Are Pro-abortion Leftists Really This Stupid or Just Disingenuous?

On Friday, Barack Obama made an argument that is relatively common among pro-abortion leftists, suggesting that Roe v. Wade was a longstanding precedent that shouldn’t have been overturned.

“Today, the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent,” he babbled on Twitter, “it relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues—attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) responded to the tweet by quipping, “Now do Plessy vs Ferguson/Brown vs Board of Education.”

Now do Plessy vs Ferguson/Brown vs Board of Education. https://t.co/hrUYCcIq8Y

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 25, 2022

Pro-abortion leftists, who aren’t exactly known for their reverence for fact, responded to this tweet by suggesting that Cornyn was calling for Brown v. Board of Education to be overturned. Elie Mystal of The Nation tweeted, “Look at this racist f—k tweeting at the Black President about his desire to overturn Brown v. Board of Ed and return Black people to a state of segregation,” he tweeted.

Look at this racist fuck tweeting at the Black President about his desire to overturn Brown v. Board of Ed and return Black people to a state of segregation.

And they probably have five votes to do it on the Supreme Court. https://t.co/fxvmym3KDu

— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) June 25, 2022

Mystal was hardly alone. Another prominent leftist who didn’t understand the tweet was Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who seemed to think he was exposing something sinister by retweeting Cornyn to his followers.

I am retweeting this statement about Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education from GOP Senator John Cornyn for your information. https://t.co/4SM3dzT2SZ

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 25, 2022

What I can’t figure out is, did these people who claimed Cornyn was calling for overturning Brown v. Board of Education really believe he was doing so? Or were they deliberately distorting the meaning of the tweet — which is evident to anyone who actually read it?

Brown v. Board of Education was the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case that ended racial segregation; segregation had been established precedent since Plessy v. Ferguson was decided in 1896. Cornyn cited both cases in his tweet and was clearly making the point to Obama that sometimes reversing established precedent is a good thing.

Cornyn himself made the same point in a follow-up tweet. “Thank goodness some SCOTUS precedents are overruled,” he said.

So, I have to ask: are Mystal, Lieu, and everyone else who made Cornyn’s tweet go viral that stupid? Did they not realize that Brown v. Board was the case that overturned Plessy? Do they not understand that Cornyn was making a statement about stare decisis?

The thing is, I have no idea if this was deliberate deception or garden variety left-wing ignorance. What do you think?