Tomorrow is July 4th. It is known as Independence Day and we celebrate our independence from Britain. It is also supposed to be the day we celebrate our liberties and our freedoms. Yet, somehow, we don’t seem to actually have liberties or freedoms.
Too many people in our country are in what is commonly known as “marginalized” groups. Those include African-Americans, women, Latinos, Native Americans, LGBTQ and many, many more. The Supreme Court just came down with rulings that in effect take us back to the days of Jim Crow laws before the passage of the Civil Rights bill.
The first was the ruling that race cannot be used to determine eligibility for admission to colleges. The court ruled that we are “a color blind nation”. I wish that were true, but anyone who lives in the universe of reality knows that is not true and will now be pushed backed even further with this ruling.
On the other hand, did you know there is something called “legacy admission”? That is a system where if your father or mother attended one of these universities you are almost guaranteed a spot if you choose to attend that university as well. Unlike affirmative action, the recipient of this “legacy admission” does not even need to meet all of the requirements to gain admission.
Under affirmative action, the student must meet all of the requirements to attend the university just like everyone else. So the idea that affirmative action “gave people access they didn’t earn” is total bullshit. However, in “legacy admission” the student does not need to meet all of the criteria to gain entrance. For example, if the school requires a 3.0 grade point average to get in, a legacy admission can get in with something like a 2.0 grade point average. So, who is really not qualified to be at the school?
The next was the ruling overturning the student loan forgiveness program President Biden implemented. Under this program, anyone making $125,000 or less per year is salary would have been able to get $10,000 student loans forgiven. If the student was also eligible for other low income programs, they could get up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness.
Republicans howled and screamed and pulled their hair out. They claimed that this was a “give a way to the wealthy”. They all screamed that “if you take out a loan, you are required to repay it all back no matter what”. But, of course, that doesn’t include them.
During the pandemic, in order to help struggling companies keep their workforce, they were given PPP loans. Under the provisions of this law, companies got money to help keep workers on the payroll and under certain circumstances, those loans could be forgiven. But, just because they could have been forgiven, there was nothing that said you couldn’t pay it back just like Republicans claim “everyone who takes out a loan is required to pay it back”.
Hmmmm! A few examples. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) took out PPP loans. He was “forgiven” $1.4 million in debt. Meaning he didn’t have to pay back the loan he took out. It should also be noted he was totally against the student loan forgiveness program and represents 489,000 people who would have been given the same “loan forgiveness” he so eagerly took for himself.
In addition to him, we have Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY). He was granted $4.4 million in loan forgiveness under the PPP law. He too argued against the student forgiveness plan. He represents 90,000 people who could have benefitted from this program but now cannot.
Finally we have the infamous loud mouth and ignoramus Rep. Marjorie Taylor Grees (R-GA). She also screamed about how bad this program was and how “everyone is required to repay their loans”. She was granted loan forgiveness of over $180,000. She represents 91,800 people who would have benefitted from this program.
As you can see, the idea that “everyone must repay their loan debts” only applies to those who need help in that matter. The rich can get their loans forgiven even if they can afford to pay them back. And, if those loans are given to members of the Republican Party, they are absolutely right in taking that forgiveness and “not pay back the loan”.
Finally, those three members of Congress who fought against student forgiveness received more money and forgiveness than the total of all of those they represent who would have been eligible for their own forgiveness. How fair is that?
Then we have the case of the web designer. Now, remember, when nominees to the Supreme Court are questioned before the Senate Judiciary and are given questions about “hypothetical” cases, they all claim they cannot say how they would rule because the case is not real.
In this case, the court ruled that a web designer could deny service to same-sex couples in Colorado 0n the grounds of her First Amendment rights. Those first amendment rights are based on religion. She doesn’t like LGBTQ people, and uses her “religious rights” to deny service to the public based on those beliefs.
But, there is a twist in this story. It has come out that the case did NOT even exist. She never designed a web site for any marriages and the man she claims wanted her to design a same-sex marriage site did not even call her. And, to make matters worse, he has been married, happily according to him, to a woman for 15 years. The court actually heard and ruled on a hypothetical case. You know, what they cannot say they would do when questioned during their confirmation hearings.
The ramifications of this ruling is not just about same-sex marriages. By declaring that someone making money with a company can deny services simply because they don’t like the people asking for those services is bogus. If you open your business to the public, the law says you cannot discriminate against anyone just because. This ruling overturns those laws.
Additionally, since conservatives are always crying about being able to discriminate on “religious beliefs” this will not end with just same-sex couples. It will creep back into all aspects of life. With this ruling, the court has opened the door back to the bad ole days of Jim Crow laws and segregation. This time it won’t be just people of color, it will just about everyone else.
In a comeback against this ruling and showing just how ridiculous it is, Michael Imperioli in a tweet said this: “I’ve decided to forbid bigots and homophobes from watching ‘The Sopranos,’ ‘The White Lotus,’ ‘Goodfellas,’ or any movie or TV show I’ve been in. Thank you Supreme Court for allowing me to discriminate and exclude those who I don’t agree with and am opposed to,” he continued, wryly. “USA! USA!”
Tomorrow is Independence Day in America. However, with the rise of the new neo-fascist ideology, we are not really celebrating “liberty and justice for all”. We are heading backwards to when it was perfectly legal to discriminate against other citizens who are different. And, this Supreme Court with its radical conservative agenda is helping make that a sad reality once again.
As a 20 year veteran, I find this march backwards both troubling and disturbing. We wore the uniform to protect our liberties and freedoms, but we were protecting those liberties and freedoms for everyone. Not just the select few.
I have always been an optimist. I have not only believed the glass was half full, I believed the pitcher was over it ready to fill it back up. But, this fascist tendency that has been embraced by the Republican Party has put even my optimism in doubt. I fear there are dark clouds on the horizon and we need to stop them now before it is too late.
We need to vote Republicans who embrace this ideology out of office in droves from national level right down to the local level. If not, we are certainly going to “enjoy the bad ole days” when “good ole boys” could openly hate and attack anyone different.
It appears that today’s Republicans and conservatives have embraced the scream of George Wallace the governor of Alabama when he stood on the steps of the capitol of Alabama in the 1960s and shouted “segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”.
Sorry, that is not what I served to protect. I served to eliminate that ideology and make our country free for everyone with full and equal rights. Too bad Republicans no longer believe that to be the real America. They prefer the fascist style where they dictated who is a “real citizen” and who is a “second class citizen”. If that is what we are to become, then shame on us for letting it happen.
I would love to wish everyone a happy 4th of July holiday. But…..
Lean Left World 