We can now assume that the 4^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a side show anomaly. For a dollar, they can guess your weight, tell your fortune, and read your mind.

At least, that’s how it appears, since today they struck down North Carolina’s voter ID law, which required voters in the state to produce a valid ID in order to vote, citing what they perceived as the “intent” of the law. Wouldn’t that require mind-reading?

“We can only conclude that the North Carolina General Assembly enacted the challenged provisions of the law with discriminatory intent,” Judge Diana Gribbon Motz wrote for the majority.

The law’s most public feature is that it requires voters who appear in person to cast ballots to show an accepted form of photo identification like a driver’s license, a passport or a military ID. The law also eliminated same-day voter registration and ended out-of-precinct voting. The number of early-voting days was cut while the early-voting hours available stayed stable.

That emphasis is mine. What, exactly, suggests “discriminatory intent” in requiring voters to show the same credentials that are required for them to drive themselves to the polling place to vote, in the first place?

The Democrats, who, of course, applauded this decision, required ID to get into their convention this week. Was their intent “discriminatory”?

No, but their targeting of North Carolina’s voting is absolutely hypocritical.

Governor Pat McCrory, who has shown no hesitation in taking on the tough battles, plans to appeal, and issued a statement shortly after the ruling.

“Photo IDs are required to purchase Sudafed, cash a check, board an airplane or enter a federal court room. Yet, three Democratic judges are undermining the integrity of our elections while also maligning our state. We will immediately appeal and also review other potential options,” he said.

Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) issued a joint statement in response to the ruling.

“Since today’s decision by three partisan Democrats ignores legal precedent, ignores the fact that other federal courts have used North Carolina’s law as a model, and ignores the fact that a majority of other states have similar protections in place, we can only wonder if the intent is to reopen the door for voter fraud, potentially allowing fellow Democrat politicians like Hillary Clinton and Roy Cooper to steal the election. We will obviously be appealing this politically-motivated decision to the Supreme Court.”

As somebody who has worked the registration tables for voters in the state of North Carolina, I can say that since the voter ID law passed, the state government has tried very hard to assure that no one was adversely effected, even going as far as to provide a way for those voters who had concerns to receive free ID from the state, in order to be in compliance.

You needed a photo ID to be a delegate at the DNC Convention. Hypocrites! https://t.co/wy79vZGG6s #NCVoterID #ncpol

— Pat McCrory (@PatMcCroryNC) July 29, 2016

I think if there is any intent to be explored, it lies with the Democrats, the NAACP, the ACLU, and those biased judges with the 4^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.