Okay, Finally, Some Good News for Texas
Texas’ voter ID laws, which are rightly called Voter Suppression laws got rejected (again!) by the Supremes.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by Texas seeking to revive the state’s strict Republican-backed voter-identification requirements that a lower court found had a discriminatory effect on black and Hispanic people.
The justices let stand a July 2016 decision by a lower court that found that the 2011 Texas statute ran afoul of a federal law that bars racial discrimination in elections and directed a lower court to find a way to fix the law’s discriminatory effects against minorities.
Also Good News: Sean Spicer has sobered-up and will hold a news briefing today at 12:30.
The courts, for now, are about all we have to protect us from… well, I don’t watch “The Walking Dead,” but that’s the kind of image that sprang up. Reminds me of that cartoon of a couple watching Fox News with other obvious RWNJ sources around the place and a bunch of zombies burst in looking for “Braaaains… braaaains… oh, crap.”
1Were the voter ID laws used in Texas in this last election, even thought the lower court ruled against them?
2Sean did a Donald today, starting by a dry reading of a prepared statement, and then asking for questions to which the answers became increasingly tense and convoluted.
He still lies, but he’s better at it.
3@maryelle, when I went to vote the first day of early voting, there was a uniformed individual talking to the line of people telling them that in order to vote they had to have an approved ID. There was no mention of the fact that if they did not have an ID they could still vote, but on some other kind of ballot. Then in the general election, spouse reported that the uniformed individual was not present and people with no ID were being directed to the table with the other ballots, so it appears that they got busted for what was being said in early voting.
4Frankly, it poked like today’s presser was a do-over given to Spicer who actually does better once the flagpole is removed from his keister. Yeah, he backslid, toe-danced and turned himself into a pretzel but he looks as if he will eventually lost get the hang of it. A good question from one of the journalists in the room about whether or not the front row of the collected CIA people the other day (the photo op) were stand ins from central casting or if they were actually CIA agents. He swore they were. Well, if so, then spies must be the best actors in the world when they applauded etc. etc. But I guess thats how spies actually do it. They persuade people that they ain’t.
5I just got an alert from People for the American Way saying
6Trump’s budget blueprint slashes funding for the DOJ’s civil rights division;has now tapped right wing lawyer John Gore to head the civil rights division. He defended GOP voting (not voting) laws. He has to be confirmed by the Senate. Will enough of them stand up to this?
@Maggie … I heard that Spicer admitted to them having brought in 10 of their people.
7Must apologize for a runaway spell check! It resisteth all forms of control!
81. Hopefully Spicer will get a better fitting coat
92. Spicer needs to channel Motor Mouth Conway and eventually he will be proficient at stupefying everyone with a constant non ending spew. Needs opera-level breath training.
3. I do wish there were an edit option here.
That’s not “good” news. Will every stupid law in TX have to be settled in the courts? Does all of those “colleges” in TX not have at least one constitutional scholar to consult before passing this garbage? Oh, right. They’re not too damn interested in follwing the Constitution.
TEXAS! Wise up! Where do you think they’re getting the money to pay for all of these lawyers and legal proceedings, huh? It’s your tax dollars, you idiots! So when they talk about government spending is wasteful, you remember THEY are the ones wasting it. M’kay?
10@JAK: TX has added alt-fact politics brick by brick over many, many years. This state is what Trump & company want to make the US into. Even were the electorate were to vote the majority of the bubble gum chewing Perry clones or Vader/Cheney fusion bots out, it would take a bit to flush this place out.
Some of us are trying. Some new faces are showing up since the election. Will we get there by 2018, I doubt it but we WILL try. Come on over and help us try….harder. BTW, be sure to drive your junker car over if you have any progressive stickers on it.
11Mel: I appreciate what your saying. But you know how you win in a place like TX? Show the people how this crap is hurting them in the wallet. THAT is what anyone responds to. Take the studies and the stats and the high-hat words and phrases and shove them where the sun don’t shine. This isn’t some polite little afternoon tea. This stuff messes with and hurts more people than the idiots who push this crap will ever admit. Show the people how this garbage hurts them and they’ll vote against it. Bring. It. Home.
12According to the Intelligence Agency talking heads on MSNBC, Drumpf has disgusted the members of the agencies that dig up buried secrets for a living. That was not a good idea.
13Personally, when Drumpf was standing in front of the memorial to people that *died* in our service and he dared to say the building was designed by stupid people and how Cheeto Jesus would do it way better, eliciting *laughter* from his portable cheering section, I was shocked in a way I’ve never experienced before. The closest I can come to words is how I react to racist drivel and the circuit breaker trips to stop me from doing something I won’t regret…
So, treehugger, they were actually enforcing the voter ID law which had been ruled unconstitutional and forcing voters without ID to file a provisional ballet, which was illegal. Do any legal minds concur, Bubba?
14I like it when individuals get together and share views.
Great blog, keep it up!
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