Jessica Corbett, Staff Writer - AlterNet / Common Dreams
Stephan:
The MAGAt majority on the Supreme Court has just gutted the EPA and destroyed protections for wetlands, “the waters of the United States,” and endangered wildlife. It is a historically bad decision that serves the interests only of the oligarchs and the corporations they control.
The Supreme Court of the United States Credit: Fred Schilling
The U.S. Supreme Court’s right-wing majority on Thursday severely curtailed protections for “waters of the United States.”
The decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is “unanimous in result but very split in reasoning,” explained Slate‘s Mark Joseph Stern. “The upshot of Sackett is that, by a 5–4 vote, the Supreme Court dramatically narrows” which wetlands are covered by the Clean Water Act (CWA).
The majority opinion—authored by Justice Samuel Alito and joined by all of the court’s other right-wing members except Justice Brett Kavanaugh—concludes that the CWA only applies to wetlands with “a continuous surface connection” to larger bodies of water, excluding those that are “adjacent.”
Earthjusticedeclared in response to the ruling that “this is a catastrophic loss for water protections across the country and a win for big polluters, putting our communities, public health, and local ecosystems in danger.”
Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), was similarly critical, saying that […]
Over the past year it has become clear how corrupt the Supreme Court justices are, particularly the MAGAt Republican ones, and how they operate basically above the law with no ethics standards. And what also has become clear with the endless Trump and Congressional scandals is that once you get above a certain level in government you are basically above the law and unlikely to be held accountable for even the most egregious acts. All this paints a picture of rampant corruption in the American government.
Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts arrives before President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Feb. 7, 2023. Credit: Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Counting on John Roberts to fix what’s wrong with the Supreme Court is a fool’s errand. This was true before the latest round of scandals involving Clarence Thomas, and it remains true in their aftermath. Roberts may be an “institutionalist,” as he is often labeled by mainstream legal commentators, but he appears to be just fine with the direction and management of the institution he leads. Far from being a potential savior of the court, Roberts is at the center of its many burgeoning problems.
On April 10, the eleven Democratic Senators who hold a slim majority on the upper chamber’s judiciary committee cosigned a respectful letter to Roberts, imploring him to open an investigation into Thomas’s failure to disclose a stunning array of gifts that he and his wife Ginni Thomas, the […]
Corporate media just does not seem to be able to see, or chooses not to talk about, the multi-faceted strategy being carried out by the Republican Party to turn America into an anocracy. And yet, the Republicans are completely open about what they are doing. So why isn’t this the biggest news story in the country? I think that is a very important question.
Tennessee Governor and MAGAt Repuiblican Bill Lee Credit: Rogelio V. Solis / AP
Texas, Tennessee, and Mississippi — all led by Republican governors and legislatures — are pursuing efforts to diminish local control over policing, elections, and the courts in liberal and racially diverse areas.
All of the proposed legislation targets issues that are especially sensitive for marginalized areas, like elections and criminal justice. In Mississippi and Texas in particular, the legislation is targeted specifically at localities where people of color are the majority. Efforts in all three states indicate an alarming trend, in which Republican leadership is attempting new strategies to further erode democracy, particularly in majority-minority areas and Democratic strongholds.
Some of these efforts, like the state government’s push to control policing and the court system in Jackson, Mississippi’s majority-Black and underserved capital, have been in the works for months. Tennessee will eliminate community boards that oversee local police forces as of July 1.
I don’t think most Americans really realize how wacky and ignorant the MAGAts are; how much they live in another world. Consider this from the GOP District Chair in Georgia.
Kandiss Taylor at Georgia’s Republican primary debate on Sunday, May 1, 2022, in Atlanta. Credit: Brynn Anderson / AP
In an interview with David Weiss (AKA “Flat Earth Dave”) and Matt Long on her “Jesus, Guns, and Babies” podcast, Taylor and her guests discussed biblical “evidence” that the Earth is actually flat as a pancake. “The people that defend the globe don’t know anything about the globe,” said Weiss. “If they knew a tenth of what Matt and I know about the globe they would be Flat Earthers.”
“All the globes, everywhere” Taylor said later in the discussion. “I turn on the TV, there’s globes in the background … Everywhere there’s globes. You see them all the time, it’s constant. My children will be like ‘Mama, globe, globe, globe, globe’ — they’re everywhere.”
“That’s what they do, to brainwash,” she added. “For me if it’s not a conspiracy. If it is real, […]
Julie Rovner , Robin Toner Distinguished Fellow and chief Washington Correspondent at Kaiser Health News (KHN). - truthout / Kaiser Health News
Stephan:
I predicted this was going to happen, and now it has. What doctor wants to live in a Red state where giving a female patient the help she correctly needs and is entitled to can result in you being destroyed financially, and possibly sent to prison for years? As this survey makes clear that is the Red state post-Dobbs reality. The result is going to be medical deserts and inferior or unavailable healthcare for all the women and girls in the state. Sandy Point, Idaho, for instance, is the example A city with only one hospital that has now closed its obstetrical and gynecological care leaving the women of Sandy Point in a very inferior and potentially dangerous situation.
A patient has their vitals checked before receiving an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic Credit: Chandan Khanna / AFP / Getty
The rush in conservative states to ban abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade is resulting in a startling consequence that abortion opponents may not have considered: fewer medical services available for all women living in those states.
Doctors are showing — through their words and actions — that they are reluctant to practice in places where making the best decision for a patient could result in huge fines or even a prison sentence. And when clinics that provide abortions close their doors, all the other services offered there also shut down, including regular exams, breast cancer screenings, and contraception.
The concern about repercussions for women’s health is being raised not just by abortion rights advocates. One recent warning comes from Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general in the Trump administration.
In a tweet thread in April, Adams wrote that “the tradeoff of a restricted access (and criminalizing doctors) only approach to decreasing abortions could end up […]
