The nation is reeling today in the wake of the Supreme Court’s audacious and illegitimate attack on the rights of all Americans in the Dobbs case [Full PDF of the Court Syllabus and Opinions]. I think it will take some time to fully absorb the true proportions and ultimate effects of this travesty. I can say … Read more
Generally speaking, I prefer to write these columns about local issues, or political matters that are less covered in the national media. But there are times when national (or even international) issues are extremely relevant to our state and district-level politics. This is one of those times. Supreme Court Draft Decision re: Roe v. Wade … Read more
As the Arizona Legislature approaches the 100-day target for the end of session, the Republican Legislators have shifted their focus to passage of their party’s most extreme bills. Rep. Pam Powers Hannley’s latest podcast talks about the Culture War raging in the Legislature. The most recent episode features the 15 week abortion ban, school voucher expansion, homeless encampments and inequitable ambulance services.
In 2016, Senate Republicans stopped President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it was too close to the election and that the new president should choose the new supreme court judge. Despite nationwide outcry against this, the Supreme Court functioned … Read more
There is a historical parallel between the Southern segregationist Dixiecrats’ response to Brown v. Board of Education, requiring desegregation of the nation’s schools “with all deliberate speed,” to the Trump death cult of anti-science, anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers response to President Joe Biden’s modest plan to mandate Covid-19 vaccines to get control of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic. … Read more