Forget "Weird." Let's Talk "Dangerous." (Part 1)
Tim Walz got traction by calling Republicans "weird." But leaving it at "weird" lets Republicans off the hook. They're much worse.
The word “weird” has gotten a lot of traction lately. Tim Walz has described several Republicans as weird, and he’s applied that term to their policies and belief systems, as well. For those who have been on the fence about the upcoming election, that may be a good point of entry to begin to question not only 2024 GOP orthodoxy but also the candidates themselves.
But “weird” barely scratches the surface. More importantly, in some ways, it shortchanges the Democrats’ arguments about the serious risks of another term of an out of control leader supported by the spineless political party that has done virtually nothing to stop him. “Weird” fails to take into account how extreme the GOP has become under Trump’s spell. Characterizing too many things as “weird” obfuscates the underlying danger of the autocracy that Trump lusts for.
Harris/Walz campaign has made joy their trademark. But there’s a risk failing to highlight the specific dangers of a second Trump term. Here’s a sampling:
Reproductive Freedom
National Abortion Ban. Trump boasts about having been responsible for overturning Roe. v. Wade. Even though Trump waffled during the presidential debate when asked about a nationwide abortion ban, his running mate has made claims that Trump will, in fact, implement such a ban, as has been described in Project 2025.
Considering how proud he is of overturning Roe and how detached his is from the real-world consequences of that case being overturned, it’s not difficult to imagine him changing his position if the anti-abortion activists pull the right strings (particularly, the purse strings).In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Trump and the Republicans have been all over the map on the issue of IVF. Of the many issues related to reproductive freedom, they managed to find the third rail. There’s no consistency to any of their views, which indicates they’ve been treating it purely as a political issue and not as a personal health or family planning issue. We should expect more of the same sort of waffling.
Contraception. A number of Republicans have been vocal in their opposition to contraception, including Trump’s own running mate. Vance vehemently opposed an amendment to Ohio’s Constitution that would have codified the right to abortion and contraception. Additionally, Project 2025 brings into question whether a political party that is increasingly misogynist would place any value on protecting the right to contraception.
Defunding Planned Parenthood. As part of their sweeping opposition to abortion, Republicans — led by the nose by the so-called “religious right” — have advocated for the defunding of Planned Parenthood. They’ve mischaracterized the sole mission of Planned Parenthood as “killing babies.” In truth, Planned Parenthood is often the only source of primary health care for both women and men. They provide a wide array of services, including vaccines and mental health care.
The anti-abortion crowd loves to be deceptive about the role of Planned Parenthood in our country. Despite the fact that most of Planned Parenthood’s services are not abortion, they’re more than willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
LGBTQ Rights
Marriage Equality. As suggested by Clarence Thomas (the most corrupt SCOTUS justice ever), there’s a very real threat that Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that legalized marriage equality, could be thrown out. That suggestion is echoed and made part of policy in Project 2025.
It might be tempting to think that, oh, it’s settled case law. This can never happen. Think of all that would have to be undone as the result of a Supreme Court case that successfully challenged Obergefell. As this very Supreme Court has shown us, that thinking is flawed. Roe v. Wade was established case law for nearly 50 years, and the court gleefully overturned it, despite three of the six conservative justices having stated under oath in their confirmation hearings that Roe was established case law and they would leave it alone.
Never underestimate the duplicitousness of this current Supreme Court.Trans Rights. Trump and Republicans love to make life more difficult for the disenfranchised. In the Trump era, there has been a huge spike in violent anti-trans crime, due in part to Trump’s rhetoric. A huge number of anti-trans laws have been proposed and enacted, and trans people have been demonized in unprecedented ways.
Trump has even been repeatedly spreading the absurd lie that kids are going to school and coming home a different gender, somehow being subjected to gender reassignment surgery without their parents’ consent.
In a second Trump term, both the rhetoric and the violence that it spawns are likely to get worse. So much for the promise of equal treatment under the law.Book Banning. The banning of books is never a good sign, and there’s usually one or more groups that are specifically targeted by book bans. The recent bans have disproportionately targeted LGBTQ people, as an extension of right-wing state and local governments’ efforts to make LGBTQ folks invisible.
Those bans have deprived LGBTQ youth of truthful information about who they are in the most vulnerable years of their lives. Many, perhaps most, of those gay kids have no role models like themselves and no one they can safely confide in. Those books are a lifeline, literally.
The Supreme Court
Appointment of Supreme Court Justices. Traditional thinking has it that the two most extreme (and most corrupt) Supreme Court justices — Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — are looking to retire if Trump is elected. That would mean that younger justices who are as extreme as or more extreme than the justices they would be replacing. Those newly appointed justices could ensure a far right SCOTUS for decades to come.
Ethics Reform. The current SCOTUS has the lowest favorability ratings it has ever received, and it continues to decline. In its current configuration, it has failed to implement any meaningful code of ethics. A second Trump term would guarantee that the pressure would be off for any kind of ethics reform.
Lower Federal Courts. During his time in office, Trump appointed an unprecedented number of judges to lower courts, at the behest of The Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society. The “long game” of those extreme right wing organizations has been to stack not only the Supreme Court but also the lower Federal courts (District Courts and Courts of Appeal), for two primary reasons. With conservative judges in those lower courts, the decisions that work their way through the judicial system are more likely to favor conservative positions. Secondly, those courts are often the “feeder courts” whose judges are often nominated as Supreme Court justices.
The above list is just the starter set of dangers. Volumes could be written about each of these dangers, and there are lots more reasons to shift the conversation from “weird” to “dangerous.” It’s important to remember that this is not just about differences in policy. It’s about the difference between democracy and autocracy.
I’ll go into it further in Forget "Weird." Let's Talk "Dangerous." (Part 2). Stay tuned.
Hmmm, can't edit comments? OK, sign me, "MamaSher". Thanks, Theo.
As usual, Theo, truth, carefully explained, and using words bigly enough to satisfy Joan's request of me, many moons ago, to, "use longer words when", (I), "talk." Oh, and, "stop dressing like a little kid", specific to my little white socks I wore (that I still love to wear) with my sneakers. Slowly reading all of your posts, Theo, so I can savor each word.. Love, Mamasher