Why Wasn’t There a WARNING! Label on This Episode?
I’m trying. I’m really trying. But it’s just so difficult. I knew I probably shouldn’t have hit play on The Daily Podcast this morning as I headed out the door with my dog in tow for our walk. I glanced at the podcast title and summary and had a feeling it would be rough. But I felt it necessary to be open, to listen to “the other side”, to make sure I wasn’t sticking my head in the sand. My college-aged daughters often tell me not to read/watch/listen to so much news. “It’ll depress you, Mom,” they say. But I feel it’s my duty. And I will just have to figure out a way to manage the bad news. But today, I’m having trouble managing. Because today’s episode scared the shit out of me.
Round trip, it’s about an hour from start to finish. With my AirPods in place, I’m usually able to get my news on the first half of the walk, and then select my choice of Spotify music to either calm me down or fire me up for the last half. From my home, we walk south along the Strand paralleling the beautiful Pacific Ocean — mostly filled with masked runners, fellow dogwalkers, and surfers snacking on breakfast burritos from the local café. The views of the Palos Verdes Hill and Catalina Island give me focus. The waves hitting the shore move me forward. By the time I finish The Daily podcast, we have already hiked the hill up to my church, made our way through our little town, and are headed back down to the beach. That’s when I switch to my music. But today, I really struggled to find the right music. What music could possibly be played after listening to the interview? Really, there should have been a warning label on today’s episode, A Historic Opening for Anti-Abortion Activists.
New York Times journalist Michael Babaro interviewed Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List, on a Tuesday afternoon, five days after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. His interview with Marjorie, an enthusiastic, well-spoken, focused and driven ultra-conservative woman, left me with that lump in my throat. That sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I crossed the street and before I began my walk north along the beach, I searched Spotify for The Handmaid’s Tale Soundtrack.
That’s where we are right now. We are living in Season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale, where the tv series explains the origins of Gilead, a totalitarian society formed amidst a hellscape of altered monuments in Washington, D.C. The interview with Marjorie felt like it was straight from a script of The Handmaid’s Tale. I couldn’t help but think that Marjorie’s story parallels the storyline of Serena Waterford (played by Yvonne Strahovksi), a woman whose calculating intelligence has allowed her to lead the charge of a pro-life movement she believes will save the country. Seven years ago, in August 2013, Marjorie Dannenfelser was named as one of the “25 Most Influential Republican Women”. In Babaro’s interview, she unabashedly discusses her systematic approach to convincing our nation’s top male senators and President that they must work to appoint pro-life Supreme Court justices. At the end of the interview, Dannenfelser states, “in the order of goods, the Supreme Court is a lasting legacy, for the Senate and the President. I’m fighting for them all. I won’t cede any of it. It will all be worth it. Everything we have done for the last decade… we’re at a point of a major shift in this nation. And I’m very happy to be at the place where I’m in.”
Do I tell my daughters they need to listen to this episode? Do I give them the WARNING!? That they must listen to this episode? Will they be filled with despair or will it move them towards hope and change?
My daughters and I have participated in the LA Women’s March since its beginnings, since the inauguration of Donald J. Trump. Last year, we marched alongside a group of women dressed in red gowns, my daughter carrying her “Praised Be, Bitch” sign. It was the first time we saw a small but loud group of pro-life and anti-vaxxers trying to hijack our peaceful protesting. This did not deter us, it motivated us. We just sang and chanted even louder. And I will march again next year and the year after. We will make posters and signs and feel the power of exercising our political voice.
And I will continue to listen to these podcasts during my morning walks. But I will also worry. Worry as my dog tugs on her leash and I watch the waves crash against the soft sand. Are we too late? Is it time to look at real estate in Canada?
