Last week the anti-abortion protofascists in Texas executed a tag team collaboration with the anti-abortion protoconservatives on the Supreme Court the net result being the evisceration of the right of women to choose as set forth in Roe V. Wade almost a half century ago. And what is now clear is that we are about to witness an unprecedented effort to reshape the concept of rights – and what is right – throughout these United States.

There has been a lot of handwringing since the Supreme Court enabled the state of Texas to turn abortion into a crime against the state thereby enabling any citizen of the United States to initiate legal action against a woman who seeks to have this procedure and anyone and everyone who might assist or enable her. But it must be said that this outpouring of anguish rings hollow because the protofascists and the protoconservatives have told America what they would do if they ever gained the upper hand in the balance of political power in any state and in this country.

There are so many Exhibits, one could run out of letters of the alphabet. But November of 2016 is as good a place to start as any. That is because in the presidential election campaign one Donald Trump stated quite clearly that if elected he would appoint judges who would outlaw Roe. And that is exactly what he did – not only the unholy trinity of Gorsuch, Cavanagh and Barrett on the Supreme Court – literally hundreds of young protoconservative and protofascist judges who he appointed to federal court positions – for life.

Nevertheless, in 2016 there were many – too many – Democrats and Independents who “didn’t like” Hillary Clinton or thought that she had been unfair to Bernie Sanders and therefore did not vote for Clinton or, even worse, voted for Trump as a protest vote. What did these tens of thousands of voters expect?

There was already an open Supreme Court seat due to the block and tackle work of Mitch McConnell thereby preventing Barack Obama from exercising his duty under the Constitution to fill the vacancy. Did these Never Hillary voters think that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was going to live forever? Or that Anthony Kennedy, at the age of 85 was really going to serve until he was 90 when there might be Democrat in the White House? What did they expect?

And then there is the fact that for more than a half century protoconservatives and protofascists have engaged in prolonged warfare against most of the progressive advances of the 1960’s. The Shelby v. Holder decision in 2013 which gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the result of a 48-year effort by conservatives and racists to do just that.

This was not done in secret. This was not the result of some underground movement. This kind of Evil told the truth. Going back to Barry Goldwater in 1964, the Republican Party embraced – first tentatively, and then completely – the not so subtle racist philosophy that infected every policy in America including housing, criminal justice, education, voting rights and…. abortion.

A while Republicans, particularly the protoconservatives and protofascists voted strategically, Democrats and progressives and liberals were all over the place – helping to electing George H.W. Bush in 1988 despite his over the top racist campaign (please Google Willie Horton). And, Clarence Thomas, one of his appointees was part of the takedown of Roe last week.

And Democrats and progressives and liberals were so unfocused in 2000 that their “dislike” for Al Gore and their suicidal (from a voting perspective) embrace of Ralph Nader allowed George W. Bush to become president and Samuel Alito, his Supreme Court appointee as also part of the Roe takedown.

There is no need to reiterate the lack of focus on the left in 2016 except to mention that evangelicals, who found almost everything about Trump to be offensive – except his promise to end Roe – held their noses and helped elect him. But the “principled” left let apathy and hurt feelings pave the way for Trump.  

And while he was not president at the time of the Roe takedown, this was one promise that he actually kept.

It is beyond time for progressives, liberals, Democrats non-fascists to realize that elections have consequences. And we are living with those consequences, much to our collective regret.

And now it is time to get focused and strategic before Trump is reelected in 2024 and completes the takedown of the entire infrastructure of rights that we have clearly taken for granted.