The New York Times reacted badly to the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in vote in Louisiana v. Callais that struck down racial gerrymandering to insure black voters have the best chance to elect black representatives to Congress. Political reporter Nick Corasaniti, long-obsessed with so-called GOP “voter suppression,” was dramatically opinionated in his news story, “Voting Rights Ruling Could Fuel Era of Endless Redistricting Wars.” The Supreme Court’s decision to upend a key provision of the Voting Rights Act has plunged the nation into a dizzying new era of partisan conflict, most likely ushering in a forever redistricting war that could produce fewer competitive seats in Congress and further polarize American politics. Left as probable casualties are longstanding principles of fair representation — along with American voters, who are likelier now to be shunted into hyperpartisan districts drawn in each state to benefit the party in power. A great carving could effectively dilute the power of millions, especially minority voters, and make partisan primaries more important than general elections when it comes to choosing leaders. “We lost one of the last seatbelts of our democracy,” said Alanah Odoms, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana. Somehow, the ACLU doesn't warrant the liberal label, but the Supreme Court majority is branded conservative. The ruling by the court’s conservative majority struck down Louisiana’s congressional map, describing it as an unconstitutional gerrymander that improperly considered race to create a majority-Black district. The ruling, Democrats argued, effectively removed one of the final guardrails that kept the most ruthlessly partisan interests at bay when it came to drawing congressional and legislative maps. Some also fear that the court’s decision will reverberate beyond the halls of Congress. Corasaniti sounded all-in on racial gerrymandering (which, not coincidentally, guarantees certain seats for the Democratic Party in the U.S. Congress). More broadly, minority voters fear a backslide after losing what they say was a critical legal protection. “Black Americans have never been fully represented in the electoral process,” said Damon Hewitt, the president of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a civil rights group. “This ruling makes it less likely that we ever will.” Friday’s lead New York Times story by Atlanta bureau chief Rick Rojas carried a similar alarmist tone: “How the Voting Rights Decision May Block the Rise of Young Black Leaders.” By “young black leaders,” the paper only means Democrats. The paper certainly isn’t sympathetic to black conservatives. Evan Turnage left a job on Capitol Hill and returned home to Mississippi to run for Congress. It didn’t pan out; he lost a Democratic primary in March against a popular incumbent. But by crisscrossing the region and building name recognition, he thought he had laid groundwork that could pay off later. Next time, though, he could face an even more formidable hurdle: His district, long drawn to have a majority-Black constituency, could be redrawn to become practically impossible for a Black Democrat to win. Or -- perhaps candidates could appeal to voters of all races? Across the South, Republican officials are ready to quickly redraw legislative districts, seizing upon the Supreme Court decision on Wednesday that struck down a voting map in Louisiana and further weakened the landmark Voting Rights Act, which for decades helped usher in generations of Black leaders. Rojas could have more accurately pointed out that the Supreme Court struck down racial preferences in national electoral politics. He devoted two paragraphs to Justice Samuel Alito’s reasoning, including his note that Louisiana’s map violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause by creating a second majority-black district (incidentally, the Times capitalizes “Black” but not “white). But critics said that, in effect, the court’s decision gutted the law. Rojas did uncover a “certain strain of optimism” in the unsuccessful candidate Turnage remembering that his grandparents had the honor of voting for Barack Obama.  

On Saturday’s The Weekend on MS NOW, Stacey Abrams was given the full VIP treatment. Co-host Eugene Daniels introduced her as “Madam Leader,” and the panel kept the unctuous title going throughout the segment — even though her time as minority leader in the Georgia House ended nine years ago. When it comes to fellow leftists, flattery apparently has no expiration date at MS NOW. Abrams accused Republicans of trying to “legalize the restoration of Jim Crow,” cbranded Republican leadership “racist, fascist” and “vicious.” And the Supreme court? They had the "same ethos" as the Supreme Court justices in the Dred Scott case, which denied citizenship to all black Americans in 1857. Earlier in the show, Jonathan Capehart warned that GOP redistricting could reduce Democratic representation across the South by 50% by 2028, complete with a helpful map. Maps? We’ve got a map right here, Jonathan. Twenty-one congressional districts across the six New England states. Republicans make up roughly 40% of the voters in the region — yet hold zero seats. Zero. But that kind of map never seems to trigger the same outrage on MS NOW. Stacey Abrams: GOP Trying To Legislate Jim Crow, SCOTUS like the Dred Scott court that denied citizenship to blacks. pic.twitter.com/gTROiaOuYC — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) May 2, 2026 Abrams also leaned heavily on a favorite liberal trope: “the work.” That "work” has paid off very handsomely for her. Abrams' operations have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars, making her a millionaire many times over. The segment was pure MS NOW: lavish titles for Democrats, apocalyptic Jim Crow warnings, selective map outrage, and the implication that only one side is playing fair. Here's the transcript. MS NOW The Weekend 5/2/26 8:02 am EDT JONATHAN CAPEHART: Yesterday, multiple voting rights groups sued Louisiana over its election pause, and advocacy groups in other states have begun legal action as well.  It remains to be seen what level of redistricting southern states can get away with before the midterms, but by 2028, when all is said and done, Democratic representation across the South—you can see it there on the map—will likely be reduced by 50%.  . . .  EUGENE DANIELS: Joining us now, Stacey Abrams, who wrote that, founder of Fair Fight, and 2022 Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia.  Madam Leader, thank you very much for joining The Weekend, as always. Um, I feel like we, the royal we, us in D.C., in the media, the lawmakers, we often ask so much of the American people, right? We just had a conversation about what the American people can do to overcome this.  And I'm finding myself frustrated, as I think a lot of Americans are, especially folks that watch this show, that they keep fighting, they keep getting out there, they keep voting, they keep trying to stop the things that are happening, and yet they found themselves powerless.  . . .  STACEY ABRAMS: And I want to start by saying, the power is the point. We're not powerless. In fact, we are so not powerless that they are trying to legalize the restoration of Jim Crow.  That's what's happening here, because our power was working. We had laws across this country that allowed black and brown citizens to be fully realized as members of this society.  We have the Americans with Disabilities Act. We have the Fair Labor Standards Act. We have FMLA. We used to have bodily autonomy for women. We were on the way to a multiracial, multiethnic, multigenerational, pluralistic democracy.  And the racist, fascist, leadership that starts in the White House but extends to the Supreme Court, members of Congress, and to the state and local level, they're angry about that. They're angry about the that the people hold.  And what they understand that we sometimes forget is that power is never completely won or lost. It is a tug of war, and we were tugging too hard. And that is why we've seen this vicious and fast, lightning-fast stripping of our power.  But they've been at it for years. And the work that I do, the work that so many of us are out doing, is about restoring our belief that we are entitled to that power.  . . .  I'm loud. And I'm aggressive, but I'm not alone . . . We've got to fight these maps. We cannot take as a fait accompli that they have won simply because the Supreme Court said it.  Because the same Supreme Court, different composition, same ethos did Dred Scott. 

The subject line to the email read “What do you call a pair of drag queens from Missouri?” The text began: “This week, Maggie welcomes to the stage Alexa Pro [sic] and Artemis Gray, two young drag queens holding down the scene in rural Missouri. Discover the grit and tenacity behind this thriving queer oasis in the heart of the Show Me state!” LGBTQ Nation, perhaps? Nope: The story is from the PBS News Student Reporting Labs (SRL), a news outlet described as a “hands-on student journalism training program.” This latest episode, “How drag queens are creating safe spaces in Missouri,” was hosted by two apparently college-aged students (formerly the program was open only to 13-18 year olds, but the present requirements are vague). The brief episode was introduced on YouTube thusly: This episode of On Our Minds Road Trip takes us to Columbia, Missouri, where drag performers are building community, creating joy, and challenging stereotypes. Student producer Maggie LeBeau takes us inside the local drag scene, introducing us to performers like Alexxa Pro and Artemis Gray. They’re creating spaces of belonging, especially for young queer people who don’t always have one. (LeBeau is a college student at the University of Missouri, in Columbia.) The five-minute story opened with a few seconds of footage of a drag queen, presumably Alexxa Pro, on a makeshift catwalk, over narration from Alexxa Pro: “[In Columbia] it was watching queer people fight to find somewhere to celebrate.” After some pointless banter between the hosts came the segment from LeBeau. The tone was 100% affirmation of the subjects, while the tone toward red state Missourians was not so much hostile as condescending (people there are actually “complex and diverse”!). Voiceovers and matching text from LeBeau and her guests appeared over a pattern of unrelated sparkly graphics, not actual drag performances. Age-appropriate guideline, or cowardly cop-out? LeBeau lamented that “Although Columbia is more queer-friendly than the rest of the region, the town has had its ups and downs with the closing of many queer spaces. Alexxa says that drag shows can bring some of that queer joy and acceptance back.” Aren’t you glad you’re not paying for this anymore?

If you are a regular viewer of CNN, you are probably used to seeing the network's Sr. Political Commentator Scott Jennings appear on various shows, usually as the lone conservative voice on a panel stacked with left-wingers, who can get testy with him at times over his views, but tend to treat him with expected respect. There are however exceptions, and one of those occurred Thursday on NewsNight with Abby Phillip, as 23-year-old Adam Mockler of Meidas Touch Network disrespected Jennings into losing his cool, big time. The discussion centered around the Iran war, chock full of left-wing talking points, calling into question the legitimacy of the effort, and who is winning at this point, and that's where young Mockler went to work. MOCKLER: Donald Trump is very impressive. He's taken his two largest campaign promises, no new wars and lower prices, ending inflation, and he's messed both of them up. He started a new war that spiked inflation, and now this war is actively failing.... We'll sit here and you'll laugh at Americans spending money, But the reality is we are failing this war. The purpose of a war is to extract political concessions from the enemy. Mockler then turned to look at Jennings, and went on some kind of attack. MOCKLER: Can you name a single political concession we've gotten from them? Anything at all? JENNINGS: Oh, are you talking to me? MOCKLER: Any political concessions, because you can't name one. JENNINGS: So, here's what we're doing. MOCKLER: No political concessions. After being interrupted, Jennings responded with a good one. JENNINGS: When you get up past your bedtime, you get hyper.  PHILLIP: All right. Let's not-- JENNINGS: We have a clear issue here. Mockler again went after Jenings, and Jennings ignored it, this time. MOCKLER: You're shaking. JENNINGS: We have a clear issue here. No nuclear weapons for the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, period, full stop....  Again, a little bit of patience right here, not bombs, but patience on a naval blockade could get the outcome you want, which is no nuclear weapons for the largest state sponsor of terror in. MOCKLER: You've been saying this for eight weeks, and we are now past the 4 to 6 week deadline. Where is he enriched uranium right now. JENNINGS: It's under rubble. MOCKLER: Where is it right now in the United States or Iran? Iran has enriched uranium. They still have the scientists scattered across their country, and they have all of the blueprints in the cloud. You can sit there and act confused, but you can't name a single political concession. It's not over from Iran. JENNINGS: It's not over yet. And neither were the confrontations between the two panelists, as Mockler went after Jennings hard.   MOCKLER: We all know that Scott Jennings is more than happy to defend a war with a country that starts with letters I-R-A, that we are currently failing.... I was only a few years old while you were in the (GW BUSH) administration defending prior endless wars. Now this war is failing. JENNINGS: Eight weeks is endless to you.  MOCKLER: You said it was going to be 4 to 6 weeks. JENNINGS: You have the attention span of a gnat. Is that what you have? MOCKLER: Now you're making condescending remarks because you can't defend the fact that this war is not going your way. Wait one more time. JENNINGS: Not going, your way?  Mockler then raised his fist as he asked yet again for Jennings to name, "one political concession" and Jennings exploded. JENNINGS: Get you f--king hand out of my face.  Turning to Phillip he added, "I'm not going to have this guy's hand in my face. Honestly." Phillip chimed in with, "Everybody hang tight okay? Everybody calm down, okay? We're having a debate. You can respond to the points that he's making." Jennings did calm down, but it didn't stop wise-guy Mockler from again repeating to Jennings, "Can you name a political concession that we've gotten?", and, "He can't answer the question." Jennings and Mockler are no strangers to going at it with each other on NewsNight, with some other instances happening last August and last December.  Mockler was arrogant, disrespectful and overly aggressive, and many will feel he got what he deserved. Some might feel he didn't get enough. But the Meidas Touch guys quickly pushed for CNN to fire Jennings (no dissenting allowed!): “How could any network possibly allow this loose cannon on the air?”

With the help of The Washington Post, Saturday Good Morning America co-host Gio Benitez brought back ABC’s habit of hyping actions by Pope Leo if it could help them in a shot at Trump. This time, the news revolved around a new bishop in West Virginia who used to be an illegal immigrant and is naturally a Trump critic. Benitez reported that "the next bishop to lead Catholics in West Virginia is formerly an undocumented immigrant. Pope Leo appointed Bishop Evelio Menjivar to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. Bishop Menjivar was born in El Salvador. The Washington Post reports that he was smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico in the trunk of a car back in 1990. In 2023, he was ordained an auxiliary bishop of Washington. Bishop Menjivar has publicly spoken out against the Trump administration's treatment of immigrants.”   ABC's Gio Benitez hypes West Virginia's newest bishop being a former illegal immigrant who has criticized Trump, "the next bishop to lead Catholics in West Virginia, is formerly an undocumented immigrant. Pope Leo appointed Bishop Evelio Menjivar to the Diocese of… pic.twitter.com/JIUtBER4ok— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 2, 2026   ABC loves to talk about Pope Leo when he is contradicting Trump on immigration or Iran, but when he recently rebuked German bishops for formally blessing same-sex couples, they were nowhere to be seen. For their part, The Post provided more biographical details, such as that Menjivar became a citizen in 2006 after obtaining a green card after fleeing El Salvador's civil war, but both left out that on one of his failed attempts, he was deported by Mexican authorities — which raises the question is Mexico problematic too?— and that after entering the U.S. illegally, he applied for asylum. Today, claiming asylum has become a last resort for people trying to stay in the country even if they don’t face the persecution needed to qualify. However, unlike ABC, The Post featured some additional appointees. One new bishop was hyped for his efforts to attack the administration’s anti-DEI campaign: Rev. Robert Boxie III, 46, who had been a chaplain at Howard University, becomes the country’s youngest bishop. The Harvard Law School graduate has called attacks on diversity ‘un-American’ and ‘un-Christian’ and expressed concern about the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs.  ‘It’s really frustrating — especially this moment that we’re living in. The attacks on ‘DEI’ — I don’t even know what that means anymore. It’s a term that’s been hijacked. It means a lot of things to a lot of different people,’ he told the Catholic news agency OSV. ‘We are a diverse nation with people from all over the world. Diversity is a good thing. Diversity is of God.’  If it means a lot of things to different people, then it is reasonable to point out that some people believe Diversity with a capital D is not the same thing as diversity with a lowercase D. While Leo certainly has been critical of Trump on immigration, based on other comments he made about a country’s right to control its borders, there is no reason to believe he would support turning asylum into a way to bypass laws against illegal entry. Perhaps ABC and The Washington Post should report that as well. Here is a transcript for the May 2 show: ABC Good Morning America 5/2/2026 9:07 PM ET GIO BENITEZ: Okay, Whit, the next bishop to lead Catholics in West Virginia is formerly an undocumented immigrant. Pope Leo appointed Bishop Evelio Menjivar to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. Bishop Menjivar was born in El Salvador. The Washington Post reports that he was smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico in the trunk of a car back in 1990. In 2023, he was ordained an auxiliary bishop of Washington. Bishop Menjivar has publicly spoken out against the Trump administration's treatment of immigrants.