Don’t panic

Sandra Day O’Connor is leaving the Supreme Court, which means the abominable Bush will be able to pick another “justice for life.” This has many progressive organizations horribly worried. O’Connor is being described as often providing the “swing vote” on important issues like abortion.

In developing a reasonable strategy against the right wing, we must be realistic about how progressive change—and holding on to what gains have been won—comes about. So much faith is placed in elections, when in fact they are generally very shabby affairs that produce little if anything for the masses of people that they haven’t already won in direct struggles.

The defeat of Kerry was received by so much of the movement as a mortal blow when in fact Kerry took terrible positions on such pivotal issues as the war in Iraq. Now the old chorus of “Vote Bush out” is heard once again when what’s called for
are pickets, demonstrations, sit-ins, confrontations, and other militant actions
to turn back the right.

Let’s not forget who Sandra Day O’Connor was. Was she a Democrat?
Not a bit. Was she nominated by a liberal Republican? Not unless you consider Reagan a liberal. Did she always “swing”
to the left? No, in fact she is credited with getting Bush selected in 2000. So what’s the big deal? Why should those yearning for liberal judges be in such a panic over her departure?

Even judges-for-life are political animals in the broader sense—not that they fear being unseated but that the system they defend could be. So they try to be fine-tuned for signs of mass discontent and usually come up with ambiguous rulings that are supposed to placate everyone. When a strong social wind is blowing, however, even the conservatives may find it the better part of wisdom to vote for something like Roe v. Wade or Brown vs. the Board of Education.

Don’t panic. Just get that social wind moving in the right direction.