Crooked Media - What A Day: Sem' no evil

 -Boris Johnson, on playing tough with the Kremlin

The 72 hours after the corrupted Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade quickly showcased how horrible the ruling is and how Republicans can't wait to make things horribler. 

• Across America in abortion-ban states, clinics hurriedly canceled scheduled appointments out of fear that proceeding with abortions already on the books could result in medical professionals and women facing prosecution and prison time. “Some patients broke down and could not speak through their sobbing,” Katie Quinonez, executive director of West Virginia’s only abortion clinic, told the Associated Press. “Some patients were stunned and didn’t know what to say. Some patients did not understand what was happening.”
   
• The scenes were particularly brutal in clinic waiting rooms. In Texas, staff at the Alamo Women's Reproductive Services Clinic told patients, "the Supreme Court made this decision today and, unfortunately, your geographical location affects your bodily autonomy," and later described "complete despair" as patents, taken by surprise, cried and screamed about the prospect of being forced to carry their pregnancies to term. 
   
• These stories about abrupt changes in law will quickly be overtaken by the profound cruelties of the laws themselves: Women refused abortions to terminate ectopic pregnancies, for instance. Or forced to carry to term fetuses with anomalies that will kill them shortly after they're born, such as will be the case under Ohio's new "heartbeat" abortion ban. 

• Attorney General John O'Connor (R-OK) beamed that "The womb is now, in Oklahoma, the safest place for a child to be," presumably because he supports flooding society with guns. Soon-to-be-Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) trolled Arkansans about her absolute indifference to child-welfare, saying, "We will make sure that when a kid is in the womb, they're as safe as they are in a classroom." Yesli Vega, who's running against Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), echoed Todd "legitimate rape" Akin, casting false doubt on whether rape can result in pregnancy.  
   
• But the absolute prize goes to state-Rep. Karianne Lisonbee (R-UT), who said, “I got a text message today saying I should seek to control men’s ejaculations and not women’s pregnancies... I do trust women enough to control when they allow a man to ejaculate inside of them and to control that intake of semen.” Hear that ladies? Just keep that stuff AWAY.

Crooked Media’s Editor in Chief and host of Rubicon Brian Beutler is back with a new podcast, Positively Dreadful, that takes listeners below the headlines of the stories stirring anxiety in today’s news landscape.

In the first episode, Brian is joined by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) to talk about how personal loss and the insurrection changed him, and how we can still balance realism with hope today.

New episodes of Positively Dreadful premiere each Friday. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaking of making sure voters know about the future Republicans want: The Supreme Court's abolition of reproductive rights has already begun to change the country's political landscape, but from a starting point that was immensely unfavorable to Democrats. And it remains unclear how strategically adept Democrats will be at seizing their new advantage. A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll shows 56 percent of Americans oppose the Court's decision, 45 percent strongly oppose it, compared to only 40 percent that support it. That corresponds with a related finding that 78 percent of Democrats say they are now more likely to vote in November thanks to the overturning of Roe, compared to only 54 percent of Republicans. In sum, it has allowed Democrats to recapture the generic ballot lead for control of Congress. But the shift occurred after the pendulum had already swung well away from Democrats, which suggests a backdrop of dissatisfaction with the party. That suggests making the election a referendum on abortion rights would be a huge boon to the party; yet for now at least, some of the party's leaders seem mysteriously intent on raising the salience of inflation—an issue that hurts Democrats and that Republicans are thrilled to keep in the news.

They won't stop here. Neither will we. 

The Supreme Court issued a shameful ruling explicitly overturning Roe v. Wade – turning its back on 50 years of precedent. 

Emboldened by this decision, anti-abortion extremists and their political allies won't stop here. Opponents of freedom are planning for a nationwide ban on abortion. And they're also attacking our right to use birth control, access gender-affirming care, marry who we love, and vote. 

But the ACLU has been preparing for this moment. We're committed to using the full force of our organization to fight these assaults in the courts, in statehouses, in the streets, and at the ballot box. And we're ready to work as hard as it takes – for as long as it takes – to protect all our civil liberties. 

The ACLU needs you now more than ever – not just for today – but for the long haul. Donate in this crucial moment to ensure we have the resources needed for the urgent work ahead to defend people's rights. 

The ACLU will never back down and we know you won't either. Because, we, the people, always have the power to fight back. And, with your support, that's what we intend to do. 

Thanks for taking action,

The ACLU Team

• The House January 6 Committee will hold a surprise hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, June 28, "to present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony." Sounds juicy.
   
• Donald Trump's top coup lawyer, John Eastman, says federal agents seized his cell phone on June 22. Even juicier!
   
• A federal judge has ordered attorneys for the Oath Keepers to disclose whether Sidney Powell—the other Trump coup lawyer we love to call Queen Kraken—has helped finance their clients' defense against seditious conspiracy and obstruction charges.
   
• In other insurrection developments, the right-wing Stop the Steal march organizer Ali Alexander testified under subpoena to a federal grand jury about the plot to overturn the election.
   
• Oh, and Eric Trump reportedly told a documentary filmmaker/January 6 committee witness that insurrectionist violence was "fair game."
   
• The FDA's vaccine advisers will recommend on Tuesday whether the agency should approve updated, Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccines, but the trial process has taken long enough that Omicron subvariants have displaced the original variant the vaccines were designed to neutralize. 
   
• A federal grand jury is investigating the blank-check acquisition company that has agreed to take Donald Trump's right-wing social media company, Truth Social, public for transparent securities-law violations.
   
• Starbucks will reimburse employees who have to travel out of state for abortion, but in a Venti cup of scalding bullshit, says it cannot“make promises of guarantees about any benefits” for unionized coffee shops. 
   
• A supermarket employee, national hero, and great patriot named Daniel Gill gave Rudy Giuliani an attaboy-style pat on the back while saying "Hey, what's up, scumbag?" during his work shift, and now Giuliani is pretending he was grievously battered and pressing charges the melodramatic little lying bitch that he is. 

U.S. and western sanctions have forced Russia into default on its sovereign debt for the first time in over a century (depending how you count). The default doesn't stem from the economic damage the sanctions have done to the Russian government's finances—observers believe that high global oil prices have left Russia flush enough to finance its debt obligations, but that they are legally unable to thanks to sanctions that prohibiting processing debt service in rubles. The immediate impact on Russia's day-to-day economic life is unclear—its invasion of Ukraine had already crippled its economy—but suggests there will be a long-term price for the country to pay for the war. It may also help coincidental Russian escalation: Russian missiles struck a shopping mall in central Ukraine, far, far from the war's front lines on Monday, and over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he would transfer a tactical missile system capable of launching nuclear warheads to Belarus. Leaders of the G7 nations condemned the announcement and warned Russia to "behave responsibly."

Rulings around Roe v. Wade have brought the landmark 1973 case on abortion to the forefront of today’s media. And, like most polarizing issues, unreliable sources are prone to spreading misinformation like wildfire.

That’s why it’s so important in times like these to be meticulous about the coverage we consume—understanding the history of Roe v. Wade, what implications it has today, and how it can affect our future as Americans.

Visit Seekr.com to get news and information on Roe v. Wade from voices on both sides. You’ll even be able to compare articles for reliability in real-time, thanks to the Seekr Score, which evaluates articles on a scale from 0–10. Because transparency matters.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has signed legislation prohibiting California from cooperating with out-of-state authorities attempting to prosecute women or doctors for obtaining or performing abortions.   

California voters will also vote on a referendum to enshrine abortion rights into the state's constitution.

A Louisiana judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of the state's anti-abortion "trigger laws," which snapped back into effect when the corrupted Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. 

The Supreme Court (I know, I know) declined to take up a case that Republicans hoped would eviscerate libel law, exposing critics of the right to ruinous, well-funded, lawsuits.