James Ho's Very Unaesthetic Decision

 

I guess there was no reason at all to expect a better comment in the mifepristone case from James Ho, seen in the picture above being sworn in by Justice Clarence Thomas at billionaire Harlan Crow's house because why the heck not?  

But while the overall decision is mixed (the abortion pill remains available with some notable restrictions, such as ordering it by mail) I just need to point to the language of Judge Ho's creepy dissent:

In his concurrent opinion, Ho wrote that the doctors will also suffer an “aesthetic injury” if the pills remain on the market.

“Unborn babies are a source of profound joy for those who view them,” he wrote. “Expectant parents eagerly share ultrasound photos with loved ones. Friends and family cheer at the sight of an unborn child. Doctors delight in working with their unborn patients — and experience an aesthetic injury when they are aborted.”

Prego fetishists love to see the rounded bellies of pregnant women--do they have standing? I experience an aesthetic injury when I see pregnant people's human rights to make health care choices for themselves violated as a person who theoretically (although probably requiring a late-life miracle like Sarah in the Bible) could still get pregnant myself. Where's my consideration? I experience profound discomfort when I see people forced to experience labor at unwanted pregnancies or to carry pregnancies that will negatively affect their well-being. (Should I go looking for some pro-cancer motherfuckers who find tumors beautiful to go ruin oncology? Of course not. Should a lover of gigantic breasts have veto power over breast reductions--"aesthetic injury!" I mean, why not mandate implants for their sake? If we're imposing upon people, after all.) 

Are we just giving every SOB with an opinion credit for it these days? I consider the poor baby-lover who is sad about abortions as being like the dingus white-supremacist child's opinion of being "traumatized" by diversity: tough actual shit. You live on a planet where people have actual lives that ain't yours, buddy--cope. 

And yeah, a lot of doctors love those unborn babies, but also know very well why abortions are necessary and should stay safe and available. Wanted children are a joy. But we know that pregnant people are discriminated against, that they are targeted for violence and murder by partners, that they may have pre-existing conditions including substance abuse and mental illness that make safely carrying a child (and not running afoul of laws that make murderers of women for activities that could harm fetuses) very difficult. Some patients are prone to miscarriage and fetal abnormalities. Sometimes pregnancies are not a joy. It is possible to celebrate both choices, to honor a patients' will in all cases. 

Zealots and ideologues are poor judges. I think that really, a safe and easily available method for ending a pregnancy is something that should remain lawful with little restriction. And no one should have standing over what happens with a pregnancy until viability but the pregnant person. 

(Nota bene--Josh Hawley's wife Erin of the ADF was counsel in this lawsuit. She is what I would call a "sister-shafter"--she does not give one fuck about female-bodied human rights.)

TWGB: Trump Can't Admit He Lost

 

here's raw footage of Trump recording his January 7 video message, getting mad and lashing out, and not wanting to say "the election is over" pic.twitter.com/jIJ2hbO901

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 22, 2022

I mean, we knew contemporaneous with his inaction that he was literally happy that his street warriors were doing his thing. It never was unclear. Take his claim to Kevin McCarthy that he thought the marauders were antifa for one cool minute, before leaning into the phone to say that the people who were rioting care more about the election than McCarthy did. Antifa would not have cared. Trump knew full well who those folks were. 

And that was what was behind his phoning Senators that day, despite what the White House logs have to say about anything. When better to make one's case about what to do, than when one has a gun at someone's head? When Trump told his rioters that he loved them and they should go in peace, did he think they were antifa?  No. he knew they were his people. He knew. He called them there, he wanted to lead them to the Capitol. He approved of what they did. 

But the revealing thing is the out-takes of Trump just unable to say the election is over, because we know this minute he was still harassing state officials as of last week. That's a thing that should not be considered sane. I rankled a bit at the testimony of people who were describing Trump's absolutely deliberate Tweets regarding Mike Pence on 1/6 as "not helpful" and other lukewarm things. How about--murderous?  Trump was putting crosshairs on Mike Pence. 

He wanted his VP killed. I'm sorry, but there are only so many ways to interpret what he wanted there. And what he wanted was batshit crazy--to just have someone declare him the winner even though he lost. He was still pretending he won in a landslide when he...just absolutely did not. There is and has never been proof of voter fraud. Although I note with no small amount of glee that the 1/6 Committe has subpoenaed Phil Waldron to fork over documentation of some of his stupid, spaghetti at the wall claims. 

So hell yeah, election deniers--you are getting an investigation into your claims after all. What's good? 

Anyway, the takeaway should be that GOP leadership should have publicly stepped away from Trump at their nearest opportunity and their supporting him by supporting a coverup is absolute shit. Also, too, he isn't worthy of it because he was a shitty president because leading an insurrection is kind of the exact opposite of doing national security right. He showed his whole ass 1/6, and it was obvious. 

But he's not the only one who can't admit he lost, apparently.  Much of his party is still defending him as if he still had power to protect them. I'm not sure how long he can protect himself.