“At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed.”
Frederick Douglass spoke those words 170 years ago, in his great speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” They seem appropriate today.
I’m thinking, of course, of the U.S. Supreme Court. Ignoring a whole lot of convincing argument, the court’s far-right majority upended decades of settled law with breathtaking speed and arrogance. In a week’s time, it:
- Overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating a nearly 50-year-old right to abortion.
- Made us less safe by giving gun owners a right to carry their weapons in public.
- Made the planet more vulnerable to climate disaster by checking the EPA’s ability to regulate pollution.
- Gave a green light to religious coercion by siding with a Washington coach who led public prayers after football games.
- Ruled that, in some states, taxpayers must fund religious schools that discriminate.
And we’re supposed to be celebrating freedom?
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