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The Soviet Republic of Texas

The editors of the Washington Post don’t agree with the Republican redistricting of Texas.

Whodathunkit?

For redistricting—quite the inverse of elections—is a process in which politicians get to choose their voters. It is a process that a healthy democracy would seek to reform.

 

I haven’t heard any cries for reform coming from the left in the 130+ years when Texas had a Democratic majority doing the exact same thing today’s Republicans are doing.

Posted by Jed at 1741 hrs
Politics + Politics - Texas

1. “I haven’t heard any cries for reform coming from the left…”

   You haven’t been listening then, Jed. The “left” has been crying out for reform for a long time in Texas, but they have always been in the minority and their cries have gone unheeded by the conservative Democrats and now by the conservative Republicans running the state (who are in some cases the same people - i.e. former Democratic State Rep. Rick Perry and now Republican Gov. Rick Perry.)
   Of course, I would be remiss not to mention that there are some Republicans who have also been pushing for reform for quite some time as well, like Sen. Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio. He has introduced legislation repeatedly over the years that would take redistricting out of the hands of the politicians.

   Posted by Mike Thomas on October 14, 2003 at 2308 hrs
   
   
   

2. The left has not been in the minority here since the Civil War.  Lumping conservative Democrats in with the Republicans is a specious argument, because though they are conservative on many issues, conservative Democrats still vote with the Democrats when it comes to maintaing the power of the party.

   The Democrats have been in control in Texas since Reconstruction, and have made no attempts to reform the system.  They have been perfectly content to use gerrymandering to maintain their power.

   I find it funny that the Democrats have been blind to the unfairness of gerrymandering for all these years, yet now have suddenly seen the light.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 15, 2003 at 0702 hrs
   
   
   

3. Wow! You mean that liberals have actually been running the show in Texas since the Civil War!?! How could I have missed that?!
   Of course, I suppose liberals are secretly in charge of everything all over the world, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to blame them for everything that goes wrong.

   What I find interesting is that you admit that gerrymandering is unfair but you applaud the Republicans’ decision to continue the practice for the foreseeable future. The Republicans have opted to behave in the same despicable manner that they had criticized Democrats for in years past.

   “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”

   Posted by Mike Thomas on October 15, 2003 at 1054 hrs
   
   
   

4. It’s not a matter of liberal v. conservative.  It’s always been an issue decided strictly along party lines.

   I don’t think that gerrymandering is necessarily fair, but I don’t see it ever going away.  Both sides have too much to lose in the long term from any reform to the system.  Plus, the Voting Rights Act will serve to prevent any meaningful fix, because reform would inevitably result in a decrease in minority representation.

   I don’t applaud the Republican’s decision, but I have less of a problem with the Republican efforts than I have with the Deomocrats’ actions.  The Republicans are playing politics, which I can live with.  The Democrats are showing themselves to be hypocrits who refuse to work within the system unless the system is setup in their favor.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 15, 2003 at 1146 hrs
   
   
   

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