Who needs the Kardashians when we have the Supreme Court? SCOTUS has now officially been relegated to bad reality tv.
This is more than disturbing. It is alarming. It is not, however, surprising. I’ve accepted the death of Roe v. Wade as a certainty since the Court agreed to take up the Mississippi case. This one’s a wrap.
For the past five decades, we could have renamed the Supreme Court the Abortion Court, since it often appeared that nobody in America—including the justices—cared about anything else. Seriously, let’s play a word association parlor game. If I say “SCOTUS” you say “abortion.” The words are synonymous and inseparable.
This was a “culture war” before the acronym LGBTQ was even invented or anyone first thought about attacking Mickey Mouse or refused to bake wedding cakes. Abortion is unquestionably the definitive “us vs. them” battle line. And this will not be a mere cultural skirmish. It will be a full-scale war that has been brewing since 1973.
We were told that Roe was “settled law” and a Constitutional “superprecedent.” We of course were told that by SCOTUS nominees themselves, who we all knew were lying their robed asses off during their confirmation hearings. You could almost see them winking and nodding at the rest of the “tribe.”
“Just wait until we can get five votes.”
Well, they waited. And they got ‘em now. And they don’t even need Chief Justice Roberts.
So, to a large extent, “That’s just the way it is,” Bruce.
OK. But here’s the alarming part. We learned about this through a LEAK of a DRAFT? That’s not “Audrey.” That’s tawdry.
And as a result, we are now officially one step closer to literally splitting into two countries. This is that big a deal.
Roe was always vulnerable, Constitutionally. Yep, there was some pretzel logic employed in that decision, regardless of what seems to me a fundamental right for women to control their bodies. There are some holes in the “privacy” argument.
But we learned about this on a Monday night in May. That’s not the way this is supposed to work. And we learned about it through a leak of a draft. That’s not supposed to be the drill, either.
It was like a particularly bad Kardashian re-run. Bad reality tv.
Hmm. Bad Reality TV. Ultimately cynically produced by The King of Bad Reality TV.
Let’s concede this. He said he was going to do this. And he did.