The Supreme Court blocked Missouri's Republican-drawn congressional map on Friday. Third time's the charm, except it's not charming and nothing changed. The map stays blocked. Republicans stay mad. Democrats stay smug. The election happens anyway.
This marks the third intervention by the Court in the same redistricting fight. Three separate rulings on the same f*cking map. The justices could have just copy-pasted their previous opinions and changed the date, but that would require admitting the legal system runs on templates and spite.
Missouri Republicans drew district lines that favored their party. Stop the presses. Next you'll tell me casinos design slot machines to take your money. The shocking part isn't that politicians gerrymander. The shocking part is that we pretend the Supreme Court stepping in for a third time represents some kind of functional democracy rather than nine people playing whack-a-mole with state legislatures until November shows up.
President Trump's party needed this map to maintain control of Congress. They will not get it. The justices said no. The maps get redrawn or reverted or whatever the legal equivalent of "try again, dumbass" looks like in a formal opinion.
Retail traders read this headline and immediately checked their portfolios for Missouri-based companies, as if the Eighth Circuit has a ticker symbol. They panic-sold regional banks. They bought puts on nothing relevant. They convinced themselves redistricting battles affect their three shares of an ETF.
The Supreme Court will probably have to block this map a fourth time next cycle, because apparently Missouri Republicans believe persistence beats jurisprudence.
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