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+--- Thread: Two big decisions in two days (/showthread.php?tid=6656)
Two big decisions in two days - Dark Jaguar - 27th June 2013
From the League of Justices. (More actually, but two getting the big news.)
The first is one of Clinton's big mistakes regarding gay rights, the repeal of DOMA. I don't think anyone here would disagree with that one.
The second one is a lot more contentious. The repeal of a very specific part of the voting rights act which targets specific states for oversight on any changes to voting regulations. Those states had a history of passing regulations that discriminated against black people, so it was certainly necessary.
The judgment rendered says that first targetting specific states is unequel by nature, and second that such a stipulation isn't really needed any more because things have changed.
Well, they changed because of the voting rights act.
My opinion on this? A little complex, but namely I think the reasoning behind the decision is just plain wrong in regards to a threat of discrimination. However, I will at least say this. That particular part of the law needed to be UPDATED, not simply removed entirely. Texas has already, the very next day, went ahead with something that very oversight prevented mere months ago. This proves the necessity of the oversight.
However, the oversight needed to be updated, that's for sure, because regulation changes were being snuck in and passed in states that this specific part of the act DID NOT target.
My suggestion? Update the voting rights act with a new replacement stating the scope now applies to ALL states, that ALL state regulations regarding voting NEED to have judicial oversight to prevent discriminatory practices.
If that is done, then it should pass constitutional muster with the supreme court as it no longer specifically targets a state and should provide even wider protection. Things have changed, but in some ways for the worse, as now racists have spread a little deeper into states that previously did not have discriminatory voting regulations.
Bad decision in terms of one of the arguments used, but it COULD lead to an improved voting rights act, but ONLY if congress actually passed what I suggest. If they don't, then the voting rights act as it stands now is gutted and powerless.
Two big decisions in two days - A Black Falcon - 28th June 2013
I know it was expected -- and it mostly did go as expected -- but still, it was pretty strange to see Justice Kennedy one day bringing back racial prejudice and discrimination by gutting the Voting Rights Act (ie, allowing 9 southern states to pass laws making it harder for minorities to vote; yes, the states can be sued, but now they don't need to pre-screen those laws before enacting them, so people WILL be affected.), and then a few days later, writing one of the most important pro-gay rights decisions ever.
Yeah, pretty huge cognitive dissonance there, I think... and I know, the excuse is that well they can just redo the VRA, but yeah, everyone knows that as long as the Republicans hold the House, there's absolutely no way in the world that that will happen, and with how gerrymandered many states are, the Republicans ARE going to keep holding the House four the forseeable future, sadly.
Two big decisions in two days - Dark Jaguar - 28th June 2013
I pretty much agree with you exactly. Removing that particular pillar kinda guts the voting rights act pretty heavily. The "cognitive dissonance" isn't too bad if he's being honest about the reasoning being "you can't target specific states and not others", but still, by removing that, the ONLY way to fix it (and make the law better in the process), is now to pass a revised version of that part of the act that says ALL states must have such regulations pre-screened. (I would be completely in favor of that because, as you note, many more states these days beyond those original 9 are now passing discriminatory policies, including northern states.)
I also, sadly, very much agree that it would be near impossible to pass the needed revised law in today's congress. That's what makes it such a tragedy.
Two big decisions in two days - A Black Falcon - 9th July 2013
Our political system is so broken, between the filibuster in the senate and massive gerrymandering in the states, almost nothing good can get done. It's pretty sad... but the solutions are not easy, and don't seem likely to happen anytime soon.
Two big decisions in two days - Dark Jaguar - 9th July 2013
I've been suspecting gerrymandering in Oklahoma for some time now. Yes, Oklahoma has a very high republican base, but the state was originally democrat. Looking at district maps here, they make no sense whatsoever, unless they were intended to manipulate votes in favor of republicans. I couldn't say that if the districts were done more honestly Oklahoma would suddenly become a democrat state, but the elections would almost certainly become a lot closer.
Incidentally, I still don't consider myself a democrat, I just think they're the lesser of two evils. Emphasis on "lesser", as their basic political strategy seems to be "promise the world, then roll over for the other side, don't want to cause any trouble now".
Two big decisions in two days - Great Rumbler - 9th July 2013
The thing about Oklahoma is that every single country voted Republican in the last THREE presidential elections. It's not so much a problem of gerrymandering as it is a case of Oklahoma becoming more ideologically extreme thanks to the echo-chamber feedback loop brought on by Fox News and right-wing radio.
Now, this is me just throwing something out there, could be true or could be totally false, but I think the very concept of what it means to be a Democrat and to vote for Democratic politicians has very radically changed among conservatives, to the point where even a conservative Democrat would struggle mightily to win simply by virtue of having a "D" after their name.
Two big decisions in two days - A Black Falcon - 9th July 2013
Yeah, the country has gotten more and more polarized over the past couple of decades. Republican states have mostly gone right, while Democratic states have gone left. The number of states actually close for Presidential races is small, and the people in charge of most states gerrymander their house districts so badly that few races are competitive, even when they should be. Through this legislatures manipulate their US House congregations, to have more of their party there than should be if the district lines were fairly drawn. We need nationwide independent committees to draw the lines... but that's not happening. I know that gerrymandering is an ancient American tradition (it dates back to Colonial times), but it's a bad one!
As for Oklahoma, I think it's now one of the most Republican states in the country, right down there with Utah. Sorry. :( And the Republican party of the past 15 years has gone farther and farther and farther and farther to the right, abandoning all reason in favor of unsupported opinion. They're not winning at everything, but they do seem to be having a VERY successful anti-Abortion campaign; 2013 is shaping up to be one of the worst years since Roe vs. Wade, in terms of the number of states passing new anti-Abortion legislation. Of course gay marriage is going the opposite direction (towards acceptance), and the Supreme Court thankfully helped that along, but not all issues are moving in positive directions.
And of course, they're absolutely refusing to do anything about our biggest problem for now and the future, global warming.
Quote: Incidentally, I still don't consider myself a democrat, I just think they're the lesser of two evils. Emphasis on "lesser", as their basic political strategy seems to be "promise the world, then roll over for the other side, don't want to cause any trouble now".You're far more right about this than ideally you should be. :( Lots of Democrats do exactly that, while Republicans push as hard as they can to get their extremist views enacted into law.
Two big decisions in two days - Dark Jaguar - 9th July 2013
Mind you, when I say "lesser of two evils" it is also by a massive margin. However cowardly the democrats have become, the republicans have become downright evil. Even the republican party of the 1990's is more in line with today's democrats.
I used to think our country didn't have a true left side, it was centrist and right wing. Now I know the truth. We've got extreme right wing, and lesser right wing, but not even a center any more (Obama's recent policies have demonstrated that pretty well).
Two big decisions in two days - A Black Falcon - 9th July 2013
No, there is a center/center-left side. It's made up of a minority of the Democratic members of the House and Senate... most definitely not including Obama or the Senate leadership. It doesn't have much power compared to the right, but it does exist.
Obama, of course, as you say, governs pretty much like a '90s conservative, except better on certain issues, such as gay rights. But there is a Progressive caucus in the House that's more liberal. Maybe someday they'll even be powerful enough to get something done. Republican gerrymandering makes that a difficult hope, though...