The delta variant of Jim Crow voting laws

Joan McCarter of Daily Kos reported that Jon Ossof, one of the Georgia senators who won the runoff race in January, has introduced a Right to Vote Act. The act declares all US citizens have a right to vote. There has never been a federal law saying that – and given the nation’s racist past I’m not surprised. The act “protects all actions necessary for Americans to participate in elections, including registering to vote, obtaining any ID required to vote, casting a ballot, and ensuring that ballot is counted.” It also is a way to challenge state laws that restrict the right to vote. Such a suit would required state lawmakers to justify those restrictions. This bill is a companion to the other two voting rights bills, the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Fellow Georgian Senator Rafael Warnock supports this bill. Speaking of the GOP push to enact voter suppression laws Warnock said, “All across this country! We know what this is. This is the Delta variant of Jim Crow voting laws. And the only vaccination is federal legislation.” Of course, Republicans will vote against it. America needs having them on record voting against it. Passing the bill also means getting it past the filibuster. Nearly two weeks ago an opinion piece by Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald was printed in the Sunday Detroit Free Press. Pitts related a bit of history: Abraham Lincoln first wanted to restore the Union to what it was, which included preserving slavery. But he eventually saw that wasn’t possible. He had to work towards a new union, one that did not include slavery. Pitts addressed Senator Sinema who, along with Sen. Manchin, are the primary holdouts in repealing the filibuster:

In other words, senator, this is not your father’s America. Yet Democrats like you continue to believe “normal” is a place to which we can return. One can almost admire your obstinacy. Lincoln, too, had a dogged faith in this country; nothing wrong with that. But Lincoln was also pragmatic and creative enough to understand that, separate from losing the war, he was also losing the argument — and that to win, he had to take the fight to higher ground. Your party, by contrast, talks a good game. That’s what your tweet was about, what President Biden’s voting-rights speech last week was about. But your talk is cheap. This is a moment of existential urgency. It calls on Democrats to be creative, committed and bold. Like Lincoln, you must take the fight to higher ground and found a new nation: one without gerrymandering, dark money and voter suppression, one where every voice gets its say. In other words, a democracy. We could have that, but first you Democrats must let go of “the Union as it was.” And embrace the Union as it could be.

Chitown Kev, in his pundit roundup for Kos, quoted Megan Stack of The New Yorker. A bit of it:

I spoke with old friends and journalism colleagues, with academics, with people in the military and retired from it. I asked everyone the same question: How will the war be remembered? And, strikingly, they all said the same thing: they don’t know, because an answer requires a coherent understanding of the war’s overarching purpose, which nobody has possessed for more than a decade.

Damian Carrington, environment editor for The Guardian, wrote about the potential climate problems with the Gulf Stream. That’s the current in the Atlantic Ocean that flows from the Gulf of Mexico towards Ireland and Europe. It is why Europe, though much further north than the US, is habitable. The Gulf Stream is part of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, AMOC. If I understand it right, the AMOC is both colder salty water sinking to the bottom and an ocean size gyre in the Atlantic. Part of that gyre propelled Columbus’ boats to the Caribbian. But the AMOC is being destabilized by cold fresh water melting off Greenland. The currents are now at their slowest in 1600 years. And the current’s collapse could be a tipping point. That would cause colder temperatures in Europe and a disruption of rain patterns that water crops in West Africa, South America, and even India. Add to that sea level rise. Because of that scientists say we dare not let the AMOC collapse. Preventing collapse requires quickly eliminating CO2 emissions. One little difficulty in planning – we don’t know if the collapse will happen in ten years or a couple hundred. Better start reducing CO2 now. Hunter of Kos wrote that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is in over his head. First clue: Biden commented that if state officials didn’t want to curb the pandemic they should please get out of the way. DeSantis gave a stupid answer – until Biden secures the border DeSantis doesn’t want to hear from him. Second clue: New cases per day in Florida are now higher than during the winter surge and new hospital admissions are significantly above the winter surge. Perhaps, wrote Hunter, the border that needs securing is the one between Florida and the rest of the country. Mark Sumner, in a post from last week, said COVID is helping remove Republicans from the gene pool. Part of the misinformation about the vaccine is that in men it will cause erectile dysfunction and infertility. That’s not true. The vaccine can’t cause either condition. But the disease can. Wrote Sumner:

From the beginning, there have been Republicans out there screaming about how the vaccine involved “population control.” And it turns out they’re right. Because by turning down the vaccine, Republicans may be not just putting their lives at risk, but taking themselves right out of the gene pool.

Michael Harriot tweeted:

Have you ever wondered why Fox News hasn’t interviewed a single K-12 teacher who uses CRT? Why can’t they ever find examples of widespread voter fraud? Where are the respected physicians who don’t think the COVID vaccine is safe? I found them.

Harriot linked to an article he wrote for The Root in which he “interviews” these invisible people with a delightful amount of snark. One of them is Latifah Jackson, recruited into the anti-fascist movement by her niece, so is known as “Aunt ‘Tifa.” She said:

I love protests, but every time I went to a BLM demonstration, the police would be out there spraying pepper spray balls and beating everyone. I wondered why they called the BLM rallies violent, until I noticed that I didn’t see any white people there! That’s when I started going to the MAGA rallies. You can carry machine guns, yell at cops and even storm capital buildings and no one will say anything! It’s a lot safer. Plus I am all about diversity and inclusion.

And from Andy Vacks:

Hold up, now. I am the chief janitor in the maintenance engineering department. They pay me, which makes me a professional. I work at a medical facility, so technically, I’m a medical professional. Is it my fault that people on Facebook assume I’m a doctor just because I call myself Dr. Vacks? That stands for Drew Vacks! Do your research!

And from N.V. Sybil

I just tell my students that every Black history lesson is Critical Race Theory to make them pay attention. Apparently, kids are very interested in learning something illegal.