Of the English titles, I selected one called American History Since the Fall of the Cities, by Arwal Parmentier. It had been published in England—a country which, though sparsely inhabited, had a long history of its own, and whose allegiance to Mitteleuropa was more formal than devotional. I took the volume closer to a lamp, opened it at random, and read this paragraph:
The ascent of the Aristocracy should not be understood solely as a response to the near-exhaustion of oil, platinum, iridium, and other essential resources of the Technological Efflorescence. The trend to oligarchy predated that crisis and contributed to it. Even before the Fall of the Cities the global economy had become what our farmers call a “Monoculture,” streamlined and relatively efficient, but without the useful diversity fostered in prior times by the existence of National Borders and Local Regulation of Business. Long before plague, starvation, and childlessness reduced the population so dramatically, wealth had already begun to concentrate in the hands of a minority of powerful Owners. The Crisis of Scarcity, therefore, when it came, was met not with a careful or prepared response, but by a determined grasp of power on the part of the Oligarchs and a retreat into religious dogmatism and clerical authority by the frightened and disfranchised populace.
— “Julian Comstock” Robert Charles Wilson (2009)
1.
It seems like everyday evidence of the gullible populace living in the land mass between Canada and Mexico is shoveling in the rhetoric of Christian Right extremists with a giant, tainted spoon. The recent March for Life, the 50th annual, indicates that Galvanized by the Dobbs decision, many March for Life protestors expressed having a renewed sense of energy and purpose. Members of the Catholic clergy chanted the “Hail Mary” as they marched past the Smithsonian.
CNN reported that The House already passed a bill laying out criminal penalties for physicians who fail to try to revive babies born after an attempted abortion. Under the bill, health providers who fail to comply with the requirements for care could face fines or up to five years in prison. The bill would not impose penalties on the mother and would grant the mother protection from any kind of prosecution. The bill is not expected to be taken up in the Democratic-controlled Senate, but passage in the House serves as a messaging opportunity for the new Republican majority. The vote was 220 to 210.
The Pew Research Center reported last year that A majority of Americans disapprove of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling overturning the Roe v. Wade decision, which had guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion for nearly 50 years. Nearly six-in-ten adults (57%) disapprove of the court’s sweeping decision, including 43% who strongly disapprove. About four-in-ten (41%) approve of the court’s decision (25% strongly approve).
The World Abortion Laws Map (https://reproductiverights.org/maps/worlds-abortion-laws/) is the definitive record of the legal status of abortion in countries across the globe. Since 1998, the Center for Reproductive Rights has produced this map as a resource for advocates, government officials, and civil society organizations working to advance abortion rights as human rights for women and girls* around the globe. (*Although this resource uses female pronouns as well as the term “women and girls,” we recognize that people who do not identify as women also need access to abortion.)
Lee Papa joins in with I can pretty much guarantee you a few things are going to happen in the near to not-too-distant future regarding abortion rights in the United States. I don't believe a national ban will happen unless the Supreme Court decides to force it. Instead, the insanity of our abortion policy in this country and the Christian extremism driving the legislatures of many states will lead to even more ludicrous and oppressive laws.
If the right to an abortion gets codified at the national level, it's not out of the realm of possibility that, say, Mississippi will say it won't abide by the law. And then what? Troops keeping clinics open like back in the days of desegregation and schools? More states following? Or what if the out-of-control right-wing Supreme Court takes the next step and outlaws abortion completely? Do you really think California is going to listen? In my most pessimistic hours, I believe that this is ultimately the goal of the Christian nationalists: if not an outright one, then a de facto dissolution of the United States, where the states declare a 10th Amendment right or something to disobey the Supreme Court or Congress. I'm not going full Handmaid's Tale, but I'm sure saying that a whole lot of the country wouldn't mind it.
While some Gen Z youth have been indoctrinated from childhood to digest the Christian Right’s points of view, as you can see from the linked Mother Jones article in the first paragraph, many more independent thinking youth are making their voices be heard, and are also realizing that voting works. Witness the stunning and surprising defeat of the anti-abortion measure in Kansas last August.
CNN published an article written by Dolores Hernandez, a junior at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where the wrote that Gen Z voters like me were a big part of August’s vote. Since then, discussions about voting and abortion still dominate the conversations on campus. The victory for abortion rights is empowering students to discuss their views on a range of issues. Now students on campus are talking more about healthcare, education funding and immigration. The abortion debate became a foot in the door for what I believe will be a lifetime of activism for many of us.
If it can happen in Kansas…
2.
Speaking of Kansas, in his long-winded response to Gov. Laura Kelly’s State of the State speech, Senate President Ty Masterson (R-Wichita) bleated Kansas children are at risk of a “sexualized woke agenda,” and a “radicalized woke agenda.” Again with the same, tired rhetoric that means nothing except to trigger outrage among the rubes. I wrote about this in my post on January 13 of this year.
Another Wichita piece of work, Sen. Chase Blasi, introduced a bill this week that would give cities and counties the right to enact stricter laws on abortion than current state law. During a Thursday meeting of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, lawmakers (all white MEN) chuckled as Blasi introduced the bill to limit reproductive rights for Kansas women. “Any objections? Seeing none, that bill is introduced,” said committee chairman Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, as he leaned back in his chair and laughed with Sen. Rick Kloos, R-Topeka, and other legislators on the committee.
Who votes for these motherfuckers? Seriously.
3.
On the same subject, the rantings and ravings of racist lunatic, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just won’t let up. According to the Bulwark, he spent nearly an eighth of his inaugural address—a full 198 words—trying to define the word “woke”—just so he could spend the next 35 words condemning it. “We reject this woke ideology. We seek normalcy, not philosophical lunacy! We will not allow reality, facts, and truth to become optional. We will never surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die!”
Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones, in an interview with Amy Goodman, said I think it’s important to understand that these buzzwords of “indoctrination,” “wokeism,” all of these things that the governor and the Republicans, not just here in Florida but across the country, are saying actually have meaning. The word “woke” was used in the 1930s. That was used by activists, by leaders to inform Black Americans to be cognizant of policies that were coming down from elected officials. And now that’s being turned, and now they are trying to indoctrinate children to say that that’s wrong.
Once again Lee Papa nails it with this: Florida's Department of Education wants to have its cake and shovel it down its ignorant throat, too. Yes, you can learn the history of Black people in this country. Yes, you can write an essay on one of the "Stories of Inspiration." But you can't deal with what the reality of that history without saying that the reason those lives became inspiring is because they faced down systemic racism that was built into the United States and Florida.
Some Floridians are confused by his ravings, which I hope is a trend. Again in the Bulwark, Shari, 58, from Crawfordville added, “I felt almost like it’s a threat [what DeSantis said], and not like, ‘I’m going to do this as a benefit to the people.’ . . . I don’t even understand in a way what he’s saying. I just feel like he’s almost giving a threat out about this situation, [one] that I don’t know that much about.” DeSantis has a choice to make as he inches towards a presidential run: Either consume a lot of time and resources educating voters on the evils of “wokeism,” or stress another issue position that would more intuitively bring swing voters to his side. Attacking the woke may stir the base, but our evidence indicates it may not be that helpful in winning the center.
4.
Meanwhile in Arizona, The Arizona Legislature will exempt itself from state public records law and destroy all email correspondence sent or received by lawmakers or staff after 90 days under new rules adopted by majority Republicans over vigorous opposition from minority Democrats.
Sheesh…the House package also includes limiting debate on controversial legislation to just 30 minutes and requiring the Republican speaker to approve future rules changes ‑ even if a majority of members vote to do so. The debate limit in the House removes one of the few procedural moves minority Democrats have to slow down bills that are being pushed only by Republican members. The GOP has slim one-vote majorities in both chambers. No major changes to debate rules were made in the Senate, which has half as many members. The provision requiring the speaker to vote in favor of any future rules change will block any bipartisan effort to bypass him and call for a vote on legislation he does not support.
Minority Leader Andres Cano, D-Tucson said “It’s important to note that had the Speaker’s vote been needed … Arizona would not have seen Medicaid expansion or the (2022) ballot referral of in-state tuition for DACA (dreamer) recipients — which the voters approved by the way. And now it could potentially impede a bipartisan budget unless the Speaker is a yes vote if a member wants veto power, run for governor.”
Heather Sawyer, American Oversight executive director, said the change only benefits lawmakers who want to hide the truth from the public. “This rule change abets government secrecy by virtually mandating the destruction of records that belong to the people of Arizona,” Sawyer said in a statement to Capitol Media Services. “An informed public is critical to a functioning democracy and this effort to hide the facts and evade public accountability should be reversed.”
The Daily Independent out of Maricopa County broke the story a couple days ago and national papers only started to jump on it in the last 12 hours or so…not that important, I reckon.
5.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, currently U.S. representative for Arizona's 3rd congressional district, has announced he will run for Kyrsten Sinema’s Senate seat. He’s known as the defender of those who “are one or two paychecks away from going under” and who “are still trying to decide between groceries and utilities” while Sinema is more concerned with paychecks from big Pharma and Hedge Fund managers. It appears his Republican opponent will be none other than Kari Lake. If Sinema runs as an independent it may be an advantage for Lake. Time will tell.
6.
And, on an up note, Heather Cox Richardson reported yesterday on Biden’s recent achievements. It’s in stark contrast to McCarthy’s rantings about the "weaponization of government against our citizenry, writ large." What a loon. From Richardson: The December jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that job growth continues strong. The country added 223,000 jobs in December, and the unemployment rate went down slightly to 3.5 percent. The last two years of job growth are the strongest on record, and the country has recovered all the jobs lost during the pandemic. According to the White House, 10.7 million jobs were created and a record 10.5 million small businesses’ applications were filed in the past two years. Rave on, Republicans.
And now…