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May 13, 2022Liked by Steven Beschloss

Great article. A portion of this is around the right to privacy and the right to self-determination. In the land of the free it seems to this Canadian a citizen has to be brave to weather the assaults on self-determination. This is hard and incessant work but as Socrates noted the unexamined life is a crock.He might have said it a little more elegantly but my Greek is poor. Cheers!

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So the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution strictly and says abortion isn't in the Constitution. Thus denying many of their right to privacy. Then, those who would be hurt by these victims, go any peacefully demonstrate against that leaked draft; and some on the the Supreme Court and in other parts of government, say these victims don't have the right to peacefully assemble. However, that is exactly in the Constitution, 1st Amendment. So, strict interpretation works when the Supreme Court wants it to work. But strict interpretation doesn't work when the most needy among us want their 1st Amendment rights. A double standard I think. And same-sex marriage isn't enumerated in the Constitution. And birth control isn't enumerated in the Constitution. So, what's next. Our world is broken. And I must take a moment to remember the 1,000,000 in the US who have died from COVID. The former President bullied people with misinformation, and people followed him. But the followers didn't just hurt themselves. By not being vaccinated, they allowed COVID to spread and continue on in variants 2+ years later, causing the vulnerable to die (even in some cases when they themselves were vaccinated). Possibly leading to long COVID in others. The science isn't complete yet. So, the former President and his enablers, bullied people with misinformation which is hurting all of us. Sorry to end the week on such a downer; but it is a foggy, grey, cloudy day where I live, and it all just seems like the world is crying right now .

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For the past six years, I have been asking what it will take for my American cousins to go to the Barricades, to put their bodies on the line for their democracy (I am an American expat living abroad, gratefully). Perhaps this is now the issue that will bring out the sustained protest and civil disobedience (Good Trouble!) that is so obviously needed if you are going to save your Republic. This is urgent -- both the saving of the Republic, and the assault on our reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. For too long, the bullies have been tolerated; they have been only emboldened by our civility, our reasoned discourses. I for one am not optimistic that the November midterm elections will actually be free and fair -- I think it is entirely possible that the state-level gerrymandering and vote suppression will prove enough to throw the election. If overturning Roe isn't enough to bring people out onto the streets by the millions, perhaps a bogus election will be. But by then, will it be too late? We should've been standing up to these bullies for the past 40 years. But we haven't been, and that's how we got here.

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Our illustrious forefathers who wrote the Constitution considered women to be property of their husbands. They could own no property, could not vote, were 2nd class citizens. So, if the Court says they are following the strict interpretation of that Constitution, they are. Throughout most of our history, men have taken the lead, made the laws, been something like mini dictators. Yet, Abigail Adams advised her husband and carried on correspondence with Jefferson. Men quickly fled the White House while Dolly Madison took the time to save Washington's picture. Clara Barton administered to the wounded during the Civil War and founded the Red Cross. Lucretia Mott was a central leader against slavery,(yet denied admittance to an anti slavery convention in London because she was a woman.) Mary Washington's family leadership formed the basis of her son's life beliefs. Eleanor Roosevelt was her husband's eyes and ears . Even Lewis & Clark needed Sacagawea. The list goes on and on. Yet, even today, among many Republican members of Congress and the Supreme Court, the little woman should be relegated to the position of housewife to dust the furniture and keep the bathrooms clean. AND bear children.

The minute a sperm penetrates an egg, it is not a baby. It might become one. We have to admit that. Even Alexander Hamilton was illegitimate, and had he been aborted, it would have been a loss to our country. It's a difficult subject. BUT..... it is not government's business ! The decision must be made by the girl/woman. It is her body. It is her right. She, alone, knows the circumstances, the consequences. Some appalling Ted Cruz, accused rapists Kavanaugh & Thomas, not to mention trump, have no business entering into her life. I read they even want to ban contraceptives. Have they nothing of more import to consider?

Like Russia now bullying Finland, destroying Ukraine, threatening nuclear weapon use, primarily because V Putin wishes to go down in history as an equal to Peter the Great, or heaven forbid, Joseph Stalin.

Women came into their own during WW II when they took over the jobs left vacant by drafted soldiers. They have become directors, leaders of companies, occupiers of high government office, famous writers, artists, why, usually, girls earn higher grades, are even taller than boys for many young years. Some body part does not make a superior person. Even the ugliest of men think they have the right to flirt offensively with the grocery store cashier.

Since President 45, there has been trouble with a capital T, and that stands for trump. He is the Alpha bully. He has caused the country to go backwards in beliefs, actions, and he has originated hatred, division, rudeness, name calling, egotism, and the rule of ignorance. But, you know what? Women are smart, wise, makers of men, and in the end, women rule. So there.

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You ask “Should they expect … that their fellow citizens would just remain silent?”

I think therein lies the problem. They think they’re legal royalty.

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