Just in time for the holiday, the U.S. Supreme Court further divided the country with a 6-3 ruling that finished neutering the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. As a writer for The Atlantic put it:

Republicans will understandably view Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion [re Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee] upholding two disputed Arizona statutes as a green light to pass voting restrictions that could disproportionately limit the ability of minority groups to vote…

Swamp Rabbit, doing his impression of Foghorn Leghorn, the former Looney Tunes star from the Deep South, put it this way:

“Listen up, ah say, listen up, son: You Yankees who think you won the War Between the States ain’t comprehending the gist of what’s goin’ on, especially now that we put enough bigots on the Court to kill them laws that protect folks who ain’t inclined to vote Republican, meaning them that ain’t white or ain’t good ol’ boys. You call it voter suppression but we call it states’ rights, and you better, ah say, you better believe we gonna change them voting laws faster than you can whistle Yankee Doodle.”

“Enough,” I said. “This court decision makes a mockery of the entire civil rights movement. It pulls Jim Crow out of the dustbin of history and puts him in charge of the GOP.”

“Get over it,” Swamp Rabbit replied, playing devil’s advocate. “Jim Crow has been running the GOP for decades. Only difference now is the Supreme Court ain’t been packed with this many bigots since Dred Scott back in 1857.”

I objected to his assertion. Surely the Court was just as bigoted in 1896, when it issued the Plessy v Ferguson decision. And there was Shelby County v Holder in 2013, which took the first big bite out of the VRA and involved some of the same bigots who are on the Court now. (Historians will call these bigots the Roberts Court.)

But the rabbit’s hyperbole was forgivable. After all, what liberal-minded person would have believed a few years ago that the Court would turn the clock back to a time when red states, many of them former Confederate states, could use bogus concerns about fraud to create obstacles to voters who don’t support white supremacist policies?

“A lot of peeps knew this was coming,” Swamp Rabbit said, correcting me. “It ain’t no coincidence that red states all over the country are passing voter suppression laws at the same time the Supremes are whittling down federal laws against voter suppression.”

“You’re right,” I conceded. “For now, the only solution is for Senate Democrats to get rid of the filibuster. They need to be able to use a simple majority to pass legislation that makes it illegal for states to legitimize unreasonable voter restrictions. They need to do this before the midterms.”

Swamp Rabbit chuckled and did Foghorn Leghorn again: “Listen up, ah say, listen up, son: We went over this last week. The problem is them Democrats need a sharp leader to unite the party against the filibuster, and what they got instead is that old fool Chuck Schumer and folks like Joe Manchin, who’s about as sharp as a bowling ball. It ain’t happenin’, son. Happy Fourth of July.”

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