Life in Shell
In a classic shell game, a con artist hides a pea under one of three walnut shells and then uses sleight of hand to ensure the viewer can’t keep track of where the pea ended up. When it comes to the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court’s latest decision may appear to have just moved a few shells around, but after years of targeting the landmark law, it’s more accurate to say the majority basically crushed all the walnuts. “The decision was 6 to 3, split along ideological lines. The conservative majority asserted that the opinion was a limited ruling that preserved a central tenet of the Voting Rights Act, but the court’s liberal wing, in dissent, argued that the justices had taken the final step to dismantle the landmark civil rights law.” Here’s more from the NYT (Gift Article): Supreme Court Further Weakens Voting Rights Act.
+ MoJo: “The Supreme Court’s six-to-three Republican-appointed majority issued a staggering ruling on Wednesday essentially killing the remaining protections of the Voting Rights Act, dealing a death blow to the country’s most important civil rights law.”
+ Talking Points Memo: “The Roberts Court finally achieved its years-long goal of killing the Voting Rights Act Wednesday, publishing a ruling that will make proving racial discrimination in redistricting virtually impossible.”
+ The Guardian: “The court’s decision is a major upheaval in US civil rights law and gives lawmakers permission to draw districting plans that weaken the influence of Black and other minority voters. Some states may even rush ahead to try to redraw districts ahead of this year’s midterm elections.”
+ The obliteration of the voting rights law may leave you feeling shell-shocked, but it comes as welcome news to those currently mangling and weaponizing our still existing legal system to target enemies in ridiculous (and ridiculously dangerous) ways. James Comey surrenders to authorities after DOJ indictment. “The former FBI director was indicted in North Carolina on Tuesday because of a post he made on social media last year of seashells arranged into the numbers ’86 47′ which the Department of Justice has called a threat against Donald Trump. The number 86 can be used as shorthand for getting rid of something, and Trump is the 47th president.” (Let’s hope all those seashells are about to get washed away by a blue wave.)
+ What’s happening inside the Justice Department, where career lawyers are being ordered to bring insane charges or face firing? The place is a shell of its former self. Ex-Official Warns of Mass Exodus as Trump Weaponizes DOJ. “We’re also seeing people resign because of the culture those types of prosecutions create. So, the effect, the consequences, are devastating. The DOJ is losing countless lawyers because of it, the rule of law is being eroded, and the reputation of the department has really disintegrated.”
+ Like so much of what’s happening to our legal system, the latest attempt to punish Comey is completely laughable. But it’s no laughing matter. Under Trump’s weaponized administration, even jokes aren’t laughing matters anymore. I wrote about Trump’s latest attack on Jimmy Kimmel yesterday. “The idea of anyone in this administration calling anyone else’s words offensive represents an act of projection of such magnitude it makes Artemis II look like a backyard stomp rocket.” The Projection Erection.
