Choice, Shmoice
Blogging for choice. It’s a good thing. And, godbag willing, I hope to hell we can block Alito.
But it’s also good to bear in mind that, when it comes right down to it, the suits in D.C. don’t give a shit.
Walter Shapiro in Salon comes right out and says it:
…the fate of the abortion decision and O’Connor’s legal legacy are not, by themselves, enough politically to derail the Alito nomination. In early December, political strategists directing the opposition to Alito privately calculated that they had almost no chance of stopping the rush to giving Bush another justice.
This, despite the fact that the great majority of Americans care very much about “the fate of the abortion decision.” Nearly 70% of them would drop Alito like a Costa Rican on a 747 if they thought he would vote to make abortion illegal. That includes 44% of Republicans. Think about it: even Republicans would oppose Alito — almost half of them, anyway — if they thought he’d vote to overturn Roe.
But this information does not seem to have affected the suits in D.C. The reason that opposition to Alito has perked up a bit now is that we just so happen to be in the middle of an Imperial Presidency scandal of Nixonian proportions. The Democrats are feeling their oats a bit, sensing they can get some traction against a Bush-enabler like Alito. But the choice thing? See, that never really mattered. Prying into the suits’ business, fucking with their shit — that matters.
So here’s the political question: what’s with the seeming indifference of these Senators to the prospect of Roe being overturned? Of course they don’t actually care about human liberty or anything; one realizes that. But what’s the political angle? They can read those poll numbers perfectly well.
My guess? Suits on both sides of the aisle realize that if Roe goes down in flames, the war over choice will simply move to a new theatre — state legislatures, perhaps a Constitutional amendment. The war will go on, and war is what politicians feed on. The Republicans will need the continued support of the wingnut base to keep up the good fight against the abortionist infidels. The Democrats will be invigorated, maybe even united, and the money and votes will pour in. Happiness for the suits; happiness all around. Happiness while women die; happiness while desperate teenagers bleed to death on the floor of motel bathrooms. Happiness, happiness, happiness all around.
