memeorandum: Dems Approach Abortion Victory as Special Session Wanes (The Texas Tribune)

12:35 AM ET, June 26, 2013

Top Items:

Joshua Green / Businessweek:

The Supreme Court's Voting Rights Decision Is a Poison Chalice for the GOP — This morning, the Supreme Court struck down a core part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, “a landmark law that opened the polls to millions of southern blacks,” as Bloomberg's Greg Stohr put it.

Discussion: Bloomberg, SCOTUSblog, BuzzFeed, New York Times, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Yahoo! News and The Dish

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court Invalidates Key Part of Voting Rights Act — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday effectively struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by a 5-to-4 vote, freeing nine states, mostly in the South, to change their election laws without advance federal approval.

Todd J. Gillman / Trail Blazers Blog:

Texas voter ID law “will take effect immediately,” says Attorney General Greg Abbott — update: The Texas DPS will start issuing voter IDs on Thursday. More below — WASHINGTON — The implications of today's landmark ruling could be swift and stunning.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CBS DC, NationalJournal.com, dallasmorningviewsblog …, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit, Taegan Goddard's …, Washington Times and BobCesca.com

Andrew Cohen / The Atlantic Online:

On Voting Rights, A Decision As Lamentable as Plessy or Dred Scott — Splitting 5-4 along ideological lines, today the Supreme Court ruled a key provision of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. — Let's be clear about what has just happened. Five unelected, life-tenured men …

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Washington Free Beacon, Viking Pundit, The Raw Story, msnbc.com, NewsBusters, Politico, The Plum Line, Outside the Beltway and Hot Air

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Justice Ginsburg Slams Supreme Court's ‘Hubris’ In Fiery Dissent On Voting Rights Act — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg penned the fierce dissent against the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision Tuesday to invalidate a key section of the Voting Rights Act, accusing the conservative justices of displaying “hubris” and a lack of sound reasoning.

Discussion: New Republic, alicublog and Balloon Juice

Matt Vasilogambros / NationalJournal.com:

That Was Quick: Texas Moves Forward With Voter ID Law After Supreme Court Ruling — Just hours after the Supreme Court handed down a ruling that guts parts of the Voting Rights Act, Texas is moving forward with a controversial voter ID law that state Attorney General Greg Abbott hopes to implement right away.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Libertarian Republican, Yahoo! News, ThinkProgress, The Maddow Blog and Trail Blazers Blog

Heather Gerken / Slate:

Goodbye to the Crown Jewel of the Civil Rights Movement — People died to pass Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, but that didn't save it at the Supreme Court. — The Supreme Court struck down the crown jewel of the Civil Rights movement today. Section 5 was the most powerful tool in the movement's arsenal.

Discussion: Balkinization, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and New York Times

John Fund / National Review:

A Civil-Rights Victory — The Supreme Court's decision today to overturn a small part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act is actually a victory for civil rights. As the court noted, what made sense both in moral and practical terms almost a half century ago has to be approached anew.

Discussion: Wonkblog, ThinkProgress, msnbc.com, Twitchy, Talking Points Memo and Power Line

Jonathan S. Tobin / Commentary Magazine:
Left Lives in the Past on Voting Rights

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Ed Driscoll

Ryan J. Reilly / The Huffington Post:
Harsh Texas Voter ID Law ‘Immediately’ Takes Effect After Voting Rights Act Ruling

Discussion: dallasmorningviewsblog …, TechCrunch, The Daily Banter and Rare

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Rep. John Lewis: Supreme Court put a ‘dagger’ in Voting Rights Act

Discussion: Philly.com and Politico

Gary D. Robertson / Associated Press:
NC voter ID bill moving ahead with Supreme Court ruling

Discussion: msnbc.com, WDAM-TV, ThinkProgress and addictinginfo.org

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Opinion recap: Voting law in deep peril

Discussion: Mother Jones, Election Law Blog, The Maddow Blog, Outside the Beltway, PrawfsBlawg and ImmigrationProf Blog

Lawrence Hurley / Reuters:
Supreme Court guts key part of landmark Voting Rights Act

Discussion: Naked DC, The Huffington Post, USA Today, CNN, SCOTUSblog, Politico and How Appealing

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Supreme Court Guts The Voting Rights Act

Discussion: The Century Foundation, BuzzFeed, The Fix, The Daily Banter, RH Reality Check, Alaska Public Media and THEROOT.COM

Sam Baker / The Hill:
Obama blasts Supreme Court over rights ruling

Discussion: Politico and CNN

David Weigel / Slate:
Southern Republican Senators Happy That Supreme Court Designated Their States Not-Racist

Discussion: The Fix and Balloon Juice

Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:

Greenwald: Snowden's Files Are Out There if ‘Anything Happens’ to Him — Snowden has shared encoded copies of all the documents he took so that they won't disappear if he does, Glenn Greenwald tells Eli Lake. — As the U.S. government presses Moscow to extradite former National Security …

Discussion: Piers Morgan, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, Quartz, Business Insider, Guardian, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Little Green Footballs, The Hinterland Gazette, Boing Boing, Crooks and Liars, Freedom of the Press … and Hullabaloo, more at Mediagazer »

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:
Exclusive: Documents Illuminate Ecuador's Spying Practices

Discussion: Business Insider, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Agence France Presse

Guardian:
Putin: Snowden is in Moscow airport

Discussion: PopularResistance.Org

RT:
Putin: Snowden still in Moscow airport, won't be extradited, free to go anywhere

Discussion: New Republic, BizPac Review, CNN, The Week, The Hill, Business Insider, Firedoglake, The Gateway Pundit, The Reaction, The Hinterland Gazette, The Moderate Voice, BBC and Mediaite

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
With Snowden in Middle, U.S. and Russia Joust, and Cool Off

Discussion: Guardian, The Daily Caller, The Week, Hot Air, Business Insider and New Republic

Bret Stephens / Wall Street Journal:
Stephens: The Age of American Impotence

Discussion: Reuters, Washington Free Beacon, American Power, Questions and Observations, Sense of Events and msnbc.com

Associated Press:
Putin: Snowden Is In Moscow Airport, Russia Won't Extradite Him

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Jon Schuppe / nbcnewyork.com:

Anthony Weiner Surges to Lead in Democratic Mayoral Race: NBC NY/WSJ/Marist Poll — The poll finds Weiner with 25 percent and Quinn with 20 percent among registered Democrats — Democratic mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner has surged ahead of his opponents in a new NBC 4 New York/Wall Street Journal poll …

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, Weasel Zippers, Business Insider, The Daily Caller and Taegan Goddard's …

Michael Howard Saul / Metropolis:

Weiner Leads Democrats in Race for NYC Mayor: Poll … Former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner leads City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in the race for New York City's Democratic mayoral nomination for the first time, snatching the frontrunner mantle as the contest heads into the final months before the primary …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, CNN and Politicker

The Texas Tribune:

Dems Approach Abortion Victory as Special Session Wanes … Texas Democrats, far outnumbered by Republicans in both the House and the Senate, are nonetheless on the verge of killing one of the most restrictive abortion proposals in the nation — at least for now.

Discussion: Slate, Firedoglake, Gawker, The Reality-Based Community, Boing Boing, msnbc.com, Wonkblog, CBS Dallas, Taylor Marsh, Taking Note, New Republic, Off the Kuff, Juanita Jean's, Reuters and ThinkProgress

Christy Hoppe / Trail Blazers Blog:
Sen. Watson moves to overturn ruling that could potentially end Davis filibuster

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Obsidian Wings, The Raw Story, ThinkProgress and Shakesville

RH Reality Check:
Live Video: Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis Filibusters Anti-Abortion Bill

Discussion: Balloon Juice and BobCesca.com

Aaron Bycoffe / The Huffington Post:

Live Results: Massachusetts Senate Special Election — Massachusetts is holding a special election to fill the seat previously held by John Kerry, who left to become secretary of state. U.S. Rep. , a Democrat, is running against Republican , a private equity executive and former Navy SEAL.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Boston Globe, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, Mediaite and The Spectacle Blog

Boston Globe:
RECENT MASSACHUSETTS SENATE ELECTIONS

Discussion: ABC News and Michelle Malkin

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:
Markey tops Gomez for Senate seat

Discussion: Politico

Al Gore / Al's Journal:

Statement on President Obama's Remarks on the Climate Crisis — This was a terrific and historic speech, by far the best address on climate by any president ever. I applaud the new measures announced by President Barack Obama this afternoon to help solve the climate crisis …

Discussion: Politico, The White House, The Raw Story, PoliticusUSA, Political Capital, The Daily Caller, Washington Monthly and Talking Points Memo

Washington Wire:
Full Transcript of Obama's Remarks on Climate Change

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, CNN and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Ben Geman / E2-Wire:
Obama unveils climate change plan that goes around Congress

Discussion: Politico, Wonkblog, Heritage Action for America, The Hill and The Raw Story

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Obama: Keystone XL Should Not Be Approved If It Will Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will ask the State Department not to approve the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline unless it can first determine that it will not lead …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, New Republic, The Plum Line, ThinkProgress, Hot Air, Yahoo! News, Politico, Daily Kos, Weasel Zippers, Taylor Marsh and Weekly Standard

John M. Broder / New York Times:
Obama Outlines Ambitious Plan to Cut Greenhouse Gases

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama mocks skeptics of climate change as ‘flat-Earth society’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Naked DC and Jammie Wearing Fools

Andrew Branca / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

Zimmerman Trial Day 2 - Analysis of State's Witnesses — Today can only be characterized as an utter debacle for the prosecution in Florida v. Zimmerman. Besides the testimony of a couple of highly professional law enforcement witnesses, the testimony of the the other State witnesses ranged …

Discussion: Power Line, JustOneMinute and Instapundit

Barbara Liston / Reuters:
Mystery girl to testify in Trayvon Martin murder case

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Gawker, JustOneMinute, The Hinterland Gazette and The Week

Sen. Rand Paul / Politico:

Why I'm voting no on immigration reform — I will be voting no on the Senate's Gang of Eight immigration bill for one simple reason: because the legislation does not secure the border first. — The American people desperately need immigration reform. Unfortunately, this legislation does not do the job.

Discussion: First Read, Weasel Zippers, National Review and Hit & Run

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
McCain: U.S. Will Have ‘Most Militarized Border Since The Fall Of The Berlin Wall’ (VIDEO)

Discussion: The Raw Story

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:

5 Senators Who Support Immigration Bill Don't Know Answer to Key Question About It — Obamacare poses a tricky problem for supporters of the Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill. It would be too politically toxic to give illegal immigrants amnesty and taxpayer subsidies under Obamacare …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and Washington Free Beacon

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

Did Justice Alito roll his eyes while Justice Ginsburg was speaking? — Garrett Epps and Dana Milbank think so. — Milbank says “Alito visibly mocked his colleague”: … Epps: … I don't trust the descriptions of Epps and Milbank. Maybe we could get some more discussion of the meaning …

Discussion: Washington Post, Above the Law and FishbowlDC