Let's Party Like It's 1959

I was going to write about Obama's troubles and how he was having his Hillary moment. (You know that moment, that stalled eternity in political time when all the forces and stars seem to be uniquely aligned against you and you just have to tough it out?) But then I saw this article about another anti-citizen ruling by our scary Supreme Court. And by God, I realized we're all having a Hillary moment as long as these black-robed clowns are running the show.

In a 6-3 ruling, the high (I'll say!) Court upheld an Indiana law that requires everyone to have a driver's license, a passport(!) or other 'approved ID' in order to vote. Now this ruling in and of itsself, is not new or unprecedented. Many states, most notably Georgia, continue to impose voter ID requirements that make it harder for a certain segment of society to vote. But you have to read some of the quotes in this latest ruling to fully grasp how this court is hurtling us backwards in history.

"Justice John Paul Stevens, in an opinion upholding the law that was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy, acknowledged homeless or elderly people who can't track down a birth certificate needed to get an official ID might face a 'somewhat heavier burden.'

Ya think?

But then they got into a discussion of that old Jim Crow stand-by, the poll tax.

What's that, children? Never heard of a poll tax? Well, sit here on my knee and lemme tell ya about it. Was a time, not so long ago neither, when some states used to charge a 'poll tax' when you voted. In '66 it was $1.50. You paid your $1.50 at the polls and you could vote. Now, $1.50 doesn't sound like a lot of money by our standards. But it was a heck of a lot when you consider gas was only 32 cents a gallon. Whoops, get up off the floor now, child. Anyway, they did this poll tax thing to discourage poor and mostly Black folks from voting because they knew those poor minority voters couldn't afford it. Horrible, right? Well, not to some people then. And not to some people now. Check this out:

'To determine whether the Indiana law presented an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote, the justices looked to a 1966 case that found Virginia's $1.50 poll tax unconstitutional.'

No more than three justices could agree on the right way to square the poll tax precedent with the voter ID law. Justices Stevens, Roberts and Kennedy acknowledged the potential for burden.

'Justice Scalia, joined by Justices Thomas and Alito, concurred in upholding the Indiana law, but went even further, and in a footnote suggested that even poll taxes, if imposed equally, might be constitutional. (italics mine). The ID requirement was "eminently reasonable," he wrote, and there was no need to consider whether it imposed a "special burden" on a subset of voters. The court has never held that elections laws must be calibrated "for their impacts on poor voters," he wrote.'

Oh, my Lord! Has that idiot read the Voting Rights Act of 1965?! That was the exact precedent which struck down the Virginia poll tax! And it was exactly calibrated to re-enfranchise millions of poor people.

But it's ok. Times have changed. This has nothing to do with the fact millions of new voters, some of whom are poor or black or immigrants, are registering as Democrats. It has nothing to do with the fact that an African-American has a real shot to be President. No. We've all moved beyond those old time shenanigans.

All of us except 6 old men. Who want to party like it's 1959. God help us all.