Heads They Win, Tails We Lose
Even when we win
I don’t typically write about currents events on Sundays, but I didn’t have a chance to post yesterday and Tuesday’s election results deserve mention.
I think politicians sometimes forget that one of their jobs is to help voters understand what democracy is and why government matters. In that light, Tuesday’s results were incredibly heartening.
First of all, people remain deeply engaged since the egregious Dobbs decision. Contrary to Republican and media expectations, voters aren’t moving on. In fact, they continue to fight at every opportunity to restore and protect abortion rights in even very red states.
In Ohio, Issue 1, which will enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, passed with almost 57% of the vote. That doesn’t mean the anti-democratic losers are going to give up, of course. Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens said Tuesday's vote isn't the end of the conversation. "I remain steadfastly committed to protecting life, and that commitment is unwavering. The legislature has multiple paths that we will explore to continue to protect innocent life."
What Stephens is not committed to is honoring the democratic process. We had a right and, after fifty years, it was stolen from us. Now the people who pulled the heist want to negotiate what percentage of that right they’ll condescend to return to us. As we’ve seen since Dobbs, we’re not willing to negotiate.
Second, in school board elections in states like Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, Moms for “Liberty,” an organization dedicated to banning books, discriminating against LGBTQ+ children and their family’s, keeping our children ignorant and afraid, and usurping power best left to the expertise of teachers, lost resoundingly. Voters in the vast majority of elections in which Mom’s for “Liberty”-backed candidates ran, stood up against them and prevailed.
Despite the victories—and they were decisive and widespread, from school boards in Iowa and Pennsylvania to state legislatures in Virginia and New Jersey—the corporate media seemed less-than enthusiastic about what they might mean for the Democratic Party in 2024. Nate Cohn’s analysis was par for the course: Democrats who helped secure wins for the party don’t like Joe Biden and he remains weak going into general elections season; therefore, Tuesday’s results change nothing.
The perceived wisdom seems to be that, on the one hand, Republicans lost because Donald wasn’t on the ballot while Democrats won because Biden wasn’t on the ballot. Heads they win, tails we lose, forever and ever, amen.
A note on Joe Manchin and Jill Stein: Fuck them.
A further note on Jill Stein: Stein is a pro-Putin hack known for running a spoiler campaign in 2016, hanging out in Russia with the aforementioned Putin and American traitor Michael Flynn, but nothing else as far as I can tell.
There was little appreciable difference between Stein’s platform and the Democrats’ in 2016; she had no chance of winning; and the only candidate whose chances she was going to hurt was Hillary Clinton. That was precisely the point.
Yesterday, to the relief of absolutely no one (except Putin and every single Republican), Stein announced she’s running again. It remains the case that the only candidate she’ll harm is the Democratic one. Our system is such that anybody can run; my question is, why should anybody take this vile person seriously? I say this not simply because of the enormous damage she did eight years ago, but also because in those intervening years, she has done nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING,to create a strong, viable alternative to the two-party system or to build the Green Party. She’s a fraud whose only purpose seems to be lining her own pockets in the service of undermining the only party that has a shot at saving American democracy.
Things to keep an eye out for in the coming weeks:
Whether or not Donald’s mental decline is worsening or just becoming more obvious as the stressors in his life compound, will the corporate media focus, in a serious and sustained way, on his multiplying verbal gaffes and cognitive errors?
Those of us who’ve been paying attention know that Donald’s dangerous rhetoric has been ramping up. He is not only echoing Hitler, sometimes he’s quoting him. Hitler promised to “get rid of the communist vermin.” In his Veteran’s Day ramblings, Donald promised to get rid of “the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.” (He’s referring to us, for those keeping score at home.)
The headline of The New York Times article in which this was reported originally read: “Trump Takes Veterans Day Speech in a Very Different Direction.” This travesty has since been changed to “In Veterans Day Speech, Trump Promises to ‘Root Out’ the Left.” Maybe the powers-that-be at The Times are learning. I think it’s much more likely that they responded to readers’ outrage. So let’s keep it up.
“A note on Joe Manchin and Jill Stein: Fuck them.” Word.
Re abortion issue. Freedom of choice is a right, even if the decision disagrees with another person's point of view.