voting rights in Tx

The gov of Tx looks pretty scary to me.

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Jim

I am optimistic that the Supreme Court's blatantly political, activist decision in its recent voting rights opinion is going to backfire on the GOP in a couple of ways. There's a good chance that the GOP lawmakers and governors will over-play the hand the Supreme Court dealt them, resulting in enough anger among Democratic-leaning constituencies to cause them to finally start getting to the polls and voting. We saw some of that occur last year when the GOP's efforts to suppress Democratic voters provided real motivation to get to the polls. The GOP succeeded in disenfranchising some voters, but I think the effort was a net loss for them.

The other way the Court's voting rights decision will back fire on the Court's Republican members is that it will encourage new legal actions such as the one initiated in Texas today. It will be interesting, and I hope fun, to watch.

According to Census numbers, Hispanics and Latino Americans are expected to become the majority in the U.S. within the next 30 years or so and in 6-8 years Hispanic and Latino American school age children will surpass white children in numbers. Within the next 15-20 years they'll be roughly equal in numbers to whites.

Unless the GOP figures out how to address the immigration issue (that is appease both immigrants -documented or undocumented- and the party faithful) they're done. I see no reason to expect they will do so. Of all the issues that could (and to some maybe should) lead to the party's demise, immigration may very well top the list.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Did this really come out of Rick Perry's mouth?

"Once again, the Obama Administration is demonstrating utter contempt for our country's system of checks and balances, not to mention the U.S. Constitution. This end-run around the Supreme Court undermines the will of the people of Texas, and casts unfair aspersions on our state's common-sense efforts to preserve the integrity of our elections process," Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement.

How does lightning NOT come out of the sky and hit this guy?

I don't understand this furor over "Voting Rights". I don't care if you're of Hispanic, "white", Asian or African descent, if you're a citizen then you are an American and are entitled to equal treatment.

Well, except maybe for the Irish, place just hasn't been the same since we let them in.

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

Watch it!

Actually, I'm a huge mutt. Not greater than 1/8 of anything, mostly from the U.K. plus southern Ireland with some German and Russian. Clearly, marrying one of "their own" has never been high on the priority list along the way.

My kids, thanks (I think? ) to my wife, can claim 1/4 Italian heritage although they sure don't look it.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

One of my sisters is part of an mDNA study. Mitochondrial DNA is strictly matrilineal. Anyway, she found a relative who is African American.

I KNEW IT! I can't dance but I sure like 'soul food' (what we southern honkies call 'home cooking').

The day after the SC struck down one section of the VRA Perry and the rest of his gang were strutting around and saying all kinds of things that demonstrated they did not understand what the SC had just done.

So they barged ahead with their voter suppression plans and said some very stupid things.

And now those stupid things are going to land them in Court where they can tell a Federal Judge just what they meant, and the Federal Judge will tell them what they can and cannot do under Section three of the VRA.

But it was not supposed to be like this. Perry thought he would be President by now and none of this would ever come up again.

Perry needs to whip out his Bible and read 2 Samuels 1:27.

I thought you "wheeziana" fellers were "crackers" not "honkies"? This whole racial names thing confuses me. Here in Arizona we just got "gringos" and "not-gringos". Makes things much easier.

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

In this state is really, really complex.

Prior to the War for Southern Independence we had free people of color who owned plantations and slaves. Some of them formed recognized military units in the War of Northern Aggression. After the Civil War, the free people of color lost more property and wealth to carpetbaggers and corrupt federal military administrations than did their white contemporaries.

Before Louisiana could enter the United States the other slaves states forced Louisiana to abandon its fluid law surrounding slavery, in which slaves could own property and marry. In which there was a graduated layering of rights based on racial mixing, somewhat like South Africa's apartheid laws. The other slave owning states lived in great fear of slave uprisings so they had a terribly oppressive system of laws to maintain a strict slave institution. Not so in Louisiana.

During Jim Crow Louisiana's non-French white majority bought into the whole southern segregation paradigm until Huey P. Long came to power. Long campaigned for black votes and relaxation of Jim Crow. Yes, Louisiana had lynchings. Mostly black men but also a white one every so often. The judicial system was so corrupt that law enforcement became a casual affair for the local population.

It's an interesting history. For insight into rural life (usually overlooked in favor of New Orleans) I suggest some stuff my friend Susan Dollar has researched and published over the years. The Spirit of a Culture: Cane River Creoles | LPB

Tulsa had a big race riot in 1921. And by big I mean about 25% of the town was burned to the ground.

But when it came to lynchings the people were totally color blind. Just two weeks before the race riot two 'Yankee Peddler men' were lynched for selling a cure-all that killed a few folks. Their helpers were tarred and feathered, and during all this some asked 'Where were the Police?'

Well, they were directing traffic. After all, there a lot of folks there and someone had to keep order. (This took place in a city park, which today is a park with a waterfall where a lot of weddings take place.)

The times were very different then in a lot of bad ways.

so glad that you brought this up. LA (particularly South Lousiana) is NOT like the other deep south states, or, for that matter, anywhere else in the country.

And THAT could be the understatement of the year so far!

'Course the "in the country" ain't needed.

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

yep, my home state is better than most places. we had multi culturalism waay before the rest of the country caught on. Southern LA should be its own state, or a protectorate of the United States. More so than anywhere I have lived, people of all colors & creeds get along better in south Louisiana than anywhere else.

So, you have trouble with truthful statements and states rights?

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
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Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I think it was actually a area called Red Bird, the first US "city" firebombed by air.