28 Jun Forward to the Past

It’s a jarring thing: You go to sleep in one world and wake up in another.

 

Not that we didn’t see this coming, but the actual arrival of the Supreme Court’s decision striking down Roe v. Wade landed like a neutron bomb in the sociopolitical life of this fraught union. In the course of two days the court has struck down longstanding limitations on guns in public places and ensured that American women born after 1973 will have fewer rights than their mothers did. All this even as the mind-boggling spectacle of the January 6 congressional hearings has unfolded, laying bare the moral corruption and insanity of the 45th president and his cabal of misfits, nut jobs and sycophants. This is an extraordinary time in the history of this nation and concerns about the future of democracy in America seem more real and pressing than ever. Not moving forward is one thing, but going hard in reverse is another altogether.

 

Above all else, it strains credulity to consider how the gaslighting of an entire nation and the subsequent election of the Orange Goblin not only plunged the country into four years of insanity but has precipitated seismic changes in our society that may very well last for generations. The conservative stacking of the Supreme Court (with a nod to the epic cynicism and mendacity of Mitch McConnell), the legitimization of the racist/misogynist/homophobic American Id, the ascendancy of Post-Truthism, the escalation of Culture Wars, the amplification of Climate Change Denial, the politicization of public health, the ongoing weaponization of the Big Lie— these are but a few of the prominent legacies of the hideous death spiral delivered upon us by Drumpfism. Though the national proportion of the MAGA faithful reportedly remains in the 30-plus percent range, they are in the ascendant and their momentum is undeniable. The Supreme Court is leaning hard into Constitution literalness and concepts such as same-sex marriage, the right to privacy, and contraception—none of which appear in the original document—could be next to come under conservative scrutiny (an opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas, husband of Big Lie super-activist Ginnie Thomas, has specifically outlined such intent). Today—Monday, June 27—the court took separation between church and state to the chopping block.

 

It is now more likely than ever, if not altogether certain, that the cult of Drumpf will become permanently enshrined in the pantheon of the Post-Truth Far Right. It took six Republican administrations and 49 years, but the Goblin’s cruel machinations are finally delivering the big prizes. The faithful have seen their mindless devotion rewarded and they want more. Prepare to dig in.

 

I mourn for all of us, but I am a man. A white, straight, middle class one at that, but I have never doubted the truth behind the rueful adage that if men could get pregnant abortion would be a sacrament. I can’t know for a certainty how it must feel to be a second class citizen in one’s own country, but I have a notion. Doesn’t it seem a bit strange how the political party that has for so long clamored against Big Government and which considers mask mandates an unforgivable intrusion into individual liberties has no problem with women losing control over choices concerning their own bodies? Odd, that.

 

So this is our new/old world. We awake to find ourselves washed up on strange shores by a dismal tide. I have always been an optimist. It’s my nature—a ‘glass half-full’ kinda guy. But lately…