the Palestinians.

This is not to endorse Iran, the Palestinians, or anyone else, but to point out, it looks as if we are on the way to another major military conflict, that will cost American lives and make tons of profit for the war industry. And we are likely to see a new generation of American military personnel who end up having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and are unlikely to gain proper medical treatment for that condition.

In many ways, America has learned nothing from our historical experiences, and we are reverting to past mistakes in domestic and foreign policy.

48 Hours That Transformed History—January 22-23, 1973!

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Forty three years ago today and tomorrow marks one of the most significant 48 hour periods in American history!

Former President Lyndon B. Johnson passed away at age 64 and the Supreme Court declared the right of women to have abortions in Roe V. Wade on January 22, 1973.

The next day, January 23, 1973, the announcement of an agreement to end the Vietnam War was made.

So we lost our most creative, reform oriented President since Franklin D. Roosevelt; and women gained the right to control their own reproductive lives,;and the war that divided the nation like no other since the Civil War finally was ending.

Today, 43 years later, we have seen attempts to cut back on the Great Society accomplishments by Republicans in Congress, only stopped by the veto of Barack Obama!

We have seen constant attempts to ban abortion, and restrictions put on women’s reproductive rights, a major social issue that will not go away!

And the effects of the Vietnam War still reverberate today, and more recent wars in Iraq and ongoing in Afghanistan continue to cause emotional political debate about commitment of American troops to fight overseas, including against ISIL (ISIS) in the Middle East!

A book about those two days is appropriate by some scholar who can remind us of the tremendous significance that 48 hours of events can have on American history!