MSNBC 'Discovers' Voting Rights Act, Misses Decade of Decline
The article suggests the VRA is under fresh assault, but omits the decade-long, well-documented dismemberment. Remember Shelby County v. Holder in 2013? That Supreme Court ruling gutted Section 5, the VRA's core enforcement mechanism, freeing states with histories of discrimination to change election laws without federal oversight. This wasn't a stealth attack; it was a front-page legal
revolution. From Georgia’s SB 202 to Texas’s SB 1, states have piled on restrictions—reducing polling places, criminalizing water distribution to voters in line, and purging voter rolls. Where was MSNBC's daily outrage then? It appears that only when the situation becomes undeniably dire do these outlets pivot to 'concern,' glossing over the incremental legislative and judicial warfare they
previously treated as standard political sparring. One might wonder if selective amnesia conveniently allows them to present themselves as vigilant guardians, rather than chroniclers of a slow-motion car crash.