Stop watching ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and vote to interrupt it
The phrase “That would never happen” is the ultimate kiss of death in the world of politics. In 2016, many people thought a nation that elected Barack Obama wouldn’t immediately follow it by electing Donald Trump, who previously led the birther movement against Obama. But that’s exactly what happened.
Some of the same people thought “checks and balances” would prevail, and Trump would never pack the federal and Supreme courts in generation-changing ways. But to his credit, that’s exactly what he and Sen. Mitch McConnell did.
Ever hopeful, many of these same people maintained their naivete that the “nonpartisan” Supreme Court wouldn’t overturn Roe vs Wade. “That would never happen,” they said. And yet, here we are.
Now, many of us still are asleep at the wheel in North Carolina, thinking women here are not days away from losing autonomy over their bodies because we have a Democratic governor, unlike most states nearby. Women in North Carolina not having the right to make decisions for their own bodies? “That would never happen.” It’s already happened to Black women before, but that’s for another day.
Upon hearing “that would never happen,” N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger in effect, uttered “Hold my beer.”
I’d like to introduce those of us in North Carolina who have gotten comfortable and borderline complacent with the word “veto” to another word that you had better get used to if a red wave occurs and we lose more Democratic congressional seats: “Override.”
As Kansas showed us this summer, I’d be willing to bet that if North Carolina held a vote to allow women the right to choose medical care for their own bodies, N.C. voters would vote yes.
I don’t know how else to say this, but for those of you who haven’t voted yet that referendum is, in a real sense, on this ballot right now. Because if the N.C. Republican Party wins more seats and gets a supermajority in our legislature, we’ll be able to stop binge watching ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and be prepared to live it in real time.
Do you think the folks who brought us HB2 and a race-based voter restriction law that the Supreme Court called out are going to be “moderate” on abortion rights?
Politics is funny, in the way that narratives are framed through media coverage. At one point, we focused on criminalized abortions, forced births of pregnant young girls and rape victims, women dying from sepsis, danger of black-market abortions, and worse medical care via trigger laws. But now the buzz is focused on the myth of Republicans single-handedly saving the U.S. from inflation driven overwhelmingly by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Looking deeper at inflation numbers in a global context, the 8.2% rate in the U.S. is better than Mexico (8.7%), Italy (8.9%), Spain (8.9%), Europe (9.9%), Germany (10%), United Kingdom (10.1%), Russia (13.7%), Netherlands (14.5%), and places like Argentina and Turkey at 83%.
Let me be clear, I will never downplay the financial concerns of everyday North Carolinas or Americans. I will say, beware of snake oil claims that a party that is seeking to force babies into the world at all costs, while refusing to invest money to educate them, offer healthcare to support them and their mothers, or direct our tax dollars anywhere besides corporations, the wealthy, and military weaponry, is coming to save us.
It’s great to watch ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’ It’s great to organize marches. It’s great to have book reads and donate to causes. But, if you aren’t marching to the ballot box to elect leaders who are vowing to protect a woman’s right to choose, what are we really doing?