Ed Kilgore on how the GOP justifies its crusade against “voter fraud.”
There’s a horrific story out tonight about Anita Sarkeesian, the feminist, blogger and gaming critic, who has pulled out a speech she was going to give at Utah State University after an emailer threatened a “Montreal Massacre style attack” if her speech wasn’t canceled. To get a feel for the sort of character we’re talking about, the anonymous emailer – purportedly a student at the University – said “feminists have ruined my life and I will have my revenge, for my sake and the sake of all the others they’ve wronged.”
In practical terms, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has stepped in and reinstated the Texas voter ID law. In legal terms the appeals court issued a stay of the lower court order that threw out the law last week. The rationale for the appeals court decision? We’re too close to the election to disrupt the status quo.
Holder claims “vindication” for his crackdown on voter suppression tactics in aftermath of a federal judge’s ruling that Texas’ voter ID law had a “discriminatory purpose.”
For anyone who’s had their eyes open, the fact that the only substantial effect of Voter ID laws is to restrict voting by minorities, the young and the poor has been clear for a very long time. But now even many of those who at first bought into the concept are seeing the reality. Last week, Judge Richard Posner, one of the most esteemed and conservative judges on the federal bench, wrote an opinion that amounted to a scathing denunciation of voter ID laws and the simple fact they not only restrict voting by minorities and the poor but that they do so by design. Posner’s fury on the matter is heightened by the fact that he originally bought into the vote suppressors’ main arguments and wrote one of the key opinions that helped open the floodgates for these laws around the country. We’ve picked out some of fieriest quotes from Judge Posner’s opinion. It’s really a must read. And if you have the time, Posner’s opinion itself.
Kentucky Governor calls out McConnell for lying to voters in last night’s debate when he pretended you could repeal Obamacare but keep it just in Kentucky.
TPM Reader CS reports in from South Dakota …
Yes, Marion Michael Rounds was a two-term Republican governor of South Dakota. But here’s the “secret”: He was never that popular. The only reason he ever became the Accidental Governor in the first place was because of the three-person Republican primary when he first ran for governor. Rounds was a distant third to Steve Kirby and Mark Barnett. However, the two front-runners ran such ugly campaigns throwing mud at each other that everyone was disgusted with them by the time election day rolled around. The result? Rounds sneaked into office past the two of them.
Since the Supreme Court nixed a key part of the Voting Rights Act last year, voting rights supporters have been worried that previously covered states would no longer have to go through the pre-clearance process when making changes to voting laws. But Texas may have saved the day. A federal judge’s ruling that the state’s Voter ID law not only had discriminatory effect but an “unconstitutional discriminatory purpose” might be enough to land Texas back in the Voting Rights Act penalty box.