In a toughly worded editorial, The New York Times writes about “the big lie” behind the string of Voter ID laws. But The Times was not as tough as Federal District Judge Nelva Gonzalez Ramos, who found that the Texas Voter ID law violated both the Equal Protection clause and the Voting Rights Act and called the law an “unconstitutional poll tax.” The problem for Voter ID supporters is that there is presently almost no in-person voter fraud. Over one 10-year period in Texas, there were two convictions for in-person voter fraud. At the same time, there were 20 million votes cast.
Still, in the National Review, John Fund warns of coming election fraud in Colorado in November, citing the dangers seen by Scott Gessler and Wayne Williams. Fund notes that new election laws were “rammed through” the state legislature. Others might say they were “passed by” the legislature, like all the other laws.
Why Kobani matters. There are many reasons, of course, but one is that it shows how much more complicated war is in Syria than it was in Iraq. Via Robin Wright in the Wall Street Journal.
In the New Yorker, Dexter Filkins explains why Turkey has been so reluctant to help in the fight against ISIS. One reason is that it doesn’t care about saving the Kurds in Syria because, well, they are Kurds.
Bill Scher writes in Politico that in 1992 Pat Buchanan and the Republican Party declared “a culture war … for the soul of America.” Twenty-years later, he says, they surrendered.
Has Barack Obama been the disappointer in chief? Aaron David Miller, who wrote a book on why Americans don’t want another great president, explains why Obama has fallen short of his promise. Via the Washington Post.
What do we mean when we talk about inequality? And why can’t we agree? Via the Wall Street Journal.
Rand Paul takes a swing through the Carolinas, wooing voters who rejected his father. Dave Weigel was there to take notes. Via BloombergPolitics.
