Monday, July 3, 2023

How To Destroy Democracy in 6 Easy Steps

The 2023 SCOTUS term sure went out with a bang, huh? Geez, it was like a Federalist Society wish list, foisted upon the country by the Six Justices of the Apocalypse…

These are major hits on women, gays, and education, Republican Enemies 1, 2, and 3. To all the Democrats and Independents who didn’t vote for Hillary, this is what you’ve wrought, a wholly predictable assault on civil rights, human rights, and the right not to be taken to the cleaners by the banking industry.

Democrats need to come out on fire, this election season and hit these decisions hard. These were Republican priorities that almost exclusively benefitted themselves and their benefactors, at the expense of the average citizen. This is what happens when the Right is in power; they rig the system evermore so in their favor.

It’s especially galling that in the Web Designer sued for the right not to have to set up a web page for a same-sex wedding, it turned out that the plaintiff never actually fielded such an inquiry. She just wanted to discriminate on spec. Or her backers did… this had test case written all over it.

While in theory, it sounds bad to force someone to do something against their will, I think societal rules for business should supersede an individual’s cherry-picked mythological notions. If you open a business in America, you should serve anyone who walks through the metaphorical door. If your religion prevents that, then try another profession. It’s really no different than a vegan cashier refusing to ring up a customer’s steak.

And to make clear how egregiously discriminatory this is, just replace “gay” with “Black.” There is zero difference. Both are innate characteristics. If you can’t refuse service to a Black person, you shouldn’t be able to do the same to someone gay. Although I should pipe down about that… Banning service to Blacks is probably the next item on the Racist Right’s agenda.

Anyway, it’s not like Republicans are against forcing people into doing things they don’t want to do, like having a baby. They just prefer to be the ones doing the forcing. As I always say, Republicans don’t really do “principles,” they do “wanna’s.” They will espouse any principle they’ve decried in the past if it supports something they wanna do now.

The pursuit of education really took it on the chin as well. It’s old news that Justice Junket Thomas campaigned to get rid of Affirmative Action, after having used it himself, but it still makes my brain explode. “Benefits for me, but none for thee.” That’s the conservative motto, right there. Or in other words, “I got mine, now go eff yourselves.”

It’s revolting how Republicans frame this as eliminating discrimination. Yes, the poor downtrodden white kids. Such hardships you would never know. Because now, “Victim of Discrimination” = “White kid who didn’t get into his first college of choice.”

And then those who mortgaged the farm to get a college loan at an insane interest rate guaranteeing that it will never be paid off will continue to pour money into the open gullet of the banking industry rather than into the economy at large, where various vendors and employees can feel the benefit. That’s what Republicans are pushing for.

The more young people have to carry debt, the more dough rolls into the banks, and the more people have to accept crappy jobs for crappy pay because they have to keep servicing that debt monkey, the better it is for the top 1%.

That should be the next GOP Slogan: 

"Judge Smales in 2024: The world needs ditch diggers too!

It’s no accident that tuition has spiked over the last 30 years at the same time college loans became prohibitively expensive. The upper crust doesn’t want educated people, they want pliant workers who will take orders without question, and believe anything they’re told on Fox “News.”

And if it’s anyone who’s going to get those degrees, it’s gonna be nice, White, suburban kids, and legacy students. People who will take their MBAs with a shot of whiskey and replace their dads in the boardrooms one day.

Now, the only question is, will anyone remember this next November?

Happy 4th of July. Not.

1 comment:

Bohemian said...

I had a difficult time feeling Patriotic this 4th of July due to the dire condition of our Nation, our eroding Freedoms and Human Rights, and how Domestic Terrorists, Fascists, Lunatic Fringe, Religious Zealots and Extremists are now in charge of running the Asylum they intentionally created. Yes, the dumbing down of America is handy for the Elite, easier to manipulate and exploit the poorly Educated and Marginalized of any Society... it's what Pol Pot wanted when he began committing Genocide of the Educated. My Ex-DIL is Cambodian and her Family {well some of them} survived the Killing Fields of that Regime. They lost about half their Family and spent Years in Refugee Camps until they could get Asylum here in the U.S.. Back in 2016 she told me that 45 and his Sycophants reminded her of Pol Pot and his Sycophants and it scared her whole Family, since, they knew what it could portend. I've heard the same from German Nationals who Survived Nazi Germany's Rule during WWII. Those who have lived thru these kinds of atrocities can spot the similarities and it's a shame more Americans are keeping their Eyes wide shut and seem oblivious.