Republican Fuckery XVIII: Clarence Thomas Paid Off, Kevin McCarthy’s Usual BS & MI Republicans are Behind the Times

In the moment, it is easy to believe that you are making the right decision. History, however, may say otherwise.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s reputation has taken a nosedive over the past few years (not that it was solid, to begin with. Re: Anita Hill). The most recent scandal is that he has been allegedly bought and paid for by right-wing Real Estate mogul Harlan Crow (the perfect James Bond villain name).

Among the many lavish gifts that Crow has bestowed Thomas are expensive vacations and buying Thomas’s mother’s house so she can live out the rest of her days without worrying about where the next rent payment is coming from. While the latter could be seen as Crow being altruistic, the former is highly problematic. If this isn’t the case for a potential investigation into ethics violations, I don’t know what is.

In other news, Kevin McCarthy continues to prove why he is spineless and a hypocrite. During an interview with CNBC last week about the debt ceiling, McCarthy claimed that Biden has not even tried to negotiate. The truth is that the President has agreed to come to the table. What he will not budge on are cuts to help those who need it the most and ruining our country’s financial reputation.

And finally, nine Republican state Senators from Michigan voted to keep a century old that bill would make it illegal for unmarried couples to live together.

I don’t know about anyone else, I have plenty of friends who lived together before they married. I also know other couples who are not married and happily living together. I have two questions for these state Senators:

1. Don’t you have more important things to worry about than whether or not a cohabitated couple has said: “I do”?
2. What era do you think we live in?

If this side of the aisle wants to remain in power and win future elections, I suggest that they stop alienating young voters. The wise person would not ignore their collective voice/vote.

Just another day in America.

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Republican Fuckery XVII: The Tennesse Three, MTG comes to NYC, and the 60 Minutes Interview

From a distance, it may seem that democracy does not need tending to. Once established, it can survive on its own. The truth is that it requires all of us to pay attention, specifically when it could go to h*ll in a handbasket.

Earlier this week, in response to the school shooting in Nashville, protestors swarmed the state capitol. Supporting them were three state representatives who are on the blue side of the aisle. One is a Caucasian woman (Gloria Johnson) and two are men of color (Justin Jones and Justin Pearce). The leadership wanted them out. In a telling reaction, Ms. Johnson retained her position. But Mr. Jones and Mr. Pearce were expelled from their seats.

This does not happen in a country with a thriving and respected democracy. This happens in a fascist government where the wants and the needs of the average person on the street are ignored by those in power whose only concern is staying in power.

Meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene once more proved why she is unfit for office. When she came to New York City earlier this week to support the former guy, she was swamped by protestors. What she experienced this week (and what Ted Cruz also experienced last year) is that we are loud, proud, and not afraid to shit on you if you shit on us.

For some reason, someone at 60 Minutes thought it was a good idea to interview the Congresswoman and air the interview.

I don’t know whose bright idea this was or the reason for the conversation. Either way, it was dumb and gave this woman a platform that was unwarranted. What is worse is that instead of the hard hitting questions that I would have expected from this OG television news program, softball questions were lobbed at her. This is the type of content that I expect from Fox News, not a respected and established show like 60 Minutes.

These people should not be in government. I beg with, I plead with my fellow citizens to get them out of the office before this country goes down the tubes for good.

P.S. Did you hear that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has not been reporting luxury vacations paid for by a 1% Republican donor? It’s time for limits on SCOTUS.

The Recent LGBTQ Supreme Court Ruling Was a Waste of Time and Taxpayer Dollars

The purpose of the Supreme Court is to parse our laws and determine the direction that they should take. Its purpose is not to cater to an individual’s beliefs.

On Monday, a bullshit case was brought to the nation’s highest court. Lorie Smith, a wedding website designer from Colorado sued for the right to only work with heterosexual couples. Her claim came via her faith.

Obviously, as a business owner, Ms. Smith has the right to decide which customers she works with. She also has the right to be open and free in her beliefs. By the same turn, an engaged couple has the right to determine which vendors they work with in regard to their big day.

There are two problems here:

1. The situation that was presented to the court is purely hypothetical. She isn’t open for business yet.
2. It harkens back to the days in which the following sign appeared on the doorway of a business: No (enter ethnicity or racial background here) allowed. In this case, the (digital) sign says LGBTQ. I want to believe that this idea is in the past, but I know better.

This was nothing more than a waste of time and taxpayer dollars. In an effort to legitimize her own prejudice, she took space away from a real case that could affect our future as a country.

This is shameful. We are better than this, I know we are. Unfortunately, there are people like Lorie Smith who keep us in the past instead of moving forward.

Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships Book Review

Our friends are more than our chosen family. They are our support system and the ones we turn to in our hour of need.

For more than fifty years, respected NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg palled around with the late Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Their half-a-century friendship is detailed in Totenberg’s new memoir, Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships.

The book tells a dual narrative. It reveals the real women behind the powerhouse figures while reminding the reader of the barriers they broke along the way. Through professional highs and personal sorrows, Totenberg and Ginsburg were as thick as thieves.

The book is ok. Though there is no denying that both women made history and continue to inspire us today. The problem is that the story is slow. Though I did finish it, I was left with an eh feeling.

Do I recommend it? Maybe.

Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships is available wherever books are sold.

Yeshiva University Should be Forced to Recognize and Legitimize its LGBTQ Student Organization

Religion is a beautiful thing. It can bring people together, create communities, and ensure that traditions are passed on to the next generation. It can also be used as an excuse to exclude, murder, and destroy people and ideas seen as “other”.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that in the Yeshiva University v. YU Pride Alliance case that in the short term, the university does not have to recognize its LGBTQ student organization. While the school was waiting for the decision to come down, the administration chose to suspend all student-led clubs.

According to a survey released last year, only 22% of Americans attend religious services of any kind. In this same survey, 31% have never prayed in a formal setting.

It goes without saying that the institution’s cultural and academic foundation is based on traditional Jewish values and teachings. If a particular student is not happy, they are free to continue their education elsewhere.

I disagree with the resolution (Unorthodox podcast talks about it at 20:07). Religion is well and good. But if it is so stuck in the past that modernity and the march toward equality are ignored, that is a problem. If faith leaders want to increase attendance in the various houses of worship, they cannot bury their heads in the sand. This is why people walk away from organized religion. They feel disrespected, ignored, or both.

It’s akin to throwing out the baby with the bathwater. I don’t get it.

I have not attended Saturday morning Shabbat services in more than twenty years. When I do go to services (which are mostly on the high holidays at my parent’s temple), I am turned off by the lack of acknowledgment of women within the prayer book. I know there are other synagogues that are more egalitarian. But, in this case, I wish that I was seen and respected within the liturgy.

Inclusion and respect is the only way to increase participation in formal religious practice and live up to the ideals set up by our founders. I think it would behoove Yeshiva University administrators to rethink the choice they have made.

Flashback Friday: Loving (2016)

Progress does not always come from legislation. It comes from human beings who stand up for themselves and what they believe in.

The 2016 film, Loving, is based on the true story of the 1967 Supreme Court case Loving vs. Virginia.

In the 1960s, Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga) are young newlyweds. The problem is that Richard was White and Mildred was Black. In many parts of this country at the time, interracial marriage was illegal. After their arrest, they fought for their right to stay married and to be recognized as a married couple.

This movie is so good. It tugs at your heartstrings, makes you believe in love, and makes you grateful for the sacrifices Richard and Mildred made.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Domestic Supply of Infants is Not That Hard to Understand

The difference between being seen as breeding stock and a fully-fledged human being with responsibilities, dreams, ambitions, etc comes down to one word: rights.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito made a very damning and unnerving statement in the body of the leaked draft of the opinion that could potentially overturn Roe V. Wade. Buried in the footnotes is a quote from a 2002 CDC report about adoption within the United States.

“Whereas the domestic supply of infants relinquished at birth or within the first month of life and available to be adopted has become virtually nonexistent.”

I’m going to let NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and the late George Carlin take it from here.

What bothers me are two things. The first thing is that it opens the door to a slippery slope. Abortion is low-hanging fruit to these people. What’s next? Losing access to birth control? Taking away the ability to marry for LGBTQ couples and biracial couples? Undoing the 19th amendment and the 14th amendment?

The second thing is that this opinion is based on rulings that are centuries old. I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that they are grasping at straws, finding any legal theory (even the archaic ones) that they believe will support their cause.

Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about SCOTUS judges. Their appointments are for life. But we can vote for Democrats at every level. They are the only ones who are both working for the people of this nation and fighting for the freedoms that we all hold dear.

Our Greatest Fears Have Come to Pass: Roe V. Wade is About to be Overturned

Last night, a figurative bomb was dropped on the nation.

A draft of a Supreme Court ruling was released. A majority of the justices have voted to overturn Roe V. Wade. Though this is only a draft and not the final decision, it is enough to raise alarm bells.

Most Americans support a woman/pregnant person’s right to make their own decisions about their bodies and their future. The minority who would ban the procedure in all forms do not care about their fellow citizens. They only care about pushing their belief on the rest of us, whether we like it or not.

I am going to end this post with a video from the MeidasTouch podcast. Gilead is no longer fiction, it is becoming our reality.

Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality Book Review

No social movement that aims to create a better world is without its internal struggle. While the men are at the forefront, it is often the women who do the work. But few are given the spotlight and the respect they deserve.

The late Constance Baker Motley was one of these women. Her story is told in the new biography Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality. Written by Tomiko Brown-Nagin, it was published in January. Born to immigrants from the Caribbean in 1921, she came of age in an era in which both her gender and her skin color created barriers. Instead of just submitting to these barriers, she broke them. After graduating from law school, she was the only female on staff working for the legal team of the NAACP under the leadership of the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Balancing work, marriage, and motherhood, Baker Motley smashed both Jim Crow to bits and created a large crack in the glass ceiling. Her career contained a lot of the firsts: the first African-American woman who was a state Senator in NY and the federal judiciary, and the first woman elected as Manhattan Borough President.

As a product of the American education system, I am utterly dismayed that she is not a household name. She was not just a groundbreaker, but a rule breaker. These days, it is perfectly normal for a woman to have the figurative balls of her job, her marriage, and her children in the air at the same time. But not back then. In fighting for the rights of both women and Black Americans, she paved the way for equality that has become the norm and unfortunately, still has to be fought for.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality is available wherever books are sold.

This Week in American Women: Ketanji Brown Jackson, Karen Berg, and Madeleine Albright

Despite what history (and some men) may say, women are resourceful, intelligent, and more than capable. We just need the opportunity to prove ourselves.

Last week, America lost one of her giants in both history and politics. Madeleine Albright passed away at the age of 84. Appointed to the role of Secretary of State by former President Bill Clinton in 1997, she was the first woman to hold that position. Born to Holocaust survivors who fled Soviet-era Czechoslovakia in 1949, she did not learn that her family was Jewish until she was in her golden years. She will be remembered not just for the crack she left in the glass ceiling, but for her fight for peace and understanding between the nations.

May her memory be a blessing. Z”L

For the last week or so, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has been grilled by members of Congress in regards to her potentially taking over the seat of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer when he retires at the end of this term. Judge Jackson is more than qualified for the position. To say that some members of the Republican Party have been outrageous in their conduct towards her is an understatement. Instead of asking genuine questions about her work experience, they are once more appealing to their base by picking at literal straws.

Meanwhile, in Kentucky, the subject of abortion has come up again in the cruelest of manners. Standing up for women and other possibly pregnant persons is State Senator Karen Berg. As the only female and the only doctor on the committee, she pointed out how ridiculous and dangerous (starts at 40:51) the limits on abortion are.

It’s time that we listen not just to these women, but to all women. We have voices, we have opinions, and it’s about dam time we are given our due.