# Phyllis Schlafly dead at 92 - Does anybody care? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 5, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155 "2016-09-05T23:58:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/221 "2016-09-10T07:10:17Z")
Cut out “Crazytroll” and replace “probably” with “possibly” and you’d be batting 1,000 there, **eschereal**. I’m impressed. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/222 "2016-09-10T07:14:08Z")
You have five neurons, you are not that hard to figure out. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/223 "2016-09-10T07:24:20Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > But here, in this thread, it’s the liberals who advance the position that their disagreement with Schafly’s aims is enough to justify vilifying her, and here oin this board in the Kennedy thread, a considerable sample of conservatives who disagreed with Kennedy’s aims could still praise him. Her aims were malignant; _of course_ it’s justifiable to condemn her for that. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/224 "2016-09-10T10:01:39Z")
You just _gotta_ watch [this.](http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2016/09/06/conservative-activist-phyllis-schlafly-dies) Too funny. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/225 "2016-09-10T10:45:47Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > You just _gotta_ watch [this.](http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2016/09/06/conservative-activist-phyllis-schlafly-dies) Too funny. “Everyone has problems. Some people are even born female.” (paraphrasing slightly) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/226 "2016-09-10T14:43:08Z")
Everybody has family, pretty much, he does too, I suppose… “Hi, Mom! What’s up?” “Just calling to remind you about Thanksgiving, dear.” “Aw, gee, Mom, is Uncle Starkers going to be there? I get _really_ tired of listening to him brag about how he sure showed those liberals a thing or two…” “Well, they must not be very smart, dear, they call themselves Dopes…” “I checked it out, Mom, its “Straight Dope”, like the truth? Kinda cool, really, bunch of facts and stuff. Like, do you know how many calories there are in semen?” “Well, I suppose there are just as many calories in sailors as in anyone else, dear. Is this a pro-cannibal thing?” “Never mind, Mom. See ya there” “Well, be nice.” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/227 "2016-09-10T17:21:58Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Her aims were malignant; _of course_ it’s justifiable to condemn her for that. But that doesn’t make her a bad _person_. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/228 "2016-09-10T19:35:14Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Her aims were malignant; _of course_ it’s justifiable to condemn her for that. This is the trouble with you guys: nothing you don’t like is ever attributable simply to a differing viewpoint or opinion or to prevailing societal belief, it’s always done out of malice. And coincidentally that self-perceived malevolence always seems to provide those on the left with grounds for hateful condemnation. Most of the people in the country at that time agreed with Schlafly about homosexuality, disdain for the idea of unisex bathrooms and so forth, and many adult women of the era were unhappy about the effects of women’s liberation and didn’t support it. Schlafly was no different, and when people strongly favor something they have a tendency to defend or promote it vigorously, thus her activism in opposition to the ERA. All this stuff about how evil and deliberately cruel she supposedly was is ridiculous. But typical. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/229 "2016-09-10T20:15:51Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > …Most of the people in the country at that time agreed with Schlafly about homosexuality… Yes, they did. Now, they don’t. Groovy. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/230 "2016-09-10T20:37:58Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > History shows that once liberals, especially liberal judges… Let’s be real here. You haven’t the slightest idea bout history, you ignorant twat. You’re just blankly repeating shit you hear on the teevee. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/231 "2016-09-10T21:32:37Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > That’s not accurate. > > Your argument is, “You accused liberals of hypocrisy, and my proof is that I know you were about to!” Essentially, though I doubt I would have bothered with an exclamation point on such a banal and easy prediction. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/232 "2016-09-10T23:56:02Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > That her position was arguably correct? There was nothing at all in the ERA that would have led to such a change, any more than the first protects mobs, libel or ritual sacrifice. And nothing in this thread suggests that all or even any liberals here would have been spearheading such a change. > > History has shown that changes to the Constitution do not result in dramatic, unintended consequences. She easily could have researched that, in hopes that history would bolster her case, but it does not. So, if she did do the research, then she was indisputably lying. And if she did not do the research, she was spewing spew, which is not effectively any different from lying. > > Life does not cut you slack for being ignorant. I offered a somewhat detailed counter to this argument earlier in the thread, pointing out that our current restroom trend with respect to transgender people is relevant. Would you care to address that? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/233 "2016-09-11T05:21:02Z")
I think it was mentioned earlier that Schlafly was a Trump supporter. I didn’t see the other side of that mentioned, so here goes … _CNN: Updated 6:53 PM ET, Sat September 10, 2016_ Donald Trump eulogized conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly Saturday, praising her as an underdog and linking the anti-feminist movement she led to his anti-establishment campaign. “She loved her country, she loved her family and she loved her god,” Trump said … Trump praised Schlafly for being “America First” … … In her latest book – “The Conservative Case for Trump” – released Tuesday, Schlafly argued that conservative Christians should follow high-profile evangelical leaders such as Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins in supporting Trump’s candidacy. > **[In eulogizing Schlafly, Trump sees spiritual ally | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/10/politics/donald-trump-phyllis-schlafly-funeral/index.html)** > > Donald Trump eulogized conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly Saturday, praising her as an underdog and linking the anti-feminist movement she led to his anti-establishment campaign. Quite the group. Any further comment would be redundant. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/234 "2016-09-11T07:36:34Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Let’s be real here. You haven’t the slightest idea bout history, you ignorant twat. You’re just blankly repeating shit you hear on the teevee. Okay, here’s some reality for you. I don’t watch right-wing tv or listen to right-wing radio, and I was reaching majority just as most of this crap got started. Further, I’ve been cognizant of and disgusted by both left-wing media bias and liberal judicial activism since at least the late 60s/early 70s. One hardly needs right-wing tv or radio to observe these practices, they’re perfectly obvious to anyone who hasn’t drunk the leftie Kool-Aid. To those who have, liberal bias seems non-existent because such biases appear to them to be logical and reasonable. To those who haven’t, these biases are as obvious as the nose on your face. And as you are undoubtedly aware, one of the overarching aspects of the upcoming presidential election is who’s going to set the direction of the Supreme Court for the next few decades. Will it be a court that applies the Constitution as written or will it be a court that simply claims that Constitution says whatever it wants the Constitution to say based on liberal ideology? Most of the really significant changes the last fifty years or so have come about through judicial fiat. Time and again lefties have turned to the courts to achieve things they could never get past the voters or accomplish through Congress. And while I’ve said I’m not going to vote for Trump, and I intend to keep that promise, the temptation is certainly there if for no other reason than to hope he’ll stay true to (recent) form and nominate conservative or at least textualist judges who will apply the nation’s supreme law as intended rather than distort it into something it never was in order to accommodate prevailing leftist ideology. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/235 "2016-09-11T10:19:10Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Okay, here’s some reality for you. I don’t watch right-wing tv or listen to right-wing radio, and I was reaching majority just as most of this crap got started. Further, I’ve been cognizant of and disgusted by both left-wing media bias and liberal judicial activism since at least the late 60s/early 70s. One hardly needs right-wing tv or radio to observe these practices, they’re perfectly obvious to anyone who hasn’t drunk the leftie Kool-Aid. To those who have, liberal bias seems non-existent because such biases appear to them to be logical and reasonable. To those who haven’t, these biases are as obvious as the nose on your face. > > And as you are undoubtedly aware, one of the overarching aspects of the upcoming presidential election is who’s going to set the direction of the Supreme Court for the next few decades. Will it be a court that applies the Constitution as written or will it be a court that simply claims that Constitution says whatever it wants the Constitution to say based on liberal ideology? > > Most of the really significant changes the last fifty years or so have come about through judicial fiat. Time and again lefties have turned to the courts to achieve things they could never get past the voters or accomplish through Congress. And while I’ve said I’m not going to vote for Trump, and I intend to keep that promise, the temptation is certainly there if for no other reason than to hope he’ll stay true to (recent) form and nominate conservative or at least textualist judges who will apply the nation’s supreme law as intended rather than distort it into something it never was in order to accommodate prevailing leftist ideology. A liberal supreme court could have ended slavery, or at least severely curtailed it. It could have ended segregation much, much sooner. That they didn’t is a shame and has lead to almost unimaginable suffering. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/236 "2016-09-11T14:05:56Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > A liberal supreme court could have ended slavery, or at least severely curtailed it. It could have ended segregation much, much sooner. That they didn’t is a shame and has lead to almost unimaginable suffering. I don’t agree. More specifically, I agree that it’s possible a liberal Supreme Court could have acted as you imagine. And I agree that much suffering resulted from the lack. Where I disagree is the implication that it’s an unmitigated shame. It’s a shame, but that shame is a requisite cost of having a nation governed by representative democracy instead of by wise philosopher kings. A government that is ruled by good and wise overlords will probably produce outcomes like ending slavery much quicker than a government that derives its leaders from the popular vote. Nonetheless, there are excellent reasons to steer away from a government system by wise philosopher kings. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/237 "2016-09-11T15:42:49Z")
Oh, look! It’s time for **Starving Artist** ’s weekly “Waaaaah! HIPPIES!” diatribe… ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/238 "2016-09-11T18:48:09Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I don’t agree. > > More specifically, I agree that it’s possible a liberal Supreme Court could have acted as you imagine. > > And I agree that much suffering resulted from the lack. > > Where I disagree is the implication that it’s an unmitigated shame. > > It’s a shame, but that shame is a requisite cost of having a nation governed by representative democracy instead of by wise philosopher kings. A government that is ruled by good and wise overlords will probably produce outcomes like ending slavery much quicker than a government that derives its leaders from the popular vote. > > Nonetheless, there are excellent reasons to steer away from a government system by wise philosopher kings. I can’t tell if this took a lot of straw or just a lot of contorting. Either way, you’ve once again argued persuasively against nothing anyone was advocating. Good job, **Bricker**! ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/239 "2016-09-11T19:18:05Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I don’t agree. > > More specifically, I agree that it’s possible a liberal Supreme Court could have acted as you imagine. > > And I agree that much suffering resulted from the lack. > > Where I disagree is the implication that it’s an unmitigated shame. > > It’s a shame, but that shame is a requisite cost of having a nation governed by representative democracy instead of by wise philosopher kings. A government that is ruled by good and wise overlords will probably produce outcomes like ending slavery much quicker than a government that derives its leaders from the popular vote. > > Nonetheless, there are excellent reasons to steer away from a government system by wise philosopher kings. I think the supreme court could have ruled the other way on Plessy v Ferguson without causing significant damage to the republic. It could have ruled that various Jim crow laws violated the Constitution (with good justification, IMO) without doing more damage than allowing them did. It even could have ruled the other way on Dred Scott. None such rulings would have damaged our republic more than the real history did, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155/240 "2016-09-11T19:28:45Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think the supreme court could have ruled the other way on Plessy v Ferguson without causing significant damage to the republic. It could have ruled that various Jim crow laws violated the Constitution (with good justification, IMO) without doing more damage than allowing them did. It even could have ruled the other way on Dred Scott. None such rulings would have damaged our republic more than the real history did, IMO. No, I don’t agree. The Constitution itself implicitly permitted slavery prior to the 13th Amendment. Any court ruling that slavery was somehow burdened by the Constitutionwould be elevating its desired social outcome over the document text they were supposedly interpreting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-schlafly-dead-at-92-does-anybody-care/765155.md?page=13)