It’s Time to Think the Unthinkable
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For me, ‘unthinkable” usually means thermonuclear war, but for the Black Commentator it refers to the threat to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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The unpleasant truths of this political moment are:
1. Renewable portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) seem increasingly likely to die in the Congress this session.
2. Recent Supreme Court decisions indicate the court is inclined to “interpret” permanent provisions of the Voting Rights Act into meaninglessness.
3. Democrats in the US. House and Senate seem disinclined to fight very hard for the voting rights of blacks, and;
4. With no superpower rival on the international scene and the domestic mass movement disbanded and sent home a generation ago, the powers that be face little or no meaningful consequences at home or abroad for killing the VRA.
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The full article includes a brief and cogent history of voter disenfranchisement in the south. The Associated Press reports that the Senate passed renewal of the Act 98-0. Last week the House passed renewal 390-33. Bush vowed to sign it in his speech before the NAACP. I can’t tell exactly how intact the Act is and how significant it is. The AP report mentions that the “preclearance” by the Department of Justice of changes to voting procedures in specified southern states has survived challenge by sourthern lawmakers. But with the current DOJ [under Alberto ‘torture guy’ Gonzales], how much protection is this? On the other hand, the renewal has a life of 25 years and might mean more down the road.
