Astonishing (To Me, At Least): Supreme Court Eviscerates Voting Rights Act Of 1965

You no longer have a right to vote... unless your state says you do. And your county. And your municipality. The right to vote is now enforced in about 13,000 voting districts around the country. Not since 1964 (and earlier) has "separate and unequal" done more damage to participatory democracy. But it's just too bad, say the five conservative Supreme Court Justices in Shelby County v. Holder... you have no constitutional right to vote. So say Roberts, Scalia, Alito, Thomas and Kennedy. All those people who won't get to vote now? Too bad, so sad... the august body of conservatives on the Supreme Court hath spoken, democracy be damned. Democracy has been damned.

Needless to say, constitutional amendments are being proposed like wildfire. Stay tuned.

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What Bill said. Oh, and... those who did this? fuck 'em with a corkscrew.

UPDATE: here is a bit more on Justice Ginsburg's scathing dissent. "Do not go gentle..."

UPDATE: Attorney General Eric Holder, denouncing the decision:

“This is not a partisan issue. This is an American issue,” Holder said, declaring that “the best way to defend a right is to go out and exercise it.”

I can only shake my head and palm my face. You cannot defend the right to vote by going out and voting, if in fact you are not permitted to vote...