This week we learned (if we didn’t already know) why Republicans worked so hard to keep Nancy Pelosi from becoming Speaker of the House. And in the process of ending the government shutdown Pelosi showed us how to win back our government, and the nature of real power, as opposed to bluster and temper tantrums.
In contrast to Donald Trump, she showed a
devastating talent for keeping to the point and speaking the truth
as Lord Peter Wimsey said of Harriet Vane in “Gaudy Night,” two things he is incapable of. She refused to be distracted from the real goal — reopening the government — keeping it separate from the immigration debate. She was able to keep her party together in spite of their concerns that refusing to compromise would look bad. This was not about a wall, or DACA or TPS or asylum; it was about shutting down the government as a negotiating tool. Trump, the con man and master of distraction, was completely out of his depth. Pelosi managed to keep her party together without threats or publicity while Trump kept losing Republicans. Real power doesn’t need publicity, doesn’t need to gloat. Trump will never be able to understand that, or how he lost this battle to a 78-year-old woman.
But the shutdown also damaged the whole Republican brand, which rests on the idea that government is a negative and that we’d be better off closing much of it down. The shutdown showed how much we depend on government in so many areas. Pelosi showed how important understanding how government works can be. Democrats have to realize and use this in 2020 — and in everything the do before then. It is an essential argument in everything from the investigation into the Trump campaign to dealing with climate change.
And in spite of Will Rogers’ famous line “I don’t belong to an organized party, I’m a Democrat,” if we seriously want to win we will need to join our factions together when it matters. Personally, I think demanding purity is destroying the Republican party, and it could do the same to Democrats. What matters is believing in the same basic principles, knowing when to compromise, and knowing when it matters most not to compromise and to stay together.
And just think of the lessons this can teach the young and activist freshman class in the House. That is the role of leadership as much as anything else. And it’s always a good idea to learn from the best.
Now for the news of the week, with thanks to Besame, Angmar, eleancarlena, BMScott, noweasels, and TaraTASW for their contributions this week. The WoW crew keep me going.
The Good
New York state passes a new Reproductive Rights Law to protect women from the possible overturn of Roe v Wade as draconian laws in conservative states work their way to the Supreme Court now that there is a solid ultra-conservative majority. Protective laws are also being considered in several other states, including New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont. From the ACLU:
The RHA recognizes abortion as a fundamental right and fixes several flaws in New York’s outdated abortion law. It helps ensure that women can get the health care they need throughout their pregnancy, including when their health is at risk or the fetus is not viable — in line with the protections of Roe. It takes abortion out of the criminal code and puts it where women’s health belongs, in the public health law. And it acknowledges that the medical field has changed dramatically in the past 50 years by making it clear that qualified health care professionals, like nurse practitioners and physician assistants, can provide abortion care that is within their training and scope of practice, rather than limiting the practice to licensed physicians.
In a related case, an Iowa law that would ban abortion once there is a fetal heartbeat was ruled unconstitutional — but with the twist that he didn’t use Roe in his decision, but a decision of the Iowa State Supreme Court that overturned another anti-abortion law on the basis of the state constitution. This could mean it could not be challenged by the Supreme Court, not depending on the US Constitution.
And as a good development in a terrible story, an arrest has been made in the case of the woman who gave birth in a nursing home after years of being in a vegetative state. A nurse who worked there was identified as the rapist by DNA.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, after rescinding a Human Rights award they were giving Angela Davis last month because of her advocacy for Palestinian rights and in the wake of the Women’s March controversy, faced a strong backlash. On Friday they announced that they had changed their mind and voted again to give the award to Davis, apologizing and asking her to accept it again in person. (Though one of my friends says she should refuse to accept it, I don’t agree.)
“Dr. Angela Davis, a daughter of Birmingham, is highly regarded throughout the world as a human rights activist,” BCRI President and CEO Andrea L. Taylor said in the statement, citing Davis’ “significance in the movement for human rights, her involvement in raising issues of feminism, as well as her leadership in the campaign against mass incarceration.”
The Bad
Elwood Community Schools Superintendent Casey Smitherman has been charged with insurance fraud — for using her own insurance when a student showed symptoms of strep throat and one clinic refused to see him so he could get a prescription for an antibiotic. This is what we have come to — first that this was necessary to get basic medical care for a child, and that doing what she could to see that he got that care, makes a caring adult a criminal.
In Binghamton, NY, four black girls were strip-searched for drugs in their middle school. They were suspected of using drugs because they were acting “hyper and giddy” at lunch. Think of that for a minute — as I recall, hyper and giddy is pretty normal for middle school aged kids, both girls and boys. Amid community protests,
[t]he school said that they investigated the incident, citing the current law and policy which allows students to be searched in a school building by an administrator “when the administrator reasonably suspects that a student’s health is in danger or is in possession of a substance that may harm themselves or others.”
“Unfortunately, our students shared that these actions have had the unintended consequences of making the students feel traumatized. We sincerely apologize for the impact this has had and are working with these families to support their children’s success,” the school’s statement added
Note that the policy says “search,” not “strip-search.” Community groups are pushing for strip-searches to be banned in all circumstances.
Meanwhile in Utah a bill has been proposed that would amend the law regarding birth certificated, with the apparent goal of making it impossible for transgender folks to change their birth certificates later in life. In the process they have come up with an interesting definition of “female:”
The bill would define “female” to mean:
[…]an individual with ovaries who is confirmed before or at birth to have external anatomical characteristics that appear to have the purpose of performing the natural reproductive function of providing eggs and receiving sperm from a male donor.
The bill would define “sex” to mean:
[…]male or female, the innate and immutable characteristics established at conception and that can be confirmed before or at birth.
A man who has been arrested in Utah for threatening, before the local Women’s March event, to “kill as many girls as I see” at the march, has a history of stalking and otherwise harassing former girlfriends, and he is on probation for the most recent of these complaints. Of course, that is the most serious consequence he has faced. When will we learn to take domestic violence seriously? This is only another instance of a (potential) mass shooter with a history of such violence; fortunately in this case, he was caught and arrested before he could carry out his threat.
And in the UK, The Guardian reports on African immigrant girls who have been subjected to “breast-ironing,” burning a girl’s chest with a hot stone to keep them from developing, with the intention of protecting them from sexual harassment and assault as long as possible.
The Ugly
Okay, I don’t really have anything in this category this week. Can I just use the guy who caved to Nancy Pelosi?