"IN THE HEAT OF THE (VOTING) RIGHTS" STARRING THE SUPREME COURT.

It’s been a while since men in long robes came to the aid of a struggling South. Who would have thought that - in 2013 - the Supreme Court would take on that role? That is, the Supreme Court as a group.

On Tuesday, June 25, The Supreme Court gutted the Voting Right Act of 1965, allowing nine states, mostly Southern, to change their election laws without federal approval. The vote was 5-4, splitting along idealogical lines with the conservative wing of the Court prevailing. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. claims, “Our country has changed. While any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions.”

         The true and only purpose for invalidating the Voting Rights of 1965 is to allow discrimination against minority voters. Any doubt was removed two hours after the decision was made public when the State of Texas announced it would immediately commence both redistricting – that is, gerrymandering - and a strict voter I.D. program. Now, thanks to the Supreme Court, Texas will have a wall around the ballot box as well as along the border with Mexico.

Not only is the Court’s attempt at justifying discrimination a lie, it’s not even a good lie. Witness the quote above. What Chief Justice Roberts says is that a law that’s outlived its usefulness is worse than voter discrimination. Compare it with an exactly parallel construction used by schoolgirls around the world: “She’s sweet, but she’s slept with the whole football team.” Even if it was a good lie, it would have been contradicted the very next day when Chief Justice Roberts voted against striking down the Defense of Marriage Act – a law clearly out of touch with the current conditions in a changing country.

         What are those current conditions, anyway? Where is the evidence that voter discrimination no longer exists in the South? Opponents of the voting rights law are quick to point out the abundance of black officials at every level of government - including President Obama. All of whom must have been elected by black people. What else could explain it? A white person wouldn’t vote for a black candidate, would they?

         By working hand-in-hand with the kind of dressed-up Snopeses that clutter Southern legislatures, the Supreme Court is helping renew the conditions that made the Voting Rights Act necessary in the first place. They might as well erect a statue to Robert Shelton on The Mall, right next to the one of Martin Luther King Jr. Who is Robert Shelton? He was Imperial Wizard back in the days before Harry Potter, when the title inspired more shock than awe.

SUPREME COURT TAKES TWO STEPS DOWN THE AISLE.

          The Supreme Court ruled today (6/26) that married same-sex couples were entitled to federal benefits and, by refusing to hear a case from California, effectively sanctioned same-sex marriages there. The decision was 5-4 with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy writing the majority opinion. The Defense of Marriage Act, he wrote, was invalid because it injured and disparaged same-sex couples, thereby denying them equal protection under marriage law and violating the Fifth Amendment. The court’s four liberal-leaning justices joined him in this courageous and far-reaching decision.

         DOMA is the legacy of President Bill Clinton and was signed into law by him in 1996. What he was thinking at the time is anyone’s guess, but a good guess would be political compromise. As a centrist mistaken for a liberal and acting like a conservative, he came as close as any President to pleasing everyone or, as Abraham Lincoln put it, fooling all the people all the time. So, throwing gays and lesbians under the bus for some imagined future gain would be just his cup of bacon fat. Also, it must be said that - as an individual - Bill Clinton never acted as if defense of marriage was a high priority.

         The Supreme Court’s second decision - actually, non-decision - about gay rights concerned an attempt to overturn an Appellate Court reversal of California’s ban on same-sex marriage. By refusing to hear the case, the appellate decision remains in effect, removing any legal obstacles to same-sex marriage in California. It’s tempting, of course, to read into the court's refusal. Does it mean tacit approval of the appellate ruling, was the case rejected on a technicality or is it their way of saying, “Hey, it’s Summer! We want to get on the links at Augusta.”

         Perhaps the most surprising aspect of both rulings is how rarely we expect wisdom from the Supreme Court and how shocked we are when justice is served by people called Justices.

Bush and Marshall: Twilight Double-Header

Two figures from the recent past command our attention again: George W. Bush and Anthony Marshall. On April 25, 2013, the 43rd President stepped from the shadows to dedicate his official Presidential library in Dallas. Anthony Marshall, eighty-nine-year-old son of famed heiress and philanthropist, Brooke Astor, having exhausted all appeals of his 2009 conviction for mulcting his mother out of millions while she was addled from Alzheimer’s, reports to jail this Friday to begin serving a one-to-three year sentence. The following are a repeat of our 2009 visit with George W. and Laura Bush and an update on Anthony Marshall.

          BUSH ON A HOT TIN ROOF.

A brisk, October morning in 2009. George and Laura Bush sit on the covered terrace of their house in the exclusive Preston Hollow neighborhood of North Dallas. Laura wears a dressing gown over tailored silk pajamas and drinks tea out of a silver service. George wears a knee-length Texas Rangers jersey. For breakfast, he’s having an RC and a moon pie.

GEORGE

Damn. That guy gets everything.

LAURA

Who, George?

GEORGE

Obama. He just got the Nobel Peace Prize.

LAURA

Are you sure?

GEORGE

They just announced it.

LAURA

But he hasn’t done anything.

GEORGE

Exactly. I’m President for eight years and what do I get?

LAURA

Did you want the Nobel Prize?

GEORGE

No, but a little recognition would be nice.

LAURA

We came here so we wouldn’t be recognized - by the wrong people.

GEORGE

You make it sound like we’re hiding.

LAURA

Relaxing.

GEORGE

It’s hard to relax when you’re humiliated on a worldwide scale.

LAURA

Don’t take it so personally.

GEORGE

It has to be personal. First, Gore gets it. Then, the very next one goes to Obama. They don’t even wait eight years. They want to make it very clear that George W.  isn’t getting one. 

LAURA

If you wanted a Nobel Prize, you should have started a long time ago.

GEORGE

I’m not making claims, but a little thanks – is that so bad?  A thank you for being President.

LAURA

I keep telling you, George, don’t expect to be thanked. Just be wonderfully surprised when it happens.

GEORGE

I’ll be surprised all right.

LAURA

Try to relax, dear – and don’t do anything foolish.

GEORGE

You mean go off the wagon?

LAURA

Yes.

GEORGE

It’s tempting.

     LAURA

Don’t give in. 

GEORGE

Sometimes I really miss drinking.

LAURA

Giving up drinking is the best thing you’ve ever done.

    GEORGE

Huh?

LAURA

In a personal way. That and giving up drugs.

GEORGE

I always miss them. Just as well, though. Being President would have killed me if I was snorting. Three days would have done it.

LAURA

And I would regret that.

GEORGE

Really?

LAURA

Deeply and forever.

GEORGE

Sometimes I don’t think so.

LAURA

What on earth could you mean?

GEORGE

You’ve been very critical since I left office. Not always directly, but in subtle ways.

LAURA

I’ve been honest with you, George. You should appreciate that. I can finally say what I think without worrying about protecting your image. 

GEORGE

A little protection is okay.  I could stand you protecting me. 

LAURA

I protect my memory of you – and that isn’t easy.

GEORGE

I know I’m going to regret this (He steadies himself by grabbing the table)

Why not?

LAURA

I remember when you were young, hot and a little dangerous.

GEORGE

(Breathes deeply and squares his shoulders) And now?

LAURA

I shouldn’t say.

GEORGE

You can’t stop now. The horse has left the station.

LAURA

Now, you’re old, cold and only dangerous when you use power tools.

GEORGE

Thanks a goddamned bunch, Laura. That really makes my morning. Thanks a whole lot. That really puts a cherry on it.

                    (George gets up to leave)

LAURA

Where are you going?

GEORGE

To clear some brush.

LAURA

We’re in Dallas, we don’t have brush.

GEORGE

Then I’m going to Crawford.

LAURA

George!

GEORGE

Don’t go? You take it all back and want me to stay?

LAURA

No, don’t use power tools.

(George shakes his head and mutters as he leaves.)

GEORGE

Of all the goddamned mornings.

______________________________________________________

              

              THE MARSHALL FALCON.

A sultry, June morning in 2013. Anthony Marshall, 89, and his wife, Charlene, 68, stand facing each other in the parlor of their seventeen-room Park Avenue duplex. The atmosphere is so thick with depression that even the electric fan is shaking its head “no.” Mr. Marshall has spent the last seven years fighting his arrest and appealing his conviction on eighteen counts of Grand Larceny and Conspiracy to Defraud. He plundered the estate of his mother, 105-year-old heiress and philanthropist, Brooke Astor, while she was helpless from Alzheimer’s disease. In three days, he must report to prison to begin serving his one-to-three year sentence. With his drooping eyes and sagging jowls, Marshal looks like a bloodhound in a bespoke suit. Charlene, the blond limpet he married in 1992, looks like Liz Smith from hell.

CHARLENE

If you get a good break, you’ll be out of Tehachapi in a couple of years.

ANTHONY

Where?

CHARLENE

Tehachapi.

ANTHONY

Is that near Kykuit?

CHARLENE

I hope they don’t hang you, precious, by that sweet neck.

ANTHONY

This wasn’t a capital crime. The only hanging I’ll be doing is around.

CHARLENE

The chances are you’ll serve the full sentence. If you’re a good boy, you’ll get out in less. I can’t wait that long.

ANTHONY

Don’t, Charlene. Don’t say that even in fun. I was frightened for a minute. I really thought . . . You do such wild and unpredictable things.

CHARLENE

You’re taking the fall - and I’m taking a vacation. Liposuction here, botox there and Charlene’s got her groove back.

ANTHONY

You’ve been playing with me . . . You didn’t care at all. You don’t love me.

CHARLENE

I won’t play the sap for you.

ANTHONY

You know in your heart, In spite of everything I’ve done, I love you.

CHARLENE

I don’t care who loves who. I won’t play the sap. I won’t follow in Morrissey’s and I don’t know how many others’ footsteps.

ANTHONY

Morrissey was our lawyer. He followed in our footsteps.

CHARLENE

You robbed your mother and you’re going over for it.  

ANTHONY

It was your idea!

CHARLENE

This won’t do any good. You’ll never understand me, but I’ll try once and then give up. I was already old when I met you. Now, I’m over the hill. My chances of finding another husband are slim to none. I can’t waste any of them waiting for you.

ANTHONY

But I won’t last in prison. You know that. Not even a year.

CHARLENE

Your mother lived to be one hundred and five under worse conditions.

ANTHONY

The conditions were your idea.

CHARLENE

The only reason I should wait is maybe you love me and maybe I love you.

ANTHONY

You know whether you love me or not. 

CHARLENE

Maybe I do. I’ll have some rotten nights after they send you up the river, but that’ll pass.

ANTHONY

If my mother had died when she should have, thirty years ago, would you still feel this way?

CHARLENE

A lot more money would have been one more thing on your side of the scales.

(Anthony takes a fireplace poker and plants it in Charlene’s forehead. Then pours himself five fingers of 100-year old cognac, drinks and calls his new lawyer. Morrissey,unfortunately, will be joining him in jail.)