During his confirmation hearings, Clarence Thomas said that he felt as if he was undergoing a ‘high-tech lynching’ after he was forced to defend allegations of sexual harassment from Professor Anita Hill, a former subordinate during his days at the Department of Education and EEOC. His statement was cleared with the Republicans in Congress and the HW Bush White House to be used to deflect from the fact that he was clearly unqualified for the bench and to shut down further inquiries into his sexually deviant behavior. They knew that black folk, especially black men, would be able to relate; Senator Biden, then Chairman of the Judiciary Committee folded and subsequently shutdown the hearings before other women could testify to their own experiences with Thomas.
I was not fooled one little bit. This man can never, never, ever hold a birthday candle to the great Justice Thurgood Marshall who he replaced on the bench and he is an embarrassment to the black race. Now that I got that off my chest, I thought of his lynching statement yesterday when I started to see maps of the United States being redrawn in light of the strike down of Roe V Wade.
I had but one glaring thought: we are in a high tech Civil War now. Already the blue states are having to declare their states as safe havens, others have vowed to not turn any person over to any red state for prosecution and others have stated that they will not prosecute any person for seeking reproductive health care. This decision is bigger than abortion rights — it’s pitting state against state in ways not seen since before the Civil War.
Twenty two years ago, I had another thought after the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision (with Thomas voting in the majority) overruled the State of Florida’s right as a state to conduct and tally election results, thus throwing the election to HW Bush’s namesake, George W Bush. Bush, who received less popular votes than Vice President Al Gore, was blithely handed the keys to the White House to which I will always consider him as the first modern day illegitimate President of the United States. I have a feeling that Bush won’t be alone with that title either. But I digress.
Salon magazine had a forum during that time and I posted then that if the Supreme Court decision was allowed to stand without a challenge (by not certifying the election and throwing it to House), then we just bought our tickets to becoming a fascist state. Progressives on that board thought that was a bit over the top, to which I say today – prove where I was wrong.
The Democrats held both chambers of Congress for decades; the then Dixiecrats who could not stomach the Civil Rights era bolted from the party to the GOP where they held in opposition but without much power. After President Johnson’s blunders with Vietnam saw his career dissipation light go into overdrive, the door was open for the Republicans with Richard Nixon. Well, we see how that turned out. The Republicans showed us who they were then; in order to build upon their power, they needed to cheat. Thus we had Watergate and the cover up that made the matter worse.
Then we got Georgia’s Jimmy Carter as President. I was away at college during that time but I sent in my absentee ballot to Georgia to cast my first vote as a new adult for Governor Carter. But Carter was no match for the economy (for all of the complaining today, try living through double digit inflation and stagnation all at once and get back to me), Afghanistan and a charismatic Hollywood actor turned politician. He was also no match to having his debate notes stolen for Reagan’s use either. Once again, the GOP can’t get very far on its own without cheating.
Ronald Reagan opened his Presidential campaign in Philadelphia Mississippi, the very town where they found the remains of three Civil Rights workers who was trying to help black folks register to vote. This was no coincidence and it began the GOPs new strategy to gain total power and control of this country.
The GOP cloaked its tribal politics in clever hot button policy issues to ensure that their base would come out to vote. The GOP then started to use moral issues to distinguish themselves from the Democrats and also used opposition research to campaign on any moral shortcoming of Democrats. The GOP wrapped themselves in the flag and in the bible, claiming both to be more patriotic and moral than the Democrats – and that shyt worked. The GOP coded its policy language to guard itself from being called racist (thanks to the brilliant strategic work of Lee Atwater).
Next the GOP went to work at the local levels and eventually gain control of State Legislatures, State’s Attorney, Secretary of State and Governors’ positions. When I left Georgia, believe it or not, it was a blue state. Now it’s run by the insane asylum.
With those building blocks in place, the GOP used every opportunity to make gains in Congress until they were able to control the Senate. This is when Mitchell McConnell went to work. By then the GOP base had become more engaged, but also more extremely right wing and impatient. The GOP had used the hot button issues of a constitutional amendment against flag burning and getting rid of abortion rights with no results. The key of course was to start the process of stacking the federal court system with judges more in tune to the musings of the Federalist Society than any allegiance to the rule of law and the Constitution.
The GOP’s sense of urgency took a leap with the election of Barack Obama. The Lee Atwater approach was pushed aside for the Tea Party/Freedom Caucus/MAGA freight train of open tribal warfare.
Now, here we are. The GOP has finally gained enough control of various parts of government at a local, state and federal level to protect the interests of the American oligarchs who have controlled and manipulated thru the GOP an ignorant, tribal base into doing its bidding for their pleasure and monetary gain.
Now drunk with power, the activist Supremes are on a roll. Thomas who is feeling his oats, thinking he is the heir apparent to Scalia (as god-awful as Scalia was in his policies, the dude was pretty smart; Clarence is clearly NOT), now wants to relitigate same sex marriages, who can have sex and when and oh – lets just get rid of abortion everywhere in the U.S. altogether now.
In order to go on the offensive, we have to study and acknowledge how we got here and that means understanding the GOP’s 40 year long plan to get to this moment. The bottom line here is that they saw the power gains of ‘the others’; they understood the future demographics of this nation and if it means burning the Constitution down to the ground to have a minority rule government, so be it for them.
These folks are selfish, bitter, entitled, spoiled, racist, sexist, homo and xenophobic slugs who truly believe in their heart of hearts that this country was built by them and only for them.
Now of course history tells us that this ani’t true, but they also want to bury history and re-write it to their liking because they also cannot handle and deal with the truth.
These are the folks who we are dealing with today and this is the reason why the Democrats held Congressional power for decades – this country would never have been able to progress without the Dems holding control.
The Republican Party is wholly incapable of governing. They have no real policies or ideals. They once said that they were the ‘moral majority’ who believed in the ‘rule of law’, but they lied.
All the Republican Party wants is the unbridled ability to do what they want while telling everyone else what they can and cannot do.
We now have NO room for petty, BS arguments about what the current Democrats and Biden are or aren’t doing enough of. That shyt needs to stop now. I don’t wanna hear it.
The Democrats need to govern and not worry about the politics of it all now. The GOP is incapable of governing, so stop worrying about what they can do if they get back in power crap. They cannot have power anymore for a very long time (personally speaking, I say NEVER but that’s me).
We are all this country has. Full stop. That’s how we have to campaign now. We need the numbers in the House and especially in the Senate to neutralize Sinema and Manchin (R Lite, AZ and WV) and once we get that full power – USE IT.
Impeach the Supremes who lied during their confirmation hearings under oath.
Finish the FBI investigation of the Supreme who was accused of sexual assault and then throw him off the bench.
Investigate the money ties to some of the Supremes and then get rid of them.
Expand the damn court.
Oh. And ffffing prosecute every person who violated laws as outlined in the redacted portion of the Mueller Report and January 6th. I guarantee you that it’s all tied together.
If we don’t do this, then this country is over. No more letting these people off the hook with no consequences.
If we don’t how do we expect to continue to hold this Union together???