DeSantis, you might recall, rejected a Republican-drawn congressional map in favor of a far more radical plan that resulted in zero predominantly Black districts in a large swath of his state. “Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh sent the plan back to the Florida Legislature with instructions that lawmakers should draw a new congressional map that complies with the Florida Constitution,” the Associated Press reported. “The voting rights groups that challenged the plan in court ‘have shown that the enacted plan results in the diminishment of Black voters’ ability to elect their candidate of choice in violation of the Florida Constitution,’ Marsh wrote.”
Marsh blasted DeSantis’s nonsensical defenses. Focusing on Florida’s 5th Congressional District, the judge found that the Republican-controlled state Senate and House conceded the district diminished Black voting power (“there are no longer any districts in North Florida in which Black voters have the ability to elect their preferred candidates”). DeSantis (represented by the secretary of state) presented a garbled version of the law (confusing “dilution” and “diminishment”) that, according to the court, has “no basis under either federal precedent or Florida Supreme Court precedent.”
Though the judge did not say so directly, what comes across clearly in the decision is DeSantis’s utter bad faith in drawing the map and defending it — in defiance of the arguments of the Republican-majority legislature. (“Even if this Court were to assume which district were at issue, Defendants have not proved that race predominated in the drawing of the district. Finally, even if race did predominate, Defendants have not shown that the district would fail under strict scrutiny,” Marsh concluded. “Defendants’ racial gerrymandering affirmative defense thus fails at every level, for multiple, independent reasons.”)
Meanwhile, the conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit struck down Alabama’s redrawn congressional lines, rebuking the state’s refusal to create a second predominantly Black district as the Supreme Court ordered.
“We are not aware of any other case in which a state legislature — faced with a federal court order declaring that its electoral plan unlawfully dilutes minority votes and requiring a plan that provides an additional opportunity district — responded with a plan that the state concedes does not provide that district,” the three-judge panel held. “The law requires the creation of an additional district that affords Black Alabamians, like everyone else, a fair and reasonable opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. The 2023 Plan plainly fails to do so.”
The court recounted that “we have now said twice that this Voting Rights Act case is not close.” The court added it was “disturbed by evidence the State delayed remedial proceedings but ultimately did not even nurture the ambition to provide the required remedy.” A court-appointed special master will redraw the districts.
Republicans’ efforts to undermine democracy and suppress voting among non-White voters will continue. But the courts — even those in which right-wing judges predominate — appear to have lost patience with their brazen lawlessness.
Distinguished person of the week
Kudos go to Jack Lew simply for agreeing to take on one of the toughest diplomatic assignments: the ambassadorship to Israel. The current Israeli government is upending democracy. The cabinet there features abject racists who are routinely condemned even by friendly allies and American Jewish organizations. The Israeli military is engaged in increasingly violent firefights on the West Bank. Meanwhile, the United States has not given up hope of brokering a Saudi-Israeli deal, and the Iran nuclear threat still looms. So this assignment will be no walk in the park.
Lew seems ideally suited for the task. A former treasury secretary, former head of the Office of Management and Budget, former chief of staff for President Barack Obama and a practicing Orthodox Jew, Lew’s appointment was widely praised in the Israeli media. The Times of Israel said he would be “the most distinguished political appointee to fill the sensitive post in Jerusalem.”
American Jewish organizations also applauded the choice. Nathan Diament, head of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, “He’s a very thoughtful person, and has always been open and accessible. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of policy issues, starting with budgetary policy issues.” In the same report, William Daroff, the chief executive of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, also praised Lew for his “helpfulness to the Jewish community” and “for stanching funding to terrorists as treasury secretary, as well as for his efforts to aid Holocaust survivors or combat efforts to amend tax laws on charitable contributions.”
Lew must be confirmed by the Senate. Right-wing Republicans will oppose Lew for his previous support of the Iran nuclear deal (which the Trump administration abandoned, only to see Iran increase its uranium-enrichment program). Nevertheless, few people would be as well-prepared to deliver the tough love Israel might not want but desperately needs. Most important, there will be no doubt that he has President Biden’s ear and speaks authoritatively for the administration.
Well, the U.S. Open tennis championships exceeded expectations. The grounds were even more beautiful, the food quality higher and the tennis more spectacular than I imagined. Watching the players up close on the practice courts provided a rare glimpse at what it takes to perform at this level.
On one hand, most of the players are not physically unusual. They don’t look superhuman at first glance, as a football or basketball star might. But look more closely and you see how sculpted their bodies are. The musculature and lack of perceptible body fat speak to the hours and hours of training and the discipline professional athletes maintain for years.
Seeing the number of bodies accompanying the player on court makes you fully appreciate that this “individual” sport takes a village. The coach (sometimes more than one), the remarkable hitting partners (who match the player stroke for stroke), the nutritionist, the kid shagging balls so the hitting partner doesn’t waste time, the fitness coach and often a sports psychologist all contribute. Yes, the best players make a fortune, but they also spend a fortune to keep the team going.
Most striking (pardon the pun), is the variation in practice styles. Some arrive late, joke around with the team and hit seemingly without purpose. But the best of them practice with an intensity and intentionality that inspires awe. Backhand down the line. Again. Again. Maybe 20 times. Then cross-court. Again. Again. They are creating and preserving muscle memory so they have the shot they need in a match. Some practice so intensely they go through two hitting partners. To perform at this level, athletes need to love what they are doing — the very act of striking the ball, the endless adjustments to refine and improve their game.
Most of us will never achieve the same mastery of our craft that these tennis stars exhibit. But we can aspire to develop the dedication, persistence, focus and grit to achieve excellence in our chosen fields — even if what we do is not remotely as elegant or awe-inspiring as professional tennis.
Every Wednesday at noon, I host a live Q&A with readers. Read a transcript of this week’s Q&A, or submit a question for the next one.
Gern: Do Republicans want a dictator? Not a rhetorical question. I can’t figure out if Republicans don’t see what former president Donald Trump really is and what a second term would mean for democracy or if they do see it and genuinely want it. Do they think those of us who believe Trump’s reelection would end democracy are wrong? Or would they rather have a dictatorship with Trump in charge than democracy without him?
Jennifer Rubin: From what many MAGA lawmakers and Trump supporters say and do, one can only conclude they have given up on democracy. They didn’t respect the 2020 results; they oppose easy access to the ballot for minority voters; they refused to allow President Obama to fill Justice Antonin A. Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court; they refuse to accept that the FBI and Justice Department acted properly in investigating and indicting Trump; and they couldn’t care less if Trump purloined secret documents. Hence their fetish for saying, “We’re not a democracy; we’re a republic.
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