Mamdani, Planned Parenthood and Judicial Activism

Mamdani, Planned Parenthood and Judicial Activism

Zohran, a true Asian-African-American

Zohran Mamdani, the New York socialist who won the democrat primary for mayor put ‘Black/African American” on his application to Columbia. Undoubtedly he figured it would enhance his chances for admission. His SAT scores were below the average for the whites admitted but within the range of black applicants. Mamdani was denied admission even though his father is on the Columbia faculty. The media is having fits over it being revealed that he checked the African-American box. But in reality it is true. Mamdani was born in Uganda to Ugandans of Indian heritage. That makes him an African and since he is an American citizen, he is an African-American much like Elon Musk who was born in South Africa also is an African-American. So to quote Stevie Wonder “What the Fuss?” Mamdani also listed himself as “Asian” which makes him an Asian-African-American. All true. 

Eric Adams, the current mayor of New York who is running as an independent seized on the opportunity to say that “The African-American identity is not a checkbox of convenience. It’s a history, a struggle and a lived experience. For someone to exploit that for personal gain is deeply offensive.” That is true but it made me curious about the Ugandan experience for Indians in that country. Didn’t Idi Amin order the expulsion of the 80,000 Indians from the country? Was that the reason why Mamdani’s family came to the US? When Amin expelled the Indians, they were limited to taking with them $120 and 485 pounds of property. Wikipedia says that “some 5,655 firms, ranches, farms, and agricultural estates were confiscated, along with cars, homes and other household goods.” Hey, Eric, that sounds like a “struggle and a lived experience” to me.

Bye Bye Federal funding for abortions

The Big Beautiful Bill was the usual arranging of the deck chairs by the congress. It cut a few taxes and reallocated government largesse from those favored by the left to those favored by the right. So goodbye green subsidies, goodbye grants to LGBTQ, bye bye to all those included in the expansion of Medicaid beyond its original purpose. Also it was bye bye to the government’s funding of Planned Parenthood. Even though federal monies are supposed to not fund abortions (the Hyde Amendment), Planned Parenthood – the abortion factory – was receiving federal funds. Supposedly those funds were being used to support Planned Parenthood’s other functions, like cancer screenings and mental health counselling. However, Planned Parenthood’s main business is its 400,000 abortions a year. The BBB cuts of money to abortion clinics period, regardless of other things they do. Planned Parenthood now says that it will have to close 600 of its clinics. Good riddance. Planned Parenthood was founded by a racist geneticist for the sole purpose of aborting black babies. That is why most of its “clinics” are located in minority neighborhoods. Dollars are fungible and it is ridiculous to think that the government funding was only supporting non-abortion activities. If cancer screenings and mental health counselling are so important then I wonder if there are many (or any) Planned Parenthood “clinics” that offer only those services and do not perform abortions?

Judicial activism run amok 

I have written about judicial imperialism before with a federal judge ignoring a Supreme Court decision. Well another judge just issued a ruling issuing a nationwide restraining order invalidating that part of the BBB denying funding to Planned Parenthood. What! You mean a federal district judge can strike down a law enacted by the congress and signed by the president? Who knew? Didn’t congress pass the law to fund Planned Parenthood? Doesn’t it have the right to defund it, if it wants to? I am not an attorney but this strikes be as simply weird. If this judge in Massachusetts (where else?) is correct, then any party whose funding is cut off by and act of congress has grounds to sue to get that funding reinstated. Seriously, calling this “weird” is an understatement. Judicial activism? How about judicial insurrection.