Left Jabs

In the next month, five ultra-Catholic ideologues, unencumbered by any rational thought process, will decide that a fetus has more rights than its mother. When that happens, the legislatures in as many as 26 states will likely enact laws, under which a pregnant woman will, in effect, be legally obligated to carry to term every fetus that takes root in her body. Whether or not she was raped by a stranger, or by her father. Whether or not she miscarries. Whether or not the baby dies in her womb. Whether or not the baby is capable of life outside her womb. Whether or not that baby’s survival is likely to kill her. The rights of her fetus will, apparently in all cases, supercede hers. And her partner’s, too. Because for every beer-soaked asshole who will now be empowered to force his battered wife to carry his baby, there will be hundreds of responsible husbands legally barred from responsibly planning a family, or from ending a family-crippling pregnancy, or from choosing the life

It would have been nice to see this as an emperor’s-new-clothes moment. For a naïve westerner like me, the storyline of a retired Russian colonel saying forbidden things on a major TV talk show was irresistible. The six-minute clip was pure dynamite, and it left the on-camera panel — and Russia watchers all over the world — speechless. The show was hosted by Olga Skabeeva, star media figure and Kremlin hack of the first order. Think of her as Tucker Carlson in heels. As with all Russian TV — at least as of late February — it is absolutely forbidden to say, imply, or blurt out anything that might be construed as even hinting that all is not right in the world, or that Russia’s image on the world stage is anything but stellar. Yet there was Colonel Mikhail Khodaryonok, on the show to discuss the Ukraine situation from a military standpoint, telling Russian viewers that: [I]n a way, we are in full geopolitical isolation … However much we would hate to admit this, virtually the

  From the afterdeck of a cruise ship now entering Nassau harbor, it's hard to summon up the anger so appropriate to these times, and so essential to this blog. A temporary condition, I’m sure. So rather than writing something new, I’m relying instead on a reprise of this post from last September, which foreshadowed several of the key issues we'll all face in the next decade. For ‘Stalin,’ just substitute ‘Putin,' and for ‘Texas,’ substitute ‘every red state,’ and you’ll get the idea. Rage over the new Texas abortion laws comes naturally to anyone with either a heart or a brain, let alone both. But beyond the unspeakably cruel restrictions on reproductive rights, beyond the wanton misogyny and toxic masculinity, beyond the predictable media firestorm that turns outrage into clickbait, there is a larger issue on the table. And it’s one we can only hope is not a trend: Texas Republicans are now openly embracing a culture of citizen-on-citizen informi

This is the year the bad guys showed their true colors. It’s the year when the differences between Vladimir Putin and, say, Samuel Alito proved to be only a matter of degree. Both seek cruelty for its own sake. Both impose the will of the privileged few on the horrified many. Both take toxic Christianity and white supremacy to levels not seen in centuries. And neither Putin nor Alito can be stopped. Not by anyone, not by any apparent means. Alito is, of course, just one of the five Putin wannabes on our Supreme Court, but he might be the most Putinous of the bunch — the one with the most contempt for democracy and those who practice it. The leaked draft he wrote for the reversal of Roe v. Wade is shocking, not for its content — which has long been expected — but for its smug tone, its abominable take on history, and its sneering disdain for any American who’s not male, white, straight, and Christian. And, oh yes, Republican. I’ve long wondered about those “mainstream” Repub

It’s not a pleasant thought, but I believe it’s time for those of us in the reality-based community to think about what happens if Republicans manage to win both houses of Congress this November. I am not conceding that this a done deal, but at this time it feels worse than fifty-fifty, which is distressing. Between the new voter suppression laws and the old tendency of Democrats to not bother voting in midterms, the outlook is not promising. But while there is little doubt that a GOP takeover would be a disaster for both the country and the world, the question becomes how big a disaster. And I, for one, am thinking we’ve seen worse. So let’s game this out a bit. Let’s assume the worst, that they take control of the legislative branch. What would the next two years look like? The most important thing to remember is that the executive branch — the vast apparatus of the federal government, including military, law enforcement, and justice — will stay in the hands of the grownups.