The
Supreme Court handed down several good decisions for a change
including marriage equality and the Right Wing has gone nuts. They
seem to think that because they don't agree, they don't have to abide
by the law. They still seem to think that they invented marriage and
that their religious restrictions should apply to everybody whether
those other people agree with it or not. And so of course they are
claiming the eternal war on Christians, claiming that now
homosexuality will be taught to kindergarteners, claiming a secret
memo from the Justice Department that shows the intent to legalize 12
other heinous behaviors among some of the more absurd accusations.
Oh, and that their god will rain down terrible punishment on this
country because of this even though their god has not rained down
terrible punishment on other countries that recognize same sex
marriage. I have to wonder why people worship a god that allows
genocide, slavery, child porn and predation, hunger, oppression but
gets pissed off when two consenting adults of the same sex mingle
their genitals.
The
Supreme Court also ruled the Affordable Care Act constitutional
(again) but I sincerely doubt that the Republican controlled congress
will now stop trying to repeal it and leave millions of people
without recourse for healthcare again. They also upheld the
independent redistricting commission that put the kibosh on
gerrymandering by politicians in Arizona and hopefully it will spread
to all the states so it hasn't been a great week for Republicans.
Many
Republican politicians did come out against the Confederate Battle
Flag after the newest terrorist attack and murder of 9 black people
while they were praying in their church by a white supremacist
instead of having the conversation we need to have about the
uncontrolled access to guns in this country and the racists are up in
arms about it. It's not racist, they say, it's our heritage, they
say. Meanwhile black churches are being torched all across the South
and the KKK is holding rallies. As an American whose forebears have
been here since the mid-1600s and who lived in Virginia, then
Kentucky, then Texas and some of whom owned slaves and who fought in
the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, if the Civil War was about
states' rights then it was about states' rights to OWN slaves. The
'heritage' that that flag represents is of white supremacy and
subjugation of blacks either through actual slavery or through
segregation and oppression. On second thought, we need to have this
conversation about the rampant racism in this country as well.
I
could have written a whole post on each of these topics but happily
for me, and probably lucky for you, I have been busy with grandkid visit 3.
This post is succinct and to the point. It lays everything out in such a clear-eyed way. Thank you for this. Amen.
ReplyDeleteGlad your grandkid is keeping you mellow!! You could have posted a real rant. ;-)
ReplyDeleteChange is THE salient characteristic of the Universe. Defending the status quo is always a losing battle.
ReplyDeleteI must throw in my personal antipathy to my R friends who now can purchase health insurance, are using it, and blame to president for the cost of what they used to rant about not being able to afford.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned to my granddaughters today, when I nearly T-boned some fool who did a U turn if front of me: well, it takes all kinds. I cannot see these ACA, voter, lover haters doing much more than imploding eventually. They better hope we don't T-bone them and keep on going.
I laughed at the opposition to all. Slavery was used by a real small percentage, yet still exists in many countries. Sad when we all don't have freedom to be as we want.
ReplyDeleteI live in SC and I always ask why people want to fly a losing flag...seems they forgot that the South LOST the WAR! Its only a small % of the population that wants to keep the flag up on the state house grounds...but they get all the attention on the news.
ReplyDeleteI heard Mike Huckabee ranting about how the SCOTUS decision amounts to "tyranny" (yawn) and that things should be left up to the states and popular vote, in which case, we would still have slave states, never mind arguing about a flag.
ReplyDeleteConservatives want everyone to follow court decisions that go their way, but they want people to disregard court rulings when they disagree with the decisions.
ReplyDeleteWho would want to be aligned with a party that opposes justice and equality of treatment under the law? (Apparently, plenty of people, sadly).
ReplyDeleteNothing will stop the malcontents. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reporting what some people are saying in response to those rulings. I don't hear all that debate here in the UK and I only read the New York Times, where commenters aren't likely to toe the right-wing line. :)
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the gun problem, but I'm also glad to see that the Confederate flag's time may finally be coming to an end! Even though I grew up in the South and had relatives who fought for the confederacy, I've always been mystified by this weird clinging to the Confederate flag. I mean, people, the South LOST. Get over it! (But then, wasn't it William Faulkner who said something like "The past is never dead. It's not even the past.")
Preach! :)
ReplyDeleteOh lady, you said it so well. I am always amazed at how utterly ugly our legislators are. I also am always touched by words of wisdom and like minded souls who see beyond the end of their noses. Here's to the far sighted and warm hearted.
ReplyDeleteHope your visit with #3 is joyous and Happy 4th of July. Oma Linda
I will never understand the state of cognitive dissonance in which so many individuals and groups choose to live in. It makes no sense; justice for all is not the same as happiness only for those who do what we say. When people are being burned alive, human beings should start putting lives before cloth. It makes no sense... and it makes me so sad... and terribly angry.
ReplyDeleteYou nailed it. The most extreme right-wing nuts are doing a disservice by making debate impossible. When this country had two reasonable, responsible political parties and intelligent, educated politicians on both sides we had better government because we could debate policies and make decisions that made the country a better place. We all lose when we don't have an ongoing intelligent discussion.
ReplyDelete