You all know that one of my favorite phrases is I love it when a plan comes together. But on days like today, especially when it involves the GOP, I have another one, I love it when a plan goes to shit!
Yesterday I wrote that 47 Republicans joined the entire Democratic caucus to pass a bill codifying same sex marriage rights into law. I wrote that this much GOP support put the pressure squarely on the GOP Senate to get their shit together.
It seems to be working. Earlier today on MSNBC, Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman and his partner, Anna Palmer roamed the Senate halls, doing an informal straw poll of GOP senators about the new bill the House was sending over.
On one hand, they found pretty much what they expected. There were 4 GOP Senators who were pretty solid Yes votes to advance the bill to the floor for debate. But what surprised them is that they found 9-12 GOP Senators either open to voting cloture to advance to a floor debate, or open to reading the bill, and listening to both sides before deciding. Potentially more than enough for a cloture vote to advance the bill to debate.
It has been clear from the earliest days that the GOP’s 2022 strategy was going to be running on Culture War issues, since they had no accomplishments to tout. The logic was as simple as it was nefarious. Run on calling Democrats pedophiles, and Disney Groomers. Threaten the fact that having LGBTQ kids talk about having two same sex parents could turn your own kids gay, Critical Race Theory is a liberal pot to make white kids feel guilty, and undocumented brown people are going to vote your country away!
Here’s why it could work. With that strategy, the object isn’t wooing new voters, it’s firing up your base to go to the polls. because the Democrats are in power, and in a midterm, the party in power has to Prove up. They have to show voters that they’ve accomplished enough to deserve to remain in power, and for the last 6 months, the Democrats have been spinning their wheels.
But here’s the McGuffin. Thanks to the 6 GOP Christian Soldier zealots on the Supreme Court, a Culture War is exactly what the GOP is getting. But it’s far from the culture war they wanted.
Because the culture war that the SCOTUS has unleashed is a culture war of hot button issues that favor Democrats. The SCOTUS overturned 50 years of precedent case law, threw women’s reproductive rights into the Cuisinart, and hit puree. Then GOP state legislators got into a Godsmack mosh pit to make it impossible for women to have a choice. And in doing so, they unified pro choice activists and voters in a way the Democrats never could have.
Then that doddering moron Clarence Thomas, in his assent opinion on Roe v Wade wrote that the Supreme Court should also reconsider the Obergefell decision that made same sex marriage the law of the and. And in so doing, he unleashed a world class freak out from LGBTQ members and supporters who have fought too hard to be forced back into the closet again.
And then the SCOTUS culture warriors overturned a New York state law that wants to turn the state back into the wild west. And wouldn’t you know it? Just as luck would have it, right around the time of Uvalde and Highland Park. And activated David Hogg and his March for our lives youth movement.
The GOP wanted to run on a culture war, and that’s exactly what they’ve got. But not their culture war. Their culture war has bombed so badly that now the GOP is attacking fucking Librarians for fostering a woke culture with their book selections.
Meanwhile, The Democrats are motivating the masses on issues like abortion, gun control, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ equality, which have an aggregate popularity of 71% of the American people. Hmmm. Motivating the 35% Trump base as opposed to motivating about 71% of the American population. What could go wrong?
“If you don’t fight like hell…”
I.want my country back. Fuck Traitor Tot, Moscow Mitch and Clueless Kevin. I have been fighting these idiots for 5bloody decadres
And I am a librarian. We select books reflecting all.factual PoV, using revirws.. This means we don’t carry books denying the Holocaust. I.had to explain that to the 16year-old Hitler Youth who wanted a book on Holocaust denial that he could browse our Holocaust shelves, but there is no evidence that it never happened,and tons to.prove it,incuding the lived experience of my great uncle who helped liberate the camps.
Much as I’ve come to loathe Rick Wilson (never forget that, like Steve Schmidt, he’s a Republican political consultant wanting to be employed by “sane” conservatives, people), his contribution to the political discourse applies here. To wit, “f*** around, find out”. That’s what the SCOTUS has done here and Trump will be blamed for that in th event of a political wipeout.
You don’t always get to pick a culture war, sometimes it picks you.
As for Wilson and Schmidt wanting to be employed by “sane conservatives”, that’s an oxymoron and not going to happen.
I put those in quotes for a reason. And THEY think it could happen, hence their current moves. They’re making the reasonable bet that Liz Cheney will be taking over after the Trump cult is driven out and want to be in on the ground floor. Everyone is too mesmerized by the usual suspects of a “competent fascist” to realize that she’s already sitting on the J6 Committee. Be grateful for her help, as it is certainly needed right now. But…NEVER forget who these people are and what they stand for.
They are not only telling us who they are, they are showing us via the SCOTUS actions. The big question is what will our response be?
When you say “scotus” do you mean that train wreck featuring 3 frauds installed by a group that is trying to overthrow the government? Hey, the russian lovers have been working on this since they got caught selling arms to iran in 1985.