Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell attempts an artful dodge when asked about his reaction to the Supreme Court decision
gutting the Voting Rights Act:
Well, I haven't read [the decision] yet. Obviously, it is an important bill that passed back in the sixties, at a time when we had a very different America than we have today. [...] I think I'm just going to have to read it first, but I would say that I do think America is very different from what it was in the 1960s.
Well, the bill did pass in the sixties. And America is different than it was in the 1960s. In fact, one of the things that's different is that there has been—at least until today—a robust Voting Rights Act.
Despite McConnell's description of the Voting Rights Act as a relic of the past, the reality is that it has been repeatedly renewed, allowing Congress to adapt the law for changing times. The last time it was renewed was in 2006, and Mitch McConnell voted for it.
So the question isn't whether America has changed since the 1960s, it's whether America has changed so much since 2006 that it's no longer important to provide strong Federal protection for voting rights. The answer to that question is obvious: America is still pretty much the same country it was seven short years ago. The only thing that's changed is the Supreme Court's interpretation of the law—and Mitch McConnell's commitment to the idea that every American should have the same right to vote.
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1:14 PM PT: Good point:
America was far more different when the Constitution was written. Do we need to throw that out too?