-Joe Manchin, confused about what "democracy" means

WELP!

• A leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion, written by the most partisan justice, Samuel Alito, suggests that at least five, if not all six, right-wing justices have voted (at least, initially) to overturn both Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood—the two precedents that circumscribe the Constitutional right to abortion in the United States. If adopted as the official opinion of the Court, Alito's medieval ruling would also upend the legal bases for other essential rights, including contraception and same-sex and interracial marriage, all of which would become newly vulnerable to legal challenges, and signal the court’s readiness to consider “fetal personhood” arguments, to criminalize abortion nationwide. 
   
• The news of the (seemingly) pending decision broke late Monday night. Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the document Tuesday morning, but cautioned that it “does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.” He called the disclosure, “a singular and egregious breach of…trust” and “an affront to the Court” which will be the subject of an internal investigation.
   
• But the merits of the decision upended national politics in one fell swoop. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a joint statement lambasting the “Republican-appointed Justices’ reported votes” as “one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history.” They said “several of these conservative justices…have lied to the U.S. Senate” and promised that “every Republican Senator who supported Senator McConnell and voted for Trump Justices pretending that this day would never come will now have to explain themselves to the American people.” To that end, Schumer promised an immediate vote to codify the right to abortion, and Democratic Senate candidates across the country revived their pledges to support changing the filibuster rules to restore the right to abortion next year.

You’d think Republicans, suddenly on the cusp of achieving through the stolen courts what they’ve failed to accomplish legislatively for 50 years, would be thrilled with their impending victory.

• It turns out orchestrating a move that 70 percent of the country opposes is bad politics! Republicans have, thus, largely limited their comments to feigned outrage about the leak itself, which they have blamed, without any evidence, on the “radical left.” Their fainting-couch routine serves the dual purpose of deflecting attention from the horror show of the opinion itself, and of fending off reported efforts by Roberts to peel off one other right-wing justice for a less sweeping opinion—a possibility elite conservatives have been stewing about publicly.  
   
• Speculating about the leaker and his or her motive has become a source of fascination in political circles. But 1) too many reasonable theories fit the facts: A conservative leak to fend off Roberts? A liberal leak to direct public outrage at the court? A non-ideological leak meant to warn women whose access to abortion will disappear in a few short weeks? Something, something Ginni Thomas? And 2) as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told one reporter, “Really? You think the whole issue is about a leak? This is about five extremist justices… at least two of them swore up and down that they cared about the rule of law and Roe v. Wade is settled law.”

On this special, emergency episode of Strict Scrutiny, Kate, Leah, and Melissa get together to discuss a leaked, Supreme Court draft-opinion that indicates the justices are prepared to overrule the decisions enshrining and reaffirming the constitutional right to abortion.

A brief, limited ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine allowed aid workers to evacuate 150 civilians from a former industrial plant fortress in Mariupol, where they had sheltered along with Ukrainian troops during the final showdown over control of the city, and take them into Ukrainian-controlled territory. When the relief workers completed their mission, Russian forces resumed shelling the once-abandoned steel facility, though the Pentagon’s chief spokesman described Russia’s overall offensive in eastern Ukraine as “anemic” and “plodding.”  Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has repurposed his “Jews are the real Nazis” line of attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for Israel, accusing Israel of supporting neo-Nazis in Ukraine, and now Israel is on the verge of supplying military equipment to Ukraine for the first time. 

• The U.S. government now considers WNBA star Brittney Griner to be wrongfully detained by Russia, freeing U.S. diplomats to negotiate for her safe return.  
   
• Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) has appointed Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-NY) to be her lieutenant governor.
   
• The Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog found that Trump-era acting-Secretary Chad Wolf ordered a coverup of a report concluding that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump, because it would “hurt POTUS.”
   
• Disgraced former president Donald Trump has settled with Attorney General Karl Racine (D-DC), ending a lawsuit alleging that Trump’s inaugural committee paid over a million dollars above market rate to Trump’s Washington, DC, hotel. The settlement amounted to three-fourths of the damages Racine sought. 
   
• Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) encouraged an anti-vaxxer who claimed the COVID-19 vaccines cause “vaccine-induced AIDS” to work “one step at a time” to “get a larger percentage of the population with their eyes open to…’these vaccine issues’” because “everything you said may be true.” 
   
• Peter Brimelow, a former National Review editor, notorious racist, and close associate of Rupert Murdoch, celebrated the looming demise of the right to abortion rights by tweeting “Next stop Brown vs. Board.”
   
• Democratic concerns that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is too senile to do her job have reached the New York Times. 
   
• Rachel Maddow will shift to hosting her primetime MSNBC show one day a week on Mondays; Tuesday through Friday, it will be called “MSNBC Prime.”
   
• Norm Mineta, cabinet secretary to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, has died at age 90. 

Ohio Republicans will choose between an assortment of fascists and Matt Dolan to run for Senate in today’s primary election. Though Dolan has surged in the polls in the closing days of the race, the leading candidate heading into Tuesday was Trump-endorsed, billionaire-backed, power-mad phony JD Vance. Whoever wins will likely face Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), who responded to the Roe leak, with a statement reading in part, “We cannot sit back and allow the Supreme Court to gut Ohioans’ most fundamental rights. Control of the Senate has never been more important: it’s time to end the filibuster, pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, and fight like hell to make sure all Ohio families are free to make these critical decisions without interference from politicians in Columbus or Washington.” If nothing else, that’s a revealing and hopeful barometer of post-Roe abortion politics.

Life can be overwhelming, and many people are burned out without even knowing it. Symptoms of burnout can include lack of  motivation, feeling helpless or trapped, detachment, fatigue, and more. 
 

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The Women’s March organized rallies at courthouses and federal buildings across the country as a show of support for Roe. 

Washtenaw County, MI, lead prosecutor Eli Savit will not prosecute abortion if and when it becomes illegal in Michigan, providing a possible resistance template for other prosecutors in blue islands of red and purple states. 

President Biden invited the labor organizers at Amazon to visit him at the White House. 

Germany has promised to support Sweden and Finland’s admission to NATO, if the two Scandinavian countries decide to join.