The Voting Rights Act and Mencken's Law

H.L. Mencken wrote almost a century ago that “There is always a good solution to every human problem… neat, plausible, and wrong.”

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 now falls under that law.  At the time, over 60 years ago, the VRA corrected an inherent wrong, not constitutionally, but practically.  At that time in our shared history minorities were denied the ability to vote in much of the South, but one article in particular guaranteed a “majority/minority” congressional district where it could be made.  And then the states began making them, mostly for the good.

But it is now obsolete, and the Supreme Court did what it is required to do: call out and disarm that which is unconstitutional.

Democrats are apoplectic.  The media feeds this angst.  The practical effect of having blind districts (which they are not now) is that these majority/minority districts may disappear, and it has been estimated that the democrats will lose up to 19 congressional seats in November 2026.

Democrat anxiety notwithstanding, the VRA implies that all minorities vote with their respective race.  I call BS, and so does the majority on the Supreme Court.  Democrats and their enablers state openly that people cannot think for themselves but will follow a racial candidate like lemmings off a cliff. Democrats think too little of their constituents.

Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, in a separate concurring opinion, laid out this thinking with a crushing right cross and a one-two to the belt.

Justice Thomas stated that the long-held view of majority/minority is “repugnant to a colorblind Constitution.”  Although the law is virtually unchanged, the legal standard now must prove “intention” of racial animus, a high standard today.

To presume that all minorities vote their race only and not their thinking or implied economic interest is vulgar.  My question:  has voting as a block for Democrats helped one slum?  One crime victim? One high school grad who can’t make change of a $20 bill without a computer, or one kid who can’t read?  We have had a minority President and Vice President for 12 of the 25+ years of the 21^st century.  We don’t need racial districts and that is Exhibit A.

Now apply Mencken’s Law today… I have a neat and plausible solution.

Get politicians with selfish and parochial interests out of the redistricting process.

Have AI create the districts.  One state should have the courage to do a static demonstration and give AI the parameters that make sense and are largely “neutral”  population first, geographically connected, with shared services (electric, water, gas, highway system, etc.).I am sure there are other concerns to make the districts sharper, well-defined, and generally acceptable.

No mention of race.  See what happens.

Now, to ensure that Democrats don’t go completely nuts, do the redistricting again, but with at least “X” districts having 25% (or other percentage) of racial minority stakeholders.

See what happens.  Maybe there is a compromise.

Redistricting is a science of party motivation. It has grown into a monster of antagonism and bad faith, and politicians, and by extension us, just shrug.

Why hasn't anyone thought of this?

Having AI do the work with human intervention is better than complaining and much better than flipping the bird at Democrats who (in their own echo chambers) are concerned… and very loud about it.  If Republicans crow too much now this will backfire, just as the other gerrymandering upheavals and ICE raids did.

Mencken’s Law applied to the birth of the Voting Rights Act, and now a more

practical solution must be attempted.   Neat, plausible, and maybe not wrong.

Peace. Out.