The "Do Something" Caucus

 After Texas implemented (and the Courts refused to stop) it's bounty hunter anti-abortion bill, there were the usual cries of "Why won't Democrats do something? There's just as bad as Republicans." This is, of course, bullshit. 

Among the criticisms I saw on social media was that AG Merrick Garland might well be Bill Barr for all he's done to prosecute Trump or protect women's rights.

Leaving aside that if you are going to prosecute a former president, you'd better have EVERYTHING perfect, prosecutions take time to build under the best circumstances. Cases take years to drag through the courts, even as "Q Shaman" has been sentenced to several years in prison. More will come.

On the Texas issue, the DOJ came out today saying they would use the FACE Act to stop implementation of the law. This is...stretching the law, which was created to protect reproductive clinics from violent threats and attacks. Here's the Wikipedia entry:

(1) the use of physical force, threat of physical force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person who is obtaining reproductive health services or providing reproductive health services (this portion of the law typically refers to abortion clinics), (2) the use of physical force, threat of physical force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person who is exercising or trying to exercise their First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship, (3) the intentional damage or destruction of a reproductive health care facility or a place of worship.

So, it's hard to see how this is "physical obstruction" or "force." The law does say you can't prevent someone from entering a clinic and you can't stalk clinic workers. That would seem to give them enough cover to stop some aspects of the law.

The nature of politics today is so very, very broken by social media's rush to judgment and immediate need for gratification that it's impossible to govern properly.

I enjoy Twitter and I like connecting with old friends on Facebook, but honest to Dog, if they disappeared tomorrow, the world would be a better place.