The New Dark Age

What Will Happen Next:

- A ban on contraception.

- Law enforcement agencies monitoring data from period-tracking apps.

- A ban on interstate/international travel for pregnant women.

- Laws that make it a conspiracy to plan an abortion. If a woman discusses it with her husband or asks her sister to watch her kids while she travels, all parties to those conversations could be charged with felonies.

- Interference with delivery of abortion drugs via mail or other carriers.

- Increased maternal mortality. (The USA already has the highest maternal mortality rates of any wealthy developed nation.)

- Women forced to carry a deceased fetus to term.

- Women forced to deliver a rapist’s baby, even if the rapist is a family member.

This is the hell that Republican politicians have unleashed on American women. I repeat, REPUBLICAN politicians, groveling for the votes of anti-abortion zealots, have ushered in a dangerous and horrifying new chapter of American history, a dark age that will be reviled throughout history.

SCOTUS Overturns Roe

As a candidate for president in 2016, Donald Trump asked voters, “What have you got to lose?”

If it wasn’t clear at the time, today’s decision left no doubt. We all have a great deal to lose, and the Trump Supreme Court is just getting started. In the coming months and years, your rights will be under attack like never before.

Supreme Court Strikes Down Concealed Carry Ban

Great! Every thug and creep and abuser and rapist in New York City can now carry a concealed weapon without a permit. What a fucking nightmare! What an absolutely reckless and tone deaf decision in an era of rampant mass shootings!

Do you know where you CAN’T carry a concealed weapon? At the US Supreme Court. Clearly, the justices (I use the word loosely) are concerned about their own safety, but they don’t give a rat’s ass about anyone else.

Political Violence

Remember that time when Mitt Romney encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol? Oh, wait… That didn’t happen.

Remember that time when McCain refused to concede, and his supporters sent death threats to local elections officials? Oh, wait… That never happened.

Remember that time when George H.W. Bush sent a mob to harm Dan Quayle unless he refused to certify that Bill Clinton won the election? Oh, right… That didn’t happen either.

Why is political violence unique to Trump and his supporters?

Inflation vs. Autocracy

Inflation is painful. Rising prices are devastating for every person and every family that struggles to make ends meet. But inflation isn’t permanent. It will ease up eventually as the economy stabilizes.

Do you know what else is painful? Autocracy. A government that can’t be replaced out because they control who can vote and how the votes are counted.

Autocracy is painful and gravely dangerous. An autocratic government can punish any citizen for any reason at any time. Citizens have no rights and little power. That’s a pain that will never fade away. Once an autocrat rises to power, they hold only power for life. The regime defends its power with treachery and brutality. It will not collapse until there is a revolution, and attempted revolutions are not always successful.

While it’s understandable to worry about inflation and the cost of living, it’s even more critical to be concerned with the health of our democracy.

Rage

Two weeks ago, a man underwent back surgery. He called his surgeon a few days later and reported that he was experiencing pain and discomfort. The two met for a follow up visit.

What you might think - Healing takes time. Take it easy, take your medication, and follow the recommended schedule of treatment and physical therapy.

What actually happened - Yesterday afternoon, the man bought an AR-15. No one asked him why he was buying it. Because there’s no waiting period, the man walked out of the store with his new purchase.

Three hours later, the man took his new AR-15 to the building where the surgeon worked. 

he murdered his surgeon along with three other people while wounding several others before taking his own life.

Is this really how we want to live. Is this how we want our children and friends and colleagues and loved ones to live, constantly in fear that some disgruntled or unstable person will show up on our doorstep with a weapon of war and express his frustration in an explosion of bullets?

Wake up, America! You did this to yourselves. You let the firearm addicts write the rules for access to deadly force. Now every angry crackpot and murderous extremist knows exactly what they have to do to tally up a horrendous body count during their final fateful expression of rage.