Justice Samuel Alito. Stand Up And Take A Bow, Fool

You know, it’s kind of funny. As I’ve written, right now the GOP wants to talk about anything other than the content of the leaked Alito draft overturning Roe. They’ll talk about the leak, they’ll talk about the leak being a crime, they’ll even talk about protesters in front of Alito and Kavanaugh’s houses as criminals. But not a word about the content.

The problem for the GOP is that a couple of pompous, overstuffed, arrogant poltroons don’t seem to have gotten the memo. I’m talking about Justices Alito and Thomas. Granted, they start off by whining about the protesters, and saying they’re Throwing a temper tantrum, but they never quite seem to know when to Shut Up! They just can’t resist swaggering on to say how the protests Won’t change the results! If I’m Mitch McConnell, I gotta be looking at these two mental midgets with my arms spread wide and pleading, Dudes! Can you give a brother a break?

Because this is a slow motion train wreck for the GOP. MSNBC had a poll today that dealt specifically with the issues that are most important to voters going into November. The results are going to have the GOP ordering Maalox by the railroad car. They show that Inflation is 26%, immediately followed by abortion rights at 25%. This is a statistical tie. There are two things I know, 5 1/2 months before the election. One, the economy could get better between now and November, and two, the abortion backlash is only going to get worse.

Here’s another reason why this can only get worse, and possibly even overshadow the economy for the GOP in 2022. There are two things that a whole lot of people don’t pay much attention to, politics and the economy. Why? because politics is complicated, and often sleazy, and the economy is just plain complicated.

Which is a real problem for the media, because how do you dumb down the economy so that largely disinterested people can understand it? The simplest way I can think of to explain it is this. The economy is like one of those empty warehouse domino mazes. It’s incredibly intricate, and every domino has to be placed just right. And while you’re building it, one accidental slip could send 6 months of excruciatingly hard work crashing down all around you. But can the media sell it to the general public?

Now, abortion on the other hand is simple. And the media loves simple. Just look at the amount of airtime the networks gave Trump in 2016 because he was both ridiculous and free. Abortion is quick and easy to explain. Should a woman have the right and autonomy to decide for herself when and how to start a family, and how many children to have, and under what circumstances, or should a state government mandate it for her. The media can toss that word salad in endless combinations, and still come up at the same place in the end. Just what they love.

Let’s just say that the SCOTUS comes out on June 26th and parrots the decision in the original Alito draft. The media will spend the rest of the month of June covering that decision, and the massive protests that follow. In July and August, they’ll be busy covering all of the states that have snapback laws ending abortion in the state the minute SCOTUS overturns Roe, and the massive marches and protests that follow. And in September and October, they’ll be busy following other red states rushing to outlaw abortion, and the resulting massive rallies and protests.

Let’s face it. Economics is just flat out dull, meant for nerds and data wonks. Let me ask you this. When’s the last time you saw a report on CNN or MSNBC of mass protest rallies against high gas prices, or higher food costs? My guess? Never. Because economics is what it is, people bitch about it, and then they deal with it. But for the media, abortion rights are sexy. It is a red hot button issue that immediately causes a visceral reaction, followed by mass protests. And that’s the thing the media loves to cover.

SCOTUS could have easily avoided all of this. All they had to do was to uphold the Mississippi 15 week abortion ban, strike down the Texas law as unconstitutional, and let other more restrictive state laws be struck down as well. After all, statistics show that 91% of women have an abortion in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy.

But no. Those two butterbrains, Alito and Thomas, had to do the math, and reach far beyond the mandate of the decision that they were there to adjudicate, and overturn Roe entirely. And in doing so, they created a climate that may not just enlarge the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate to codify Roe into law, but enough to literally reform the court by adding more justices. Justice Samuel Alito? Stand up and take a bow, fool!