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Last week was a momentous one for those (like me) of a liberal mindset.
In the wake of the tragedy of the killings at the Charlestown AME church by a racist bigot whose stated intention was to “kill blacks” and “start a race war,” we saw instead unity. We saw a community come together in grief and in peace. We saw even Republican conservative political figures questioning the wisdom of allowing a flag whose symbolism was long ago usurped and twisted by racist hate groups to continue to fly over public spaces. Hopefully the momentum gained there will gather speed and power… but that remains to be seen.
That was followed by two stunning Supreme Court rulings. The legality of the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) was upheld by a 6-3 majority of the justices, meaning that millions of people will have their health care continued, and millions more can count on having health care available to them. Several Republican candidates for president, unsurprisingly, immediately began making statements about how this was a tragedy and travesty and that the fight to kill Obamacare must continue… but hey, they have to pander to their base, and it’s easy to make empty statements when, essentially, there’s nothing they can do about it unless and until they have majorities in both the Senate and the House and also hold the presidency.
Then, the even more stunning and delightful ruling (5-4 this time, with Justice Roberts switching over to the nay side) that all states must recognize gay marriages. A man or woman can now, throughout the country, marry the person they love regardless of gender, and receive all the legal rights that come with marriage. Love wins over bigotry.
Of course, as ecstatic as the week’s advances have made many, I realize that others are as equally upset by them. I hope that as we go forward, those people will see that, really, their lives too will become better because of what has happened over the last several days. Having people of all races come together after tragedies is not a bad thing. Having symbols come down that are now an insult to a great portion of citizens is not a bad thing. Having more people with decent health care that they previously could not afford is not a bad thing. Having people who love each other able to commit to their love through the act of marriage and enjoy the legal rights thereof is not a bad thing.
Those are all very good things.
In the wake of the tragedy of the killings at the Charlestown AME church by a racist bigot whose stated intention was to “kill blacks” and “start a race war,” we saw instead unity. We saw a community come together in grief and in peace. We saw even Republican conservative political figures questioning the wisdom of allowing a flag whose symbolism was long ago usurped and twisted by racist hate groups to continue to fly over public spaces. Hopefully the momentum gained there will gather speed and power… but that remains to be seen.
That was followed by two stunning Supreme Court rulings. The legality of the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) was upheld by a 6-3 majority of the justices, meaning that millions of people will have their health care continued, and millions more can count on having health care available to them. Several Republican candidates for president, unsurprisingly, immediately began making statements about how this was a tragedy and travesty and that the fight to kill Obamacare must continue… but hey, they have to pander to their base, and it’s easy to make empty statements when, essentially, there’s nothing they can do about it unless and until they have majorities in both the Senate and the House and also hold the presidency.
Then, the even more stunning and delightful ruling (5-4 this time, with Justice Roberts switching over to the nay side) that all states must recognize gay marriages. A man or woman can now, throughout the country, marry the person they love regardless of gender, and receive all the legal rights that come with marriage. Love wins over bigotry.
Of course, as ecstatic as the week’s advances have made many, I realize that others are as equally upset by them. I hope that as we go forward, those people will see that, really, their lives too will become better because of what has happened over the last several days. Having people of all races come together after tragedies is not a bad thing. Having symbols come down that are now an insult to a great portion of citizens is not a bad thing. Having more people with decent health care that they previously could not afford is not a bad thing. Having people who love each other able to commit to their love through the act of marriage and enjoy the legal rights thereof is not a bad thing.
Those are all very good things.