The voting rights act is history, mifepristone is still around, our military greatness is fading: three mini-posts

John Roberts has spent his years on the court whittling away at democracy in favor of Republican dominance. Most recently we have the destruction of the Voting Rights Act by the typical twisted “logic” of the Roberts court: sure, gerrymandering purely for racist purposes is bad but if you disenfranchise POC for political advantage, that’s not racist. Yes, it’s bullshit, and it takes a sledgehammer to the political power of black Americans. It’s the Republican yearning for the days of the 1950s (only with fewer civil rights marches) made concrete.

What white Republicans want is not only to get “their” country back but to get back the days when the status of whites was unquestioned. Having white men in charge was the way things were and everyone accepted that. There never was such a time — the fight for equality goes back to the birth of America — but they imagine there was. And that if we go back there, they can shut out the whisper in the back of the brain that they really aren’t better than African-Americans, Latinos, women, gays, etc. (though I’m quite sure many of them have buried that truth where they will never have to face it). The Republicans on SCOTUS (the “Sinister Six” as some call them) are all in and not really trying to hide it. LawDork discusses some of the legal fallout. Paul Campos looks at the underlying obsession with undoing the 1960s.

2)Another court has blocked the FDA rule that allows mifepristone to be prescribed without an in-person visit. At the link, Jessica Valenti explains that yes, it’s still possible to obtain mifepristone legally, or to use misoprostol only, though that’s a slower process. The decision is still serious but Republicans are playing it up as A Total Ban, Mifepristone Abortions Are A Crime Now. They’re lying. LawDork’s link has more about that too. SCOTUS has laid down a short ban on the ruling taking effect.

And here’s some good news on abortion and maternal health care.

3)In the Toddler’s desperate quest to build a legacy that will after him, he’s pushing to build super-battleships. At the link, Paul Krugman points out drone warfare works very well against battleships. And each battleship would cost $17 billion. “Each of these ships would, for example, cost almost twice the pre-Trump annual budget of the National Science Foundation, although the NSF, like all funding sources for research, is now facing savage budget cuts. On the other hand, it would be hard for Trump to stick his name on research grants.” As Krugman puts it, we’re the Death Star and the Iranians are the rebels kicking our ass (that is, obviously, about asymmetric military power, not morals).

And now Pete Hegseth has begun bringing his wife to Pentagon meetings, even though she has no military status or any official role. And he’s appointed his brother as senior adviser. I see no way this improves things. And not for the first time, I wish reporters would ask how, given the obvious strain Hegseth is under, he’s coping with avoiding alcohol.

I’ll close with a gift link (I think it is) to a grim article on the ways the sniveling Toddler could disrupt the midterms rather than endure what looks like a humiliating defeat. Which will lead to a de facto dictatorship which will make everything worse.