Awful day for freedom.

[Saffith]

At any rate, these are two cases of power being denied from the government, so regardless of your individual stances on the issues, it does mean more freedom for the people, for better or for worse.

Regarding the Voting Rights Act, I'd have to say that's not true. It means more freedom for state legislatures, but that when they keep trying to make it harder for people to vote, that translates to less freedom for the people. In many cases, the requirement of federal approval was the only thing stopping them.

[rock_nog]

Regarding the Voting Rights Act, I'd have to say that's not true. It means more freedom for state legislatures, but that when they keep trying to make it harder for people to vote, that translates to less freedom for the people. In many cases, the requirement of federal approval was the only thing stopping them.

Well, I wasn't referring to the Voting Rights Act, yes you're right in that case. I was simply making the point that there is at least some good news.

[Mercy]

Law in general is needlessly complicated.

So much this. Laws should have built-in expiration dates. If they are worth being re-enacted, they will stay on the books. At least then we might not have people getting away with rape because the victim was not married.

For the same reasons that children are subjected to stricter federal regulations than are adults.

Wrong. You can try again but we both know that pithy does not equate with constitutional. It was a fine response, though so you get points for wit.

I was not really interested in discussing if the VRA was good or bad and agree with CJC that it should be either all or no one in regards to federal laws. I also tend to think there should be fewer federal laws but that does not really pertain to any part of this discussion. If the law is right and just, then it is right and just when applied to everyone, equally. Otherwise, you just have another farce like the Emancipation Proclamation saying bigotry is only wrong when certain people do it.

Racism is not dead but this Band*Aid legislation has lost its usefulness and is just dangling there, waiting to fall into the cook pot and ruin a lot of appetites. The disparities in Minority* voting are either gone or tilted in the opposite direction from where they were when the formulas were developed to balance the numbers out. In other words, in districts/regions the VRA is applied to where Minority voter registration and turn-out was much lower than white voter registration and turn-out, the numbers are now either even or there is greater Minority registration and turn-out. The VRA can actually be used in those areas to now show preference to white voters where they are now the voting minority.

The VRA also facilitates affirmative action of sorts in regards to legislative and bureaucratic positions which is evil or not in its own right but let's go on as if it's the greatest thing ever. So now, as a hypothetical example, there are twelve district seats to be filled and it is guaranteed that three of them will be Minority held. Those three seats are assumed to be filled by winning candidates of the three Minority-ist districts and whites "respectfully" decline to run in those districts. The Minority candidates know a. those three districts are the most likely to vote for a fellow Minority just because and b. they will not have to compete against white candidates and their money (white candidates generally have larger war chests than Minority candidates). Big fish, little pond-thinking. This often leads to most or all of the Minority candidates running in the few Minority districts while the remaining majority of seats are filled by whites. This happens in states/counties/cities where the VRA is not applicable, too, but the VRA fosters this sort of bureaucratic bamboozle rather than dissuades it.

Ultimately, I do not believe racism can die in this country so long as we continue to legislate based on its existence. Other changes will also need to occur but change always comes eventually.



*Big M Minority="official" minorities ie, blacks, Latinos, Native Americans; little m minorities=a subset less than 50% of the given group