For Social Movements to be considered "A movement" they actually have to work

6) "Roe" is dead and abortions will be much more restricted

This piece is inspired by the recent news of how the Supreme Court leaked Documents on their intention to over-turn “ROE v. WADE” the landmark Supreme Court Case from 1973, which made abortion-rights legal across the United States.  

There is a disconnect between what it means to be a patriotic American, and what it means to hold power. Conventional wisdom for a long time has argued that the Democratic party long ago ceded ground on what it means to be a patriot, even though Republicans hide their undeniable thirst for power behind the banner of patriotism. Politics very well could be interpreted as “the art of the possible”, but what it really boils down to is POWER.  One thing Democrats have always been bad at is holding onto and wielding power. 

How else can you explain the Democratic Party’s willingness to let Republicans snub their judicial nominees at every turn for nearly five years, while Democrats had comfortable margins in the Senate? You could argue that they weren’t willing to let this happen, but the bottom line is, it did happen, and the Democrats could have done more to combat this.  

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“Republican senators did their best to delay the process. As we now know, that tactic of obstruction and delay was successful. Not only could individual Republicans block nominees to courts in their states, there was always the threat of a filibuster. That lasted until 2013, when Democratic Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., invoked what is called the "nuclear option." For district and circuit court appointments, debate was limited to 30 hours and after that, a simple majority would carry the day”. - Jon Greenberg PolitiFact 10/02/20. 

President Obama has spoken of his challenges and regrets he had during his Presidency; One challenge being how the filibuster was constantly used against him on matters that typically were supposed to be routine.   

“Having just won an election by an overwhelming electoral margin with the support of the largest congressional margin and with the support of the largest congressional majority in many years -  I still couldn’t rename a post office, much less pass our stimulus package, without winning a few Republican votes.” - Barack Obama A Promised Land (p. 244). 

“The senate filibuster - which in the end would prove to be the most chronic political headache of my presidency.” - Barack Obama A Promised Land  (p. 243). 

Another thing that President Obama has recently spoken about being a major regret of his, was how he never adequately combatted the distortion campaign of 2016.  “What does still nag at me, though, was my failure to fully appreciate at the time just how susceptible we had become to lies and conspiracy theories, despite having spent years being a target of disinformation myself.” - President Obama (quote taken from Bred Dress of “thehill.com” 4/21/22). 

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The first one about being so slow to adequately address the misuse of the filibuster, was incredibly naïve on his and all Democrats' part. Granted it’s easy to say this now. But, at the same time, looking back, it seems to take a certain level of willful ignorance for Democrats to assume that Republicans would be willing to play with the old set of rules and norms, when the new ones seemed to be working so well for them. 

The point about regrets Obama has is more of the same; Democratic whining, along with the perfunctory promises politicians always make on how they are going to do better next time at neutralizing power, or combatting this issue or that one. Well, how many “next time’s” are we all really going to get?

There’s no real value in finger-pointing or fist-shaking, or saber-rattling, as politics and morality really don’t mix. Just know that the Republicans efforts to pack the courts with their kind of judges, was decades upon decades in the making. Democrats foolishly always thought they had the moral-high ground in these debates, until they ceded all the ground they possibly could cede, and then some! 

All the ground Democrats ceded is exactly why they  never codified abortion rights into federal law. It’s also why Democrats celebrated the death of the Notorious RBG, when in reality we should be ruing her *selfishness for not retiring back in 2013 when Democrats still had the majority in the Senate during President Obama’s second term. Instead we all witnessed the confirmation of Amy Coney Barret a mere week before a new President was elected to office. 

I know that’s not a popular stance to take, casting stones at RBG like that. She is a hero to many and her quote sums up reproductive rights and our 14th Amendment rights to privacy, way more eloquently than anything else I could find or even possibly fathom to come up with on my own. 

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg March 15, 1933 - September 18, 2020 “may she forever rest in peace”.

I know too many people that just stopped watching the news, as it upset them too much. When I talked to colleagues at work today, they had no clue what was going on. Well, here’s advice to people who watch the news and get angry - don’t waste your time getting angry, instead get smart, and  getting smart is not by just ignoring the news. 

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The good news is, that at this point, the Democratic Party has tons of room for growth with respect to getting smarter. While Democrats might point to Republicans, and call them selfish bastards and idiots, last I checked - when it comes to politics, it’s about obtaining and wielding power.  One party sure as heck looks a lot smarter at that game than the Democrats ever could have dreamt of being over the last…gosh how far back should we go?? I would say over the last few decades at the very least! 

But, in all honesty it’s time to fight back! And if we expect elected officials to lead the next big social movement, just know that has never worked. Politicians run to the front of a social movement when it foments, but it requires the hard work and dedication of a few activist groups who are willing to take all the necessary and countless baby-steps that lead to big change. It’s the will of the people! Right now public-will is pretty splintered, but that’s what happens when power is not being adequately used.

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Before progressives lose all hope, be sure to read a history book. Join an organization that isn’t just being pocketed by the Democratic Party, but actually one that makes sure the party does its job and works for all people. Groups like the ACLU, Common Cause, Citizen Action Groups, a Women’s group, or even your local Black or Latino activist group.

A wonderful group that is centered on love and understanding is the “People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond”. - https://pisab.org/

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Many voices need to rise to make things happen. Don’t expect the same geriatric politicians (or Obama) to try and figure out our problems. After-all they are a big part of the reason we are in this mess. 

I wish there was more happy talk in this piece, but at this point it is what it is. Politics is a dirty game, and Democrats are losing it, very badly. Like I said throughout this article “It’s about POWER!” Time for Democrats to gain some back, and wield it like their Republican counterparts.   

Peace & Blessings

-JPJ