One
Took last week off because when Dobbs vs. Jackson was handed down, I couldn’t even function, let alone write about it. I did Tweet… a lot, and I’m going to be including some of those tweets here as well. The actions taken by the SCOTUS as they ended their 21-22 term have been the stuff of dreams on the American far right for decades. Here is The New York Times rundown of this season’s decisions. It’s stunning to see the level of hypocrisy and partisanship in the courts’ actions. They are breaking with long-standing precedents that conservative and liberal courts have upheld for decades. So much for stare decisis and the respect for precedent that the court’s actions are supposed to be built on. In doing so, they are making up their own legal arguments out of thin air.
@Sam_d_1995 has a very concise rundown on the court’s actions.
Two
#NovemberIsComing but it doesn’t matter. The @GOP is no longer playing by whatever rules you think exist in our system. They have learned that they can break laws with impunity. They know they are a minority party, yet they behave like they are the majority. Why? Because they are now a post-democracy party bent on seizing and then holding power by any means necessary. J6 was just a dress rehearsal. The GOP rank-and-file support the actions of their leaders and none of those leaders care about democracy or constitutional government.
They only care about power and control. They will lie, cheat, and steal with reckless abandon to secure it. There are no core values to the conservative movement because they simply change them as needed to achieve their goals. Violence is becoming their primary means to achieve this end. Trump is a symptom, not the cause. American conservatives have been on this path since they lost control to liberals over 100 years ago. They will not be happy until they have a firm grasp on power and have rolled back progressive gains to pre-1920. #ChristoFascism
Pretending that it’s “business as usual” and telling each other that “it can’t happen here” is playing right into the GOP plan.
The anti-CRT movement, the destruction of labor unions in the guise of laws to protect workers’ rights, the rapid erosion of long-standing liberties, the fight to eliminate gun control laws in every state, the militarization of police forces, the militia movement, the proliferation of conservative news and its relentless propaganda drive to delegitimize all other news sources as “fake” and liberal, the spread of partisan gerrymandering, the attempts to tie that gerrymandering to the Electoral Collage… It’s all connected.
It’s all from the same playbook. Maintaining power and control has always been the goal, and it’s being pursued by any means necessary. #SCOTUSIsCompromised #RepublicanShariaLaw #democracyisdead
The evidence is abundant and now members of the GOP aren’t even pretending to hide it. Just listen to what they are saying. This is happening now, and it’s happening here.
Three
Here are some pictures of flowers and trees. Take a moment to just breathe and think happy thoughts.
Four
Tuesday, June 28th, was a big day for me. I finished my first round of Deep Brain Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (dTMS). Thirty-six 20-minute sessions spread out over six weeks. The Psychiatrist who runs the clinic where I had my treatments said my results were excellent. He used the term “remission”. I have to tell you, I feel better than I have in decades and I have more clarity of thought than I have ever had, period.
All the symptoms of my PPD have vanished. I had the entire list: crippling fatigue, no self-esteem, feelings of hopelessness, sleep issued, food issues, inability to think or make decisions, suicidal ideations, and loss of functionality in public spaces. It’s all gone. I have energy. For the first time in years, I have a healthy sleep routine. I function well is social settings; I have a range of emotions. I laugh. There is joy and beauty in the world and I can now see it and feel like I’m worthy of sharing it with others.
Science has saved my life.
Five
One issue I had while battling depression was an inability to decide what to do from moment to moment, so I ended up just sitting and staring into space much of the time. In the past, when I was healthy, I was a voracious reader and watcher of movies and shows. Now I’m years behind on the books I want to read and the shows and movies I want to watch. My problem is now one of having too many to watch and I’ll never get to see them all. Talk about #FirstWorldProblems…