Bush urged to enforce Voting Rights Act
By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 27, 5:48 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Civil rights leaders said Thursday that
President Bush's signature to extend the 1960s civil rights law against racist voting practices will be just a footnote in history if the government fails to enforce it.
But isn't that what the Litterbox Administration is? just a footnote in history?
"Today, we renew a bill that helped bring a community on the margins into the life of American democracy," Bush said. "My administration will vigorously enforce the provisions of this law, and we will defend it in court."
Civil rights activists accuse the Bush administration of politicizing the Justice Department's civil rights division, and say it has turned a blind eye to voter suppression tactics, such as photo identification provisions and citizenship requirements, in states across the nation.
"I think he should be proud of signing it, but the Department of Justice must be vigorous in enforcing it," Jackson said.
But that's the key, Bush thinks he can get away with signing a law and then either ignoring it or enforcing it in a direction that does not follow the spirit of the law...
White House press secretary Tony Snow said there will be disagreements about whether civil rights leaders think that the act is being properly enforced. "But, look, it's the president's job as the head of the executive branch to see that the laws are faithfully executed, and he'll continue to do it," Snow said.
Yeah, just like how Bush does with the laws he's put his 750 signing statements on, right? This Civil Rights Division has focused mainly on reverse discrimination and on proving that Christians are being discriminated against. Now I'm not saying that that kind of discrimination does not exist, but to ignore voter suppression in favor of that does not send quite the message to minorities who depend on the bill.
Guests at the bill signing, held on a muggy morning on the South Lawn, read like a who's who of black leaders and veterans of the civil rights movement. Among the estimated 600 in the audience were:
Representatives of the late Rosa Parks, who was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus in Montgomery, Ala.; Dorothy Height, the longtime chairwoman of the National Council of Negro Women; Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP, relatives of the late Coretta Scott King, a prominent civil rights activist and the widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.; and Rep. John Lewis (news, bio, voting record), D-Ga., who was part of the historic 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., to support voting rights for blacks.
Lovely photo-op? See, I care about African-Americans...
The Republican controlled Congress, eager to improve its standing with minorities ahead of the November elections, pushed the bill through even though key provisions were not set to expire until next year. Black support for Republicans in elections has hovered around 10 percent for more than a decade. In 2004, Bush drew 11 percent of the black vote against Democrat John Kerry.
"President Bush must make a moral and legal commitment to the civil rights leaders gathered for the signing that he is interested in more than an election-year photo-op," said Ralph Neas, president of the liberal People for the American Way. "He owes it to all Americans that the Voting Rights Act is enforced. Unfortunately, that is not the record of this administration -- by a long shot."
Neas hit it right on the nail with that remark. This is nothing more than a photo op to improve on the pathetic 11% of the African-American vote Bush received in 2004.
Some Southern lawmakers rebelled against renewing a law that requires their states to still get a nod from the Justice Department before changing any voting rules. They claimed that amounted to punishment for racist practices of the past. Other lawmakers objected to the requirement that ballots in some communities be printed in other languages.
Why does it always come to "fairness" with these people? OMG, the Southern states are being DISCRIMINATED AGAINST!
Now is it just me or does Bush laughing make me wonder if he's actually serious at the law or is he diabolically laughing at the people in his photo-op in the hopes he has fooled them of his good intentions?