Dear Progressive Reader,
Thank you to everyone who sent kind notes and well-wishes after last week’s newsletter. I continue to improve, although (unlike the President) I am not planning any large mask-less, in-person, campaign rallies anytime soon.
The major news this past week was the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett. From the start, chair Lindsey Graham assured viewers and listeners that the event would not be about changing anyone’s mind. But many issues were raised during the speeches and questioning. As Ruth Conniff reports this week, “make no mistake, despite Barrett’s evasive answers on the ACA (and nearly every other topic), she is on the record opposing Obamacare.” And, she continues, “Her refusal to say she would recuse herself from an election-related decision left little doubt that she would be willing to play a role in helping Trump undermine voting results in November if they don’t go his way.” Mike Ervin looks at Barrett’s record and anticipates her appointment would be detrimental to people with disabilities, noting that Trump “has an affinity for judges who are hostile toward ideals that shift the nation’s power dynamics beyond what they were in the 1940s. Replacing Ginsburg is his big chance to pour enough molasses into the gears of progress to gum them up for decades to come.” And, as Mark Fiore illustrates, “Getting Trump’s third justice onto the supreme court takes precedence over bringing relief to people in this country who are being devastated by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Kaleena Thomhave, in the most recent issue of The Progressive, describes the ways in which anti-choice activists have been getting a boost from Trump and Republican governors and state legislatures. “The Trump Administration,” she writes, “has not only put forward its own anti-abortion attacks but has legitimized—and inspired—severe restrictions and attacks on abortion. And, in doing so, it has emboldened a movement and invited extremists to the highest ranks of power.” But Eleanor Bader this week finds many religious groups that are allied with pro-choice organizations, pointing out that “while 63 percent of Evangelicals oppose legal abortion in all circumstances, nearly half of all Catholics—48 percent—express support for reproductive choice. Similarly, mainline Protestants, including 79 percent of Episcopalians and 65 percent of Lutherans, believe it important to give folks reproductive options. Likewise, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists overwhelmingly support contraceptive and abortion access.” As one rabbi told her, “We have to mobilize on every level and remind our lawmakers that most people believe in abortion and support access to reproductive health care. We also have to remind them that many religious traditions see abortion as a moral option and a public good.”
John Nichols interviewed actor and activist John Cusack for the latest issue of The Progressive. Cusack looks forward to the November election, saying, “We have to recognize that, as Noam Chomsky says, we are voting against neofascism, and yet we are also voting for more neoliberalism. After the election, we have to push the neoliberals back into the New Deal framework that the times demand. There’s going to have to be an FDR-like intervention.”
Finally, if you listen to the Trump campaign, “socialism” is on the ballot in November. Luckily, there is a new documentary film that gives the history of The Big Scary “S” Word, and explains it in an American context. Ed Rampell brings us a review of the new film, opening at various festivals this month. Just in time us to cast our ballots.
Keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.
Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher
P.S – our new 2021 Hidden History of the United States calendar is now available for purchase through our website. They make great gifts and hang well on walls and refrigerators.
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