Budowsky: After Roe, a battle rages for the future of the US

The aggressive reversal of Roe v. Wade, destroying a constitutional right for women that existed for five decades, let loose a chain reaction that will define the course of America for a generation.  

Fateful and indescribably important moments in the history of our democracy will occur from former President  Trump’s attempts to steal the 2020 election, the 2022 midterm elections, and — presumably — the 2024 presidential election. These also will shape the next decade of American democracy and American life. 

These matters will have a profound  impact on  our politics and  elections — more than experts think, because they  powerfully  and  personally  affect  either  every  one  of  us, either directly  or  the  people  we  love  deeply.  Upon  such  things  voters  will  vote,  our nation  will  rise,  and  change  will  come. 

I  doubt  that  our  troubled  nation  will  stand  with  five  Supreme  Court  justices,  on  a  court  with  only  25  percent  approval  according  to  Gallup,  packed  by  Senate  Minority  Leader  Mitch  McConnell  (R-Ky.),  whose  average  approval  rating  is  only  25.5  percent,  according  to  RealClearPolitics. 

Even  today  McConnell  threatens,  shamefully,  that  if  Republicans  win  power  in  the  Senate,  he  may  refuse  to  give  President  Biden’s  nominees  a  vote.  Biden  should  challenge  McConnell  aggressively  about  this.  If  he  does,  he  will  prevail. 

I  doubt  our  troubled  nation  will  stand  with  five  Supreme  Court  justices  who,  according  to  their  opinions,  might  next  outlaw  same-sex  marriage  and  contraceptives,  in  their  rigid  view  of  how  all  Americans  must  exercise  the  lifestyle  rooted  in  their  faith. These five Supreme Court justices  promised  the  opposite  of what  they  are  doing  now,  when  they  were  confirmed  under  oath. 

The legal  extremism  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  Roe, which follows an attack against gun control, after another mass murder that destroyed the lives of American children, has set  loose  a  hyper-motivated  movement  for  change  that  is  happening  in  towns,  cities  and  communities  across  the  nation. 

Women  and  the  men  who  love  them  are  organizing,  registering,  voting,  speaking  at  town  meetings,  supporting  state  initiatives  and  pressuring  Congress  to  act.     

California  Gov.  Gavin  Newsom  (D)  is  a  pacesetter,  seeking  to  defend  children  in  the  Golden  State  from  gun  violence  and to  protect women  from  the  Supreme  Court’s  attack on their  rights.  He  calls  on  all  who  believe  in  justice  and  freedom  to  stand  at  the  barricades  and  fight  like  hell  to  condemn  those  who  burn  books  and  constitutional  rights,  discriminate  against  LGBTQ  neighbors,  threaten the rights  of  our  women  and the  lives  of  our  children.  

Countless  members  of  the  House  and  Senate  are  pushing  hard  to  pass  legislation  in  the  House to fiercely protect our rights and way of life,  and  demand  that  all senators,  oppose  all filibusters that would put an end to these protections. 

Thomas  Paine  wrote  in  December  1776  “these  are  the  times  that  try  men’s  souls.” Today  we  could  say  these  are the  times  that  try  women’s  souls,  as well as the  souls  of  the  men  who  love  and  stand  with  them.  Their rights  were  eviscerated  by  a  Supreme  Court  pursuing  a  radical  agenda,  including  justices  who  betrayed  the  senators  who confirmed  them,  who  would  never have  been  confirmed  if  they  had  answered  with  the  truth,  the  whole  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth. 

We  might  also  say  “these  are  the  times  that  try  children’s  souls,”,  and  all  who  love  those  children.  We witness  the  horror  of  children  having to practice  hiding  under  their  desks  in  school, the horror of watching our sons and daughters being mass-murdered, and the horror of certain  politicians  who  lack  the  courage to stop killers from having the military  weapons  that mass  murder  our  children  and  neighbors. 

Here  we  stand. 

Most  of  the  American  people  stand  with  us. 

If  we  fight  hard,  we  will  win.   

Budowsky  was  an  aide  to  former  Sen.  Lloyd  Bentsen  (D-Texas)  and  former  Rep.  Bill  Alexander  (D-Ark.),  who  was  chief  deputy  majority  whip  of  the  House  of  Representatives.