I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again today. The conservative wing of the SCOTUS is the real destructive force in this country. Not the NSA, not the latest BS Emoprogs and Libertarians are whining about. The SCOTUS.
Congress did vote to "fix" the VRA. SCOTUS didn't like the 'fix' and rejected it. Roberts opinion is cowardly.
Hello gb – I’ve missed being online with you the last few days. Do hope you have settled in to the new accommodation and the rehap is going well. Take care of you.
I’m going to get back into commenting here. I’ve been on Twitter stalking the SCOTUS rulings. Plus my mom is visiting. PLUS the wifi connection here sucks.
Still trying to get used to the new facility. Definitely do not like the staff that’s on night shift. I’ve had one physical therapy session so far. They have pretty good equipment so we’ll see.
SCOTUS strikes down Voting Rights provision, citing racial progress. In other news, catch Paula Deen on the Today Show tomorrow!— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) June 25, 2013
Nearly five decades after Bloody Sunday in Selma, he’s in the fight of his life, as the Supreme Court threatens to overturn his signature achievement.
BY ARI BERMAN
———————————————–
“Places like Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, they forget recent history,” Lewis said. “We’re not talking about something that took place a hundred years ago, but a few short years ago. And some of it is still going on today. And if you get rid of Section 5 of the VRA, many of these places, whether it be state, county or town, will slip back into the habits of the past.”
Against this backdrop, it’s shocking that the Supreme Court appears to be leaning toward overturning the centerpiece of the country’s most important civil rights law. Last year, Lewis found out that his great-great-grandfather had registered and voted after becoming an emancipated slave following the Civil War, during Reconstruction—something that Lewis could not do until 100 years later, after the passage of the VRA. He wept when he heard the news. It underscored how delicate the right to vote has been throughout American history. If the Court upholds Section 5, as it has in four prior opinions, Lewis’s legacy will be cemented. And if the Court eviscerates it, Lewis’s voice will be needed as never before. n
These conservative justices are living in an alternative universe. Are they fucking kidding me persons march, got arrested and lost their lives for the right to vote and I don’t care if it is just Section 4 that was struck down I am absolutely disgusted
If THIS doesn’t get the apathetic so-called progressives off their couches I don’t know what will. Now let’s see what these clowns do with the same sex marriage case, IF they have the nerve to handle that one now, or will decide to send it back to a lower court like they did with the affirmative action case.
What will it take to get Democrats off their @sses in 2014?? We know the far left is all caught up in defending a traitor and defector, meanwhile issues like voting rights, gun control, climate change, women’s rights, a whole list of issues they supposedly care about, are under heavy attack on the right while they’re not even paying attention.
If you want to know how we lose ground people, especially at the state level, this is a perfect example.
Democrats tend to eat their own, rather than supporting them. Since the election they have been reflexively attacking the President in response to all these PHONY so-called “scandals”, and Now we are predictably Losing Ground even before the new term begins!!
Some sanctions HAVE to be imposed on any country that harbors this criminal. We cannot continue to stand for this. I cannot STAND the smug way Greenwald and Assange are directing this fiasco.
Supreme Court strikes down part of Voting Rights Act
BY STEVE BENEN
——————————————
Fifth Update: Good write-ups from NBC News’ Pete Williams and Erin McClam, as well as the AP. The key detail: “The court did not strike down the advance approval requirement of the law that has been used, mainly in the South, to open up polling places to minority voters in the nearly half century since it was first enacted in 1965. But the justices did say lawmakers must update the formula for determining which parts of the country must seek Washington’s approval, in advance, for election changes.” Raise your hand if you have confidence in this Congress’ ability to do that fairly and effectively.
Sixth Update: So, just to clarify, the principle of pre-clearance is intact, but for voting-rights advocates, that’s cold comfort, since the standards that provide the foundation for those principles has been struck down as unconstitutional. Section 5 is, in other words, in semi-permanent limbo, awaiting Congress’ eventual attention.
Scalia: "The country has changed since 1965. Just look at Paula Deen. She hasn't used the N-word since last Thursday" #SCOTUS#votingrights— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) June 25, 2013
Why Are Conservatives Trying to Destroy the Voting Rights Act?
A five-decade bipartisan consensus on this key piece of civil rights legislation has collapsed—right when we need its protections more than ever before.
BY ARI BERMAN
————————————————
The current campaign against the VRA is the result of three key factors: a whiter, more Southern, more conservative GOP that has responded to demographic change by trying to suppress an increasingly diverse electorate; a twenty-five-year effort to gut the VRA by conservative intellectuals, who in recent years have received millions of dollars from top right-wing funders, including Charles Koch; and a reactionary Supreme Court that does not support remedies to racial discrimination.
.
.
Attorney General Eric Holder has called Section 5 the “keystone of our voting rights,” and the Justice Department and voting rights groups have argued that it is an essential tool for dismantling barriers to the ballot box. “The record compiled by Congress demonstrates that, without the continuation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 protections, racial and language minority citizens will be deprived of the opportunity to exercise their right to vote, or will have their votes diluted, undermining the significant gains made by minorities in the last forty years,” Congress stated in reauthorizing the act in 2006. The disappearance of Section 5 would be a devastating setback for voting rights—akin to the way the Citizens United decision eviscerated campaign finance regulation—and would greenlight the kind of voter suppression attempts that proved so unpopular in 2012.
A Challenge to finally take this unfortunate opportunity to Right the Voting Rights Act by making it Uniformed for all the 50 states and DC. Use this moment….to build…..unlike the lukewarm timid action that took place after the Jan 21, 2010…..Citizen United Ruling.
The Lefties can now reframe this debate……..Simplify the Voting process and the Monetary funding of Campaigns.
2014 is crucial, crucial, crucial. People need to stop the whining and begin donating to the DNC, DSCC, DCCC, individual congress members, OFA, etc. Volunteering, calling, spreading the word and rebuilding the coalition because 2014 is important. This congress will not lift a finger to create new formulas that draw voting maps for Section 4 and this leaves Section 5 pretty much muted. Without Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, it will be difficult to overturn this horror and Pres. Obama will be hemmed in from taking concrete actions. Congress is it. Congress is where the true power lies.
Justice Ginsburg: "Hubris is a fit word for today’s demolition of the VRA."
That is the News that Never got any attention…..our selective News Media, willfully ignored that part and No Dem asked why or raised hell about it. People protest Congress and POTUS, even FLOTUS and SCOTUS said No. Under what law and whose authority? It was outrageous.
Perfect. Then the states couldn’t cry “separate treatment due to past practices.” In today’s world, each state needs to have safeguards in place … we’ve seen that just over the last few years.
The Republicans have just declared war. No bones about it. They have all out declared war on every Minority in America. They have basically endorsed the idea that white supremacy is their goal and their birthright and that they will fight to the death to maintain that. Four white guys and one Uncle Tom coon who has been a DISGRACE to the very seat he took over from Thurgood Marshall 23 years ago voted to relive Paula Deen’s dream America. Some of us fell asleep at the wheel. In 2000, my father kept saying that THAT election and my Grandfather’s assertion that the 1980 election would lead to a reversal of all our ancestors fought for is being proved right every day. This is war now. They have declared it. We cannot ignore it. We cannot pretend it is not in existence. June 25, 2013 is the new Plessy v. Ferguson and we need to fight to the death if need be to drown out the folks who long for the days of the Antebellum South and Jim Crow. We are at war and I’m tired of giving the benefit of the doubt about it.
I object to the ‘coon’ reference. Thomas is a stool, a stooge, and a Tom, but the ‘coon’ reference is a step to far when describing anyone of AA descent, imo. The reference is from hunting AAs in the same manner racoons were hunted.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Commitee, issued a statement Tuesday reacting to the Supreme Court decision striking down a key provison of the Voting Rights Act.
“Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act has protected minorities of all races from discriminatory practices in voting for nearly 50 years, yet the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the coverage formula effectively guts the ability of Section 5 to protect voters from discriminatory practices,” he said in a release. “I could not disagree more with this result or the majority’s rationale. The Voting Rights Act has been upheld five times by the Supreme Court on prior occasions, and Section 5 was reauthorized and signed into law by a Republican President in 2006 after a thorough and bipartisan process in which Congress overwhelmingly determined that the law was still vital to protecting minority voting rights and that the coverage formula determining the jurisdictions to be covered was still applicable.
He continued: “Several lower court decisions in recent years have found violations of the Voting Rights Act and evidence of intentional discrimination in covered jurisdictions. Despite this sound record, and the weight of history, a narrow majority has decided today to substitute its own judgment over the exhaustive legislative findings of Congress. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I intend to take immediate action to ensure that we will have a strong and reconstituted Voting Rights Act that protects against racial discrimination in voting.”
It becomes Up to Us, POTUS, AG, Lefties of every stripe to build the coalition, define and clarify the argument and then massively build the movement to make it happen. It is not easy, but it is doable for the survival of our political system.
Thurgood Marshall retired in 1991. GH Bush replaced him with Clarence Thomas in 1991. Thurgood Marshall died Jan in 1993.
Kennedy fought Not to have Thomas as a Justice. Ogletree and many prominent Black and Liberal Lawyers assured Kennedy that Thomas was Okay. It looks like once again……Ted Kennedy was Right about Burke, Thomas, Roberts and Alito. Had Many listened as he passionately argued against Thomas……….these draconian rulings since Dec 9, 2000……Bush V Gore, Citizen United, etc would not be happening.
I’m surprised I’m not hair-on-fire over this outrageous decision. I guess I’m not surprised. But liberals need a kick in the pants to get past whether or not they are in love with a candidate and finally get it through their thick skulls that this is a long term fight for the soul of the nation.
Let’s be clear: Conservatives understood this back in the 60’s. They understood they were fighting for their version of the soul of America, and they set out to win. They changed the narrative, they put ‘truths’ in the public consciousness that were actual lies, to great effect; they set out to depress Democratic votes and bolster conservative votes. They bought the media, they deregulated finance, destroyed our climate and the middle class. They moved the ball down the field, one excruciating yard at a time.
It cannot and should not be about PBO, his ‘coalition’, or any idea that Dem’s need a ‘hero’ to lead them. This is a generational, decades-long slog forward and there will be significant setbacks along the way. They should only serve to strengthen our resolve, our righteous anger that we transfer to ACTION.
5 men on the Supreme Court have made it harder for Democrats to vote, but they cannot stop Democrats from voting. That’s our job. And we can change the narrative back to a progressive America with human values.
brava!! righteous. and another big plus right now is from the obama campaigns and the o.f.a. infrastructure in place and solid, and how our organizing is starting from a much stronger place than ever before. we never had anything like that before.
that along with the demographic changes, and i like our chances in the long-term. it’s just about how soon we can stop the republican march, and minimize the damage republicans leave in their wake. it all starts with 2014 midterms across the country, and we can build upon the work of the people who never stopped after 2012, and ramp up a gigantic blue wave in 2014. FORWARD!!!
Republicans never rest. We’d better get the memo that there is no rest. It’s our ‘resting’ and complacency and need to be ‘in love’ with a candidate that allowed this to happen. It isn’t that they did it to us; our own complacency allowed it to happen.
I hope this disgraceful ruling by the supremes will get people motivated to register to vote right now, before the state goopers start thinking about the 2014 election. And if this doesn’t motivate everyone whose rights are about to be taken away, to vote in 2014, then we will all deserve what we get. And we need to insist that the msm start reporting on all of these abuses against the people of this nation, instead of chasing every shiny object that comes along, or wasting their time finding new ways that the POTUS is doomed. We are the ones who will be doomed if we don’t vote.
For many years……prior to 2000 the right were always accusing the Courts of Judicial activism. They went after judges state by state and many states started electing Judges.
The left have more lawyers yet for 13 yrs, the right use their majority or their minority…….No matter what to get their ways.
SCOTUS Voting Rights Act Decision Means We Need to Amend the Constitution
BY JOHN NICOLS
—————————————–
There is no question that it will be challenging to enact a right-to-vote amendment will be difficult. But it is necessary. And the movement to amend the constitution, if it is broad and vigorous, will create space for more immediate action at the congressional and state levels to address the Supreme Court’s decision.
“The right to vote is the foundation of any democracy,” says FairVote executive director Rob Richie. “Adding an affirmative right to vote to the US Constitution is the best way to guarantee that the government, whether at the federal, state, or local level, cannot infringe upon our individual right to vote. Building support for this amendment offers an opportunity to inspire a twenty-first-century suffrage movement where Americans come together to protect voting rights, promote voter participation and debate suffrage expansion.”
Senator Leahy is part of the problem. He is still going with this rule that there must be OK from the senators for any judicial appointment by POTUS from their Region…..I am not explaining it correctly. Senators from states with Fed Judge Opening have veto power. When GOPers had power during GW Bush’s regime…..they ignored this so called Gentleman’s agreement. Leahy as Judicial Chairman, reinstituted the verbal rule all over again.
That is why, this POTUS has been appointing more TBGOPer judges from ID, UT, TX, etc.
For a New Yorker staff writer of 18 years, Cassidy’s demand that journalists pick a side — you’re either with him or against him — is remarkable. And hypocritical, given the intense scrutiny and criticism he levied on the Manichean policies of Bush administration. In Cassidy’s worldview, asking questions is demonization. Being skeptical (or even neutral) of the disclosures and the people behind them is being on Team Government.
So maybe we should have that tedious debate about what journalism means. Because it’s turning into something I no longer recognize: prejudgment, abandoning a quest for truth, cherry picking (or inventing) facts, and adopting the worst sorts of divide-and-conquer toxicity that defined the first Bush administration. When esteemed writers at a premier writing outlet like the New Yorker descend into advocating cheap hackery, maybe the debate about journalism is over and done with. And Glenn Greenwald won.
I saw Thomas interviewed on c-span. He claimed he never experienced any discrimination growing up in Georgia….but….he also said he father told him to ” keep his head down ” and not be confrontational.
As a Black American, there are some blacks I don’t consider black, the white folks can have that sorry ass Uncle Tom known as Clarence Thomas. Thomas is the kind where if he was in the slavery days, and some slaves were planning to escape Clarence Thomas is the kind who will tell when were how many, every last detail. He is a disgrace.
wonder what clarence thomas would’ve thought had he lived in a state 60 years ago that prevented “interracial marriage” and tried to marry his current wife (who is white). would he have said, “oh well, state’s rights i guess. tough luck for us. we’ll just have to move north.” of course, he’s got his now, so screw the rest of you, which is basically the entire republican party in a nutshell.
If we needed a motivation to vote Democratic in 2014, the GOP SCOTUS decision attacking Voting Rights gives us every reason to vote against the GOP and for our own right to vote. Time to organize is now, and spread the alarm that Voter suppression in America will not be allowed.
President Barack Obama said Tuesday that while he’s “deeply disappointed” with the Supreme Court’s decision to gut the historic Voting Rights Act, but vowed that the ruling will not “represent the end of our efforts to end voting discrimination.”
“I am deeply disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision today. For nearly 50 years, the Voting Rights Act – enacted and repeatedly renewed by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress – has helped secure the right to vote for millions of Americans,” Obama said in a statement. “Today’s decision invalidating one of its core provisions upsets decades of well-established practices that help make sure voting is fair, especially in places where voting discrimination has been historically prevalent.”
The conservatives used the success of the Sec. 4 of the Voting Rights Act as their justification for killing it. Their reasoning was deeply flawed, and their motives were laughably transparent. This was the conservative justices’ attempt to put a Republican back in the White House. Through this decision, they opened the door to all sorts of voter suppression laws that will largely target two key pieces of the new Democratic coalition that has grown up during the Obama years, Hispanics and African Americans.
The next wave of voter suppression will also target students and the poor. It also will target Democratic voters in urban areas. In short, the Supreme Court has given the Republican Party the green light to declare all out war on Democratic voters.
The majority on this court apparently wants to return to the battles of civil rights era, and with Congress paralyzed by Republican incompetence, the remedy is to fight. Instead of signing an Internet petition, really get involved. Tell your friends and family about what has happened today. Pick up the phone, or write a letter by hand urging your member of Congress to protect your right to vote.
It is going take even more than that. You may have to willing to join a protest. Are you willing to stand up and speak out, or are you going to let 5 men with a political agenda allow Republicans to disenfranchise you?
I am sorry that part if the VRA was struck down. The AA community is the heart and soul of America, you are all survivors and been through so much.
Don’t let The Libertarians Win, turn this into an issue for the Midterms.
Divide and conquer will not work, that’s the America I Know!
The Obama Diary 
Those who died for Our Voting Rights must be turning in the grave.
They certainly are. We must combat this by mobilizing NOW for 2014.
Just a stunning, but not entirely unexpected, turn of events…
I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again today. The conservative wing of the SCOTUS is the real destructive force in this country. Not the NSA, not the latest BS Emoprogs and Libertarians are whining about. The SCOTUS.
What a disgusting start to the day.
Hello gb – I’ve missed being online with you the last few days. Do hope you have settled in to the new accommodation and the rehap is going well. Take care of you.
Hey 99,
I’m going to get back into commenting here. I’ve been on Twitter stalking the SCOTUS rulings. Plus my mom is visiting. PLUS the wifi connection here sucks.
Still trying to get used to the new facility. Definitely do not like the staff that’s on night shift. I’ve had one physical therapy session so far. They have pretty good equipment so we’ll see.
Congrats Mariele. And G’day shipmates. Are we seaworthy today or has the vessel sprung a leak? 😀
Howdy yardarm. Leaky vessel, but buckets at the ready awaiting your orders.
After what has just happened with this SCOTUS ruling we all need to get below and start a bucket brigade.
This is giving me hope.
John Lewis’s Long Fight for Voting Rights
Nearly five decades after Bloody Sunday in Selma, he’s in the fight of his life, as the Supreme Court threatens to overturn his signature achievement.
BY ARI BERMAN
———————————————–
“Places like Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, they forget recent history,” Lewis said. “We’re not talking about something that took place a hundred years ago, but a few short years ago. And some of it is still going on today. And if you get rid of Section 5 of the VRA, many of these places, whether it be state, county or town, will slip back into the habits of the past.”
Against this backdrop, it’s shocking that the Supreme Court appears to be leaning toward overturning the centerpiece of the country’s most important civil rights law. Last year, Lewis found out that his great-great-grandfather had registered and voted after becoming an emancipated slave following the Civil War, during Reconstruction—something that Lewis could not do until 100 years later, after the passage of the VRA. He wept when he heard the news. It underscored how delicate the right to vote has been throughout American history. If the Court upholds Section 5, as it has in four prior opinions, Lewis’s legacy will be cemented. And if the Court eviscerates it, Lewis’s voice will be needed as never before. n
—————————————————————
http://www.thenation.com/article/174684/john-lewiss-long-fight-voting-rights#axzz2XEsjkv7f
These conservative justices are living in an alternative universe. Are they fucking kidding me persons march, got arrested and lost their lives for the right to vote and I don’t care if it is just Section 4 that was struck down I am absolutely disgusted
If THIS doesn’t get the apathetic so-called progressives off their couches I don’t know what will. Now let’s see what these clowns do with the same sex marriage case, IF they have the nerve to handle that one now, or will decide to send it back to a lower court like they did with the affirmative action case.
What will it take to get Democrats off their @sses in 2014?? We know the far left is all caught up in defending a traitor and defector, meanwhile issues like voting rights, gun control, climate change, women’s rights, a whole list of issues they supposedly care about, are under heavy attack on the right while they’re not even paying attention.
If you want to know how we lose ground people, especially at the state level, this is a perfect example.
Democrats tend to eat their own, rather than supporting them. Since the election they have been reflexively attacking the President in response to all these PHONY so-called “scandals”, and Now we are predictably Losing Ground even before the new term begins!!
Putin says Snowdirt is in Russia and won’t be extradited.
Correction, he “remains at the Moscow airport.”
If he arrives in Ecuador I hope we cut off foreign aid, cut off diplomatic relations, and block imports.
Some sanctions HAVE to be imposed on any country that harbors this criminal. We cannot continue to stand for this. I cannot STAND the smug way Greenwald and Assange are directing this fiasco.
The problem is we could not do those things with China or Russia, but we could with Ecuador with little damage to ourselves and great damage to them.
I support that 100%
Supreme Court strikes down part of Voting Rights Act
BY STEVE BENEN
——————————————
Fifth Update: Good write-ups from NBC News’ Pete Williams and Erin McClam, as well as the AP. The key detail: “The court did not strike down the advance approval requirement of the law that has been used, mainly in the South, to open up polling places to minority voters in the nearly half century since it was first enacted in 1965. But the justices did say lawmakers must update the formula for determining which parts of the country must seek Washington’s approval, in advance, for election changes.” Raise your hand if you have confidence in this Congress’ ability to do that fairly and effectively.
Sixth Update: So, just to clarify, the principle of pre-clearance is intact, but for voting-rights advocates, that’s cold comfort, since the standards that provide the foundation for those principles has been struck down as unconstitutional. Section 5 is, in other words, in semi-permanent limbo, awaiting Congress’ eventual attention.
———————————————————-
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/06/25/19133249-supreme-court-strikes-down-part-of-voting-rights-act
If Gore had become POTUS we would have a different SCOTUS. I would have to go with Bush vs. Gore.
I’m not entirely convinced about that…
Gore would Never have appointed such wicked idiots like Roberts or Alito.
Never.
Why Are Conservatives Trying to Destroy the Voting Rights Act?
A five-decade bipartisan consensus on this key piece of civil rights legislation has collapsed—right when we need its protections more than ever before.
BY ARI BERMAN
————————————————
The current campaign against the VRA is the result of three key factors: a whiter, more Southern, more conservative GOP that has responded to demographic change by trying to suppress an increasingly diverse electorate; a twenty-five-year effort to gut the VRA by conservative intellectuals, who in recent years have received millions of dollars from top right-wing funders, including Charles Koch; and a reactionary Supreme Court that does not support remedies to racial discrimination.
.
.
Attorney General Eric Holder has called Section 5 the “keystone of our voting rights,” and the Justice Department and voting rights groups have argued that it is an essential tool for dismantling barriers to the ballot box. “The record compiled by Congress demonstrates that, without the continuation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 protections, racial and language minority citizens will be deprived of the opportunity to exercise their right to vote, or will have their votes diluted, undermining the significant gains made by minorities in the last forty years,” Congress stated in reauthorizing the act in 2006. The disappearance of Section 5 would be a devastating setback for voting rights—akin to the way the Citizens United decision eviscerated campaign finance regulation—and would greenlight the kind of voter suppression attempts that proved so unpopular in 2012.
————————————————–
http://www.thenation.com/article/172685/why-are-conservatives-trying-destroy-voting-rights-act#axzz2WlquCO3c
A Challenge to finally take this unfortunate opportunity to Right the Voting Rights Act by making it Uniformed for all the 50 states and DC. Use this moment….to build…..unlike the lukewarm timid action that took place after the Jan 21, 2010…..Citizen United Ruling.
The Lefties can now reframe this debate……..Simplify the Voting process and the Monetary funding of Campaigns.
2014 is crucial, crucial, crucial. People need to stop the whining and begin donating to the DNC, DSCC, DCCC, individual congress members, OFA, etc. Volunteering, calling, spreading the word and rebuilding the coalition because 2014 is important. This congress will not lift a finger to create new formulas that draw voting maps for Section 4 and this leaves Section 5 pretty much muted. Without Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, it will be difficult to overturn this horror and Pres. Obama will be hemmed in from taking concrete actions. Congress is it. Congress is where the true power lies.
They also banned protests outside the court………….
I guess our right to assemble was written in invisible ink.
That is the News that Never got any attention…..our selective News Media, willfully ignored that part and No Dem asked why or raised hell about it. People protest Congress and POTUS, even FLOTUS and SCOTUS said No. Under what law and whose authority? It was outrageous.
Morning y’all.
I couldn’t agree more
Perfect. Then the states couldn’t cry “separate treatment due to past practices.” In today’s world, each state needs to have safeguards in place … we’ve seen that just over the last few years.
From GOVCHRIS1988
The Republicans have just declared war. No bones about it. They have all out declared war on every Minority in America. They have basically endorsed the idea that white supremacy is their goal and their birthright and that they will fight to the death to maintain that. Four white guys and one Uncle Tom coon who has been a DISGRACE to the very seat he took over from Thurgood Marshall 23 years ago voted to relive Paula Deen’s dream America. Some of us fell asleep at the wheel. In 2000, my father kept saying that THAT election and my Grandfather’s assertion that the 1980 election would lead to a reversal of all our ancestors fought for is being proved right every day. This is war now. They have declared it. We cannot ignore it. We cannot pretend it is not in existence. June 25, 2013 is the new Plessy v. Ferguson and we need to fight to the death if need be to drown out the folks who long for the days of the Antebellum South and Jim Crow. We are at war and I’m tired of giving the benefit of the doubt about it.
wow. right on!
I object to the ‘coon’ reference. Thomas is a stool, a stooge, and a Tom, but the ‘coon’ reference is a step to far when describing anyone of AA descent, imo. The reference is from hunting AAs in the same manner racoons were hunted.
If you’re a Texan or non-Texan you can take action.
Also, if you’re an Ohioan, go to @OHTHEMaryD’s timeline to find out how to take action.
Chips, stuck in moderation again. 😆
Justice Alito’s Middle School Antics:
“When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg read her dissent from the bench, Alito visibly mocked his colleague.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-justice-samuel-alitos-middle-school-antics/2013/06/24/534888f8-dd0d-11e2-9218-bc2ac7cd44e2_story.html?hpid=z2
Alito must be the most immature justice we’ve ever had on the Supreme Court, and he’s deciding our path forward? Unbelievable.
Didn’t his wife start crying at his confirmation because he was asked a tough question?
Boy, you are quick.
I’ve never been accused of that, actually. A great tweet deserves action.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/leahy-i-will-take-immediate-action-to-bolster
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Commitee, issued a statement Tuesday reacting to the Supreme Court decision striking down a key provison of the Voting Rights Act.
“Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act has protected minorities of all races from discriminatory practices in voting for nearly 50 years, yet the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the coverage formula effectively guts the ability of Section 5 to protect voters from discriminatory practices,” he said in a release. “I could not disagree more with this result or the majority’s rationale. The Voting Rights Act has been upheld five times by the Supreme Court on prior occasions, and Section 5 was reauthorized and signed into law by a Republican President in 2006 after a thorough and bipartisan process in which Congress overwhelmingly determined that the law was still vital to protecting minority voting rights and that the coverage formula determining the jurisdictions to be covered was still applicable.
He continued: “Several lower court decisions in recent years have found violations of the Voting Rights Act and evidence of intentional discrimination in covered jurisdictions. Despite this sound record, and the weight of history, a narrow majority has decided today to substitute its own judgment over the exhaustive legislative findings of Congress. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I intend to take immediate action to ensure that we will have a strong and reconstituted Voting Rights Act that protects against racial discrimination in voting.”
Like what??
Uniformity in all the 50 states and DC. That is how, especially for Federal Office Holders.
Well…if congress has to be a part of making this happen, I won’t hold my breath. They can’t find their collective asses with both hands.
You have nailed it.
It becomes Up to Us, POTUS, AG, Lefties of every stripe to build the coalition, define and clarify the argument and then massively build the movement to make it happen. It is not easy, but it is doable for the survival of our political system.
https://twitter.com/lawscribe/status/349534459458097152
And Clarence “Affirmative Action in the Worst Way) Thomas had this to say:
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/clarence-thomas-texas-affirmative-action-case-opinion-062413
Somebody should just split his wig.
I don’t give a dam what that Uncle Thomas has to say.
Thurgood Marshall retired in 1991. GH Bush replaced him with Clarence Thomas in 1991. Thurgood Marshall died Jan in 1993.
Kennedy fought Not to have Thomas as a Justice. Ogletree and many prominent Black and Liberal Lawyers assured Kennedy that Thomas was Okay. It looks like once again……Ted Kennedy was Right about Burke, Thomas, Roberts and Alito. Had Many listened as he passionately argued against Thomas……….these draconian rulings since Dec 9, 2000……Bush V Gore, Citizen United, etc would not be happening.
WOW! Already started
That is not what the law struck down today meant. It is in the Formula……not in the reauthorization.
But if the formula doesn’t apply……
Atty General Holder to make statement at noon.
Unbelievable…we’ve got to come out with a vengeance in 2014. My heart is aching right now.
Sorry Chips didn’t know that you previously posted this.
No problem WilTal, the more alerts the better! Thank you.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/06/25/2209911/three-ways-the-supreme-court-gutted-voting-rights-today/
I’m surprised I’m not hair-on-fire over this outrageous decision. I guess I’m not surprised. But liberals need a kick in the pants to get past whether or not they are in love with a candidate and finally get it through their thick skulls that this is a long term fight for the soul of the nation.
Let’s be clear: Conservatives understood this back in the 60’s. They understood they were fighting for their version of the soul of America, and they set out to win. They changed the narrative, they put ‘truths’ in the public consciousness that were actual lies, to great effect; they set out to depress Democratic votes and bolster conservative votes. They bought the media, they deregulated finance, destroyed our climate and the middle class. They moved the ball down the field, one excruciating yard at a time.
It cannot and should not be about PBO, his ‘coalition’, or any idea that Dem’s need a ‘hero’ to lead them. This is a generational, decades-long slog forward and there will be significant setbacks along the way. They should only serve to strengthen our resolve, our righteous anger that we transfer to ACTION.
5 men on the Supreme Court have made it harder for Democrats to vote, but they cannot stop Democrats from voting. That’s our job. And we can change the narrative back to a progressive America with human values.
I’m more resolved than ever.
brava!! righteous. and another big plus right now is from the obama campaigns and the o.f.a. infrastructure in place and solid, and how our organizing is starting from a much stronger place than ever before. we never had anything like that before.
that along with the demographic changes, and i like our chances in the long-term. it’s just about how soon we can stop the republican march, and minimize the damage republicans leave in their wake. it all starts with 2014 midterms across the country, and we can build upon the work of the people who never stopped after 2012, and ramp up a gigantic blue wave in 2014. FORWARD!!!
You’re on a roll this morning, well done.
Republicans never rest. We’d better get the memo that there is no rest. It’s our ‘resting’ and complacency and need to be ‘in love’ with a candidate that allowed this to happen. It isn’t that they did it to us; our own complacency allowed it to happen.
I hope this disgraceful ruling by the supremes will get people motivated to register to vote right now, before the state goopers start thinking about the 2014 election. And if this doesn’t motivate everyone whose rights are about to be taken away, to vote in 2014, then we will all deserve what we get. And we need to insist that the msm start reporting on all of these abuses against the people of this nation, instead of chasing every shiny object that comes along, or wasting their time finding new ways that the POTUS is doomed. We are the ones who will be doomed if we don’t vote.
And now snowden is in Moscow. Putin won’t extradite.
For many years……prior to 2000 the right were always accusing the Courts of Judicial activism. They went after judges state by state and many states started electing Judges.
The left have more lawyers yet for 13 yrs, the right use their majority or their minority…….No matter what to get their ways.
SCOTUS Voting Rights Act Decision Means We Need to Amend the Constitution
BY JOHN NICOLS
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There is no question that it will be challenging to enact a right-to-vote amendment will be difficult. But it is necessary. And the movement to amend the constitution, if it is broad and vigorous, will create space for more immediate action at the congressional and state levels to address the Supreme Court’s decision.
“The right to vote is the foundation of any democracy,” says FairVote executive director Rob Richie. “Adding an affirmative right to vote to the US Constitution is the best way to guarantee that the government, whether at the federal, state, or local level, cannot infringe upon our individual right to vote. Building support for this amendment offers an opportunity to inspire a twenty-first-century suffrage movement where Americans come together to protect voting rights, promote voter participation and debate suffrage expansion.”
————————————
http://www.thenation.com/blog/174968/scotus-voting-rights-act-decision-means-we-need-amend-constitution#axzz2XEsjkv7f
Senator Leahy is part of the problem. He is still going with this rule that there must be OK from the senators for any judicial appointment by POTUS from their Region…..I am not explaining it correctly. Senators from states with Fed Judge Opening have veto power. When GOPers had power during GW Bush’s regime…..they ignored this so called Gentleman’s agreement. Leahy as Judicial Chairman, reinstituted the verbal rule all over again.
That is why, this POTUS has been appointing more TBGOPer judges from ID, UT, TX, etc.
What a depressing day.
Four white, one black.
This was the follow-up tweet, Bill:
He does wish, doesn’t he?
His ultimate fantasy, he’ll never forgive whatever higher power he worships for not being born white.
Chips I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more public display of self-hatred in my lifetime.
Honestly Derbingle, he’s one seriously hateful screwed-up man.
More like 4 and a Clarence Thomas…..a believer.
With Us Or Against Us
BY JOSHUA FOUST
—————————————————-
For a New Yorker staff writer of 18 years, Cassidy’s demand that journalists pick a side — you’re either with him or against him — is remarkable. And hypocritical, given the intense scrutiny and criticism he levied on the Manichean policies of Bush administration. In Cassidy’s worldview, asking questions is demonization. Being skeptical (or even neutral) of the disclosures and the people behind them is being on Team Government.
So maybe we should have that tedious debate about what journalism means. Because it’s turning into something I no longer recognize: prejudgment, abandoning a quest for truth, cherry picking (or inventing) facts, and adopting the worst sorts of divide-and-conquer toxicity that defined the first Bush administration. When esteemed writers at a premier writing outlet like the New Yorker descend into advocating cheap hackery, maybe the debate about journalism is over and done with. And Glenn Greenwald won.
—————————————————–
http://joshuafoust.com/with-us-or-against-us/
That POS Clarence Thomas. I know that his grandfather is turning over in his grave.
Thomas is who Malcolm X was talking about
I saw Thomas interviewed on c-span. He claimed he never experienced any discrimination growing up in Georgia….but….he also said he father told him to ” keep his head down ” and not be confrontational.
Linda, Thomas is under the illusion of inclusion….I still believe at some point, he’ll get his wake-up call.
As a Black American, there are some blacks I don’t consider black, the white folks can have that sorry ass Uncle Tom known as Clarence Thomas. Thomas is the kind where if he was in the slavery days, and some slaves were planning to escape Clarence Thomas is the kind who will tell when were how many, every last detail. He is a disgrace.
wonder what clarence thomas would’ve thought had he lived in a state 60 years ago that prevented “interracial marriage” and tried to marry his current wife (who is white). would he have said, “oh well, state’s rights i guess. tough luck for us. we’ll just have to move north.” of course, he’s got his now, so screw the rest of you, which is basically the entire republican party in a nutshell.
4MF44,
No truer statement can be made.
“he’s got his now, so screw the rest of you, which is basically the entire republican party in a nutshell.”
If we needed a motivation to vote Democratic in 2014, the GOP SCOTUS decision attacking Voting Rights gives us every reason to vote against the GOP and for our own right to vote. Time to organize is now, and spread the alarm that Voter suppression in America will not be allowed.
https://twitter.com/rollingingraves/status/349555787519102977
I just have no words. I think I’m taking a break for today.
I just cannot even speak.
I feel the same way meta. I literally feel sick to my stomach about the VRA ruling.
Let us know that there is more work to be done. We have to continue to fight.
12:30 ET: AG Holder delivers statement on Supreme Court’s decision on the Voting Rights Act
http://www.ustream.tv/cbsnews
TMP is reporting that POTUS has issued a statement on this ruling
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-scotus-ruling-wont-end-efforts-to-end
President Barack Obama said Tuesday that while he’s “deeply disappointed” with the Supreme Court’s decision to gut the historic Voting Rights Act, but vowed that the ruling will not “represent the end of our efforts to end voting discrimination.”
“I am deeply disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision today. For nearly 50 years, the Voting Rights Act – enacted and repeatedly renewed by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress – has helped secure the right to vote for millions of Americans,” Obama said in a statement. “Today’s decision invalidating one of its core provisions upsets decades of well-established practices that help make sure voting is fair, especially in places where voting discrimination has been historically prevalent.”
I think we have out grown the Supreme Court, can we get rid of them?
New post:
http://theobamadiary.com/2013/06/25/statement-from-the-president/
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/06/25/angry-arrogant-activist-supreme-court-majority-demolished-vote.html
The conservatives used the success of the Sec. 4 of the Voting Rights Act as their justification for killing it. Their reasoning was deeply flawed, and their motives were laughably transparent. This was the conservative justices’ attempt to put a Republican back in the White House. Through this decision, they opened the door to all sorts of voter suppression laws that will largely target two key pieces of the new Democratic coalition that has grown up during the Obama years, Hispanics and African Americans.
The next wave of voter suppression will also target students and the poor. It also will target Democratic voters in urban areas. In short, the Supreme Court has given the Republican Party the green light to declare all out war on Democratic voters.
The majority on this court apparently wants to return to the battles of civil rights era, and with Congress paralyzed by Republican incompetence, the remedy is to fight. Instead of signing an Internet petition, really get involved. Tell your friends and family about what has happened today. Pick up the phone, or write a letter by hand urging your member of Congress to protect your right to vote.
It is going take even more than that. You may have to willing to join a protest. Are you willing to stand up and speak out, or are you going to let 5 men with a political agenda allow Republicans to disenfranchise you?
jds09 >
It’s mind boggling. In 2014 a legitimate question for a candidate will be “what is your position on the Voting Rights Act of 1965?”.
I am sorry that part if the VRA was struck down. The AA community is the heart and soul of America, you are all survivors and been through so much.
Don’t let The Libertarians Win, turn this into an issue for the Midterms.
Divide and conquer will not work, that’s the America I Know!
🙂
Thanks for that Jovie.