The American Human: The Roberts Court Is Looking Pretty Stupid About Now

Friday, December 5, 2014

The Roberts Court Is Looking Pretty Stupid About Now

We could blame the Five Dicks (white Catholic Supreme Court members who move in tandem)...

...or you could blame the Supreme Dick (member in charge):

Why? Because of this from Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder:

There is no valid reason to insulate the coverage formula [used to determine which states and political subdivisions are subject to preclearance before passing laws affecting minority voting rights] from review merely because it was previously enacted 40 years ago. If Congress had started from scratch in 2006 [the last year it reauthorized the law unanimously], it plainly could not have enacted the present coverage formula. It would have been irrational for Congress to distinguish between States in such a fundamental way based on 40-year-old data, when today’s statistics tell an entirely different story. And it would have been irrational to base coverage on the use of voting tests 40 years ago, when such tests have been illegal since that time. But that is exactly what Congress has done.

...

Our country has changed, and while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions.

Thus Chief Justice John Roberts spoke.

Yes, times have changed so much. This much:

Times Square, New York City, 2014, after the Michael Brown decision.

Selma, Alabama, 1965, the year the Voting Rights Act passed.

Sorry, John Roberts, you were wrong, the years have changed, but not the times. You go sailing in Maine, or something, while we clean up the mess you left us with.

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My General Principles

1. Civilized societies require the rule of law.
2. Science is my preferred method for examining and understanding reality.
3. Religion is superstition.
4. An educated society is a healthy society.
5. Democratic governments are by their very nature socialist.
6. Market economies are by their very nature capitalist.
7. Markets are not (entirely) efficient or rational and thus require regulation.
8. Don’t confuse politics with public policy.
9. Civil discourse requires rational argument, even if yelling or stomping your feet or name-calling is more fun.
10. If you consider making stuff up a viable tactic, you are disallowed from civil discourse.
11. Puritanism is America’s original sin.
12. Income redistribution is good for society, hoarding is not.
13. Everybody, from time to time, needs help.

About the American Human

The American Human is written by Calvin Ross, a retired teacher who at various points in life has been a musician, woodworker, restaurateur, narrator, English teacher in Japan, novelist, technology journalist, and private tutor to Japanese children here in the U.S.

Happily residing in the wine country of Sonoma County north of San Francisco, Calvin has lived in the Philippines, the Netherlands, and the aforementioned Japan, as well as in Chicago, Colorado, Georgia, and many different towns in California, including, of all places, the Mojave Desert.

Calvin, you may note quickly, is a liberal progressive who doesn't think being called a socialist is all that bad, especially since he sort of would like living in Denmark if it weren't so cold. He blogs because he can.