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Roe v. Wade has always been a kind of devils bargain for American liberalism. As I explained in my 2008 book, The Cause: The Fight for American Liberalism From Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama:

Feminists rejoiced at the news, but perhaps what the decision best illustrated was the degree to which liberals cultural victories would be won in the courts rather than in voting booths, thereby inspiring backlashes against them and the courts that had ruled on them, wherever they took place. For many people, Roe implied allowing recreational/nonprocreational sex, which they linked to other changes in the culture that further fueled the antiliberal backlash. Rising divorce rates and the increased availability of pornographyespecially its permeation of the larger culture through increasingly explicit movies and magazines such as Playboy, Penthouse, and the much raunchier Hustlerturned millions of economic liberals into cultural conservatives.

Undoubtedly, the loosening of sexual ethics, and simply suggesting that women experienced sexual pleasure as much as men, constituted a cultural victory for liberalism. The Germaine Greer style of feminism concerned itself less with equal access to education or professional advancement than with orgasms, while Erica Jongs 1973 Fear of Flying celebrated the fantasy of the zipless fuck, one based on anonymity and lack of commitment. But such sexual liberties also presented a danger in crudely equating individual pleasure with liberation. The ERAs failure provided sufficient warning about a general popular uneasiness with the side effects of the sexual revolution and the difficulty of politically legislated and/or judicially mandated cultural change It also created a whipping boy for conservative critics who suggested that liberalism, when it moved into cultural territory, was little more than mindless tolerance and permissiveness, ready to embrace a zipless fuck in virtually every aspect of public life.

The anger inspired by such reactions to Roe (Ruth Bader Ginsburg expressed a parallel, though more legally based, set of concerns about the decision) led to the movement that eventually packed the Court with five justices who were not only wiling to overturn settled law on abortion and lie about it during their confirmation hearings. We now know they were willing to do so much more, rolling back the clock on half a century of racial progress, gun control, separation of church and state, gay rights, workplace protections, honest government, the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to protect the environment, and who knows what in the future. (This to say nothing of the fact that this reactionary political movement was also able to somehow elect a dangerous lunatic to the presidency in 2016.)

Since the early 60s, liberals relied on what Samuel Moyn, in a prescient and tightly argued 2020 essay in Dissent, termed juristocracy rather than democracy to win their political battles. Now it has come back to bite them in the ass. Victories in the courtswhich were reflected in the popular cultureled to complacency about winning elections. One could easily name a whole host of issues in which liberals enjoy a supermajority in opinion polls but cannot get anywhere in terms of legislation or even much in the way of presidential action, even when one of our guys is president.

Read more Altercation

Obviously, a big part of the reason for the chokehold on popular progressive legislation is the power accorded to money in our system (thanks, in significant measure, to the Supreme Court; I sort of wrote a book about this, too). That explains why billionaires pay virtually no taxes and why corporations can despoil the planet without sanction. But that does not explain everything, and it does not particularly explain the loss of legal abortion, nor the absence of far stricter gun control law, which both enjoy supermajority support.

The silver lining in the Dobbs decisionlikely the only oneis the fact that, because it reaches so clearly and directly into the most intimate aspects of the lives of so many millions of people in a way that perhaps no other issue does, it may inspire the kind of passion on the progressive side that the right has consistently successfully ginned up for the past half-century. This is especially true in a period when both the Democratic Party and the resistance to Trump wereand arefemale-driven. It also turns the tables on the juristocracy, with Republicans in the position of using the courts to subvert popular opinion.

Things have not exactly been looking up for Democrats of late. But on Monday morning, Axios reported two snap polls that followed the Dobbs decision: First, a CBS News/YouGov poll of 1,591 adults found that 50 percent of Democrats were more likely to vote based on the ruling, while only 20 percent of Republicans said the same. Second, an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll of 941 adults found that 78 percent of Democrats said the Courts decision makes them more likely to vote this fall24 points higher than Republicans.

Owing to the fact that at least two members of the Democrats one-member majority in the Senate (including the vice presidents vote) are really more comfortable with the Republicans agenda than their own, they do not have a hope of playing the same sort of dirty pool that Mitch McConnell used to stack the Court with ideologues who would march in lockstep with the conservative movements agenda. They will have to win back their rightsthe ones weve already lost and the ones we are about to lose if Clarence Thomass writings and speeches are any guide (as they have been in the past)in the streets and at the ballot box.

It must be a two-pronged effort: first, to save our democracy from theft by the fascist cult that has colonized the Republican Party and is planning to undermine the majority rule in 2024; and second, to inspire people who previously thought that everythingespecially everything for well-educated, upper-middle-class urban and suburban eliteswas going to be all right without too much effort on our part.

I think AOCs approach is the right one on this, and 82-year-old Nancy Pelosiwho supported the only anti-choice, pro-NRA Democrat in the House against his progressive challengermaybe not so much. (I mean, a poem? Seriously?) I also worry that 79-year-old Joe Bidenwho is, according to sources, apparently worried about Democrats appearing too partisan and potentially threatening the alleged public trust of the very same Supreme Court that is gutting all of our rights and endangering our lives and our democracyis also too much a man of the Democrats complacent past to be a man of this crucial moment. Biden, coincidentally, more than anyone ensured that Clarence Thomas would be shielded from his disgraceful past during his confirmation hearings and thereby approved by the Senate.

Given Bidens poll numbers, and the concerns that one would have about any person of his age in so demanding a job, I do not think it would be such a terrible idea if, say, 54-year-old Gavin Newsom (who, as it happens, has coincidentally just bought advertising time in Florida) decided that the party was ready for new leadership and challenged him in the primaries running on a more energetic, and yes, partisan, platform (though I am still going to need an explanation for that marriage to Kimberly Guilfoyle).

More than 80 years ago, the Frankfurt School theorist Max Horkheimer, still in his more radical phase, insisted that liberalism was an unreliable basis of resistance to fascism, and only socialism would be strong enough to survive its onslaught. If Horkheimer is to be proven wrong, liberalism needs to finally become the fighting faith so many of its partisans have always hoped it would become. Dobbs may very well be the spark that makes that possible. (John Ganz, I see, has something similar to say here. And Michelle Goldberg has another, interesting point to make here.)

Why They Hate Us, Part XXXVI: Shockerthe CIA funded the Colombian military for decades while fully aware that it was directing the killings of leftist activists.

Clever tweet of the week from @jonfasman: The plate-throwing detail is unsurprising. Trump said he would be tough on china.

This guy informs us that Tuesday was National Columnists Day. Isnt that lovely? He suggests you watch C-Spans Brian Lamb interview with Eric Alterman on his book, Sound and Fury: The Washington Punditocracy and the Collapse of American Politics (1992), which diagnosed that world years before Jon Stewarts more famous takedown of Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala on Crossfire, here. Smart guy, I gotta say

I saw Baz Luhrmanns Elvis movie this week. I am usually a fan of his work, but not this time. My advice would be to stay home unless you really feel like going to the movies and theres only crap playing. Its entertaining, but far too long, narratively incoherent, and historically useless. Its saving grace is Tom Hankss amazing performance as Colonel Parker. But really, if ever there were an argument for originalism, the actual Elvis is it: Here, here, here, here (with the wonderful Ann-Margret), and finally, here are my favorites of the Kings many magnificent performances. Bonus: Heres the greatest performer of any kind in any medium doing an unrehearsed solo Burning Love during a Paris preconcert sound check by request. And heres an even more impressive one, also by request (and therefore unrehearsed) with the worlds tightest rock n roll band. And finally, here he is again, with the Philly Elvis, in one of the craziest performances you will ever see.

Excerpt from:
Altercation: The 'Dobbs' Backlash and the Democrats' Choice - The American Prospect

Senator Ron Johnsons political shenanigans have ranged from the absurd (like when he said it may be true that COVID vaccines cause AIDS only to later deny ever believing that) to the potentially illegal (coordinating an effort to serve up fake Donald Trumpsupporting electors to Vice President Mike Pence, allegedly in an effort to overturn Joe Bidens victory in 2020). Democrats are amplifying these issues, but the strategy to defeat the incumbent Wisconsin senator also has another clear target: his record on women. The Supreme Court decision overruling the landmark Roe v. Wade Fridayand Wisconsins 173-year-old state law banning abortions now in effecthas the potential to make this strategy more politically potent than ever, making Johnson a clear test case in Democrats promise to make womens rights a winning issue at the ballot box.

Johnson is an easy target in that respect. The two-term senator said he didnt view the repeal of Roe v. Wade as a huge threat to womens health and that things would be fine. He said anyone who does not like Wisconsins abortion laws can move, has advocated for a federal abortion ban after 20 weeksdespite arguing that the matter was a states issueand supported a Mississippi law to ban abortions after 15 weeks. The Wisconsin Democratic Party regularly blasts out fact sheets highlighting Johnsons work to strip reproductive rights. The states Democratic candidates for Senate have all targeted Johnsons record on women and reproductive rights across various mediums, including paid campaign TV ads (Sarah Godlewski cut an ad outside the Supreme Court in Washington), social media posts, and official statements.

Its a strategy seemingly based on lessons learned from the last three election cycles. In 2018 Democrats energized their base to deliver Tony Evers the governorship, despite Trump winning the state two years prior; in 2020, Biden managed to flip the state from red to blue by siphoning off key votes in Milwaukee suburbsWaukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington counties notable among themand chipping away at historically landslide margins in traditional Republican strongholds like the Mequon, Elm Grove, and Brookfield suburbs. Alex Lasry, a Milwaukee Bucks executive running in the Democratic Senate primary, stressed in a phone call that to win the state, Democrats need to replicate the victories of Barack Obama, Senator Tammy Baldwin, Evers, and Joe Biden by paying attention to places that Democrats neglect and Republicans take for granted.

Republicans concede this could work; one GOP strategist who has run numerous campaigns in Wisconsin explained that Johnson cant win by plucking from the MAGA playbook alone. The people who are going to walk through walls to vote so that they can vote for Ron Johnson, theyre gonna show up anyway. But that isnt gonna be enough to get him elected, the strategist said. They either have to figure out a way to make him passable to those people that probably would vote for Ron Johnson, but might not.

Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barness campaign for Senate said it received more individual donations on Friday than any other single day in the campaign, including its launch and the day Johnson announced his reelection campaign. Lasrys campaign said it has experienced a notable uptick in online campaign donations. And Friday through Sunday, Godlewski, the only woman candidate in the Democratic primary for the Senate seat, had her best-performing fundraising days since the start of her campaigneach day outstripping the previous. The ruling that came out Friday was a very dramatic moment in the fact that now people in Wisconsin have fewer rights than they did even last week, Godlewski told Vanity Fair. I think thats gonna be a centerpiece because we know Ron Johnson; this is exactly what he wanted.

Barnes and Lasry echoed this sentiment. People are frustrated. Women are incredibly frustratedas they should beseeing their rights being taken away in real time. Things that were fought and won 50 years agoto have to go through those same exact fights, people are fired up, especially maybe those who may not have thought they were political before, understanding just how deeply involved politics is in folks daily lives, Barnes said.

We see what happens when Republicans take over, they continue to make sure that they take away rights for women, Lasry said.

Wisconsin Democrats feel they have a credible case to make against Johnson when it comes to his record on women. In addition to his position on Roe, Johnson has suggested that single mothers choose to have more children in order to receive greater welfare assistance. He also suggested that assisting single mothers with government aid turned them into dependents and that mothers on welfare assistance should work in childcare centers as an alternative solution. He is really a true believer when it comes to the oppression of women and disrespecting women. Hes been doing it for a long time here in his political career, Melissa Baldauff, a Democratic strategist based in Wisconsin, told me. (Johnsons campaign did not respond to a request for comment.)

Robyn Vining, a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, relied on women voters in 2018, when she flipped a longtime red seat previously held by the likes of former Republican governor Scott Walker in 2018 and held on to it in 2020. We had women who had never knocked doors before, out knocking doors. We had women writing hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of postcards, Vining said. It really matters. Women are fed up. Theyre sick and tired of being targeted, of being unrepresented.

Read the original here:
Women Are Fed Up: Democrats See Ron Johnsons Abortion Record as Their Path to Victory - Vanity Fair

This version of patriotism links criticism of our countrys failings with a commitment to changing them. It cleaves to principles of freedom and equality because they are right, and also because they are ours, they are us. It addresses Americas worst aspects, not as enemies to be eliminated (as in our many domestic wars on this or that) but as we would approach a friend or family member who had lost their way. In this spirit, even the harshest reproach, the most relentless list of wrongs, comes with a commitment to repair and heal, to build a more just and decent country. It also entails a practical faith: As long as change might be possible, we owe it to one another to try.

These may sound like the gentle tones of a more nave time. Dont we know more now than earlier generations did about the cruelty and complexity of history, the intensity of white supremacy in the early Republic, the constitutional compromises with slavery? Havent we outgrown complacent patriotism? But this is wrong and, really, embarrassingly parochial. We do not know more about American injustice than King, or, for that matter, Johnson, the son of bigoted East Texas who became a complex but effective civil rights champion. There was nothing complacent in their patriotism.

They insisted that every American ought to shoulder some of the responsibility for their countrys crimes and failings, whether or not they had personally benefited or suffered from them. And, for Johnson and King, everyone deserved to take some pride in American progress toward justice. Patriotism was a practical task: to appreciate and preserve what is good, work to change what is bad, and remember that part of what is good in a country is that citizens can change it. Patriotic effort came with no guarantee of success, but it was an obligation nevertheless a duty akin to what the philosopher William James once called the moral equivalent of war.

Today, America faces threats to national well-being and even survival: climate change, racial inequity, oligarchy, the economic collapse of whole regions. But the enemy is not an invader: These slow-moving crises pit us against one another. Spewing our carbon, living in our economically and ideologically segregated neighborhoods and regions, trading accusations of bigotry and bad faith, we are one anothers problems. In these conditions, it is hard to find threads of commonality. At some point, a liberal gets tired of saying, We are better than this, when we seem resolutely not to be.

But there is something beyond both one last We are better than this and your preferred update of Garrisons a covenant with death and an agreement with Hell. Progressive patriotism justifies risks and sacrifices to try to create a country that deserves them. Loyalty to the country, in this light, means faith that you and other citizens can still build better ways of living together.

Progressive frustrations such as climate inaction, gun proliferation and the erosion of reproductive freedom are rooted in ways our political system stops majority opinion from ruling through the Senate, the Electoral College, and the Supreme Court, for starters. Earlier political transformation, such as the New Deal and the civil rights movement, had to shift political power and make the country more democratic in order to make it better. Because democracy is power, and power is scary and dangerous, political trust and a generous vision of the country are especially important in making a country more democratic.

Here is the original post:
Opinion | Democrats Need Patriotism Now More Than Ever - The New York Times

What a difference a year makes.

President Biden strutted into the Fourth of July a year ago on solid political footing, declaring the nations independence from the coronavirus.

Twelve months later, Mr. Biden is stumbling into the fireworks and festivities battered and bruised and struggling to convince voters he can right the ship.

Larry Jacobs, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota, said the change in the political landscape over the last year is night and day.

Optimism among Democrats took a hit by the failure to pass the Build Back Better agenda and the subsequent Democratic fighting, Mr. Jacobs said. The situation has only gotten worse for Dems inflation haunts all Americans and will likely go up in the coming months.

Inflation climbed to a 40-year high last month. The stock market and 401(k) retirement accounts have been in a tailspin, and the cost of gas and groceries has soared.

SEE ALSO: Independence Day on track to be a conservative holiday, experts say

The rate of people dying from COVID-19 has slowed, though the death toll surpassed 1 million in May and continues to climb.

Russias war with Ukraine has made things worse, adding to disruptions in the supply chain brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

It is creating a hairy political environment for Democrats four months out from the midterm elections where they are defending their fragile House and Senate majorities.

Kevin Sheridan, a GOP strategist, said things started going bad for Mr. Biden after the chaotic pullout of military troops from Afghanistan, which drew condemnation from across the political spectrum, and led his approval rating to slip and stay below 50%.

Hes never going to recover from that disgraceful exit, Mr. Sheridan said.

Since last July, gas prices have jumped from $3.13 a gallon to $4.868 this week, according to AAA. Inflation, meanwhile, has jumped from 5.4% to 8.6% and Republicans have been happy to complain about the baby formula and tampon shortages.

SEE ALSO: Supply chain problems, wildfires dent Fourth of July fireworks after two years of pandemic slumps

Every single policy Biden and Democrats have accomplished has made Americans daily lives worse, not better, and thats why voters are going to fire them into the sun in November, Mr. Sheridan said.

Democrats hoped things would start to turn around in the fall after Mr. Biden signed the $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law, delivering on a campaign promise.

But the momentum from the bipartisan agreement was not enough to unlock enough support for Mr. Bidens $1.75 trillion social safety bill dubbed the Build Back Better plan.

The failure further frustrated liberals, whove been lukewarm on Mr. Biden from the beginning.

Democrats say Republicans are the real problem.

After opposing job-creating infrastructure investments and much-needed pandemic assistance, voting to overturn election results because they didnt like the outcome, and pushing a nationwide abortion ban, House Republicans have given voters zero reason to trust them with control of Congress, said Helen Kalla, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

History shows the presidents party often loses seats in the midterm elections, and the magnitude of the losses is directly tied to the political climate and the seats that are in play.

Out of the 40 midterm elections since the Civil War, the presidents party has lost ground in the House in 37 of them.

In a recent analysis, Kyle Kondik, of the University of Virginias Center for Politics, said the presidents and their parties in the three other races benefited from some sort of extraordinary occurrence.

President Franklin Roosevelt and Democrats bucked the trend in the 1934 midterms after passing the New Deal during the Great Depression. President Bill Clinton and Democrats made gains in 1998 thanks to a strong economy, and in 2002 President George W. Bushs popularity soared after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Democrats are praying the Supreme Courts recent ruling overturning Roe v. Wade could be that sort of seismic event.

Mr. Biden ratcheted up things this week after he called for a filibuster carveout to protect abortion rights, pressuring Senate Democrats to codify Roe into federal law.

Mr. Kondik said the question is whether the abortion issue is enough to overcome the fact that Mr. Biden is unpopular, and voters dont trust him on the issues they care about most a list that includes inflation, the economy and crime.

The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows, by a 38% to 57% margin, most voters disapprove of the job Mr. Biden has done as president. It marks a major drop from a year ago when more than 51% approved and 41% disapproved.

Those numbers are worse than Donald Trumps at a comparable time in his presidency, Mr. Kondik said.

The drop in support includes Democrats, and spills over into his handling of most issues.

Republicans are predicting victory in November.

Democrats agenda of failure has left Americans worse off in every aspect and thats why Nancy Pelosi will be fired in four months, said Michael McAdams, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Continue reading here:
A tale of two July Fourths: No fireworks for Democrats this year - Washington Times

Abortion rights demonstrator Elizabeth White leads a chant in response to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022. Brandon Bell/Getty Images hide caption

Abortion rights demonstrator Elizabeth White leads a chant in response to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022.

The rage among pro-abortion-rights protesters in front of the Supreme Court over the weekend was palpable. Plenty of that anger was aimed at the high court, but there was also quite a bit reserved for Democrats.

"I'm not hopeful at this point that this is something that will be federally protected. I have as little faith in Democrats at this point as I did in Republicans," Carolyn Yunker said Saturday. She traveled down to the court from her home in D.C.'s Maryland suburbs.

"Democrats have used this for 50 years to fundraise. They had opportunities to codify Roe," she said. "They chose not to because being the pro-choice candidate in an election helps you raise money. And frankly, I'm pretty disgusted with a lot of our representatives right now."

Since the May leak of Justice Samuel Alito's draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, Democrats' main message to their voters has been that abortion is on the ballot in November. But many who support abortion rights have been voting, and, like Yunker, they're frustrated that electing Democrats hasn't produced more results.

In the fall, House Democrats did pass a bill that would have made Roe's protections federal law. But it failed in the Senate in May, where it would need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

Some abortion rights supporters want the Senate to blow up the filibuster, but Democrats haven't unified behind that idea, and President Joe Biden hasn't pushed for it. He has also resisted calls to expand the court.

Biden is the leader of the party that supports abortion rights, but since the ruling, his visibility as part of the response has been limited. Immediately after the ruling, he gave a statement, but the White House also canceled the daily press briefing, and he left for a major summit in Europe.

His fellow Democrats are not satisfied. Over the weekend, 34 senators urged Biden in a letter to lead a national response.

A White House official emphasized that the administration will support medication abortion and cited dozens of discussions with abortion-rights stakeholders. The White House also says policy action is coming this week.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday afternoon that House Democrats are exploring legislation to protect data on period-tracking apps and protect the right to travel between states. She also said the House may again vote on legislation to codify Roe.

Long-term change, however, will be the result of more voting. That means winning over new voters like 19-year-old Pryia Thompson, who went to the Supreme Court on Saturday with her grandmother. As a new voter who supports abortion rights, she's feeling ambivalent about her vote.

"Honestly, I'm just getting started, and all of this is happening, so it's hard to make decisions and know who to vote for, who's really for us," she said.

For years now, the overwhelming majority of Democratic candidates have been running as supporters of abortion rights. With Roe overturned, Democratic candidates like Sarah Godlewski, running for Senate in Wisconsin, will be working to have a stronger message to tell voters that they truly will prioritize protecting abortion rights if elected.

"This is one of the reasons why I stepped up to run for the U.S. Senate, was that I was getting sick of reproductive freedom being treated like some sort of extra credit project," she said.

While this anger is prominent in the abortion rights movement, there's also an acknowledgement that some supporters grew complacent during the half century that Roe was in effect.

"There is a tendency for people who've had a right to sort of assume that that's the way it is and it won't be challenged," said Aimee Allison, founder of She The People, which promotes women candidates of color. "And even when we heard that the Supreme Court was planning to overturn Roe v. Wade, it didn't sink in for many people that this was actually a threat realized and it was going to have an effect on our lives."

Right now, she's focused on electing Senate candidates who could help eliminate the filibuster and ease the way for abortion protections to pass.

"If we can elect these women of color, we'll have the votes in order to pass the legislation that went through the House and a sitting at the Senate to restore abortion rights and make reproductive justice a reality," she added.

In the short and medium-term, some are focused on abortion access. Laura Kriv was among a small group protesting in front of Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house on Saturday night.

"Just like the Janes started this movement years ago and and took it upon themselves to make sure women had safe access to abortion, we're going to have to do the same thing," she said, referring to the Jane Collective that helped women seeking abortions in the 1960s and 1970s. .

Kriv added that that is going to be more of a focus for her than watching what politicians say.

"I'm not going to wait for the politicians. I'm certainly not going to wait for Biden," she said. "I would love it if he would expand the court so that more of our rights aren't taken away. But I'm not going to sit back and wait."

With activists motivated to do so much to protect abortion access right now, it's not clear how much they see voting this November as a solution.

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Abortion-rights supporters vent their frustration at Biden and Democrats - NPR