This Sunday morning many Americans have a reason to get on their knees and be thankful. The past week or so has been a watershed of confirmed rights and defined freedoms.
The dastardly murder of nine upstanding citizens in their very own church led to the public disdain and revulsion of a racist symbol too long accepted and endured. Even South Carolina promised to take down the rebel flag.
A national Olympic medal-winning hero, Bruce Jenner, broke the transgender news with his /her “Just Call Me Kaitlin” and with a front page splash on Vanity Fair that was, to put it mildly, a national stir.
On Thursday the Supreme Court put the nail in the coffin of those opposing ObamaCare, by ruling that another major element of the Affordable Care Act was, in fact, constitutional. The possible legal challenges to the law that gave health care to tens of millions of Americans was cut to near nothing.
Then on Friday, the coup de grâce for the gay marriage issue was administered by a conservative court, who ruled that the fourteenth amendment clause that prohibited laws that impact selected groups of citizens guaranteed gay people the same right to marry as anyone else.
Those four events — monumental, and each and every one worthy of its own month, let alone all in one week — spelled the end of the conservative social wars on liberals. Four of the major pinnings of conservative thought were rendered moot.
The divisive issues of race, ObamaCare, transgenders and gay marriage all dealt fatal blows within seven days.
The social revolution that began in the 1980’s with the “moral majority” is dead.
So, now the Republican Party has an opportunity, should they choose to accept it. They can campaign on substantive issues, like foreign policy, the imbalance of wealth in our society, global warming and/or money in politics. Whether they accept that challenge will depend on the depths of their allegiance to lost causes.
Whether you are religious or not, give thanks this day for a monumental, historic week.
As an almost ignored issue, the Supreme Court also reaffirmed that discrimination in housing is still illegal.
Oh, and Obama sang “Amazing Grace,” rather gracefully.