The Nation - July 27, 2022

58 Pages·2022·25.5 MB·English

CRUISE
EST. 1865
Grab a seat before
they’re all gone
Join The Nation’s 2022 Cruise!
December 10–17, 2022
This December, join The Nation for a week of lively debate and spirited discussion in the Caribbean.
We’ll set sail from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and dock at Willemstad, Curaçao; Oranjestad, Aruba; and
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas.
JUST ANNOUNCED!
Join Katrina vanden Heuvel, John Nichols, Elie Mystal, Bhaskar Sunkara,
Joan Walsh, Sasha Abramsky, Ben Jealous, and many more speakers to be
announced soon!
Visit NationCruise.com to book today!
CECILE RICHARDS
KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL JOHN NICHOLS ELIE MYSTAL BHASKAR SUNKARA JOAN WALSH BEN JEALOUS
The Nation purchases carbon offsets to cover the emissions generated by our tours in order to help mitigate effects on the climate.
A town mourns:
A memorial for the
victims of the Robb
Elementary School
mass shooting in
Uvalde, Tex.
B&A
F E A T U R E S 4 EDITORIAL 53 Letters
Keep Hope Alive
14 The Backlash 54 Q&A the
JOHN NICHOLS Linda Villarosa B O O KS
Against Sex Ed 5 COMMENT REGINA MAHONE A R TS
1,019... and Counting
JOAN WALSH
We can apply the lessons 40 The Zen Playboy
40
The latest front in the culture war.
of HIV to monkeypox. The life and times of

GREGG GONSALVES Stewart Brand.
20
6 COMMENT MALCOLM HARRIS
40 Years Later
44 Intimacy at
Recalling 1982’s nuclear
a Distance
disarmament rally.
LESLIE CAGAN The history of
C O L U M N S
teletherapy.
7 COMMENT
8 Objection!
Disruptive Politics DANIELLE CARR
The Supreme Court rules
Democrats “clap for 46 Resolution (poem)
that an innocent person
Tinkerbell” as the GOP
CHASE BERGGRUN
can be executed.
rolls back rights.
49 Office Space
ELIE MYSTAL
VANESSA WILLIAMSON
AND DANA R. FISHER 10 Subject to Debate The surreal workplace
of Severance.
The baby formula

VIKRAM MURTHI
shortage is being used
to shame women. 50 Gender Essentialist
20 The Problem of the Poem (poem)
KATHA POLLITT
Supreme Court 13 Deadline Poet JOSHUA JENNIFER
ESPINOZA
LOUIS MICHAEL SEIDMAN A Charitable View of
It’s time to admit that the court has Queen Elizabeth’s... Cover illustration:
done the country more harm than good. 14 CALVIN TRILLIN BRIAN STAUFFER
“
28 Giselle Goes to War 12 THE ARGUMENT Fox News and right-wing 14
We Owe It to politicians mainstreamed the notion
NICOLAS NIARCHOS Young People to
that supporters of comprehensive
Until the invasion is over, the arts in Listen to Them
”
S Ukraine remain on a war footing. VONNE MARTIN sex education are ‘groomers.’
E
G
A
M
TTY I V3OL1UM4E The Nation (ISSN 0027-8378) is printed 26 times a year (two issues in January, February, March, April, June, July, August, September, November and December; and three issues in May and October)
GE by The Nation Company, LLC © 2022 in the USA by The Nation Company, LLC, 520 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018; [phone]. Washington Bureau: Suite 308, 110 Maryland Avenue NE,
O / Washington, DC 20002; [phone]. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Subscription orders, changes of address, and all subscription inquiries: The Nation,
AG NU1M3BER PO Box 69, Lincolnshire, IL 60069-9815; or call 1-800-333-8536. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Bleuchip International, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Canada Post: Publications
NTI Mail Agreement No. 40612608. When ordering a subscription, please allow four to six weeks for receipt of first issue and for all subscription transactions. Back issues available online for $6.99 plus S&H 3
SA from: shop.thenation.com. If the post office alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year. The Nation is available on
L M. J2UN7E J4UL Y microfilm from: University Microfilms, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Nation, PO Box 69, Lincolnshire, IL 60069-9815. Printed in the USA.
E
A 2022
H Read this issue on June 11 at TheNation.com—before anyone else. Activate your online account: TheNation.com/register
C
MI
h
E D I T O R I A L / J O H N N I C H O L S F O R THE NATION
Keep Hope Alive
opelessness is the most powerful tool in the arsenal of a heartless gun
industry and the National Rifle Association, which implements its deadly
agenda. If Americans believe nothing can be done to save lives, then even
the most well-intentioned citizens “move on” after each new massacre at a
school, supermarket, hospital, or church. The NRA’s political puppets have
mastered the art of muttering “thoughts and prayers” and then changing the
subject before anyone objects. So, of course Texas Governor Greg Abbott was shocked when
former El Paso congressman Beto O’Rourke interrupted a press conference at which the cynical
Republican was making excuses for failing to take steps to prevent an
18-year-old gunman from slaughtering 19 children and two teach- Safety vice president Nick Suplina says “would cut
ers at an elementary school in Uvalde. “You are doing nothing,” illegal guns off at the source by clearly defining
O’Rourke told Abbott, the man he hopes to replace in November. who needs to be licensed to sell guns.”
“You are offering up nothing. You said this was not predictable. This In the states, Democratic governors and legis-
was totally predictable when you choose not to do anything.” lators can enact assault-weapon bans and gun li-
O’Rourke’s intervention was a bracing antidote to a moment of censing measures. These are fights worth waging.
despair. By calling out Abbott, he countered the rhetoric of hopeless- “We know gun licensing, supported by the major-
ness that claims no meaningful action can be taken at a time when ity of Americans, makes a difference,” said Senator
ever more horrific death tolls and backstories—like that of the racist Cory Booker (D-N.J.). “Heck, when Connecticut
teenager who on May 14 murdered 10 Black people at a Buffalo did it, their gun violence rate fell 40 percent.”
supermarket—are met with pundit-talk about “gridlock” on Capitol Where Democrats are in charge, legislatures can
Hill and Supreme Court subservience to the gun industry. pass laws like one in New York that allows victims
That industry feeds on frustration. It relies on a sense of power- of gun violence to sue gun dealers. And in Repub-
lessness to maintain its deadly profiteering. But Americans do not lican “red states,” citizens can advance these mea-
have to accept the lies that justify inaction. sures via ballot initiatives.
“Let us finally do something,” President Undoubtedly, the right-
Biden urged in a poignant June 2 speech call- wing majority on the
The gun industry
ing for Congress to raise the age for assault- Supreme Court will con-
relies on a sense of
weapon purchases, strengthen background tinue to upend many gun-
checks, and enact red-flag laws. Connecti- powerlessness to control measures. But let’s
cut Senator Chris Murphy, the Senate’s most maintain its deadly force the issue, in hopes that
ardent gun-control advocate, asked his col- some laws will survive the
profiteering.
leagues, “Why are you here, if not to solve a high court’s judicial activism.
problem as existential as this?” A handful of And let’s elect senators this
Senate Republicans responded in apparent agreement. Now, the November who will fill upcoming judicial vacan-
senator representing Sandy Hook says he’s engaged in bipartisan dis- cies with rational appointees, along with gover-
cussions about approving at least some of the measures Biden men- nors who will stand up to the gun lobby.
tioned, along with increased funding for mental health programs Elections, at the federal and state levels, remain
and school safety. Murphy has to be wary of Republican attempts to the best tool for tackling gun violence. Over-
use negotiations for PR purposes. He also has to build a coalition to whelming majorities of Americans favor back-
overcome procedural barriers, as meaningful action will need to get ground checks, assault-weapon bans, and other
around the filibuster. That won’t be easy, but Murphy’s right when measures that could have prevented the recent
he says this is no time to “let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” massacres. What’s vital is to make gun violence a
That does not mean, however, that Biden should stop pushing for front-line election issue—not a passing headline.
the perfect. The president should create a federal Office of Gun Vi- To get the equation right, we need more candi-
olence Prevention and order the Department of Health and Human dates like O’Rourke who refuse to let anyone tell
4
Services to step up efforts to address gun violence as a public health them there’s nothing to be done to prevent gun-
N
matter. He can also issue an executive order that Everytown for Gun men from massacring fourth graders.
THE NATION 6.27–7.4.2022
C O M M E N T / G R E G G G O N S A L V E S for us. Yet now they are strangely silent.
1,019... and June is LGBTQ Pride month in the US; these
celebrations are attended by hundreds of thousands.
And with summer coming, there will be parties ga-
Counting
lore. After more than two years of Covid-19 (which
is not done with us yet—we are in the midst of a
i
surge right now), many are looking forward to seeing
Monkeypox is not a gay disease. But our decades of experience friends, socializing, and, yes, having sex. All of which
provide ideal settings for monkeypox to spread.
dealing with HIV gives us the chance to get things right this time.
Unlike Larry Kramer, who was often puritan-
ical about gay men’s sex lives, I am not suggesting
n march 1983, larry kramer published a piece
everyone stay at home and remain celibate. But our
in the New York Native titled “1,112 and Count-
LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS organizations must mount
ing”—a call to arms about a new virus circulat-
an educational and informational campaign right
ing among gay men in the United States. One
now—not later this summer—on how the disease is
thousand one hundred and twelve was the num-
transmitted, its symptoms, how to seek testing and
ber of cases of this new disease, acquired immunodeficiency
care should they suspect
syndrome. Larry’s piece is a classic of what would remain his they’ve been exposed
over-the-top style from the AIDS epidemic right up until a few months to the virus, and how to
I have to turn
before his death in the midst of another plague, Covid-19. He took aim minimize the risk of ex-
to our nation’s
at everyone who might be implicated in the spread of the new disease, posure to themselves and
LGBTQ and
from New York’s City Hall to the National Institutes of Health, Con- others: for instance, by
gress, and the White House—and then gay men themselves for sitting avoiding social events if HIV/AIDS
on their hands, ignoring the crisis, underplaying the risk of what was they have a fever or a rash
organizations
unfolding in real time. (which should be a signal
and ask:
Larry was a friend, mentor, and tormentor (who once said he’d like for them to seek care).
What are you
to flush my head down a toilet), and I disagreed with him often. But I And yes, minimizing
can’t help recalling his early cries in the wilderness on AIDS as we see close physical contact is waiting for?
a new outbreak of infectious disease show up among gay men. This one key way to reduce
time we are dealing not with a novel virus but one that has long existed, risk. We know from the AIDS epidemic that the
flared up, and burned itself out in Central and West Africa. gay community can effectively respond to infectious
The current monkeypox outbreak includes 1,019 confirmed cases disease threats when it knows the stakes. In fact,
(and counting) at press time in 29 countries, and is occurring outside HIV incidence rates in major US cities dropped
of those regions where the virus is endemic. The vast majority of these well before HIV prevention programs ramped up in
initial cases are among gay men and are tied to a Pride celebration in the mid-1980s. We were already organizing, sharing
the Canary Islands, a sauna in Spain, and a festival in Antwerp. In the information, and educating one another before the
United States, thus far, there are 31 cases, primarily among gay men professionals got involved. We can do it again now.
in nine states. To state the obvious: Monkeypox is not a gay disease— Shutting down Gay Pride events and the sum-
anyone can get it, as it is simply spread by close physical contact—but it mer’s social activities will only drive people under-
has arrived in the LGBTQ community nonetheless. ground just when we need to build trust so people
Unlike 40 years ago, the CDC and other health organizations are will come forward with symptoms or potential ex-
already on the alert and responding to this new outbreak. While there posure. But those who run these events—and others
are, of course, things to criticize about the federal response, the first who make millions off the LGBTQ community—
step is to seek out as many cases as possible as quickly as possible and need to step up. The advertising muscle of these
get those infected into care (this time there are treatments!) and vacci- big corporations can help get the word out about
nate those potentially exposed (there are vaccines, too!), while ensuring monkeypox; if you can sponsor a float in New York
that the larger community at risk knows what is happening. City’s Gay Pride parade, you can afford to give back
Here, I have to take a page from the Kramer playbook and ask our to the community. Local businesses can also help by
nation’s LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS organizations: What are you wait- sharing information with their customers. We have
ing for? These organizations have been built for this moment. They to be all in to stop this outbreak.
have 40 years of history in dealing with HIV and other infectious This isn’t 1983, and monkeypox is not AIDS. It
disease outbreaks among gay men—from syphilis and gonorrhea to is treatable, and unlike HIV infection in the 1980s,
drug-resistant staph infections to meningitis. They have decades of monkeypox does not lead to death in most
5
experience in education and outreach, have shaped policy responses cases. But it does represent a serious crisis
to protect our rights during a pandemic, and have won many victories for the LGBTQ community. And as we
THE NATION 6.27–7.4.2022
mobilize against the virus, we also have to realize that, as with HIV, for the power we exerted that day—and the impetus
monkeypox affects many people outside of our own circles. As we urge it gave to the work for years to come.
our national leaders to step up their response, that response has to be To be clear: We did not abolish nuclear weapons,
equitable and global. If monkeypox secures a foothold in the US, those and we did not move the money out of militarism and
with the least access to resources will suffer most. Globally, we need to into our communities. But we helped move the needle
invest in the response to the disease in West and Central Africa, where on nuclear disarmament by nurturing this movement.
it is endemic. One thousand and nineteen and counting—just in the It would be three more years before Reagan and
United States, Europe, South America, and Australia. But there are Mikhail Gorbachev met and laid the groundwork for
many, many more cases in endemic countries where treatments and what would become the I ntermediate-Range Nucle-
vaccines are unavailable. This time, we have a chance to get things ar Forces Treaty. This was the first time the United
N
right—for ourselves and others. There is no time to lose. States and the Soviet Union agreed to reduce their
nuclear stockpiles, abolish a whole category of nu-
clear weapons, and allow on-site inspections. Many
C O M M E N T / L E S L I E C A G A N factors led to that agreement, but without a doubt
the June 12 mobilization was one of them.
40 Years Later
f
The longer-lasting value came from the organiz-
ing over the months leading up to June 12. Not just
selling bus tickets: Educational work, local media
Recalling the June 12, 1982, nuclear disarmament rally.
work, helping people understand the threat and
the urgent need for action—all were central to the
orty years, and the memory is as vivid as ever.
organizing. People need to believe that what they do
It was a beautiful spring day. The United Na-
makes a difference, that their participation is central
tions Second Special Session on Disarmament
to securing change.
was about to get underway, and we were deter-
Today, there are some 13,000 nuclear weapons
mined to be heard. The arms race had to stop,
in the arsenals of the United States, Russia, Chi-
we said; nuclear weapons had to be abolished—and instead
na, France, India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom,
of endlessly pouring extravagant amounts of money into North Korea, and Israel. The US and Russia have
military budgets, it was time to put our national treasury to use meet- about 90 percent of them. These more modern
ing the needs of our communities. weapons are exponentially deadlier than the bombs
Ronald Reagan was president. His administration was planning to dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 77 years ago.
place new short-range nuclear missiles in Europe, just minutes from The dangers of nuclear war remain all too real.
the Soviet Union. Massive marches opposing these plans had already Russia’s war against Ukraine has reawakened public
been held in capital cities throughout the continent. It was time for the awareness of how close we are to a nuclear catastro-
US peace movement to step up. phe. Just one bomb dropped—whether deliberately
For 18 months, the June 12 Rally Committee (the national coali- or by accident—could lead to indescribable horror.
tion leading this effort) worked to put together the strongest possible No one demonstration or series of actions can
demonstration of opposition to nuclear weapons. There were seri- make the needed changes, but when our communi-
ous struggles within the coalition: Should we address militarism— ties are in motion together, we can alter the public
including US intervention—more directly? How do we include more discourse and change policy. Equally important, we
people of color in the leadership of the coalition? Could we build a are stronger, more effective, and more anchored in
structure that was not top-down but instead encouraged and nour- the realities of people’s lives when we articulate and
ished new initiatives? These represented real differences within the act on the connections between struggles.
coalition, and in my opinion, the best decisions were not always made. Abolishing nuclear weapons will require ending
The work kept expanding. Throughout the country, local groups— militarism in its many forms: from global wars to
some long-standing and others created for this demonstration—took up militarized policing here at home; from bloated
the call and became the backbone of the mobilization. Some 600 groups military budgets to a culture of militarism to the easy
spread the word and organized bus, train, and car caravans to get people access to the guns that are killing people every day.
to the march. Some 5,000 people donated their energies to help ensure All of this must be anchored in the struggles for ra-
that the experience of the 1 million people who marched—and those who cial and economic justice and in urgent action to stop
barely moved, because every inch of midtown Manhattan was packed the devastation of climate change. The good news
with people—was powerful, and that our message would be heard. is that so many younger organizers are grounded in
Over the years, I have organized and been at more demonstrations that comprehensive perspective.
than I can count. Many of these played important roles in the social It is a big agenda, but abandoning any of it will
6
movements of their time. And yet June 12, 1982, stands out not only for weaken our work. Let us use the memory of June 12,
its size but also for the collective energy and strength of the message, 1982, to strengthen the ongoing movement for nu-
THE NATION 6.27–7.4.2022
clear disarmament and to bring more energy to the other movements of their insider political game. The “Stop the Steal”
today. As we honor what we’ve achieved, let us look back for insights into protests fit seamlessly with judicial rollbacks of vot-
N
how we can more powerfully create the change so desperately needed. ing rights, legislative efforts to suppress the vote,
and administrative maneuvers to undermine election
Leslie Cagan served as the coordinator of the June 12, 1982, mobilization.
integrity. Today, there seems no limit to what elite
Republicans will condone if it advances their agenda.
Meanwhile, Democrats cling tighter to formal
C O M M E N T / V A N E S S A W I L L I A M S O N
inside-the-Beltway institutional procedures. Take
A N D D A N A R . F I S H E R
the prolonged swan song of “Build Back Better.”
Disruptive Politics
Long after it was patently obvious that major climate
legislation was dead in the water, national climate
t
organizations continued to insist that West Virginia
Democrats are “clapping for Tinkerbell” as the GOP Senator Joe Manchin would support a package that
normalizes violent, extralegal tactics to roll back rights. went against his self-interest and the interests of his
fossil-fuel funders. Just last month, a coalition of
climate groups held a “Climate Action Reboot” with
here have been at least 30 mass shootings
the message that climate action was alive and well in
since 19 children and two teachers were mur-
Congress. Sure, if you just keep clapping!
dered at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde,
By insisting that formal politics can achieve what
Tex., on May 24. While Americans contend
it manifestly cannot, liberal elites risk delegitimizing
with their collective grief, national gun-control
the very institutions they are struggling to protect.
organizations have called for a wave of lobbying and peaceful
Informing the public that the solution is lobbying,
protest, embracing the Tinkerbell theory of political action. rallies, and voting, when control of the executive
Confronted by lockstep Republican and anti-majoritarian obstruction- branch and the legislature is not enough to achieve
ism that makes legislative roads a dead end, Democrats keep “clapping for extremely popular policy goals, is a good way to
Tinkerbell”—insisting that, like the fairy in Peter Pan, progressive policy make people see civic participation as a fool’s errand.
can stay alive as long as everyone demonstrates that they still believe. If they close the doors on confrontational activ-
Whether the issue is gun violence, abortion, or climate change, ism and civil disobedience, mainstream liberal and
Democrats and mainstream progressive organizations continue to Democratic organizations cede a whole range of
retread futile legislative paths, often while admonishing activists for demonstrably effective tactics to their opponents.
adopting more confrontational approaches. Meanwhile, the Republican Progress in America has rarely occurred without
Party has embraced and normalized the antagonistic, extralegal, and disruption. The movements for civil rights, workers’
even violent activism of its base. This asymmetry in political tactics is rights, and women’s rights all required coordinated
already having huge consequences for American politics. campaigns that interrupted the regular action of gov-
The Supreme Court is poised to overturn federal abortion protec- ernment and business and were often against the law.
tions, but the pro-choice movement seems unprepared for the moment. If Democrats insist that the only legitimate politics
Mainstream reproductive rights organizations are following an outdated is carried out through our impotent political institu-
playbook of one-day rallies and electoral politics that currently can tions, they risk isolating and undermining the locally
achieve no more than a pro forma vote on doomed federal legislation. embedded groups that are already applying the kind
These groups have not invested in the kind of disruptive political strate- of tactics that overcame our frozen political system
gies that are available to those excluded from the formal levers of political and achieved this country’s greatest social changes.
power. Even marginally in-your-face strategies have been criticized by Rather than ineffectual, one-sided efforts at pre-
pro-choice elites; when abortion rights activists protested peacefully serving the trappings of normal political times,
outside the homes of conservative Supreme Court justices, the White establishment Democrats should grapple far more
House issued a statement condemning “violence, threats, or vandalism.” seriously with what to do when formal institutions
In stark contrast, anti-abortion activists have long protested outside fail. Part of the necessary preparation involves build-
the private homes of abortion providers, a practice that receives few ing much stronger ties of support between grassroots
“tsks” of disapproval from Republican leaders. There is a fundamental activists and the mainstream institutions that share
imbalance of popular mobilization on the left and the right. their goals. These closer ties may be uncomfortable,
Republicans have found great success in encouraging the con- but progress will never be made or preserved simply
N
frontational politics of their base. Early in the Obama administration, by clapping for Tinkerbell.
conservative media organized and legitimized the Tea Party movement,
which disrupted town halls and local government meetings and helped Vanessa Williamson is a senior fellow at the
7
rejuvenate the right at a moment of apparent Democratic ascendancy. Brookings Institution. Dana R. Fisher is a profes-
Republicans recognize that clamorous popular politics can strengthen sor at the University of Maryland.
THE NATION 6.27–7.4.2022
she was in his custody. Jones is likely innocent of the
Objection!
crime he is set to be executed for.
During oral arguments, the State of Arizona
Elie Mystal
repeatedly claimed that “innocence isn’t enough” to
throw out Jones’s conviction and grant him a new
trial, and the Supreme Court agreed. In his majority
decision, Thomas argued that because Ramirez and
Jones did not bring up the issue of ineffective counsel
Supreme Homicide during their initial appeal of their state court convic-
tions, they couldn’t bring it up later, in federal court.
t
He also ruled that federal courts could not reopen
The nation’s highest court rules that “innocence isn’t evidentiary hearings because of inadequate prior
counsel. Of course, the reason the men didn’t bring
enough” to spare a person the death penalty.
up their trial lawyers’ ineffectiveness is that their
appellate lawyers were also ineffective. But Thomas
he basic definition of a homicide is the death
gives them no way out of that death spiral. According
of one human because of the actions of another.
to Thomas, if your trial lawyer is bad and your appel-
By that definition, Clarence Thomas attempted
late lawyer is bad, then you can be put to death even if
homicide via the majority opinion he wrote in
you are innocent. A federal court isn’t even allowed to
the Supreme Court case Shinn v. Ramirez on
review new evidence of innocence should it come to
May 23. I do not say that merely because Thomas denied the
light after your first two attorneys failed to uncover it.
appeal of two people on death row. Supreme Court justices While holding the two men in this procedur-
deny final appeals from people condemned to die all the time, and al death loop, Thomas touts his power to let the
while those denials have the effect of killing people, I wouldn’t call prosecutors who want to kill them off the hook for
every denial a homicide. I call Thomas’s opinion a homicide because their errors. Ramirez’s team argued that the State of
his reason for denying the appeal was so twisted and evil that his intent Arizona lost the right to object to his new evidence
to kill was discernible through the legal jargon. He even added a foot- because it didn’t do so when the team first brought
note wherein he callously explained that he had the discretion to save it up in federal court. Thomas waves this argument
these lives, but was choosing not to use it. away in a freaking footnote: “Further, because we
People who follow death penalty jurisprudence know that the Su- have discretion to forgive any forfeiture…we choose
preme Court has been on something of a killing spree over the past to forgive the State’s forfeiture before the District
few years. The elevation of alleged attempted rapist Brett Kavanaugh Court.” And this is happening in the very same case
to the court in 2018 gave conservatives five solid votes for denying where he is holding Ramirez’s appellate lawyers’
death row appeals, while people like Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch errors against him, on pain of death. Thomas is
are unwilling to let mere constitutional or procedural concerns stand flaunting his power to decide who lives and who dies,
in the way of the state’s ability to kill people. and has decided that Ramirez and Jones should die.
But the Thomas opinion in Shinn is extreme even by the bloody stan- Thomas seems to think these people deserve it.
dards set by his fellow conservatives. At issue in the case were the claims He invests considerable space in his opinion to lurid
of two men on death row in Arizona, David Martinez Ramirez and Barry descriptions of the crimes the men were convicted of.
Lee Jones, that they had ineffective counsel at their trial and also at their It is a sick and unnecessary detour into murder porn,
post-conviction appeal, both of which were in state courts. Essentially, in which Thomas shows himself to be less concerned
the men argued—on appeal yet again, this time in federal court—that about the laws at issue than about painting these men
their first two groups of lawyers were bad and their third group should as monsters, undeserving of the court’s mercy. Again,
be able to provide new evidence as part of a competent defense. while Ramirez does not deny that he committed a
Both men have good arguments. Ramirez was convicted of killing crime (and instead argues that his capacity to know
his girlfriend and her daughter, but his initial right from wrong is dimin-
lawyers never brought up intellectual disability ished), Jones disputes—and has
as a mitigating factor in his crimes—a factor that evidence disputing—the details
The State of Arizona
might have spared him a death sentence. Jones recounted by Thomas. Not
argued that “innocence
was convicted of raping and killing his girlfriend’s only is Thomas condemning
isn’t enough” to throw
4-year-old daughter while she was in his care, but a potentially innocent man to
his original lawyers never investigated the time- out Jones’s conviction, die; he’s smearing him on his
line of events. When his current lawyers finally way to the grave.
and the Supreme
8 N
did investigate, they showed that the injuries that In dissent, Sonia Sotomayor MA
Court agreed. D
E
led to the child’s death were not sustained while assails Thomas for all of it. She RI
F
Y
D
N
A
INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL:
4 EXCEPTIONAL
WINES FOR $30
AND ONLY 1¢ SHIPPING!
Each wine comes with a
detailed tasting note from
our buyers featuring insights
into what makes the wine
unique, the stories behind
the wine, a rundown of
its flavors and aromas,
and delicious food-pairing
suggestions.
Your membership
supports The Nation’s
indispensable, one-of-a-kind
The Nation
journalism. Wine
Club sources wines that
reflect progressive values.
Each month you’ll receive a new shipment of four captivating wines for just $15 per bottle plus $9.99 delivery. Cancel anytime.
ORDER NOW AT THENATIONWINECLUB.COM/2022 OR CALL 800.946.3568
THE NATION 6.27–7.4.2022
says his opinion is “perverse” and “illogi-
Subject Debate
cal” and “makes no sense.” She points out to
that Thomas and the majority are essen-
Katha Pollitt
tially overruling two Supreme Court pre-
cedents in their haste to authorize yet more
killing by the state. She calls out Thomas’s
sick game of rehashing the crimes the
men have been convicted of, writing: “The
majority sets forth the gruesome nature of Feed on Demand
the murders with which respondents were
h
charged. Our Constitution insists, howev-
er, that no matter how heinous the crime, The baby formula crisis is about capitalism—and the exhortation
any conviction must be secured respecting
to breastfeed is about disregarding women.
all constitutional protections.” In what’s
shaping up to be a career of biting dissents,
ere’s my solution to the formula shortage: men
this is one of Sotomayor’s best.
should breastfeed. Sure, it will take dedication and
But there is no
hard work, also industrial-strength estrogen and other
stopping this Su-
meds, a doctor, a lactation consultant, and I don’t know
preme Court. The
The
what else; but if a handful of trans women can do it, I’m
conservatives are
conservative
sure regular old cis men can figure it out. Headline: “Breast Hero
acting like sharks
justices are who have caught Dad: ‘I Begged Her Not to Use Formula, but She Wouldn’t Listen!’”
acting like the scent of blood Apparently, some women can restart lactation after breastfeeding has
in the water: They ceased, so mothers who breastfed their babies and want to shame formula
sharks who
are now just vio- users to justify their own exhaustion, sore nipples, mastitis, lost work, re-
have caught the
lently gnashing at stricted diets, and forgone medications can also step in. Breastfeeding isn’t
scent of blood any person unfor- just about milk, after all. It’s also about making other women feel like guilty
in the water. tunate enough to failures. All babies matter!
be in range of their I had my daughter 35 years ago, back in the days of the Mommy Wars.
murderous mouths. I can’t believe we are still blaming mothers who don’t breastfeed—or don’t
Four federal judges, on the district court breastfeed exclusively, or for long enough, or with a sufficiently beatific
and the court of appeals, ruled that Barry smile plastered permanently on their face. I enjoyed breastfeeding, by the
Jones received ineffective counsel that led way—many women do—but it was easy for me physically after the first
to a wrongful conviction. Nobody was few weeks, and I was working at home. (I drank Guinness, too, which was
asking Thomas to save this man; the system thought in those benighted times to help with the milk supply, but today is
had done that already. But Thomas and the just another item in the ever-increasing list of things breastfeeding mothers
conservatives won’t allow the system to must forsake.) If it had been difficult—if I had been going to an office every
work. They’re not applying the law; they’re day and had to pump, if every feed had been a struggle or I had suffered any
N
killing this man. Deliberately. of the physical, emotional, or daily-life problems that outraged women are
revealing just now in our nation’s op-ed pages—I doubt I would have kept
up with it. I had plenty of friends who bottle-fed exclusively and doubted
M O R E O N L I N E
the extravagant claims made for breast milk in countries like ours with clean
thenation.com/highlights
water and sanitation. I was formula-fed myself, like most baby boomers, and
(cid:105) Why the we are (mostly) healthy and smart and have accomplished great things in our N
A
Internet Sided time, including parenting and grandparenting most Americans now alive. RE / EDM
OOFRI
With Johnny Why is it that when it comes to women, everything seems to become MY
E D
DKAeTpEp MANNE adanroe ni tr’tio,e ndm ltoaowv ne? a oWtnu”rhe?y i Pncra eans ’wstu awryee m tsoae ynb “raGeraeis vtnefoe itet.d aT itshr aryte, lycaootenud cm etpoigt thhhtae sl i ikddeoe nait e—t hsoabtmu wte i ofgm oyooenud OL VIA AP; EDDIUSTRATION: AN
(cid:105) The Libertarian but also a lot of harm. Consider the obsession with unmedicated childbirth EIN / POOTO; ILL
PAaltr-tRyi gGhotes aanftde rv hagaivninalg dae Cliv-eseryc,t iwonh,i cehv elena wvehse nm iat nwya sw noemceesns afreye alinndg rgeusuillttye df oinr ay esaarfes N HOCKSTAL / AP PH
YN
JEET HEER 10 binirtoth a. nA NndH thSe T crounsts erqeuveeanlceeds omvaeyr 2b0e 0e vheunn dmroerde c saesveesr oe:f Ibna bthy ea nUdK m, aa tsetrundayl OP: EVELUE JOUR
M TRQ
deaths and injuries in just one hospital that were due in part to midwives’ FROQUE
FT BU
EL
LA