I was all set to post another siren’s song about the genius you will have the chance to see and meet at this month’s Media Insights Conference in Nashville (which you can still read about and sign up for–at a substantial discount!–on the tab you’ll find elsewhere on this site).
But, of course, yesterday’s headlines kind of, well, aborted that plan for the moment.
No, I’m not a woman, and obviously cannot ever understand the emotional and physical trauma of deciding to and having an abortion. But I can empathize, and the degree of literal all-consuming alarm that echoed through virtually every media outlet apart from Fox Nation yesterday makes crystal clear that the revelation that our Supreme Court intends to revoke Roe v. Wade and turn the “freedom of decision” loose to states increasingly being driven by factions that can tactfully be described as a tad delusional is about as Armageddon-like a moment that we have faced outside of an actual asteroid hitting our planet.
Sure enough, New York governor Kathy Hochuland Vice President Harris led the list of millions of women with some degree of influence who expressed distress and consternation. Having their voices at this time versus those of their respective offices’ predecessors was somewhat comforting.
But this absolutely CANNOT simply be a war of words. Unless they’re five letters long with six guesses, words have increasingly little meaning these days.
Allow me to give a few somewhat directive suggestions:
— Maybe instead of having people storm a federal building, why not draw an inspiration from, say, Martin Luther King, and immediately organize a Million Persons March on Washington? Women, of course, should be foremost, but do NOT limit yourself to that gender. Insist on representation from men, people of color, indigenous backgrounds, every letter and mathematical sign from LGBTQI+ and beyond, and PEACEFULLY surround every possible public building in Washington, D.C. between now and when the Supreme Court intends to sit down and enact the ruling that Politico leaked yesterday.
— Start becoming so loud and ubiquitous that we become impossible to ignore. Follow Brett Kavanagh at a Home Depot and really make him cry.
— Hire a couple of marathon runners to keep pace with Kyrtsen Sinema when she tries to sprint through an airport like O.J. Simpson. A good deal of this inevitability lies in the Democratic party’s defiance to suspend filibuster laws. Sinema is the spokeswoman of that defense. Make her suffer as much as she can emotionally for that decision every waking minute of her politically influenced life.
— Shadow Amy Coney Barrett as she goes to Sunday worship. Go ahead and worship, please. But humans should at least have the chance to get equal time with the speaking of tongues she is clearly hearing in her head
— Get Stephen A. Smith, or even Chris Redd, to go on a daily rant about this. With all due respect to Nets fans, this issue probably warrants more daily time than Kyrie Irving’s sense of entitlement for a while. (We’ll get around to that somewhere else some other time).
— Take the lead of a couple of hundred early adopters in Los Angeles who started this process last night and start your PEACEFUL protesting NOW. If things get out of hand, have a few tomatoes on hand for self-defense. We know how much some of those defenders of justice fear fruit. (Do hold back on pineapples, cuz those pointy things could take someone’s eye out, and you might get shot in the legs for THAT.
— Seize upon social media and local news and emphasize this call to action as much, or more, than those who continue to push CDC recommendations and pleas for vaccinations. Hey, I can practically recite the mantra. I’m good, as you know, and I strongly suspect the majority of America got the note. What they choose to do with it is now in their court. Right, Messers Fauci and Biden?
If you think this is overnight ranting of my own, you’d be as sadly misinformed as the judges who appear to be determined to put their name on this ideological interpretation. The harsh reality is that not only is the right of a woman to determine what comes out of her body at stake, but the right of elected officials having a say in any expression of individual rights is. That’s where I relate so emotionally, and I’d like to believe an awful lot of you do as well.
But yes, this is all about a decision that allowed legal, safe abortions to occur beginning nearly a half-century ago. And mark my words–if the repeal of Roe v. Wade does happen, one of the first states that will likely act toward making it eminently more difficult to have that freedom will be Texas. The same state where one of its more prominent, Twitter-obsessed senators is charged with serving.
And make no mistake about this–the chance of a child who could look like this should be motivation enough for you to grab a sign, or at least send a tweet, in support of action NOW.
But if we do support action, it is up to the likes of Harris, Hochul and others to actually DO SOMETHING!!!! This is NOT a time for political grandstanding. This is a time for constructive, intelligent but determined legal maneuvering. Green Bay sweep? Maybe a Tompa Bay sweep?
Honestly, it’s exhausting to even think about the challenge of fighting this. But it has to occur. Complaining about the weakness of the law and the fierce, zealotic determination of the conservative Court majority to repeal it is as hyperbolic as their drivel.
And this is no time for just words.
Today is May the Fourth, which celebrates the peaceful use of the Force. Use the force of action to help us avoid the fate so many complainers almost telegraphed as fait de complis yesterday. What happened 50 years ago is on them. What happens from now until June 9 is on US.
Until next time…