Tuesday, May 3, 2022

And another day in the evangelicalpocalypse comes to a close:

“The law of the land in the United States of America depends entirely on exactly when Supreme Court Justices die. Absurd.” -- Lawrence O’Donnell

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.” — Elie Wiesel

“GOP on guns: No point in gun control because if you want a gun, you’ll find one.

GOP on abortion: Yeah well that’s different.” -- Linwood Barclay

Deaths

US: 1,021,581

World: 6,265,797

Cases

US: 83,240,101

World: 514,653,221

4 things we know, and one big thing we don’t, about the draft opinion overruling Roe v. Wade. The draft opinion also relies heavily on a traditional conservative argument that overruling Roe promotes democracy by allowing each state to decide how it will regulate abortion. He quotes a 30-year-old opinion from the late Justice Antonin Scalia, for example, which stated that “the permissibility of abortion, and the limitations upon it, are to be resolved like most important questions in our democracy: by citizens trying to persuade one another and then voting.” These appeals to democracy would be more persuasive if Alito had shown any concern about democracy in any other context whatsoever. Among other things, Alito is the author of two separate decisions gutting key provisions of the Voting Rights Act. And he joined a 2019 decision that ordered federal courts not to block partisan gerrymanders. So, while Alito’s draft Dobbs opinion would give state legislatures’ broad authority to regulate or ban abortion, Alito’s voting rights opinions make it much harder for voters to actually have a meaningful say in who sits in those legislatures.

Map: 23 states would ban abortion in a post-Roe America. Abortion rights would be up to the states if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Two-dozen states and territories would ban it immediately, and 13 have “trigger laws” waiting for the ruling.

Alito’s draft heavily references English legal precedent, including that of famed jurist Sir Matthew Hale who, it should be noted, had at least two women executed for witchcraft and wrote a treatise supporting marital rape…for those interested in why Sir Matthew Hale’s views on abortion are suddenly relevant.

“Sounds about right for today’s GOP.” — David Corn

“It's Democrats vs. Fascists in 2022. Vote accordingly.” — Mary L Trump

The case against the Supreme Court of the United States. For nearly all of its history, it’s been a reactionary institution, a political one that serves the interests of the already powerful at the expense of the most vulnerable…If Alito truly wants to put the question of whether pregnant individuals have a right to terminate that pregnancy up to a free and fair democratic process, polling indicates that liberals could probably win that fight on a national level…But public opinion may not matter much in the coming political fight over abortion, because Alito and his fellow Republican justices have spent the past decade placing a thumb on the scales of democracy — making our system even less democratic than one that already features the Electoral College and a malapportioned Senate…But really, every issue pales in importance to the right to vote. If this right is not protected, then liberals are truly defenseless — even when they enjoy overwhelming majority support…It’s not surprising that an institution made up entirely of elite lawyers, who are immune from political accountability and cannot be fired, tends to protect people who are already powerful and cast a much more skeptical eye on people who are marginalized because of their race, gender, or class…And, as the Court’s history shows, when conservatives do control the Court, they use their power to devastating effect…This institution has not served the American people well, and it’s time to start treating it that way.

An earth-shattering moment for a Supreme Court already on the brink. The US Supreme Court's legitimacy has been deeply pierced, and it may never recover its stature in the eyes of America. For Chief Justice John Roberts, whose concern for the institution's reputation is manifest in nearly every opinion he writes and every public speech he makes, the developments are a disaster of the highest order. -- SCOTUS is not an impartial body.

Democrats push to codify Roe after leaked opinion. But they don’t have the votes. But even though they control the White House and both chambers of Congress, they don't have the votes — and are unlikely to find them under the current configuration of Capitol Hill, where they hold slim majorities and face fierce Republican opposition. -- The system is rigged in favor of Republicans.

Manchin defends filibuster amid calls to codify abortion rights. But asked about getting rid of the filibuster, Manchin defended it, saying that “the filibuster is the only protection we have in democracy.”

In Roe reversal, Alito writes manual for conservatives to reshape court. But Justice Samuel Alito's argument also creates a manual for high court conservatives to give power back to states to limit many more individual rights. Like abortion, rights involving same-sex intimacy and marriage, interracial marriage, and contraception are ensured by past interpretations of the 14th Amendment — such as the one the new decision would overturn. “I fear that the court is on a course to roll back all kinds of protections to back at the time of the founding, when women and Black people had no rights,” said Kim Wehle, a constitutional law professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Oklahoma governor signs Texas-style ban on most abortions. Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a Texas-style abortion ban on Tuesday that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court will uphold new restrictions. “I want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country,” Stitt tweeted after signing the bill. -- Let’s be clear: They are not “pro-life.” They are “pro-birth.” They don’t give a shit about you once you’re born.

These companies will help staff in red states bypass abortion bans. Millions of women in more than 25 states face an abortion ban if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized the procedure nationwide. For many of those women, employers’ benefit packages may be the only way they can soon afford a legal abortion...Corporate America is increasingly being drawn from the political sidelines on the abortion issue in response to pressure from investors, customers and employees. Companies are also struggling to attract and retain talent and worry about the impact these states’ anti-abortion laws could have on their workers.

Newer, fitter descendants of Omicron variant begin to drive their own coronavirus waves. There’s no denying the numbers: Even with spotty reporting, Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising again in the United States. Cases are trending up in most states and have increased by more than 50% compared with the previous week in Washington, Mississippi, Georgia, Maine, Hawaii, South Dakota, Nevada and Montana. In New York, more than a quarter of the state’s population is in a county with a “high” Covid-19 community level, where the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends indoor masking...The culprit this time appears to be a spinoff of Omicron’s BA.2 subvariant called BA.2.12.1, which was first flagged by New York state health officials in April.

BA.2.12.1, which is growing about 25% faster than its parent virus, BA.2, accounts for nearly 37% all Covid-19 cases across the US, according to new estimates from the CDC.

CDC restates recommendation for masks on planes, trains. U.S. health officials on Tuesday restated their recommendation that Americans wear masks on planes, trains and buses, despite a court ruling last month that struck down a national mask mandate on public transportation.

It’s official: J.D. Vance has won—another indication that Donald Trump’s influence over the GOP remains as strong as ever. J.D. Vance, the Peter Thiel-ally and Hillbilly Elegy author, has won the highly contested Republican Senate primary in Ohio. Vance’s victory over a group of Ohio politicians, including former state treasurer Josh Mandel and state Sen. Matt Dolan, is more evidence that Donald Trump’s towering influence over the Republican Party has yet to abate.

In an omen for other parts of the world, a punishing heat wave in South Asia is putting more than 1 billion people in danger of heat stroke. A punishing heat wave has pushed temperatures past 120F (50C) in some areas. Some schools have closed early for the summer. Dozens of people have died of heatstroke. The region is already hard-hit by climate change. Extreme heat is common in May. But not in April and March, both of which were the hottest across much of India for more than a century.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.