Sen. Richard "Know Nothing" Shelby
Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, the guy who represents Selma, has only the
most vague awareness of that whole voting rights thing and why people are talking about it now. The Supreme Court's 2013 ruling striking down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act and legislation since introduced to restore only dimly rings a bell for Shelby.
Asked Tuesday if he supports efforts to restore the law with historic roots in his state, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said he's not sure what that's all about.
"I'm not on the Judiciary Committee. I don't follow that every day," said Shelby. "You probably need to talk to one of the people who would do the initial action there."
Shelby said he didn't read the Supreme Court's decision on the Voting Rights Act, but remembers seeing something about it in the newspaper. He said he doesn't know anything about how members of Congress are proposing to fix the law.
"No, no, no," said Shelby, when asked if he's familiar with a bill aimed at restoring the law. "But my colleagues are. I deal with banking and appropriations ... I don't know what the court did. I know what they did—they struck down something. But let the Judiciary Committee look at that. I will listen to them."
Gee, it's almost like Sen. Shelby doesn't actually represent
all of the people in Alabama. He's apparently too busy representing the bankers.