Fitz File

          One fitful sleep later, I wanted to talk about the debate last night.  I am not going to pretend that was a good performance from President Biden.  It wasn’t.  He was halting, quiet, mixed up his words and stories, and his life-long stutter came back in painful ways.  While Trump had his usual mixed bag of lies and outrageous statements, it was Biden’s weakness that will be the main story.  But I wanted to separate my thinking into two buckets.  The first is what President Biden needed to do in this debate, and the second is what overall effect this has on the race.           I try to remind my politically interested friends in conversation that the biggest disparity in voters is not conservative versus liberal, it is informed voters versus uninformed voters.  I have read over and over in polls and focus groups that the average voter does not know what Biden has done as President....

         With the two-year anniversary of the infamous Dobbs decision on June 24, I wanted to revisit just how impactful it was. Because of “trigger laws” in multiple states, the second the decision was announced, women began to suffer. Since then, the steady barrage of horror stories has galvanized the public to support the right to choose even further than it already was two years ago.   A similar alarm that rose from this decision came not from Justice Alito’s majority opinion, but Justice Thomas’ concurrence.  His words led all who read them to come to the horrifying conclusion that this new conservative supermajority on the court, in combination with the broader Trump movement, meant every single piece of societal progress was now on the table.         There is a principle in the law called stare decisis , a Latin phrase literally meaning “to stand by things decided.”   In the legal field, we us...

            There is a grim reality for certain areas of our political discourse. While it isn’t exactly apathy, it does result in the same thing: a collective shrug. Were you aware there were four mass shootings yesterday (June 9th)? I wasn’t. Twenty one people were injured. Families shattered, lives broken, communities traumatized. And almost nothing happens. While there are many factors that contribute to this attitude, Republican talking points are a significant part in American inaction. It is easy to see because it is seen over and over and over again: “This is not the time”, “it won’t end gun violence”, “second amendment”, “they’re coming to take your guns”, “its videogames”, “its mental health”. While this kind of rhetoric is toxically effective, it is thankfully limited to only a few issues. However, the hipper-conservative Republican Party is currently trying to spread it to their biggest liability: women’s rights.  ...