This is a very insightful commentary by Justice Stevens.
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Where’s the outrage from the poutragers….hmmm?
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And here we go….BOOM!
God weighs in.
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Heartless
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Posts Tagged ‘decision
26
Jun
13
‘Love is Love’
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President Obama calls #Prop8 plaintiffs from AF1 to congratulate them on the #SCOTUS decision. #History pic.twitter.com/NzJEnX3M28
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 26, 2013
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The President’s statement:
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Today’s DOMA ruling is a historic step forward for #MarriageEquality. #LoveIsLove
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 26, 2013
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Aboard AF1, Pres Obama talks on phone w Edie Windsor, the plaintiff in the DOMA case pic.twitter.com/J4XUXga6H4
— petesouza (@petesouza) June 26, 2013
26
Jun
13
Rise and Shine
@petesouza: POTUS and FLOTUS wave from aboard AF1, en route to Africa
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Today:
EST
8:45 AM: The President and the First Family depart the White House
GMT
8:25PM: Arrive Dakar, Senegal
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Today, the Supreme Court stuck a dagger into the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) June 25, 2013
These men never stood in unmovable lines. They were never denied the right to participate in the democratic process.
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) June 25, 2013
They were never beaten, jailed, run off their farms or fired from their jobs. No one they knew died simply trying to register to vote.
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) June 25, 2013
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Heather Gerken (Slate): Goodbye to the Crown Jewel of the Civil Rights Movement – People died to pass Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, but that didn’t save it at the Supreme Court.
…. To understand why Section 5 was special, you have to know a bit about its history. The brutal attacks on civil rights marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge provided the push needed to pass the Voting Rights Act. When the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965, almost no African-Americans were registered to vote in the Deep South due to brutal repression and sickening legal chicanery.
Civil rights litigators and the Department of Justice were doing their best to help. They filed lawsuit after lawsuit to make it possible for blacks to register. But every time a court deemed one discriminatory practice illegal, local officials would switch to another. Literacy tests, poll taxes, burdensome registration requirements – these techniques were all used to prevent African-Americans from voting. Southern voting registrars would even resign from their positions as soon as a lawsuit was on the cusp of succeeding, thereby sending the case back to square one. The Voting Rights Act aimed to change all of this.
Section 5 was the most important and imaginative provision in the law….
More here
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Sahil Kapur: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg penned the fierce dissent against the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision Tuesday to invalidate a key section of the Voting Rights Act, accusing the conservative justices of displaying “hubris” and a lack of sound reasoning. “[T]he Court’s opinion can hardly be described as an exemplar of restrained and moderate decision making,” wrote the leader of the court’s liberal wing. “Quite the opposite. Hubris is a fit word for today’s demolition of the VRA.”
Joined by the three other liberal-leaning justices, Ginsburg scolded the conservative majority and its rationale for throwing out Section 4 of the law — which contains the formula Congress has used to determine which states and local governments must receive federal pre-approval before changing their voting laws. “Congress approached the 2006 reauthorization of the VRA with great care and seriousness. The same cannot be said of the Court’s opinion today,” she wrote. “The Court makes no genuine attempt to engage with the massive legislative record that Congress assembled. Instead, it relies on increases in voter registration and turnout as if that were the whole story.” “Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet,” Ginsburg wrote.
More here
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1965-2008: Minorities should be able to vote. 2008, 2012: Black guy elected president. 2013: Let’s rethink that voting rights thing…
— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) June 25, 2013
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Something special is happening in Austin tonight: http://t.co/RpbnCbO6zw #StandWithWendy
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 26, 2013
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Texas Tribune: The nation watched on Tuesday — and into Wednesday — as Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis and hundreds of impassioned reproductive rights advocates stalled proceedings and ultimately defeated controversial abortion legislation in a storm of screams and shouts as the clock struck midnight.
“I am overwhelmed, honestly,” Davis said after standing for nearly 13 hours to filibuster Senate Bill 5, the abortion legislation. The outpouring of support from protesters at the Capitol and across the nation, she said, “shows the determination and spirit of Texas women and people who care about Texas women.”
…. Republican senators made a last-ditch effort to approve SB 5, voting 19-10, but by then the clock had ticked past midnight. Under the terms of the state Constitution, the special session had ended, and the bill could not be signed, enrolled or sent to the governor.
… Conservative lawmakers tried every tool in the Senate rulebook to derail the filibuster. A “three strikes, you’re out” precedent in the Senate grants lawmakers two warnings about staying germane to the bill topic … Davis received the three strikes: two were on the germaneness of the discussion and one was related to Davis receiving assistance from another senator to put on a back brace….
More here
25
Jun
13
‘A Dagger in the Heart’
@jeffzeleny Congressman John Lewis watches Voting Rights decision. He says he is “sad and dismayed.”
“What the Supreme Court did was to put a dagger in the heart of the Voting Rights Act,” John Lewis tells me.
— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) June 25, 2013
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Steve Benen here and the Washington Post
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AG Holder to deliver a statement on the Supreme Court’s decision on the Voting Rights Act today at 12:30 ET
12
Oct
12
Catching up
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President Barack Obama stands with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during the transfer of remains ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sept. 14, marking the return to the United States of the remains of the four Americans killed in Benghazi, Libya (Pete Souza)
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President Obama talks with Mario Orosa, a native Ohioan, before dinner at the Smith Commons Dining Room and Public House in Washington, DC, on October 12, 2012. Orosa was one of the three winners of the final “Dinner with Barack” fundraising contest. The winners are Kimberley Cathey, Mario Orosa and Joe Laliberte (UPI/Pete Marovich)
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More soon – still catching up with the news.
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Thank you Bob and Drunken Irishman!!
28
Jun
12
Waiting….
Fear the worst, hope for the best – but whatever happens, we’ll just work even harder for Obama/Biden 2012, right?
The President is scheduled to speak soon after the decision is announced (White House live)
28
Jun
12
Rise and Shine
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Justice Antonin Scalia needs to resign from the Supreme Court.
…. So often, Scalia has chosen to ignore the obligation of a Supreme Court justice to be, and appear to be, impartial. He’s turned “judicial restraint” into an oxymoronic phrase. But what he did this week, when the court announced its decision on the Arizona immigration law, should be the end of the line.
…. what boggles the mind is that Scalia thought it proper to jump into this political argument. And when he went on to a broader denunciation of federal policies, he sounded just like an Arizona Senate candidate.
…. Scalia should free himself to pursue his true vocation. We can then use his resignation as an occasion for a searching debate over just how political this Supreme Court has become.
More here
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Thank you Purpleshoes LA and your 72-year-old Mom!
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NYT: President Obama plans to travel to Colorado on Friday to tour areas devastated by raging wildfires, the White House said on Wednesday. One of the fires, in the foothills near Colorado Springs, has burned 24 square miles, destroyed an unknown number of homes and forced some 26,000 people to evacuate.
Mr. Obama called Gov. John Hickenlooper and Mayor Steve Bach of Colorado Springs, the state’s second-largest city, to get an update on the blaze, known as the Waldo Canyon Fire…
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12:0: Michelle Obama delivers the keynote address to the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church’s conference
1:35: President Obama departs the White House en route Bethesda, Maryland
2:0: PBO visits the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
2:45: Michelle Obama delivers remarks at campaign event in Memphis
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Morning everyone – could be a long day.
A U.S. flag, pre-Gadhafi flags and a French flag are seen in the background, as Libyans attend Muslim prayers in Benghazi, Libya, April 23
Steven Metz (The New Republic): On Thursday, the Pentagon announced that President Obama, hoping to break the see-saw deadlock between rebel forces and Muammar Qaddafi’s military, had authorized the use of armed Predator drones in Libya. The Predator … is accurate and deadly; it can fly for over 40 hours and carry more than 1,000 pounds of missiles and bombs.
The decision to send these drones was driven by the tactics Qaddafi’s forces have developed to circumvent NATO air strikes, namely intermingling with civilians and moving in unmarked vehicles. Because the drones can linger for long periods of time and have a video feed that allows for more accurate target assessment than conventional bombers, the hope is that they will minimize civilian casualties and prevent the Libyan military from launching quick strikes when NATO aircraft are not around. It might be something of a calculated gamble, but, of the options available, drones seem to be the best tool for the job.
Despite this, the deployment decision immediately provoked new criticism from those already opposed to U.S. involvement in the Libyan conflict. Charges were made of “mission creep,” or a first step toward more heavy engagement, including perhaps the use of ground troops. Other opponents suggested that the use of drones would increase civilian casualties, as it has in Pakistan. Neither of these arguments, however, stands up under scrutiny…..
The use of drones does not enlarge or change the U.S. mission in Libya … it’s the use of new techniques in pursuit of the same objectives.
…Admittedly, armed drones alone will not defeat Qaddafi. That will only happen when the rebels become an effective fighting force. But the drones may help stave off a Qaddafi victory and give the rebels time to become more effective. This is in line with broad U.S. strategy in Libya, which is based on the belief that trends favor the rebels: The longer they avoid defeat, the more they will strengthen, while Qaddafi will only weaken the longer fighting continues. If that theory is correct, then the drones will almost certainly help.
Full article here
The Obama Diary 
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