The Great Regression

[Soph0571]

[madaboutharry]

1. It is almost shocking to find out how like the Taliban

these Christofascist are. They hate modernity.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. They love the toys but hate having to think so much. . . . nt

[Model35mech]

5. The weirdness is 5 of the 'Christofascists' reversing Roe were Catholics

It seems like a plot of a Dan Brown book... and I apologize for that and will keep this very brief and fact based.

Across years of effort to increase conservative political influence, SCOTUS appointments have moved from a history of a majority of Protestant justices and swung to a dominant majority of conservative Catholics.

Isn't that curious, and making it fair to ask the question, what's -that- been about?

[rubbersole]

11. Don't apologize...

...for thinking this is a plot from a Dan Brown book. It's exactly what I felt was happening. The dark money behind the Federalist Society would make a good topic for him.

[madaboutharry]

19. Actually it is all 6 of them.

Gorsuch was raised in the Catholic Church. He goes to a different church now, but the influence is there.

Six Catholics, unelected and unaccountable to anyone, are controlling what The Constitution means and determining how 350,000,000 people live their lives. This is very wrong.

[Meadowoak]

23. Abort the Court!

[wnylib]

26. Are you suggesting Church money and connections?

[madaboutharry]

27. No.

I am suggesting the these Justices on the SC are imposing their personal and religious views on the country, regardless of what The Constitution says or doesn't say.

[wnylib]

28. I totally agree with you on that.

They are creating a theocracy by imposing the views of some religions as law of the land for people of other faiths or no faith.

I am thinking of the film, Spotlight, about the Boston Globe's exposure of the sex abuse cover up in the Catholic Church. The cover up had been enabled through the political connections of the Church in the Catholic Boston community.

The Protestant Moral Majority was enabled by the political connections of Jerry Falwell, among other Evangelicals.

Merge the political connections of the Catholic Church, especially the conservative Catholic movement, with the connections of Evangelical leaders, and there are enough connections, donations, etc. to wield political power in Congress, in elections, and ultimately, in Supreme Court nominees and confirmations.

I wonder about the possibility of donations to politicians made by religious organizations, which would not use an overt religious name but would shield themselves in a PAC.

[Model35mech]

33. Well I'lll go further and suggest the Federalist Society is pwned by Opus Dei

which basically directs the Catholic Information Center in DC.

So the Federalist Society's top recommendations for judiciary positions are suspect in their motivations as people who will put the work of God (literally what Opus Dei means), as seen by Opus Dei first in their lives and professions rather than the people their job serves.

Besides being Dan Browns favorite evil organization, Opus Dei itself is often considered a not so clandestine christofascist movement that was launched in Fascist Spain, controlled much of politics there, and had Pope Ratz' and John Paul under their thrall.

The crazy Dan Brownesque plot is that Opus Dei has been working to have MUCH MORE INFLUENCE in DC than traditional catholics.

Scalia admitted to being Opus Dei, Alito and Thomas are widely suspected of being Opus Dei.

It really does sound like a Hollywood blockbuster waiting to be written.

[madaboutharry]

35. I totally agree.

I bet Sen. Whitehouse knows something about this. He tweets constantly about how the Supreme Court has been "captured" and corrupted.

[JHB]

21. Not so much when you consider two things

These are not just Catholics, but conservative "More Catholic than the Pope" Catholics. Just like liberal Catholics who will quietly ignore church doctrine about birth control and such, the conservatives routinely ignore anything from the church that gets in the way of their conservatism.

Meanwhile, when conservatives were data-mining evangelical protestants back in the 70s for hot-button issues to get the then-mostly-Democrat evangelicals to vote for Republicans, they turned up that attacking abortion was a great proxy for attacking feminism, since it could be framed as "saving babies" and allowed for plenty of "slut shaming." So they popularized that angle among evangelicals, who previously were not particularly up in arms about abortion (because becoming agitated over abortion was considered a "Catholic thing," and and they did not want anyone thinking they were Catholic).

So the conservatives lobbied some prominent evangelicals to bring them on board with that angle of attack, and they took to it like ducks to water.

Combine those with the great conservative "pack the courts with our people and purge the liberals" project, and it's something they could all get behind, despite religious differences.

[keep_left]

32. It looks like are two main things going on with far-right Catholic influence on the Court.

(1) Catholic billionaire money. Mainly Tom Monaghan (Domino's Pizza founder), but others as well, have lavishly funded all kinds of conservative causes: failed radio networks (CatholicFamilyRadio), the EWTN cable channel, a basilica in Nicaragua (which was very unpopular with the locals), "think" tanks like the EPPC, etc. Monaghan uses all sorts of other businesses to essentially launder money for his political activities (cell phone networks, mutual funds, etc.). Sometimes the activism and business even overlap. Nowhere is that more clear than in his ridiculous utopian project, literally in the swamps of Florida, of a combined planned community and college: Ave Maria Town and Ave Maria "University". Monaghan even has his own "farm team" of sorts, Legatus, which serves to train upcoming generations of wealthy far-right Catholics. (There is a similar outfit in California, the Napa Institute, which is run by a billionaire in the wine business).

(2) The reactionary, regressive bishops appointed by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. All one has to do to see how much things have changed is to go back to the '80s and read some USCCB documents and compare them with those of today. In particular, pay attention to the USCCB statements in the '80s about US foreign policy (especially Central America) and the nuclear arms race. By the way, these reactionary bishops and other Catholic clergy don't stay in their lane; they go back and forth between their appointed tasks and making the rounds of appearances on EWTN, "think" tank functions (especially the Acton Institute), shows on (Ir)-Relevant Radio, etc.

[femmedem]

3. Here is his full twitter thread from yesterday, which began with the OP's quote:

History may look back at the period in which we are living and call it The Great Regression. It is a time in which on issue after issue, we are seeing decades and sometimes centuries of progress reversed. We have never seen anything like this before in our history.

Thanks to a concerted campaign by America's right wing, often with the help of centrists from both US political parties, we have watched as a long list of the signature milestones of American social advancement in the post WWII era are being reversed, undone or blunted.

The Supreme Court, now one of the most active, pernicious agents of this period of anti-progress, demonstrated this again yesterday by, for the first time in history, stripping away a right that had been granted to the our people, the right of a woman to control her own body.

They even framed this giant step backwards in language that made clear that all their clocks stopped in the late 18th or early 19th Centuries, that they saw their twisted memories of that time as the only legitimate parameters for establishing our social standards & parameters.

For many of us, Roe and recognizing a woman's right to choose was a sign that activism plus education plus conscience and decency could drive America forward, make it a better place. Roe was a symbol to several generations that our system worked.

That is why they sought to tear it down. But the regression has been going on for years, even as they sought to dismantle Roe. The greatest step forward of the 1960s was the Voting Rights Act and our strides toward greater racial justice.

In Shelby County the Roberts court perversely ruled we had outgrown the need for such protections even as the sponsors of that court worked to limit and strip away voting rights, especially for people of color, throughout America.

Progress toward social equity and equal opportunity sustained other blows. Since the 1980s, the "leave it to the markets" politics of Reaganonmics (and the GOP and Dem Center) have resulted in inequality skyrocketing in the US. It is now less likely...

...that someone born in the bottom fifth of our society will move up than it was half a century ago. The rich are richer. The rich have benefited from laws that reduce their share of the tax burden (capital gains taxes) and empower their companies to act without regulation.

(Make no mistake, that too reverses centuries of progress toward inclusion and fairness in American life.) The right has pushed back on the full inclusion and protection of gay and trans people in our communities. And yesterday, Justice Thomas indicated that...
...next on the agenda should be further regression, stripping away the right granted in Obergdfell for gay Americans to marry. Their gun policies are taking us back to the murderous free for all of the American West. Thomas even sought to revisit whether American women...

...should have access to contraception, another way to diminish them and put them at the mercy of a patriarchy that, in a number of states now, says that a woman who is raped must turn over control of her body to her rapist by having to bear his child.

These are major steps backward for American society. You can no doubt think of others not cited in this thread. But it is important for us to recognize the level of success the right, a movement dedicated to reversing social progress and stripping away people's rights, is having.

They must be stopped. The damage they have done must be reversed. Because right now the arc of history is not, as we often assert, bending toward justice in the United States. And absent that and the momentum of progress, we will surely decline and fail as a nation.

(Since I wrote this, I have thought of other areas the Great Regression has taken its toll--like on separation of church & state (an innovation of...1789. And on some where setbacks are looming, like the likely ruling next week reducing gov'ts ability to fight climate change.)


They have also gained political clout when the Court ruled in Citizens United that "money is speech" thus giving those with more money, more influence in choosing our leaders. They have used this power to increase the hold of the minority in America over the majority.

For more on the issue of the end of the separation of church and state, see this piece I did two days ago for @thedailybeast.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1540666900404965386.html

[Brenda]

16. Thanks so much for that

Well written. Going back to 1789 on a rocket it seems.

[femmedem]

20. You're welcome, Brenda.

And yes indeed, going back on a rocket to 1789.

[COL Mustard]

22. I always wanted a time machine

I didn’t realize it would be wearing black robes.

[femmedem]

30. Me too! Pre-Trump, I never would have envisioned this. n/t

[WiVoter]

4. Democrats Are Progressives, Republicans Regressives

I know which party I support.

[oswaldactedalone]

6. #TheGreatRegression

Kudos to Rothkopf for capturing the evil of the Republican Party in one concise phrase. Mobilize and vote before the christofascists come not just for your rights but for you.

[3Hotdogs]

8. +1

[Demsrule86]

7. And the solution is a simple one. Vote for the Democratic candidate in every damn election,

even midterms. Stop playing 'footsie' with third parties which only contributes to our losses and helps Republicans. Party loyalty matters. Holding our elected folks 'feet to the fire' and all the bullshit excuses as to why it is OK to 'message' vote... vote for some worthless third-party candidate who will lose and cost the Democrats the seat or sitting home and not bothering to vote which will also cost us the seat is madness.

Republicans are always unacceptable. And courts matter in every election as I pointed out endlessly in 2016. I hear the same crap year in and year out...you must earn my vote or else! And ironically such voters are quick to spread blame-our elected are weak or don't fight hard enough (not true) etc etc etc...but honestly, if such voters are looking for a 'culprit' I suggest they look into a mirror.

[betsuni]

10. +1

[Demsrule86]

15. Thank you!

[bucolic_frolic]

9. That's what the greats do, they look to history for patterns and take a broad view

In finance, I like Ray Dalio and Jeremy Grantham for the same perspective. They don't deal so much in political issues, but they're aware of them and factor them into their analysis. Dalio regularly says the same cycles repeat and you have to look for them, there's nothing new under the sun. Grantham invests heavily in environmental technologies and supports climate change initiatives.

[Aussie105]

12. Let's party like it's 1692!

Witch hunt in Salem in 1692, can we do that again please?
All over the country, this time!

I guess - take way votes for women and any males not land owners, and slavery needs to make comeback!

The Spanish inquisition should make a comeback too!

Of course, all modern weapons would need to be junked and replaced with muzzle loaders!
Ah, the smell of gunpower, the joys of casting your own lead bullets!



America is going down!

[Ferrets are Cool]

13. The Great Republican Regression

[BlueJac]

14. That is why I refer to the GOP as the Regressive Party!

It matches up with their idiotic agenda!

[multigraincracker]

17. The new Dark Ages, because

they are not very bright.

[JHB]

18. We have never seen anything like this before in our history... if you're white

Quite a bit of regression for blacks after Reconstruction was declared over and Federal troops withdrawn from the former Confederate states. Unrestricted violence and terrorism, the enactment of Jim Crow laws, into the 20th century with Woodrow Wilson segregating the federal government, etc.

[in2herbs]

24. I hear very little, if anything, about how this decision will affect medical research that

relies on embryonic cells, etc. to create its advances for our health. Can anyone on DU shed light on this issue?

[BumRushDaShow]

25. "We have never seen anything like this before in our history."

Link to tweet

David Rothkopf
@djrothkopf
·
Follow
History may look back at the period in which we are living and call it The Great Regression. It is a time in which on issue after issue, we are seeing decades and sometimes centuries of progress reversed. We have never seen anything like this before in our history.
8:03 AM · Jun 25, 2022

EXCEPT the end of Reconstruction.

How the 1876 Election Tested the Constitution and Effectively Ended Reconstruction
Disputed returns and secret back-room negotiations put Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in the White House—and Democrats back in control of the South.

Sarah Pruitt | Updated: Aug 18, 2020 | Original: Jan 21, 2020

(snip)

Dismantling Reconstruction

Racism remained a pervasive force in the North as well as the South, and by the early 1870s many Northerners had begun blaming Reconstruction’s problems on the supposed inferiority of Black voters.

At the same time, key decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court struck at the protections afforded by Reconstruction-era constitutional amendments and legislation. The Court’s decision in the Slaughterhouse Cases (1873), established that the 14th Amendment applied only to former enslaved people, and protected only rights granted by the federal government, not by the states.

Three years later, in United States v. Cruikshank, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions of three white men convicted in connection with the massacre of more than 100 Black men in Colfax, Louisiana in 1873, as part of a political dispute. The men had been convicted of violating the 1870 Enforcement Act, which banned conspiracies to deny citizens’ constitutional rights and had been intended to combat violence by the Ku Klux Klan against Black people in the South.

The Supreme Court’s ruling—that the 14th Amendment’s promise of due process and equal protection covered violations of citizens’ rights by the states, but not by individuals—would make prosecuting anti-Black violence increasingly difficult, even as the Klan and other white supremacist groups were helping to disenfranchise Black voters and reassert white control of the South.

(snip)

https://www.history.com/news/reconstruction-1876-election-rutherford-hayes

That's what happens when "history" is only narrowly taught.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

29. Jesus, Dred Scott would like a word.

[area51]

31. k&r n/t

[JCMach1]

34. Know your enemy, it's Xtian Dominionists/Christo-fascists

[live love laugh]

36. The question is how far back do they go?

I’m thinking back to kingdoms.

I called them the Regressive Party years ago.