An Opinion Piece - On Lady Justice: Women, The Law, and The Battle to Save America by Dahlia Lithwick - A Must-Read For Women!

Freedom is a dream

Haunting as amber wine

Or worlds remembered out of time.

Not Eden’s gate, but freedom

Lures us down a trail of skulls

Where men forever crush the dreamers—

Never the dream.

—pauli murray, “Dark Testament”

I’m not sure if my involvement in causes, benefits, marches, and demonstrations has made a huge difference, but I know one thing: that involvement has connected me with the good people: people with the live hearts, the live eyes, the live heads.

—pete seeger

I sometimes think of the Supreme Court oral arguments in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt on March 2, 2016, as the last truly great day for women and the legal system in America. There are, to be sure, many such glorious moments to choose from, both before and after Trump, but as a professional court-watcher I had a front-row seat to this story, one that offered a sense that women in the United States had achieved some milestone that would never be reversed. The landmark abortion challenge represented the first time in American history that a historic abortion case was being heard by a Supreme Court with three female justices.

Buried in that story is the truth about how legal decisions involving women, their salaries, their bodies, their educations, custody of their children, and their votes have been framed in American courtrooms until very recently: by husbands and fathers with good intentions and staggeringly low information. We lucked out. We got contraception and access to military schools, the right to our own credit cards, and all sorts of equal rights over the years...

And then it was gone. With the death of Justice Ginsburg in September 2020; the seating of three committed anti-choice justices by Donald Trump in the years since Whole Woman’s Health; and the reversal of Roe in June of 2022, that case will now likely stand as a high-water mark we may not soon see again in the courts, or in women’s constitutional progress. It has become, at least for me, a marker of the end of history, but in completely the wrong direction. In a matter of weeks after Whole Woman’s Health came down, constitutional history began to unravel quickly.

So, what does an opinion piece mean as opposed to just being a review? And I may use a liberal amount of sarcasm, just because... So, I'm talking about the present and future more than the book itself, based upon what is covered in the book... OK? Feel free to make comments, ask questions, or just your thoughts and feedback on this "opinionated post" LOL

Readers, I highly recommend Lady Justice, especially to all women around the world.  Recently in a conversation with my best friend, we mutually came to a conclusion that America should become an Amazonian Country... Why? Because everywhere we were looking, we saw women in government, state and federal, who were "doing their job!" Wow, yes, that's all, they are doing their jobs! As opposed to many men, especially in politics, and especially in Congress, who are, on the norm, slow to act, slow to research and use Truth, and slow to...do...their...jobs! Seriously! So, if this is true, don't we need to reconsider how women are, today, being treated?!

I watched as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg fought her battle to...stay alive... She had every right to expect what would happen if she was no longer on earth to protect the rights of women... And it did! Could she have saved the Supreme Court from overturning Roe. I'll wager that she would have! Instead, what we have now seen over and over and over regarding the highest court in our country, is that it has become seriously flawed... And no longer, a Court that could be Trusted. In fact, Ginsberg is not even mentioned in this book, which is, of course, not a book of historical events... Rather a book to tell us just exactly what has occurred over the last nearly decade! One of the first cases was, I discovered, the prosecution of hundreds of individuals who were participants the Virginia protest case in which a woman was killed by automobile! Few details were provided however.

Basically, this book is just about women doing their jobs... You know, the ones that need to get done routinely and based upon extensive research and documentation! The one, also, that would never get publicized much because they weren't handled by a man... men who, for whatever reason, have continued to assume dictatorial roles in just about anything they do...  A man like the past president of America.

I added a video above just for a little light humor, along with much of my sarcastic comments, LOL, but, as well as an awareness that we women MUST look toward our future in ALL things. In my opinion, the future of America now has little to do with Trump. In fact, he is merely a distraction of what is actually happening across the nation. You feel it, don't you? There is much more violence... There are many more guns in the hands of many who should never be allowed to touch them. And more people are dying in America due to guns than at any other time, and only in America! Children are more aware than many would think they are. It is clear that at a certain age, somewhat between toddler and going to schools, they are hearing what is being said... Many know the name of the former president...

I remember early in his administration, there was a story, perhaps true or not, but seemed to be something that could really happen these days. A young boy was chastized at school and then at home for bullying another student. At home he calmly said, I figure if the president can do it, then it must be the "right" think to do... Indeed, there is much for the average citizen these days who can question, what in the world is happening in America!

Importantly, there has been a major shift of the far right in moving backward. They want to eliminate all the advances that have occurred over the last 2000+ years. They claim they want to make america great again... You know, when white men ran everything, including all families, all businesses, and all potential future advancements. Now, many white men such as the former president, who was quite open in his actions regarding women, including rape, for which he has been convicted, and for defamation, which he has also been convicted, and which is now being considered as part of a criminal trial now underway in New York... Men want the old days--they don't want them because women and blacks in particular in America will be able to take advantage of any new advancement...and maybe learn more, even more than their men who want to savor all that power... their violent toys...

I've learned that it didn't start in 2015, prior to the election. That was just when a former reality star decided to claim power over America... And succeeded, even though he was not chosen by the majority of Americans...

Now, here's the first questionable issue... Election Fraud--manipulation of the voting apparatus, gerrymandering, and any other scheme that can be used to attempt to keep women and blacks from voting... That, by the way, doesn't mean that they also don't want Jews, Immigrants from any place that does not have white citizens, preferably also male, et.al., 

It is just that they learned by 2015 that women and black women in particular have a strong coordinated effort to "bond..." You know what I mean, right? We've all bonded over one thing or another... First women wanted to vote, so everybody bonded together and we got the right to vote... at least to a great extent, but there has always been holdouts who continue to reject advancement... Then the MeToo Movement...

This book spotlights Stacey Abrams! Of course, I've also started reading her books once I knew that she had started under a pseudonym, but it was her presence, her ability to communicate, and our being able to see clearly that she CARED! that brought us to her... But I didn't know what had happened to her after not winning the position of governor... Well, they now call her The Game Changer! 

And, after that election, when she was offered other jobs in the federal government, she chose to stay and continue exactly what she had been doing. Only nation-wide! Everybody knows her name--or at least every woman knows her name... This book talks about a number of women who are taking on the illegal manipulation of things like redistricting, the effect of the census... all those "routine" things that none of us really entirely understood since, perhaps, our state was fairly stable most of the year...or just didn't broadcast what was being done to ensure redistributing was handled to ensure that those people "they" didn't think should be allowed to vote, became of little consequence to the overall state voting activity... that they wanted...

Now think about this. Right Now! If your state is a primary red state, it is my understanding that those who vote red will ensure that if you, who live in that state, but are fed  up with what has happened since, say, for instance, Roe's overturn, then you just might have been redistricted out of your vote not counting much for the state's results... If you are confused, well, just know that I am too. However, what I do know and am quite familiar with is that, Donald Trump did not win the popular vote!!! Hillary Clinton did!!! Yes, in 2016, it was only the Electoral Votes that elected Trump into a presidency like no other in our country's history! And now I know from reading this book, that people in power who want to make sure they win will lie, cheat, maneuver, and downright invent electors, if they can get away with it to make their candidate win! Did you know, for instance, that it was a conservative Supreme Court, who confirmed the second Bush president, who was NOT the popular vote winner... And, I have to ask, do you begin to see a pattern that it is only the Republican Party that does these types of obfuscation? At least during the last decade... I refuse to look further back than that... History is history and cannot be changed. But you can use historical and present events to ensure something doesn't happen again...

Thus, I've turned this book into an opinion piece. If you have not yet read any book oriented toward the Trump Years as President or, very important, what happened on January 6th to attempt to change the results of the 2020 election during which Joe Biden was elected as the new president. Lady Justice gives you a great overview of legal actions taking place during that time... On the other hand, if you have kept yourself fairly up-to-date on current events incited or implemented by the republican party, I want to spotlight those issues that concern me the most...

The governor signed this bill! I've just finished reading a novel about this issue... Watch for it soon!

This is the latest effort by republicans to maneuver events related to the election...This is not lying, this is real, this is the truth--part of the conspiracy by MAGA to ensure that Donald Trump would win the election in 2020! (Concurrent planning with the January 6th insurrection planning!) Also now moving toward beginning the trial. Other states have also filed suits against fake electors activity as part of the 2020 election overthrow... Please be sure you are on alert for the 2024 election, no matter how you vote... Make sure your vote counts! Frankly, I believe that most of America knows what is going on to vote...but when we know the type of shenanigans' done by the republican party, by white christian nationalists, by Putin to again provide disinformation and be involved in the next election as Russian was indicted for in the 2016 election.

Let's look at another state--Wisconsin as well as other states, including Georgia which are also moving toward heading to trial.

Lithwick points out that one of the the first thing done was the banning at the border potential immigrants from certain countries... But, sometimes, Trump was stopped by law... He then began to appeal--more appeals for two reasons. First to possibly delay action Trump didn't want to happen. Or, to disagree with the law and begin to figure out how to get around Laws!

Also, you need to be watching as to what the Supreme Court announced related to Trump's case about he should be immune for...anything..."

Readers, please be alert and do your research... If this case is that Trump is determined to be immune of all issues during his administration, then we will KNOW THAT THE SUPREME COURT HAS BEEN COMPROMISED! No man is above the Law... Don't let the republicans give you the slighted idea that this could be different for the past president! To me, this has NO basis for even being considered...if you follow the law!

I know, I know, you are all concerned about being able to buy your groceries, for paying for bills! At the same time, however, if we are all now cognizant--mindful--of the facts that are being performed illegally across the nation, you will undoubtedly also realize that without our freedoms, without our ability to vote and act freely and honestly with no fear of corruption, especially as women, non-whites or non white nationalist christians, the entire core of America's democracy will be criminally taken over as the new Supreme Courts Justice opined, then we are leading to the Oval Office being nothing about a location for a criminal enterprise, headed by the 2024 republican candidate (the latter part of this sentence is my clarifying opinion of her judgment)...

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