Right to Life and Eroding Women's Rights

 Years ago, George Carlin summed up one of the core beliefs of Republicans quite well. If you’re pre-born, you’re fine. If you’re preschool, you’re fucked. That’s what came to mind when the ultra-conservative supreme court ruled 6-3 that South Carolina can withhold public funding from Planned Parenthood over the mere fact the agency offers abortion services. Doesn’t matter that Planned Parenthood offers help to poor mothers in need of health care, or that they *gasp* offer safe sex courses. Republicans, like some pilots, have target fixation. They focus on the abortion services. Keep in mind, these same republicans always target programs like head start and others when it comes time for slashing the budget. It’s okay for the government to force a woman to carry the fetus to term, but the government becomes a deadbeat dad when it comes time to helping the mom make sure all of the needs are met. As you sit there and read this blog, the government is insisting they should dictate what a person on food stamps purchases. That’s one of the measures the so-called “Small government” Republicans have fought hard for.

 

Trump is entertaining request from “Right to lifers”, a name whose irony is lost upon the group members, to ban Planned Parenthood from all federal funding. Which is clearly a bad idea based on all the other services planned parenthood provides. Unless these so-called “Right to Life” folks are aghast at poor and middle-class women getting cancer screenings. Screenings that save their lives.

 

Before I continue to explain that the “Right to Life” crowd in reality, doesn’t care about saving lives, there’s something that needs to be explained. There are so many people that have been duped into believing that Planned Parenthood is an abortion mill that provides abortions on call 24/7. Trump has managed to get his base to actual believe that Planned Parenthood engages in infanticide, which is the act of killing a live baby after it leaves the womb. Doesn’t matter that it’s false, that Planned Parenthood engages in such acts. His base has been conditioned to view Planned Parenthood as an evil entity that slaughters babies and their employees consume the remains. Don’t laugh, many of these folks that are protesting Planned Parenthood actually believe that. Because Trump claims so in his speeches, they believe it. Hell, Trump could say that Planned Parenthood is in league with Aliens from Saturn in a plot to eliminate the human race over the next 1,000 years, and they’d believe it. They have been conditioned that well.

 

Now, let’s move on to the “Right To Life” crowd. Such irony that many of those same people celebrate the death penalty. Or that many of them have no qualms about military action that will claim many lives. Don’t see those folks protesting the multitude of military actions the U.S. engages in. I guess “Right To Life” has limitations. Especially when it comes to those extremists of the crowd, that engage in acts of terrorism. Acts like bombing clinics and shooting doctors. It was never about “Right To Life”. It was about the “Right to control others”.

 

The stories about women dying in back alleys is true. That was life before Roe. But then again, the Right To Life crowd doesn’t care about that. For them, the mother is disposable. If saving the fetus, no matter what condition its health is in, cost the mother her life, so what. They don’t care. And they seem quite self-assured that when (or in some cases, IF) the baby grows up, they’re going to appreciate the “Right To Life” crowds noble sacrifice of their mother so they could live.

 

I’ve steadfast believed that the decision comes down to the individual woman. Her body, her choice. The government should not be able to walk in and dictate to anyone what they can do with their vital organs. Women in America are already looking at a roll-back of their rights. Joel Webbon, a popular podcast host amongst MAGA, has called for the 19^th Amendment to be repealed. Andrew Tate, currently facing charges of sex crimes, but Trump considered him a nice enough fellow to stay at Mar Largo free of charge, has said many times that women lack the intellect to vote. And Tate, like Webbon, have said that women are born to be submissive. And thanks to Trump giving them platform, there is a growing movement, and it shockingly, does consist of some women, to repeal the 19^th Amendment.

This SCOTUS has declared itself hostile to women’s rights on a national level, and that should frighten you. Doesn’t matter gender, it should frighten you. MAGA and Trump have slowly fought to erode all of the civil rights victories of the last 100 years. Please, by all means, read that again, it feels vaguely important. Donald Trump is using the office of president to attempt to roll back 100 years of civil rights. He’s already got a good majority of the country to believe a poll tax when it comes to voting is a great idea, though that pesky constitution forbids poll taxes. He’s declared war on immigrants, would love to make it easier for police to conduct warrantless searches, and is leading the charge to erode women’s rights.

 

As cliché as it may be to say the obvious, but these are dangers times ahead for America. As the conservative branch of SCOTUS showed today, they are willing to roll back women’s rights to health care. And I know that you might consider that statement an overreaction, but remember this: Even the largest avalanche starts are a mere snowball.

Trump's secret wars and the cult mentality.

 It is safe to say that we truly live-in crazy times, an era that feels like it borders on absurdity. We have, currently, in the White House, a sitting president whose hallmark is demanding that we the people believe him, and him alone, and never the press. It doesn’t matter if we see it for ourselves, in live and living color. At best, he claims, our eyes are lying to us. At worse, we’re manipulated by a lying media or at worse, a billionaire named Soros paying people to stir up trouble, fake protest, and whatever other delusion he can pull from his magic hat.

 

One thing that Trump’s first term awakened my eyes to, was how quickly and easily, Americans could embrace fascism if it was packaged correctly. All of a sudden, Americans desired a president that was answerable to no one, not even the constitution. Between his first term and his current, we’ve seen many sights that we felt could not happen here. That they could only happen in other far away countries ruled by a despot driven mad by his thirst and pure unadulterated lust for unchecked power.

 

We have seen several “wars” launched on home soil. We’ve seen a war on women’s rights. We’ve seen a war declared on members of the LBGT community. We’ve seen a violent, and purely vicious war declared on equality. Without actually saying the words, Trump has signaled that equality and diversity is a threat to America. Years ago, during his first term, after the tragedy in Charlottesville, Trump tried to down play it, saying that there were “good people” on both sides. Something Trump and his close-knit minions have claimed was taken out of context. When looked through the prism of current events, it’s clear Trump said what we all thought he was actually saying at the time.

 

There has also been a war declared on intellectualism as well, with Trump using diversity as a cloak to strip Ivy League schools of funding. Doesn’t matter to this administration that what they are doing is wholly unlawful and unconstitutional. Then again, it’s been long established that Trump views the constitution like an unpleasant road block. He’s stated often his disdain for the checks and balances of the governmental system. A system, and document in the constitution, that was created as a shield against a president drunk with power and ambition.

 

Many of Trump’s edicts have met resistance from the courts. Courts that look to halt his power grab. Instead of challenging those decisions in court, Trump, has been the hallmark of his life, plays the victim. He’s the victim of activist judges that want to keep him from, in his words “Making America Great Again.” Trump has demanded the judges be censored and removed from office, in hopes of judges being installed that are more friendly to his end run around the U.S. constitution. Any member of the Republican party that dares question Trump, is under threat of primary and being voted out of office. Kyle Rittenhouse, who dreamt himself a vigilante, and shot and killed two innocent people during a Black Lives Matter rally that sadly, devolved into chaos, thus making darling of the MAGA movement, found out quickly what disloyalty wrought. In questioning dear leader, Laura Loomer, Phillip “Catturd” Buchanan and others brought the full weight of MAGA upon Rittenhouse. Buchanan provided the most menacing tone, saying that Rittenhouse needed to be “reminded” of who he owed his freedom to. Less than 24 hours later, Rittenhouse, under duress, deleted his controversial tweet and proclaimed himself a supporter of Trump.

 

What happened to Kyle Rittenhouse doesn’t show that MAGA is a cult, but something worse, something even more sinister. In Russia, anyone that speaks out against Putin, does so at their own risk. He imprisoned the members of the band Pussy Riot for supporting LBGT rights. Kim Jun Un in North Korea executes military generals who dare question his orders. As alluded to earlier, Trump executes the same, if less bloody, demand for loyalty. As Kyle Rittenhouse learned, even those you considered allies will turn on you in a heartbeat if you display disloyalty in their eyes, towards Trump.

 

America has never seen a trump like Trump. Not even Richard Nixon, himself a man who lusted for power, went as far as Trump. And Nixon actually bugged his political rivals. America has never seen a president that viewed the U.S. Constitution as a hostile enemy. One that lied with such ease, and that had his followers justify those lies with words like “Alternative facts.” Trump sends his press secretaries to the podium like lambs to the slaughter. They lie on his behalf, and must turn abrasive when their lies fall apart. Karoline Leavitt is the current spinner of lies. She spins Trump lies with a gleam in her eye, essentially becoming the bubblehead bleach blonde Don Henley sang about in his 1982 hit, Dirty Laundry.

 

More Americans have lost their rights under Trump than have any other sitting president. Other nations warn their citizens about vacationing in America. Colleges abroad have seen a drop in students looking to study in the U.S., fearful they could be snatched at random, and without due process, deported to whatever country Trump and his regime can dump them in. Other countries have quit turning to America as the voice of reason. They happily work with other nations, and leave America out of the loop. Something that will send America into a tailspin, and will assure that this country will never maintain a top spot on the world stage again.

 

Will America ever recover from the damage Trump and MAGA have inflicted, time will tell. It may be generations before America is anywhere near what it was in 2015. Respected on the world stage. The scars Trump and MAGA have inflicted upon America are deep. There’s no playbook on how to stop the bleeding. Trump and MAGA may have succeeded where every foreign power from the past failed.