It’s August, it’s time for the narrative that voter intimidation will be rampant in the November election, and MSNBC is doing it’s part. This silly headline is the opening act of the semi-annual theatre at places like MSNBC and CNN warning about trolls at the polls. It’s a drama designed to do two things: 1) make the paranoid more likely to vote, and 2) discourage poll observer programs in the same way the New Black Panthers discouraged poll observers in Philadelphia. Naturally, the screenplay never has voter intimidation occurring, only four acts warning it will.

Naturally the author of the piece didn’t seek a single instance of voter intimidation in a location not covered by federal observers. This is uncomfortable territory for the folks at MSNBC given the current Justice Department’s track record in enforcing Section 11b of the Voting Rights Act.