Today is a strangely emotional day for Curmie. It was final exam day in what might well be the last course I ever teach, a little short of the 43rd anniversary of the first day of the first class of my teaching career. It’s a day I had my first long (well over an hour) talk with one of the students in that class, a young woman whose skills I’ve respected for some time, but with whom I’ve never worked directly. It is also, of course, Star Wars Day, and therefore filled with fuzzy memories of where and with whom I saw the original trilogy. (I’ve tried to watch a couple other movies in the franchise, but turned them off after less than half an hour. No regrets.)
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| One of many chilling images from 52 years ago today. |
If I were to list the half dozen blog pieces I like the most
of the over 400 I’ve written over the last dozen years, there’s no question
that this musing on Kent State, posted from a dormitory room on that very campus,
would be included. It wasn’t until long
after May 4, 1970, that I became fully aware of the specific horrors of that day—that none
of those killed were closer than 85 yards from the Guardsmen who were
supposedly fearful for their own safety; that the Guardsmen were walking away
from the student protesters before turning in unison to open fire on whoever
happened to be in the line of fire; that 11 of the 13 casualties were shot from
behind.
What I did know, only intuitively at first, was that
everyone—from Richard Nixon to the local officials to Walter Cronkite—was lying
to me. Even my father’s words seemed
hollow and evasive, even though uttered with great surety and apparent
sincerity. What happened in that early afternoon in eastern Ohio wasn’t self-defense; it
wasn’t inevitable; it wasn’t triggered by the actions of radical peaceniks. And it sure as hell wasn’t a small sacrifice
worth making to restore law and order.
The coming of age I described in my post from almost seven
years ago took place over time. Yes, I could
smell the heady aroma of bovine feces in the initial pronouncements, but even
in junior high I knew better than to trust entirely in feelings rather than
actual evidence. Of course, as the facts
emerged, my suspicions were confirmed and my anger crystalized. It all played out rather like a Greek tragedy:
I already “knew” where we were headed, and rather hoped that I was wrong, but
eventually the evidence became too overwhelming to ignore.
This wasn’t, I don’t think, political in the sense that had
the other party been in office, it would have changed much. No, it was generational. My generation, especially but not exclusively
the men, were cannon fodder for the politicians and the power-mongers. The Vietnam War per se was bad enough,
but at least we could understand the motives.
We might have rejected them, but we could trace a coherent line of
reasoning. What happened at Kent State
(and Jackson State a couple weeks later), however, had no rational underpinning:
it was a categorical rejection of all the precepts we had perhaps naïvely believed
about the country. It was life-changing
for Curmie, and he suspects for many others, as well.
Now, assuming what virtually everyone believes will happen with
respect to over-turning Roe v. Wade actually eventuates, we’re faced with
another split. This time those most
directly affected will be young women instead of young men, but the structure
of the issues remains familiar: the people making the decisions aren’t those who
will bear the brunt of the burden. They’re
insulated by at least one, usually more, variables: age, gender, and economic
status—the rich don’t care what happens in Mississippi if they can fly their
loved ones out to Massachusetts or Illinois to have a procedure done.
None of this is to say that SCOTUS should (necessarily) have
done differently (see last time for more on this), but there are ways in which the events of the week can turn out to be
positive for those of a progressive mindset.
First off, overturning Roe doesn’t mean abortion will be criminalized,
nation-wide. Yes, there will be yahoos
from red states who will seek to do so, and they’ll succeed in some places… in
the short term. But they’ve been trying
to find creative ways around Roe for decades.
Now, apparently, they’ll get their way.
Be careful what you wish for, GOP.
You’ll likely find that your rallying cry whimpered its way to death
alongside the SCOTUS ruling you so despise.
Moreover, just as the anti-war forces gained enough traction
(and the suppression of those voices gathered enough antipathy) in the 1970s
that even the Nixon administration had to take notice, the pro-choice forces
will organize in time for the midterms. This
matters, especially since the performance of the Biden administration has been
something short of impressive. With the
notable exception of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the nominees for a host of
positions have been notable more for their “diversity” than for their expected
competence. Even Jackson’s nomination
came after Biden had artificially narrowed the field to women of color… which
rather takes away from the fact that she would have been a legitimate candidate
without the affirmative action nonsense.
Curmie remembers saying to someone that he’d vote for a dead
sloth over Donald Trump. Serendipitously,
the DNC massaged the primaries so the closest thing they could offer to approximate
such a creature was nominated. Curmie
appreciates the opportunity to test his hypothesis. Yep, still true. And there’s no one on the GOP horizon who
looks even vaguely palatable... which isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of Democratic leadership, except by contrast.
But it’s much easier to oppose something than to actually propose good new ideas. And “just say no” has been featured in the Republican playbook on abortion for years. It’s been a great fundraiser, if nothing else. Now it’s gone. “Right this wrong” is a far more rousing slogan than “Maintain the status quo!”. Now, the energy is on the other side. Far more people will rally, both literally and figuratively, behind what they perceive as an issue of gender-based discrimination than did so because a single petty criminal was inadvertently killed by an asshole (not necessarily racist) cop in Minnesota. And the protests will almost certainly be less violent, making them less objectionable to those in the middle, politically.
Progressives on abortion rights are likely to be
progressives on other issues, as well.
The result, despite the fact that the Democrats seem to value diversity
over equity, and that they aren’t doing much to reverse the wreckage wrought by
the Trump administration, might well be a stronger showing in the midterm than
is usual for the party in power. Curmie
isn’t necessarily predicting this, but he’d be far from surprised should it
happen.
Women of child-bearing years make up about a quarter of the
total population, more than that among folks of voting age. Even the idiots who manipulated the process
to twice in a row nominate the only prominent Democrat who could possibly lose
to Donald Trump (OK, Kamala Harris, too, I’ll grant that one) aren’t stupid
enough to fail to remind voters of Republican attempts to deny abortion access
to victims of rape or incest. You are
free to be an absolutist on this issue in ethical terms, Gentle Reader, but that’s
not a winning proposition in political terms.
None of this, of course, ameliorates the plight of young
women who happen to become impregnated in a radically red state after its testosterone-poisoned
legislature concocts a new version of repression. We mustn’t forget that. But the draft of the imminent ruling in the
Dobbs case should remind us of one thing: that battles in a courtroom are not
insignificant, but the ones that really matter are at the polls. This is imperative. And, to tie all the day’s events together, we
close with the wisdom of Yoda: “Do or do not.
There is no try.”
Vote, y’all. May the
4th (or the Force) be with you.
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