Americans in general have no clue whatsoever of the tsunami of upheaval banning reproductive choice has initiated.
Too many Mel Gibson movies have left the conservative justices with the “I / we are the godly representation of a martyred Christ” self-identification. The preferred self-image of many conservatives, politicians and religionists.
The Thomas Court wants to return us to the days before the 1960s, preferably to 1776.
Before women, Indigenous people and many immigrants had rights.
“Originalism” in constitutional interpretation is nothing more than saying you can only forever interpret the U.S. Constitution in the context of 1776, not in terms of the reality of 2022. Pure nonsense and purely political.
It’s about control of women’s personal life decisions in particular as dictated by “Those in Authority”.
It’s also about the women who fashion themselves as the competitive “QB1” who need to control the “bad” women. I know many feminists and conservative women who equally refer to them that way. The “Sisterhood” has always been an utter myth; Misogyny counts on it.
Alito’s passionate argument to allow the strip search of a 10-year old girl and her mother as he tried to overturn the requirements of the Fourth Amendment, the Right against illegal search and secure (Doe v. Groody, 2004) was his ticket to the Supreme Court. He had the self-righteous anti-Fourth Amendment chops the GOP wanted.
But I have to give Thomas credit. He waited. And as all justices know, the Code of Ethics and Conflict of Interest Rules that apply to all other lawyers simply do not realistically apply to Supreme Court justices.
There is a reason mostly Protestant senators confirmed mostly Roman Catholic justices when it came this issue.
Less than 38% of Americans trust the Supreme Court anywaym according to a Gallup poll.
The final fork on road to the court’s present political stature was Mitch McConnell’s Merrick Garland appointment block. His actions drove this situation. Forever moving goalposts like Lucy on Linus to satisfy political ends.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was every bit as responsible for this outcome. An already deathly sick justice under a Democratic Senate, her death and replacement by a conservative easily foreseeable, if untimed. Pure arrogance.
There also is a collateral and purely political motive to tackle abortion in an upcoming major election.
Thomas and Alito are either sick or want to retire and want a GOP Senate to appoint their successors. The GOP base is to be so stoked that they will assure it and the two conservatives will be replaced by much younger zealot conservatives between 2023-2024; and rule for the next generation. Timing is everything. The GOP “gets it”
The Gen-Xers and Millennials have stayed out of determining their own fates, leaving that up to old white baby boomers by refusing to engage. You can’t get a good alternative to a boomer Biden or Trump if you don’t actively engage.
As the recent Jackson Confirmation hearings glaringly illustrated, politics is the only thing that now rules the Court. The Court’s “Political Officer” Ginni Thomas calling the shots. Freedom and Privacy are only for the GOP and religious conservatives; not the majority of American Citizens.
And, as Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett have shown, lying under oath about Roe and “settled law” is nothing more than accepted political sport. The lamentations of Senators Manchin and Collins nothing more than pure hypocrisy.
Women are vessels; the children when born the welfare cheats pro-lifers despise and won’t nurture. Forcing a new generation of low wage slave children to sustain the economy. Brought to you by America’s version of the Taliban.
Both Justice Thomas and the majority of the House GOP in a vote not a few days ago do not believe in a women’s right to use contraception without government interference. So much for GOP “freedom” from governmental intrusion.
Native Americans should also fear the Thomas Court. Big oil has always wanted Court sanctioned “legal” access to “..merican” lands.
As history has well illustrated, nothing in the law is ever “settled” and is subject to whomever is in power at the moment.
“If you win, you need not have to explain…” (Adolf Hitler).
• Anselm Staack, is registered non-affiliated, is a CPA and an Attorney who has been an Alaska resident for over 48 years. He resides in Juneau. He entered the U.S. through Ellis Island and is from a German Immigrant family that survived both the Nazis and the Russians. Columns, My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire. Have something to say? Here’s how to submit a My Turn or letter.
