Thomas More Dead Women Society: More Election Denial! More Religious Zealotry! More Subjugation!

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How do you like it? How do you like it?

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How do you like it? How do you like it?
More, more, more
How do you like it? How do you like it?

I mentioned the sophomorically named Thomas More Society in July, when former Illinois State Rep Peter Breen was giggling at the prospect of arguing before the Sinister Supreme Court that pregnant women should be detained and stopped from interstate travel because they may engage in the soon-to-be unlawful activity of abortion.  

Before the monstrous Dobbs decision, Breen and the Thomas More Slavery Society brought lawsuits in Sangamon County (Their headquarters is in Chicago but, you know these religious freaks don't want to bring a case up before Cook County Judges) that Illinois Abortion Coverage Mandate somehow violates their "sincere" religious beliefs.  Breen of course, cited the almost as monstrous 2014 Hobby Lobby Court decision which allowed business owners to determine what employees can or can not do with their personal medical care.  Peter Breen is a grotesque but, he's far from the only one at this rightwing club of scoundrels as they've brought lawsuits in numerous states using the false piety and religious liberty to restrict the rights of others.

To wit: As the 2022 Elections conclude, the Thomas More Society is gearing up to overthrow the results of elections because Republicans are no longer certain their techniques for suppressing voter turnout and disenfranchisement provide them with enough "wins" so like all Authoritarians they've moved to "legally" challenging and overturning results.

"If there is a close election, it’s going to be up to us to fix it,” said Erick Kaardal, a lawyer with the Thomas More Society, a conservative legal group in Chicago, during an Oct. 27 Zoom attended by more than 50 people. “We’re the team that’s going to have to fix an election in Michigan, if it’s rigged.”

And how will we know if "it's rigged"?  Why if the Republican supposedly lost, it's rigged!  And how do we "fix it"?  Why simply declare the Republicans the winners!

The Thomas More Dead Women and More Slavery society started in 1998, when these types of groups got their footing on the coattails of Racist Limbaugh's powerful rightwing agitprop radio program, Newt Gingrich's Contract on America, and the birth of Faux News.  Since, then these groups have worked the Long Game, slowly eroding laws and codifying religious liberty arguments into US and State Law.  It's an insidious way to overthrow the US Government, and one which was working piece by piece, the kind of methodology preferred by long-time institutionalists like Mich McConnell and John Roberts. 

I hope you've already voted by the time you read this but if you haven't, go vote and take friends and family, because we're quickly moving to the the second stage of a pre-fascist Government in which election losses are overturned via court injunctions and bureaucratic legerdemain.  Thus, the fascists can point to "free & fair" elections as they move to the next step of permanently ensconcing themselves into Office, while retaining the facade of a democratic Republic.  

But, regardless of the outcome of the 2022 Elections understand the Rightwing isn't going to stop.  They've got their bloodlust up, they've got the 6 Unjustices on the Supreme Court, they've got their gerrymandered State Legislatures and they've got their sights set upon claiming the Whole Thing in 2024. So as I've written before get ready.  Get ready to fight for your lives, literally.  Because Rightwingers are coming for them.

Reclaiming Democratic Values, Championing the Working Class and Making America Great

Most liberals have convinced themselves the disastrous Right-Wing Tea Party policies and outright appeals to hatred and bigtory would send the American Voter fleeing away from the Republicans.

Coupling this with the inevitable march of demographics, Liberals have been blissfully congratulating themselves on their Future Ascendancy and electoral dominance.

But, the belief in Demographic Destiny is a pipe dream. In much the same way Karl Rove spoke of Republican 100-year Reich, the Democratic Party has exuded smug Hubris that all they need do is exist in order to win Elections. As Tim Donovan at Suffolk Resolves wrote, There is no Demographic Destiny.

So, despite Democratic Congressional Candidates winning more votes in 2012, in the aggregate, and the overwhelming support for Center-Left referendums in 2014, Liberals and Democrats are faced with Republican control of the US Senate and Republican dominance of the US House, State Legislatures and Governorships.

But, besides their Hubris and the cashing-in on future voters the Democratic Party's downfall also stems from the free reign the gave to the Republicans to woo the working class white male.

Now, why would the faux populism of the Republican Party appeal to working class white men? There never has been a more implacable foe of the Working Class than the Modern Republican Party.

One of the key beliefs, which I have believed as well, was that Republicans had duped Working Class Whites into voting against their Own Economic Interests. But, is that true? But, is that how the Working Class White Man and Woman sees it? The answer is obviously not.

The perception by the White Working Class is they have been betrayed by the Democratic Party and the new Platform focus on gays, blacks and women.

There is a lot of hindsight going. The PPACA (Obamacare) legislation was beneficial to white people (no caps on lifetime coverage, no pre-existing conditions, for instance) but, because the Conservative Internet Fart Bubble was allowed to frame the rhetoric as Death Panels and welfare for black people, Working Class whites don't see the Democratic Party as their Party or even their ally anymore.

While the Republicans are committed to eliminating the Social Safety net and reducing the vast majority of Americans to Wage Slavery and Corporate Bondage, the white working class sees itself ostracized, shunned and abandoned by the Democratic Party.

It's not true but, as always perception is truth. So, while it's impossible to not see that Republicans are fanatically determined to destroy the Progressive Gains of the 20th century, Working Class people are focused on the now and the immediate future.

Long-term unemployment, millions of foreclosures, crippling personal debts and bankruptcies, the evaporation of savings and retirement accounts, and the crumbling of the country;s infrastructure are taking place as billions in taxpayer subsidies, obscene profits, bonuses and compensation are doled out to the corporate overlords. - Chris Hedges, Death of the Liberal Class, pg.181

Since 2007, after George W(orst President Ever) Bush and the Republican Party crashed the economy the Democratic Party had an opportunity to pivot towards Economic Populism and reclaim the Will of the American People.

But, the Democrats have been caught by the trap laid by the Plutocracy. Unless you are a Senator like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren it's hard to ignore that Money = Campaign = Victory.

Occupy Wall Street offered the Democratic Party another chance to pick up the mantle of Champion of the Working Class. Which is why Plutocracy moved so quickly to undermine and destroy it.

So, the Democrats did not offer any help to people struggling to pay bills, keep their house, take care of aging parents, raise kids, work longer hours and pick up extra jobs. And the White Working Class was forced to choose the least-worst candidate and they are increasingly choosing Republicans.

There is a way to reclaim the white working class and win elections, while also inhabiting the moral high ground and providing the American Voter a government they know is looking out and seeking to protect them.

Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren are the strong voices promoting Left-Wing Economic Populism. They are devoted to helping the Working Class, safeguarding the Social Safety Net and restoring the American Dream.

Senator Warren has said she is not running for President but, Bernie Sanders has stated if enough Americans, if enough of the 99%, are willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with him he will take on the Koch Brothers and the 1%.

Again there is no Demographic Destiny. If We, the People stand together we can reclaim the Democratic Values which made this Nation Great in the 20th Century.

But, We must act because as Tim Donovan wrote at Suffolk Resolves,

Whichever party first grabs the mantle of economic populism will earn the support of a rising generation fed up with the politics of the moment, a generation wholly unsympathetic to the broken, ineffectual Reagan consensus that’s still so dominant today.