The Gossip on Roberts and the painful wait for the confirmation hearings
| July 21st, 2005This post was removed by request of the author.
17 Responses to “The Gossip on Roberts and the painful wait for the confirmation hearings”
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July 21st, 2005 at 1:19 am
Prediction: the Dems will fold like a cheap suit. Hillary Clinton will be the one stiffarming the braver Democratic senators into submission.
This comment was written by Robert.Report this comment to the moderators
July 21st, 2005 at 1:33 am
Yeah, that probably will happen. I could bet on it.
This comment was written by Pseudo-Adrienne.Report this comment to the moderators
July 21st, 2005 at 3:54 am
I know this is an obvious point, but it bears repeating: The fate of Roe does not hang in the balance here. Unless Justice Kennedy changes his mind, they’ll need to replace O’Connor and another pro-Roe vote to be able to truly tip the balance on Roe and Casey.
On the other hand, the “Partial Birth” abortion ban is probably going to be Constitutional now.
This comment was written by Ampersand.Report this comment to the moderators
July 21st, 2005 at 5:36 am
The “PBA” ban is vague enough. If it passes, isn’t that more or less the same as Roe being overturned ? Doctors will be so terrified of being dragged into court for “murder,” “unjustified termination” or whatever, that they’ll simply refuse to perform any abortion past the first trimester.
Of course, abortion was already inaccessable for millions. Maybe now an underground will spring up that in all fairness, should have started being built at least a decade ago.
The only thing I look forward to once the inevitable Democratic cave-in is over is the possible mass-desertion of feminists from the party that may end up being part of the fall-out. The leaders carry on as if they can get by without a crucial part of their base, egged on by shitheels like Kos to regard us as a dispensable “special interest” that at the same time is not “the important stuff.” Why not prove to them that they’re wrong ?
This comment was written by alsis39.Report this comment to the moderators
July 21st, 2005 at 6:35 am
The PBA ban is vague but first trimester abortions probably won’t be directly affected by it - and that’s 90% or so. It will have some indirect effects — an increase in the proportion of non-surgical abortions, because giving a pill will be a safer bet for docs who are worried about the vagueness of the law. It will also have a “chilling” effect on med students and contribute to the decline in providers, etc. But I don’t think it’s fair to say it’s the same as Roe being overturned.
This comment was written by Sara.Report this comment to the moderators
July 21st, 2005 at 7:11 am
Thanks for the help. Mostly I just want the Dems to take a stand for women. The Repubs have been quietly blowing smoke up pro-choice women’s asses for a long time on this, and a knock-down, drag-out fight over an anti-choice candidate will make it very, very hard for those pro-choice Republican women to keep lying to themselves about how they can trust Bush on this issue.
This comment was written by Amanda.Report this comment to the moderators
July 21st, 2005 at 7:16 am
Amanda wrote:
What will you do to them if they don’t ? You don’t want Republican women to trust Bush, but why would you continue to trust the Democrats if they cave again ?
This comment was written by alsis39.Report this comment to the moderators
July 21st, 2005 at 7:42 am
I’m just really hoping the Dem’s don’t cave.
Of course the same people that whinged over the Dems rocking the boat on Bolton and fillibustering “we’re ultimately going to loose, so why make the Repubs angry at us” and then both turning out to be partial (however much) victories for the Dems, are the SAME ones now arguing that honestly “things could be far far worse than Roberts and we’re not going to win anyway, so why try? Should just save ourselves for the next fight” as though our ability to fight is a zero-sum game.
My question is, when the fuck is it going to be the next fight? When is the obivous challenge to women’s rights, to ethnic minority rights, to gay rights, to environmental legislation, going to be apparent enough and ‘valid enough’ for them to actually grow some gonads and step up to the plate.
People aren’t voting Dem because the Dem’s aren’t ‘centre’ enough, they aren’t voting Dem because the Dem’s aren’t standing for anything.
Of course, like everyone here, I’m expecting them to cave, after an obviously-for-show token resistance is put up (although, I’m hoping the few Dem’s actually that have those gonads will make it a touch more than being token, but I’m not holding out much hope).
I can’t even vote in this country, and even I am almost done with the Dem’s as a party that will represent my interests in any way but lip-service just around election time, and becoming hardly even that.
This comment was written by Sarah in Chicago.Report this comment to the moderators
July 21st, 2005 at 8:04 am
Truth be told, rallies, though satisfying, are not the most effective thing we can do. I know it helps to be around other people, and the yelling, and the signs, and it’s great, but nonetheless.
From the NARAL Pro-Choice America website:
Become a Rapid Responder. They’re being mailed out… soon, so soon. You’ll get flyers, and fact sheets, things you can pass out, actions you can take, a bumper sticker, and so on.
As Adrienne mentioned, sign the petition. Forward the petition to everyone you know, and even some you don’t.
Check out the Supreme Court Action Kit that’s up now. There are actions you can take right now, and they change… I don’t know how often, but they change. Today you can contact your Senators. Sample letters to the editor are going up later today, and there are links to newspapers and call-in radio shows in every state.
This comment was written by Bomboniera.Report this comment to the moderators
July 21st, 2005 at 8:07 am
Sarah wrote:
This will happen when they and their own peers and families have to deal with the pain of foreclosure/eviction-borne homelessness, deaths in the proverbial “back alley”, miscarriages or asthma caused by local toxic dumps, cop-beatings due to racial profiling, and financial hardship caused by lack of legal protections that are de facto in marriage.
IOW, the answer is “never.” >:
This comment was written by alsis39.Report this comment to the moderators
July 21st, 2005 at 8:25 am
alsis hon
Yeah, that’s what I am figuring too
Wankers.
*sigh* I need a beer
This comment was written by Sarah in Chicago.Report this comment to the moderators
July 22nd, 2005 at 1:00 am
Truth be told, rallies, though satisfying, are not the most effective thing we can do.
Mass protests can overthrow governments. They can frighten supreme court justices into supporting abortion rights — which is how Roe v. Wade happened to begin with.
This comment was written by Brian Vaughan.Report this comment to the moderators
July 22nd, 2005 at 6:07 am
[passes Sarah a beer]
But Brian, mass protests are so RUDE !! Unless they’re thinly-disguised sales pitches for some warmongering DLC-hack, with Madeline “I Starve Foreign Children” Allbright as guest speaker, of course. :p
This comment was written by alsis39.Report this comment to the moderators
July 22nd, 2005 at 7:11 am
Sure, *mass* protests are fantastic. But a sparsely attended rally is not. If anything, they’re fodder for the other side. Unless you can generate a really good crowd of people, and some media coverage, you’re much better off contacting your elected officials directly, writing letters, petitioning, doing a table event, flyering, writing letters to the editor, calling in to radio shows, doing visability, hosting house parties, doing a cell phone or on-the-street phone bank… and so on.
Also, mass protests rarely pop up out of thin air - they’re work, and they’re not cheap. The March for Women’s Lives? Incredibly expensive, and while it was being planned, other work around women’s reproductive rights was put on the back burner. Please don’t misunderstand, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I just think there are other protest activities that can be just as effective as a rally, politically.
This comment was written by Bomboniera.Report this comment to the moderators
July 22nd, 2005 at 7:24 am
I would have like the March For Women’s Lives a lot more if it had amounted to more in the end than free advertising for the hateful, useless back-stabbing John Kerry. I consider groups like NOW largely useless shills for the Democratic Party. I certainly haven’t forgotten how they vilified my candidate in the last two elections, and condoned the Democrats’ nasty maneuvers to keep him off the ballot. In the name of “choice,” they wanted my choice of who to vote for grabbed away. So charming, that. They can kiss my ass.
I rarely write my elected officials or contact them in other ways because of the reasons listed above. I am convinced that they are too insulated from the reality of my life to give two shits and a fuck what I think. I would mostly prefer to concentrate on building something concrete to challenge their hegemony on the political process, rather than to shore up their hegemony.
But do as you like, b. You will anyway. My feeling is that you are locked into constantly throwing good money and good will after bad.
This comment was written by alsis39.Report this comment to the moderators
July 22nd, 2005 at 11:03 am
The Democrats will cave. They already pretty much said that any objection of Roberts is mostly for show. Maybe they won’t have nearly as much affection for Roberts, as they did for Scalia, but he’ll probably get quite a few of their votes.
News flash: Women only matter to Democrats around election time, if even that. Of course, our votes belong to them, b/c of the lip service they give to women’s issues. We just are supposed to vote for them…because you know.
As alsis has said, millions of people are already denied access to abortions, and where has the outcry been about that? FTMP, the war against abortion accessibility is no longer being fought in the courts, let alone the USSC. There’s other more soft battlegrounds to rage that fight.
Hopefully, NOW and other organizations will stop looking at the Democrat Party as their lord and savior, though I don’t see that happening in my lifetime.
This comment was written by Radfem.Report this comment to the moderators
July 22nd, 2005 at 11:05 am
Massive protests are rude, and civil disobedience of course, is just soooo uncouth and downright unladylike to organizations like NOW that those two words can only be mentioned in whispers.
This comment was written by Radfem.Report this comment to the moderators