Wednesday, May 04, 2022

Today's News: "Abortion is a fundamental right"

(Photo of Supreme Court protest today, by Jabin Botsford, WashPost)

Today lots of comments and discussions about how the United States is criminalizing abortion again.
I'm not sure which Justice the Washington Post Editorial Board is trying to speak to with this strong editorial, but I think perhaps it was for precisely this reason that the draft decision was leaked, in time to get one of the Justices to reverse course: 
 ....If the justices embrace the sweeping document, they will deal a grievous blow to freedom in the United States — and to the legitimacy of the court itself.
...the draft ruling’s dreadful reasoning and extreme potential consequences are far more concerning than what the leak says about the court’s internal dynamics. 
Written by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., the document would declare Roe “egregiously wrong,” obliterate its guarantees of reproductive choice and empower lawmakers to abridge at will this long-held right.
...The court’s legitimacy rests on the notion that it follows the law, not the personal or ideological preferences of the justices who happen to serve on it at any given time. 
Americans rely on the court to exercise care and restraint against making sharp turns that might suddenly declare their everyday choices and activities unprotected or illegal. Over the course of nearly half a century, the court not only issued Roe but upheld its bedrock principles against later challenges. Throughout, the original 1973 decision enjoyed broad and unwavering public support. 
What brought the court to its current precipice was not a fundamental shift in American values regarding abortion. It was the shameless legislative maneuvering of Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who jammed three Trump-nominated justices onto the court.
...Justice Alito’s draft claims that the court’s ruling would not imply that other constitutional rights, such as same-sex marriage or access to contraception, are in jeopardy. 
But given the brazen abandon with which he would discard abortion rights, his assurances ring hollow. He would inaugurate a terrifying new era in which Americans would lose faith in the court, distrust its members and suspect that what is the law today will not be tomorrow. 
They would justifiably fear that rights will be swept away because a heedless conservative fringe now controls the judiciary. 
I'm not sure Kavanaugh or Barrett or Alito or Thomas are intelligent enough to understand what they are doing but maybe Gorsuch can be convinced.
Here in Canada, Freeland made a strong statement in the House: Here is an absolutely excellent thread on Canadian abortion law history: Moving to the latest on the Ukraine Russia War, I'm not reading much recently about any significant troop movements on either side, which gives some room for a few other items. 
Here's one - I think Russia TV has lost its mind: And here's more: I think Ukraine may be getting ready for counteroffensive moves when it has the guns and armour in place So this begs the question, why doesn't Russia attack first, before Ukraine is ready? 
Well, maybe because they can't:
Every film that made Russian forces seem like an unbroken mass of Dolph Lundgren clones marching perfectly along in their smartly tailored coats needs to be updated to represent the combination of sniveling incompetence and thoughtless brutality that seems closer to the truth. 
... the U.S. Defense Department estimates that Russia has lost about 25% of the force it sent across the Ukraine border. On top of that, the U.K. Ministry of Defense estimates that about 25% of the Battalion Tactical Groups (BTG) that remain are “combat ineffective” due to lacking either personnel or equipment. In recent days, there have been reports of assaults from Russian forces that were far below the supposed scale of a BTG, and there have been translations like this one showing that a BTG with just two remaining tanks deliberately sabotaged one of them to keep from being sent into battle.
And here's Sir Paul! Back to Canada again, I think this is an outstanding concept: And finally, some humour to finish off tonight:
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't be surprised if the abortion draft was leaked by its author or his staff. It's a deeply unpopular and poorly reasoned opinion that could be used to strip away other recently won rights, such as gay marriage or even Thomas' interracial marriage. Leaking the opinion allows Fox to feign outrage at the leak and avoid the substance of the opinion. When the final version is released they'll claim its old news and continue to avoid discussing it.

Nice quip from Hugh Laurie! If you only saw him playing Dr House on TV, you may have come away thinking he's American. He's not. He's English, educated at Eton and Cambridge, and a former member of the comedy duo Laurie and Fry. He worked with a voice coach before auditioning for House and producers didn't even realize he was English until it came time to sign contracts.

Cap

7:04 am
Cathie from Canada said...

Thanks Cap.
Yes, considering the freakout when Roberts aligned with the same sex marriage opinion, I believe it is possible that the Alito draft was leaked to prevent any of the five from reneging now. If so, maybe it will boomerang and actually cause one of them to change or rewrite to make the opinion much narrower.
I hadn't realized that info about Hugh Laurie -- we liked him in House originally but the scripts just got too repetitive and his character increasingly nutty.
(Also, a minor point, but nobody had ever showed the show producers that he was using his cane incorrectly -- he used it wrong through the ENTIRE SERIES!)

11:16 am
Anonymous said...

And, Hugh Laurie was on Blackadder.
UU

2:31 pm

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