CBS News. 

Breitbart.com covers the Texas Voter ID trial here.

“The last mistake proved to be quite embarrassing to DOJ on the first day of trial. Two of the individuals listed by the Justice Department and its collection of “experts” as not having a photo ID included Texas Election Director Keith Ingram and his wife, both of whom have Texas driver’s licenses, as Ingram testified on the stand. DOJ and Ansolabehere also made other mistakes that led Sager to conclude that more than 1.45 million voters were incorrectly listed by DOJ as not having an ID.”

More at the link.

“Proposition 200’s polling place provision is not a poll tax under Harman. Requiring voters to show identification at the polls does not constitute a tax.  Nor does the identification requirement place a material burden on a voter “solely because of his refusal to waive [his] constitutional immunity” to a poll tax, id.; rather, under Proposition 200, all voters are  required to present identification at the polls. Because Arizona’s
system does not, as a matter of law, qualify as a poll tax, we affirm the district court’s conclusion that Proposition 200’s polling place provision does not violate the Twentyfourth Amendment.” Full opinion here, quote from page 43-44. 

When you adopt a position more extreme than the 9th Circuit, you are really out on the fringes.

I will be on with Dana Loesch in St. Louis’ 97.1 talker and in WIBC 91.3 in Indianapolis in the noon hour to talk about the Texas Voter ID case.

An account of the Voter ID trial from NOLA.com.

Kousser called the Texas electorate “very racially polarized” and said it’s become increasingly clear over time that the state’s Democratic Party is dominated by minorities.

 Commentary mag.

Attorney General Eric Holder today, went “off script” (according to ABC News) and declared Voter ID laws a poll tax, which of course they are not.  This is the latest example of unbecoming behavior from the Attorney General. 

Plainly, Voter ID is not a poll tax.  Having to show a free photo ID is not the same as having to pay money as a prerequisite to registering to vote.  But the Attorney General knows what he is doing.  He is conjuring the worst of our history in order to excite his political base.  He is using images from another time, a time when de jure segregation divided Americans in vile evil ways.  He is using words designed to frighten people with false testimony about what voter ID really is.  These are the actions of a base political operative, not the top official at the Department of Justice.  DOJ attorneys in most parts of the Department proudly adhere to standards of factual accuracy.  Let’s hope the bad example of the Attorney General doesn’t change that.

On the other hand, perhaps Holder’s bad example is already affecting the behavior of DOJ lawyers.  Click here to read about the outrageous behavior of DOJ Civil Rights Division lawyer Rachel Hranitzky.

PJ Media Rule of Law.

Vice President Joe Biden has engaged in the most disgraceful sort of hyperbole, claiming that “Republicans have changed the law so you get arrested if you do vote.”  As in other Biden gaffes, his press flunkies are tying to spin this as a joke.  But the context says otherwise.  The Weekly Standard:


“But the vice president pointed to states like Pennsylvania and Ohio to back up his point.

Here’s the context, via the pool report:

Recalling a story that Cantwell had told as she was introducing him about crying as a little girl because she thought one of her neighbors had said she wasn’t going to vote and Cantwell feared she would be arrested, Biden said it wasn’t much different today. ‘Republicans have changed the law so you get arrested if you do vote,’ he said, apparently joking. He cited efforts in Pennsylvania, Ohio and elsewhere ‘to essentially try to intimidate people, taking people off the roles [sic].'”

Firstly, Biden might have had PA Voter ID in the back of his mind. But the back of Biden’s mind has produced some pretty crazy things before.  The Ohio angle might refer to something from 4 years ago when Secretary of State Brunner fought to keep ineligible voters ON the rolls.  It turns out some counties in Ohio today have more registered voters than people alive eligible to vote.

But the bigger problem with Biden’s statement is that it is a lie.  Not long ago we were treated to lectures about civil discourse in politics from some of these same people.  Even worse, conjuring fear through lies is a tactic used through history in despicable ways.  Joe Biden keeps the tradition alive.

Best wishes and prayers for Ike Brown.  Those who have read my book Injustice are already familiar with Brown.  He is the Chair of the Noxubee Democratic Executive Committee.  Word has gotten to me that he had a stroke and is recuperating in a Tupelo (MS) hospital.  While Brown was found liable for violating the Voting Rights Act, many of us spent a great deal of time with him and came to know him.  As I wrote in my book Injustice:

“The tall and lanky Brown is always a swirl of energy working on some project or scheme, sometimes many at once. Quick in conversation and boasting an encyclopedic knowledge of history and of the Dallas Cowboys, he has undeniable charisma, even if it is unpolished and rash at times. With his intelligence and charm, he became a singular force in Noxubee politics. “