Another story calling attention to the fictional elements of the movie Selma:

“Too bad, though, that the movie went Hollywood on Lyndon Baines Johnson, who, as if from the grave, has bellowed his protest. In its need for dramatic tension, “Selma” asserts that King had to persuade a recalcitrant Johnson to introduce the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The movie depicts Johnson authorizing FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to smear King and — as King himself suspected — try to drive him to suicide. It is a profoundly ugly moment.

But a bevy of historians say it never happened.”

Voter ID foe faces criminal prosecution.

“Former Virginia Governor and convicted felon Bob McDonnell has converted his public policies supporting automatic felon voting rights into his effort to avoid federal prison. In federal court filings running many hundreds of pages, McDonnell has submitted hundreds of letters from individuals seeking leniency from United States District Judge James R. Spencer. These letters repeatedly cite McDonnell’s support for automatic felon voting rights. . . .

McDonnell’s efforts to avoid prison utilize his support for automatically restoring felon voting rights — and the hundreds of pages of letters reveal how McDonnell cozied up to activists and gave them what they wanted without any input from opposing sides.  One political appointee of Governor McDonnell, Martin D. Brown, cited McDonnell’s efforts to automatically restore felon voting rights as a reason to keep McDonnell out of prison.  Brown served as a commissioner to the state Department of Social Services. . . .

“Streamlining” under McDonnell’s felon voting edict meant jettisoning the longstanding individual review conducted by both Republican and Democrat governors.  No matter, though — prison looms for the ex-politician.  No mention in Harris’ letter of the “significant impact” the policy will have on the fate of the GOP, or that Democrat partisans have called for the change for decades.

Besides McDonnell’s inner political circle, the other group frequently mentioning his automatic felon voting restoration efforts in the avoid-jail letters are activists.  The letter from Clovia Lawrence is particularly revealing.  It reveals a long-term plan by McDonnell to secure automatic felon voting, a plan McDonnell certainly never once mentioned at any political event where I heard him speak.”

Full story at PJ Media.

“The lawsuit… was filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. It follows an October decision by the court that declared the state’s congressional maps unconstitutional because they “pack” African American voters into a single district. Congressional Republicans have appealed that decision.

The disputed districts include four in South Hampton Roads: the 77th, held by Lionell Spruill Sr. of Chesapeake; the 80th, held by Matthew James of Portsmouth; the 89th, held by Daun Hester of Norfolk; and the 90th, held by Joe Lindsey of Norfolk.”

Link.

One can’t help but wonder why private plaintiff’s must keep filing these cases while DOJ sits back and opines in amicus briefs?  South Dakota:

“The U.S. Department of Justice is asking a federal judge in South Dakota to not dismiss a lawsuit that tribal members filed against Jackson County in which they claim the county doesn’t give equal voting access to Native American voters.

After the November election, the county’s attorneys filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier in Sioux Falls to toss the case arguing that the lawsuit does not contain proof that the county disenfranchised Native Americans — a protected class under the Voting Rights Act. But the federal agency believes the complaint shows otherwise.”

The former head of the NAACP lectures the Republican party that it’s time to stop using… wait for it… racial dog whistles.  No word if Mr. Jealous is planning a similar op-ed for the opposing party which recently benefited from racially polarized voting behavior that reached 96%.

“The success of the Republican Party need not be chained to this kind of racial politics. “

More bad reporting at the Star Tribune.  A Texas voting lawsuit arising out of Pasadena, Texas, decidedly does NOT have the ability to “test” Shelby.  Paul Weber of the AP writes:

“Pasadena is preparing to change the makeup of its city council in a way that city fathers hope fosters new development, but that some Hispanics allege dilutes their influence. The case could become a test of the Supreme Court ruling last year that struck down most of the federal Voting Rights Act, giving cities in many Southern states new latitude to change election laws affecting minorities without first getting federal approval.”

“Most” of the Voting Rights Act?  “Test” Shelby?

Good grief.  Where to begin.

Shelby barely nicked the Voting Rights Act.  It struck down one small tiny paragraph regarding the triggers in Section 4.  It did nothing else.  It didn’t touch Section 2, Section 3, Section 5, Section 208, Section 11, Section 203, and on and on.

Next, the lawsuit in Pasadena has nothing to do with Shelby. Nothing. It cannot test it. It cannot question it. It cannot reflect on it, jostle it, reword it, overturn it, reverse it, twist it, wreck it or even brush up against it. It has nothing to do with Shelby.  But that doesn’t matter.

A narrative theme for those who support expansive federal power over state elections is that Shelby is an aberration, subject to rolling re-examination, and always at the brink of reversal either by a court or Congress.  It’s a way to falsely lure readers into de-legitimizing the opinion.

Wall Street Journal.

“John Toves Peredo and Catherine Peredo were arrested yesterday afternoon by the Guam Police Department Criminal Strike Force, Police Chief Fred Bordallo said.

GPD was tasked to look into the alleged election fraud and arrested the couple on several charges, Bordallo said.

Catherine Peredo, a Dededo Democratic polling official, during the November election, was arrested on false statements under oath, falsifying evidence, and obstructing government functions. Her husband John Peredo was arrested on charges of criminal falsification, guilt established by complicity, conspiracy, false statements under oath and obstructing government functions, Bordallo said. The couple was booked and released yesterday, he added.”

Link here.

Link to opinion here.