no newsletter today. you probably know this by now but last night while all of your faves were hitting the red carpet at the met gala (literally themed “Gilded Glamor” - now to open a history book and see what happened after the last Gilded Age…) a draft opinion leaked from the supreme court indicating their intent to overturn roe v wade in the next month or so.
you probably know this by now too but despite the fact that overturning Roe does not enjoy more than 30% popularity in any state in the union, decades of single-minded focus by the extreme right wing of this country, coupled with decades of the center-right democratic party either ignoring or actively assisting in this goal, means that popular support for any given idea or policy has essentially zero correlation to the likelihood of that idea or policy becoming or remaining law. so there are a lot of “red states” with so-called “trigger laws” that will immediately ban abortion as soon as Roe is struck down by the supreme court. maybe you live in one. you certainly live near one.
you may, at this point, have already been inundated by fundraising emails from some democratic politician at some level in the state or national party conglomerate. because once again, it’s time to get ready to Vote Blue No Matter Who. once again, for the tenth or eleventh time in my lifetime it’s The Most Important Election Of Our Lifetime. november, that is. can’t do anything until then, of course. you understand. we only have a democratic president and democratic control of the house and democratic control of congress. but of course, the hands of the democrats are tied, as they always are. unless you vote very hard in the next cycle! unless you give us money, help us fundraise, so we can get the word out about our wonderful candidates and their promising messages like “I Love to Access Healthcare At A Reasonable Price Point” and “The Weapons Industry Needs More Queer Voices.”
please ignore the fact that nancy pelosi is literally campaigning for an anti-choice democrat in texas and is on record as saying that the big democratic tent needs to be big enough for anti-abortion democrats, too. please ignore the fact that the democrats have not once used their majorities in the house and senate at any time over the past forty years (including under Obama!) to actually codify Roe v Wade into law at a federal level, despite having the power to do so many, many times and despite fundraising on it every fucking election.
please ignore the fact that Medicare for All, which would not only enshrine abortion protections as a matter of federal law, but make all healthcare actually available to the poor and working people, has never gotten further than a House committee despite the fact that it is massively popular and again, the democrats are allegedly in power.
“elect us because we need to protect abortion rights. vote for us because roe v wade is at stake.”
well guess what - people did! in historic numbers. they did in 2008 and Obama used his supermajority to give trillions of dollars to banks and health insurance companies and ramped up illegal drone wars and fracking. they did in 2012, more of the same. they did in 2020, and delivered the presidency, house, and senate. wow!
what happened next? can we go to the tape?
you could be forgiven for thinking that gee, maybe this is something the party leaders just don’t feel that strongly about! gee, if it was as important as they say, maybe things like getting rid of the filibuster or expanding the size of the court - things that could happen tomorrow - would be happening. but for some reason, they are not. and for some reason, giving the DCCC more of your money and your vote in 6 months will absolutely, definitely change that.
so please do not give them any of your money. if you have the money to spare please give it to an abortion provider in your area because organizations like that will be filling in the gaps the democratic party refuses to, for the foreseeable future, until the working people of this country are organized enough to get rid of the Supreme Court and the Senate and every other anti-democratic institution.
i found this list here and set up a monthly contribution to the Northwest Abortion Access Fund. maybe you’d like to do the same if you’re able.
do not give your money to the democratic party.
there are bright spots on the horizon. the wave of Starbucks unionizations. the historic victory at the Amazon warehouse. and so on. the horizon is a long way off, still, it’s true, but it’s worth remembering that what it’s going to take is working people getting organized, and using their collective power to impose the changes on our legal and economic structures that the democratic party will always refuse to.
well i guess that’s about it. i’m pretty angry and i’m sure you are too. so do what you can where you’re able. i’ll see ya next week.
(Taking a moment to connect all the dots . . .) Omg, you're right; you're right...