Every since Ronald Reagan turned to the ‘Moral Majority’ to win the Presidency and Robert Bork, and Jeff Sessions were denied seats on the Supreme Court, we have known that the goal of religious Conservatives was to tear down the wall the founders erected between church and state. At least in these modern times it has been clear that religious Conservatives want an authoritarian theocracy and the Constitution be damn!
Let’s be clear, American Christians had no issues burning witches,(mostly women). They had and still have no real issues with slavery, voter suppression, racism, sexism, homophobia, or with violence when used to express other forms of race and sex based bigotry. We saw the mostly White Christian evangelical right align with the ‘Tea Party’ against the Obama Presidency. We knew that the Republican Party embraced this movement out of fear and as a tool to hold onto power.
But we also knew that as long as they had the Presidency and control of the Senate, they would move to take control of SCOTUS and roll back as many freedoms that only White male property owners once enjoyed. Their objective was and is to take back rights that had now been extended to every citizen regardless of gender, race, and property ownership or the lack of. What makes watching the protests going on across the country now over the ruling on ‘Abortion Rights’ is that we knew this was going to happen.
The point was made over and over that elections for the Presidency are important because of who they Nominate to SCOTUS. A President can have at the most 8 years but their nominations if confirmed have lifetime appointments. Clarence Thomas was confirmed in 1991, over 30 years ago. Understand that though he is not the Chief Justice, he is the chief influence on the other Conservative Justices. In his ‘Abortion Opinion’ he gave marching orders to the other Conservative justices to go after any rights we now enjoy that are not specifically mentioned n the Constitution.
The most frustrating aspect of this new reality is that most of the people protesting or who will be adversely impacted by this decision and potentially others is that not all did vote. Or they chose to vote for candidates who could not win. Imagine if HRC had been elected President in 2016, we would not be at this point. If Bernie and Progressives had taken the danger of a DJT Presidency into account with the Republican control of over 26 statehouses we would not be here today. If these same people had understood the importance of ‘Down Ballot’ voting and voting in midterm elections we might live in a different reality. But now we are in a state of reactionary politics. Recovery, even survival are not promised.
Why is this the case, because voters are illogical, fickle, and unreliable. DJT told you who he would put on SCOTUS and they allowed Republicans to control the Senate anyway. We all knew Mitch McConnel had denied Obama his nominee but voters allowed him to control the Senate anyway. So we should not be surprised that we are here. Not the women who support a man with over 26 allegations of sexual misconduct against him (and he is not a football player). Not the Blacks who support him and although the MAGA base is made up in substantial part by avid White Supremist some overt others less so. But they do know who and what DJT represents.
So how can an informed and realistic person take this surprised reaction seriously? Those protesting now, voters, and potential voters, failed to take their responsibilities as the true keepers of Democracy seriously over beginning in 2000 when Reagan ran against Carter.. Then Bush v Gore, then again in 2016.
A Reasonable Point of View 