More at National Review here. “In the end, as this decision by the Georgia Supreme Court and all of the decisions by other courts show, the Bush administration’s legal judgment was correct. To paraphrase former Reagan Labor Department secretary Ray Donovan, which office do I go to get my reputation back (along with an apology)?”
But the law upheld in Georgia this week is not the same law that was precleared by the Bush DOJ in 2005.
UPDATE: Partially true. The law upheld today is the same law the Bush DOJ precleared in 2006. The only difference was whether someone had to pay a few dollars to get a state photo ID in case they didn’t already (pay for and) possess a state drivers license. The primary gripe with the 2005 law (as with all photo ID laws) was that many did not have any photo id. The opponents usually stop right there and say, “see! X % of people don’t have photo ID!” That was the approach every other place where photo ID is opposed. The opponents don’t instead say “see! X % of people don’t have photo ID! and now they will have to pay to get one!” If this is the “real” TM (Something we are not sure of and therefore hesitate to make assumptions), then TM will know full well the primary gripe with both the 2005 and 2006 Georgia laws were that they even required ID in the first place. Energy was devoted into assessing the race of Georgians who did not have any identification – and therefore would suffer regardless of whether a fix could be had for a few dollars. Claiming now, after every single court has rejected the arguments of ID opponents, that the dispute was really different is not entirely accurate. But it is a stylish pivot, I grant.