With the possible and likely
confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, the lives of millions of
women hang in the balance. Alito has
sought to overturn Roe v. Wade for
the past twenty years. This alone is
enough to be outraged by the Alito nomination, but the horror of Alito is far
more terrifying than just this. We must
remember that Samuel Alito is a Christian fascist who actively seeks to end the
separation between church and state. This is a man who scoffs at warrants and
gives police open power to fire at will. This is a man who supports
unrestricted executive power, giving Bush a license to do as he pleases. It was said that the Nazis committed their
most heinous crimes not when they were breaking the law, but when they were
changing it. We have seen the Bush
regime break the law with the spying scandal, but the confirmation of Samuel
Alito will open the doors to openly changing the laws in favor of the terrors
that they have committed and they will go further.
Several World Can’t Wait
organizers attended and opposed the ‘Confirm Alito’ rally outside of the
Supreme Court yesterday before the confirmation hearings began. We were greeted by hundreds of anti-abortion
activists revering the nomination of this Christian fascist to the Supreme
Court whom they see will make all of their theocratic dreams come true. Also present were such groups as the
Concerned Women for America
who support the forceful implementation of hateful Christianity on people both
here and around the world. These
individuals did not talk about Alito’s abhorrent decisions in the past such as
allowing police to strip search a ten year old girl whose mother was suspected
of drug possession. Instead the focus was
only on romanticizing fetuses as children and denying the number of lives lost
due to back alley abortions. The people
present at this rally were not just a few right wing extremists. These people represent the values of the Bush
regime that we are told to see compromise with.
As the Call for the World Can’t
Wait states, ‘There is not going to be some savior from the Democratic Party.
This whole idea of putting our hopes and energies into “leaders” who
tell us to seek common ground with fascists and religious fanatics is proving
every day to be a disaster, and actually serves to demobilize people.’ Think
about what it means that influential Democrats are actually saying that we will
have to give up on abortion if they ever hope to get elected again. This is further enforced by the fact that the
newly elected Governor of Virginia was a Democrat because he was more religious
and more actively opposing abortion than the opposing Republican. The Democrats pose no significant opposition
to the Bush regime not only on the question of abortion, but also on such
issues as the war, which the significant portion of Democrats still
support. The pendulum is not swinging
back. Now think further about what it
means that these Democrats see a large, active supportive movement for Alito
without any opposition mobilizing in the streets. Even if we could rely on the Democrats, what
Democrat will support or oppose anything if they do not see that it is what the
people want through passionate mass mobilization?
As Reverend Mahoney of the
Christian Defense Coalition started speaking at the rally before the media, the
World Can’t Wait organizers rushed in front of the cameras chanting, ‘Bush and
Alito will outlaw abortion and women will die! Bush step down! Bush step down!’ These Christian fascists should be met with
significant opposition at all opportunities.
This opposition gives strength and hope to the millions of people who
see abortion as a woman’s choice, oppose the war, were appalled at Bush’s
response to Hurricane Katrina, and want to see this whole regime gone. Think of
what it means for those who are not yet actively involved in opposing the
crimes of this regime to see that there is opposition to everything this regime
is doing. These are the millions that
can pour into the streets and change the political situation to one where the
Bush regime is forced to step down and take their program with them. Only we need to be the first to step out and
as Sunsara Taylor says, ‘put our bodies on the line.’ Join us not only in opposing the Alito
confirmation hearings, but also to politically drown out Bush’s State of the
Union Address on January 31st across the country and for a mass day
of protest in Washington DC on Saturday, February 4th as we demand,
‘Bush step down and take your program with you!’. As the Call for the World Can’t Wait states,
‘The future is unwritten-which one we get is up to us!’
(Eliska Dali, A World Can’t Wait
Organizer