The right-wing legal movement and the Federalist Society have made considerable progress in recent years, with GOP appointees now having a 6-3 supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court. Some conservative and libertarian judges can be protective of civil liberties; former Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Ronald Reagan appointee, played a key role in pro-gay rulings like Lawrence v. Texas (2003) and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). But the High Court is now dominated by extreme social conservatives, who overturned Roe v. Wade with their 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. And many civil libertarians fear that during President Donald Trump’s second term, everything from same-sex marriage to access to contraception will be endangered by a Christian nationalist legal agenda.During a Monday morning, March 24 appearance on MSNBC, progressive attorney/author Elie Mystal stressed that from a legal standpoint, liberals and progressives are at a disadvantage because they are reactive rather than proactive.READ MORE: Author details link between ‘Christian nationalism’ and MAGA’s ‘smashing of the administrative state’Mystal told “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski and their MSNBC colleague, the Rev. Al Sharpton, “I am saying that many of the laws that we have in this country are absolute trash…. Somebody on my side of the aisle has to start writing Project 2029, right? Somebody has to start writing a positive agenda for the Democratic Party.”The attorney noted that when he wrote his new book, “Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America,” he didn’t want to simply “write another Orange-Man-Bad book” — the “Orange Man” being President Donald Trump.”Obviously, the Orange Man is very bad and very dangerous to all of us,” Mystal told Scarborough, Brzezinski and Sharpton. “But the Orange Man represents an aggressive Republican policy agenda. And so, what I’m trying to do is point out what an aggressive Democratic policy agenda looks like…. I think one of the problems that many people in the (Democratic) base have is that the Democrats always seem to be in a fetal position.”Mystal continued, “The Democrats always seem to be in a defensive posture; we’re always running around trying to pick up after Republicans after Republicans smash anything. Well, let’s go out there and talk about the positive Democratic agenda. Let’s talk about the things that we can do on the front foot.”READ MORE: ‘Downright fear’: How Trump’s plans could be a ‘recipe for economic chaos’When Brzezinski asked Mystal for some examples, the attorney responded, “Well, we could eliminate all voter registration laws. See, when Democrats get in charge, we try to protect voting rights. We don’t make voting easier. Now, I’m all for voter eligibility requirements. We might disagree about what those requirements should be…. Why do you have to pre-register? Why is that even a thing?”READ MORE: ‘Will not back down’ from Trump’s ‘intimidation’: Activists react to president’s new memoWatch the full video below or at this link.
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