Let me finish tonight with this….
Decision time for the GOP.
The Supreme Court and the United States Senate this week put an historic menu of options in front of the Republican Party.
First the court.
By eviscerating the Voting Rights Act — and slamming the door on 50 years of federal protection of this fundamental right of citizenship.
The court has left it to Congress to decide which states are interfering with voting rights, and which are not. Many states are already rushing to enact voter ID laws and redistricting plans that will disadvantage black and Hispanic voters.
Will Republicans in Congress step in, and salvage what’s left of the Voting Rights Act, or let it die?
Also, by striking down the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Prop 8, the court has created two kinds of gay marriage.
One for the 12 states, soon to be 13 with California, where gay couples can enjoy the full rights and responsibilities of marriage, fully recognized by the federal government. And 38 that are separate, and unequal.
Republicans, who are in charge in many of those states and who control the house, will have to decide whether they can build their party with young Americans without evolving on marriage.
On immigration, the Senate has passed the baton of reform to the house, where the Tea Party is in control of John Boehner, instead of the other way around. Can Boehner, and the sane wing of the GOP get around the refuseniks and let their party embrace immigration reform, and give their party a fighting chance with Hispanic voters?
After all, at some point, Republicans have got to demonstrate that they’re more than the party of repealing Obamacare and legislating women’s reproduction, if they want to survive as a national party.
Joy-Ann Reid
Joy-Ann Reid is host of “The ReidOut” at 7 p.m. ET on MSNBC. “The ReidOut” features one-on-one conversations with politicians and newsmakers while addressing provocative political issues both inside and outside of the beltway.