For the first time in my lifetime we are faced with a potential presidential administration that is prepared to overturn Roe V. Wade. The drastic changes to the Supreme Court are worth worrying about. After watching Steven Spielberg’s best film in twenty years about how Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet barely pushed through the 13th amendment reminded me how the Republican party used to stand up for freedom, not try to take that freedom away. And now look. They are being funded by the richest men in the world – brought in to help rich men get richer. But read between the lines, folks. It’s really about the Supreme Court now. Wake the f**k up.
The scary conservative response after the cut — calls Samuel L. Jackson a “slave” and “the new Uncle Tom.” It’s beyond horrifying. But these are the people who are about to take control of our government, formerly known as the land of the free and the home of the brave.
The comment Ryan makes about a woman having to travel to seek appropriate care is exactly why rulings like Roe V Wade should not be overturned. First of all the government should never have a say in what kind of personal treatment anyone decides to select for themselves. I don’t care if it’s an abortion or for a broken arm. That’s not the governments job however it is the governments job to protect the right of the individual to seek and find the treatment they desire. Whether you are for or against Roe V Wade it shouldn’t have an impact on your individual life or your life choices. The purpose it to guarantee an woman’s right to do with her body as she determines. The moral issue really does not apply when it comes to Roe V Wade. A moral issue is singular and only applicable to the individual who doesn’t want or seek an abortion and for those who they will have to deal with what the end result. Personally my only objection to the entire question of abortion is my tax dollars paying for it. But even after saying that you have to step back and realize that not all women have the same care available to them. As much as I’m fond of my tax dollars paying for them I certainly don’t want to force my opinion on someone because my tax dollars are subsidizing the procedure. Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion on Roe V Wade and if you’re against Roe V Wade then don’t get into situation where you need to have an abortion. With that said pray to god that you aren’t forced into a situation where you might have to consider an abortion. I have a sister who had abortion and the trauma afterwards because she wasn’t prepared properly emotionally strengthens my opinion but I certainly wouldn’t want someone telling her she didn’t the right to seek the treatment or the right do with her body as she chooses. It’s a really sticky wicket when really stop think about all the implications.
Why do I suspect that Romney’s binder full of women is Juggs Magazine?
^
Binders full of women.
Binders full of women.
Binders full of women.
By the way, Romney’s story about asking for help finding women is a lie. He’s a liar. He never asked.
Mitt’s “binders full of women” not even true
LIE: “I went to a number of women’s groups and said, can you help us find folks? And I brought us whole binders full of women.”
TRUTH: According to veteran Boston Phoenix journalist David Bernstein, what actually happened is that a bipartisan coalition of women’s groups came together to compile lists of eligible female candidates for office before the 2002 gubernatorial election had even occurred. Romney says he “went to a number of women’s groups” and asked them for the binders, but the opposite is true — they went to him .
Stare decisis (it should be in italics) is the practice that certain court decisions in the past should be left alone even if they are improperly decided because overturning them would cause social upheaval that is more detrimental than the improper decision.
So what Stefan is saying that Roberts might let Roe v Wade stand because the social upheaval of overturning that decision would be immense and more problematic than the original decision.
As a lawyer (although not qualified under US law), I would like to come to the rescue of the SCOTUS justices. As far as I have read, 90% of the SCOTUS judgments are made without a dissentient vote. I also understand that at least 8 of the 9 judges enjoy a high reputation for their legal skills (also and in particular Roberts and Scalia). I do not deny that there are decisions where the political background of each SCOTUS justice may influence the respective decision (Bush vs. Gore, Roe vs. Wade). But in principle, once the legislation allows only ONE decision, I have not heard from any 5 to 4 decisions (although my knowledge is of course restricted). It is a fact that the law is not natural science. When I studied law 20 years ago, we were said at the University “You may take every decision, but it must be covered by the law”. I want to believe that most of the SCOTUS justices understand their job as interpreting the law, not violating/breaching it. In this regard, I just would like to mention Hustler Magazine vs. Falwell. I remember the decision ended 7-1 for the Hustler Magazine, with Rehnquist and Scalia protecting the First Amendment (Kennedy did not take part in the decision, White dissented).
Regarding Roe vs. Wade, I, of course, do not have any profound knowledge. As far as I have heard, Roberts is also a firm advocate of the stare decisis principle.
^ Certainly that information should be included in everybody’s Binder of Women, shouldn’t it?
And here we have Tony trying to simplify the issue, ignoring that some women get pregnant by force, not by sluttiness.
Ryan, as far as the heightened search for “who won the debate” goes, I don’t believe it’s because 30% of Americans are stupid. It is true that there are ignorant people out there. But that’s a generalization on par with “47% of Americans play the victim”. I think people searched it so much because they wanted to know what the Internet world thought. My roommate and I debated who won for (we both couldn’t decide) a good while until we realized it was most likely a draw. I never searched who won, however I wouldn’t fault anyone who was curious to see what others thought.
People move from one state to another for a whole variety of reasons all the time. Besides, I’m sure that a Hollywood funded Planned Parenthood could assist whomever couldn’t move with roundtrip travel.
People move from one state to another for a whole variety of reasons all the time.
And some people never the leave the town where they born their entire lives. Some people are born and die in the same town, same county, same state — “for a whole variety of reasons.” For example, some people chose to live where their entire family has lived for generations. Imagine that!
No American should have to pack up their belongings to migrate across country in search of the same rights as lucky native New Yorkers. Women in Oklahoma shouldn’t have to consider fleeing their hometown like 3rd world refugees. What you propose is grotesque. That’s exactly why this cannot be left up to individual states. In order for all American women to be treated fairly and equally, all women must have the same accessibility to the same health care. No matter if they were born in a remote hellhole.
Not everybody who has to make the difficult choice to have an abortion can afford to take an 5-day abortion vacation to sunny California, Tony.
You sound more and more and heartless. More and more crass. Frankly, more and more ignorant.
Women in California may very well be concerned about women in Louisiana but the fact remains that the purpose of Roe vs Wade was to give women the right to make the decision for themselves without anyone interferring. That includes women. Every woman should have the right to choose and with that no man or woman should be making the decision or trying to impact their decision for them regardless of where they live. And why do I state that because if you want to work on that premise then you have to take a step back and say then that those people who do not support Roe V Wade and the right of choice that they should have the same right to be concerned as the women in California who would be concerned about women loosing that right. It’s a double edged sword and that’s why it’s a personal decision.
I don’t want ANYONE to be called “an Uncle Tom, ” but Sasha, wake up! Do you know how many black conservatives have been called “Uncle Toms” by liberals of all colors?!
As for Roe: If it ever gets overturned — a very big if — that doesn’t make abortion illegal. It returns the issues to the states, and you certainly won’t have to worry about California.
On a personal note, I just don’t understand how some people can’t see abortion as murder. That “thing” has human DNA, even a heartbeat, long before most abortions. You make your “choice” when you decide to have sex — unprotected and underprotected. Combine two forms of birth control, and your chance of getting pregnant is very, very small.
“that doesn’t make abortion illegal. It returns the issues to the states, and you certainly won’t have to worry about California.”
Tony, try to wrap your head around the idea that there may be women in California who care about women who live in Louisiana.
“But I’m afraid, serious, no irony here, that if Mr.Obama was not reelected, Sasha Stone and Ryan Adams will suffer a terrible hangover election crisis, and abandon Awards Daily for some months.”
And we wouldn’t want that to happen, would we? For God’s sake, AD, what more do you need? Get thee to the voting booths on November 6 and vote Obama! If you can’t get outraged at the thought of Roe vs. Wade getting overturned, how about months with no Sasha/Ryan posts!
“part of me thinks obama has like, NO room for error compared to any other president.”
When you look at the state polls, it might comfort you to know that Mittens has less room for error than Obama. The electoral map still favors Obama by a decent margin, and even Mitten’s camp knows this.
Who is the ignoramis who made the anti- Samuel L. Jackson ad?
Cheesh, Paddy.
I’m sure pitching to him will win him over faster than catching.
As an outside observer, I don’t know what all the griping is about concerning political posts right now. I think it’s timely and important.
When talking to the American guests I’ve been getting here, they are concerned that one of their two political parties has been commandeered by a faction of socially regressive dingbats and that they will lose basic freedoms gained over the past 40 years.
When I watch the reporting, soundbites, and speeches, I hear contradicting positions coming out of the same mouth along with some of the most ridiculous lies ever spoken in a political campaign.
Please educate me – if things are so bad that not making a change in the presidency will only enhance the current “disastrous situation”, why are there 5 hour line-ups for new IPhones and an increase in consumer buying? And if the economy is number one, why are these repressive social issues coming into play – what has one to do with the other?
Good luck to you guys – hope can convince enough people to stay the course. If for no other reason, better the devil you know….
P.S. I don’t actually fancy Paul Ryan. That’s one of the best things about anal. You don’t have to see their face.
Want to know the most searched terms after the Joe Biden Paul Ryan debate? Are you sure you want to know?
Lol, fair enough, though. Just because Paul Ryan’s a Republican doesn’t mean he can’t be sexy. I’d like to take him bareback up the ass and see how he feels about gay marriage and planned parenthood then!
It appears some people don’t understand Roe V Wade and how in danger it is of being overturned. Here are some basic facts.
1) It is not a law. It is a Supreme Court Decision that says laws banning abortion are illegal. Roe v Wade has actually been superseded by another case called Casey v Planned Parenthood of SE PA. Anthony Kennedy, a right leaning SCOTUS justice was on the majority of Casey, which kept abortion legal.
2) There are four justices on the SCOTUS that are assumed to believe that Roe V Wade was wrongly decided. Scalia and Thomas were in the minority opinion of Casey. Alito and Roberts were not part of the decision. No one can say for certain if they will vote to overturn Roe V Wade but nearly 100% of the legal community believes they would if given the option.
3) Antonin Scalia is 76, Clarence Thomas is 64, Samuel Alito is 62, John Roberts is 57. Scalia is an extraordinarily political figure and will not retire until there is a Republican President. So we could easily have 15 or more years with 4 justices poised to overturn Roe V Wade. The Republicans only need one more judge.
4) The legal foundation for Roe V Wade is the controversial “right to privacy” that was first formulated in a famous 1965 case called Griswald v Connecticut. This was a case regarding contraception. One of the basic tenets of contemporary conservatism is that the right to privacy does not exist in the Constitution. Indeed Scalia and Thomas have opined against it and, again, it’s assumed Roberts and Alito would follow suit.
5) So, effectively, if Republicans can get another conservative justice to sign on with the other four it is highly likely Roe v. Wade will be overturned. And if an abortion case does reach the SCOTUS and Roe v Wade is overturned it’s likely that the “right to privacy” will also be stripped away. This would be a disaster to the progressive movement and most mainstream Americans would also likely be displeased with that decision.
This is why some believe that the business wing of the Republican Party that doesn’t particularly care about social issues will raise up and do their best to make sure that there is not another anti-privacy judge appointed to the SCOTUS because they believe that if this does happen there will be a backlash against the Republican Party for generations to come.
i really hope the debates are overrated in predictive terms. i couldn’t believe romney got like a 5 point bounce out of the first debate- hasn’t that never happened before? part of me thinks obama has like, NO room for error compared to any other president. but it’s still hard to see romney winning, esp given that obama’s approval is pretty decent (it’s better than bush’s in 2004) and the economy IS improving. i hope he comes back big tonight and everything turns back his way
One of my pals on Twitter summed it up nicely:
Another thing about the debates that infuriates and frustrates me. Google says after the first presidential debate, the most-searched term was “who won the debate” — because viewers were unable to watch and KNOW who won it by using their own brains? Apparently.
Want to know the most searched terms after the Joe Biden Paul Ryan debate? Are you sure you want to know?
My apologies to the rest of the world for the stupidest 30% of Americans. Global embarrassment.
Comment Yes G. We here in Canada are in stunned amazement at how you Americans could possibly vote for anyone other than Barrack Obama. We wish we had him here. Unfortunately too many people in this country were duped into voting for a Mitt Romney-lite (Stephen Harper), and we are stuck with a government that veers dangerously close to the current Republicanisms that scare the hell out of anyone with common sense. Do the right thing folks: vote Obama! You don’t know how lucky you are to have him!
Is LINCOLN really superior to both ‘A.I.’ and ‘Minority Report’? That’s a stunning accomplishment.
It’s not that I’m against debating politics. But I’m afraid, serious, no irony here, that if Mr.Obama was not reelected, Sasha Stone and Ryan Adams will suffer a terrible hangover election crisis, and abandon Awards Daily for some months.
BTW: this right-center man just came back from a press screening of “The Campaing” and I laugh my ass off. Best comedy of the year, and a piece olf propaganda for the Democratic party better than anything that I saw until now. (Following USA election close here). When Galafianakis at the end, says that America will not be sold neither to China, neither to Brazil (!), me an peers almost did a standing ovation for this amazing delirous.
You are still thne most powerful country in the world, and me we are still a Third World country that improves his structure in the last 20 years, but is far from being fully developed.
This country will still be the land of the free and the home the brave regardless of whether President Obama or Mitt Romney are elected. President Obama wants our support. I actually like him as a person. I think he’s a very good man with great intentions. I think he walked into a mess when he became President. We keep blaming individuals for everything that goes wrong and no one person is ever responsible. Fine you have your opinions and everyone is entitled to them. But this constant rhetoric about how no one lies in the democratic party is absurd. We know for a fact that Harry Reid lied on the floor of congress. Niether of the campaigns have anything to write home about. They’ve both put words in each others mouth and then out of the corner of their mouth they stand up and act all righteous and concerned. Today Hillary Clinton [she should be President] threw herself under the bus while the man responsible for organizing the upheavel in Libya claims he knew nothing. He’s the damn President for god sakes he should know he should make it his business to know since he organized the overthrow. I’m so sick of both nominees acting like their haven’t stepped in shit.
OK, maybe I am agreeing just do agree about the judicial stuff. If a Republican gets elected four years from now, the judicial stuff isn’t important, because the rightward shift has just been delayed.
The House is still going to be Republican. The senate might become Republican. I don’t know. Either way, it’s gridlock, which means spending decreases, which means the Democrats lose in the next four years. China’s economy is starting to tank badly, as are some of the other developing countries. The Eurozone is in recession. Now would be the time to spend to boost demand, and yet, the media and both campaigns are focusing on debt. That’s what they are fucking talking about, and it’s like, WHY ARE YOU NOT TALKING ABOUT CREATING JOBS?
I see what’s going on in Greece, and Ireland, and the UK, and Spain, and Portugal, and so on and so on, and that scares me, a lot. Something like 57% of the policemen in Greece belong to the New Dawn Party, which is a fascist party. WHAT?!! And that is because of austerity. We should be out protesting against austerity right now, instead, we’re posting pictures of Paul Ryan looking like a douchebag.
Thanks for posting, thanks for caring, thanks for standing up against those that love to cowardly complain when no one forces them to read anything here. I am committed to waking lots the eff up in the next 3 weeks.
The debates are highly overrated as a predictive scale of how the election will turn out. But it does not surprise me to see Sasha and other Obama supporters starting to see the stark reality of what could happen in three weeks. Roe v. Wade is not a major issue this election cycle. I’m not sure what this article is trying to succeed in doing. I’ve seen a lot of debates, and no Republican has succeeded in overturning that law. I wouldn’t be too worried. Its about the economy.
I suppose that President Obama has heard the wake-up call after his “performance” 2 weeks ago. 2 solid discussions today and next week, and he should have it in the bag. As far as I am entitled to say that as a curious European spectator…. But Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Nevada should suffice….
Knative says that the “judicial stuff” is very important but then concludes that voting is pointless. I don’t get it.
———
On a side note, if I were a Romney supporter I would probably tire of seeing the pro-Obama stuff. But then if I were a Romney supporter I probably would be more interested in watching Michael Bay movies and would have no interest in coming here.
Objectively speaking, calling Lincoln Spielberg’s best film in 20 years, is an ASTONISHING endorsement.
I’m scared out of my mind about Romney getting elected, and when I was in Toronto last month when people found out I was from Detroit they were telling me how scared they were and they live in Canada!
My mom fought for women’s issues like the ERA since before I was born. She is now 67 years old and feels like she has to fight battles that women have already won!
I will be so glad when this election is over, I can’t wait to vote!
I don’t think, besides the judicial stuff, which is very important, there’s going to be that much of a difference between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. They’re both hawkish when it comes to foreign policy, see predator drones and Obama signing off on the NDAA. Both are talking about “reforming” entitlements, which means cutting Medicare and Social Security. Both are planning to “fix the deficit,” which means that there will be a bipartisan push to implement austerity, which will probably throw this country in a recession again. I mean, the austerity under Mitt Romney may be harsher than under Barack Obama, but the Barack Obama Administration is still going to push through austerity, and when they do, the economy will tank. So, um, four years from now, there will be another Mitt Romney that WILL GET elected, and he’ll just push through more austerity, which will tank the economy more. I guess, what I am saying is that voting is kind of pointless, outside of maybe local elections and state ballot proposals.
So, um, four years from now, there will be another Mitt Romney…
And another Clinton. fuckyeah. And another GOP clown-car circus? Bring it.
Then one day, before very long, instead of seeing sons of former presidents coronated, maybe Chelsea or Malia will show us how daughters can do better.
Obama has this election in the bag. Romney is just not a strong contender. I can’t see him winning. I really wouldn’t worry.
Btw I agree with the above post. You can post whatever you like. It’s your site.
Lord knows I don’t always agree with Sasha and have criticized her in the past, but when it comes to what she posts here – it is her site. She can post whatever she wants. If you don’t agree with her politics than you can either engage in a healthy debate, or you can ignore it and not read at all.
Jesus Christ, lay off the politics.
Rob and Diego — you want to know the most discouraging to me about your two comments?
Rob, have you ever commented on an Oscar topic or contributed any thoughts you might have about any movie, ever? If you have, I can find no evidence.
Diego, you’re a longtime reader. Always good to see you. But you know, you’ve commented on the site 4 times this month. 3 times to react about politics.
If you’re only motivated to tap the keyboard when you’re irritated, that’s fine with me. But it does not put you in a strong position to argue for more Oscar focus. Vote for the topics you like with your participation in those discussions, yeah?
Open forum. Open to feedback both negative and positive. Open to viewpoints from reader’s of all persuasions. Open to escape the topic altogether with a simple click of the back-button or stroke of the scroll-bar.
Oscar politics and Real-world politics are related. Watch how baffling choices are anointed in Hollywood and Washington and you’ll have a better understanding of the power-play machinery at work in both realms.
hey, we try to cover all the angles. Just this morning Sasha found a great link that finally outlines the details of Romney’s Tax Plan.
I guess this is not a site just for Oscar watching anymore?
Three weeks more to go with the elections. You can go elsewhere until then. But if there is a political post here now and again it’s here because we’re freaked out about what’s going to happen to our future. We’re more than a little freaked out. We post plenty of awards news and entertainment stuff. And the best part? You get it all for free!
I guess this is not a site just for Oscar watching anymore?
It never has been. And it’s been around 13 years.