Tuesday, July 1, 2014

SCOTUS decision deserves a stronger response than Schuette got

Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them. -- Frederick Douglass
The right wing has obviously figured out that that they can do just fine by neutering congress and relying on the Supreme Court and liberal compliance or passivity to roll back each and every hard-won civil rights victory of the past 50 years. 

SCOTUS majority's latest assault has public-employee unions hanging on by their finger nails and gives right-wing, Christian-owned corporations like Hobby Lobby the power to deny women access to contraception under Obamacare. Hopefully yesterday's disastrous rulings will be met with a louder, better organized and more militant response than the hand-wringing lamentation and even quiet support on the part of Democrats and union leaders in response to the last round decisions on voting rights and affirmative action.  In particular, April's racist Schuette Decision, which demolished affirmative action in Michigan and was seen as this generation's Plessy v. Ferguson, was met with deathly silence coming from Obama and the Democratic leadership. 

It's my belief that their lack of response to Schuette set the stage for the cutting off of the water supply to hundreds of thousands of Detroit's poor and African-American citizens. It's a move that is being condemned as a further assault on human rights in the United Nations. 

Hillary Clinton, speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival (perfect) and other Dems did denounce the Hobby Lobby decision but for the most part, remained silent on Harris v. Quinn which denies unions the ability to collect dues from thousands of public-sector workers they represent in contract negotiations. The court's ruling is a blow to SEIU, the the AFT and other unions that have organized hundreds of thousands of home health workers in states including Illinois, California and Connecticut.

A SILVER LINING?...AFT Pres. Randi Weingarten says there's a "silver lining" behind the SC majority's assault. “To the fact that the court was so obvious about whose side it is on. And it is not on the side of regular working folk.” Sorry, but I can't see it. 

It's time to organize. 

2 comments:

  1. Randi sees a "silver lining". Mulgrew is "cautiously optimistic". WTF!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting comparing the Guardian article and the LA Times article about the water shut-offs in Detroit. Only one article mentioned that many corporations owe more than $150, yet their water isn't getting turned off - guess which article?

    ReplyDelete

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