Supreme Court Could 'Catastrophically' Grant Republican Wishes
The Independent breathlessly warns the Supreme Court might deliver a 'catastrophic' decision on the Voting Rights Act, blowing up protections from racial discrimination. They express concern that the court's conservative majority could gut the landmark civil rights law, clearing a path for Republicans to redraw electoral maps. (As if redrawing maps to disenfranchise voters is a novel concept,
rather than foundational US political strategy.) What the mainstream media carefully omits is that this isn't a shocking new development; it's the culmination of decades of targeted attacks. We aren't talking about a sudden 'gutting,' but rather the final blows following Supreme Court decisions like Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, which already dismantled a key enforcement mechanism of the VRA.
That ruling, championed by Republicans, paved the way for a wave of voter ID laws and precinct closures. So, 'blow up protections' is less an impending threat, and more an ongoing demolition project nearing completion. The 'catastrophe' isn't accidental, it's meticulously engineered, year after year, vote after vote.