A three judge panel of federal judges — “divided along partisan lines,” the Washington Post reports — has approved the Republicans’ redistricting plan in Texas.
The Democrats, of course, will appeal to the Supremes, and if they too divide along “partisan” lines the Dems may have a good chance, since Ms. Sandra seems to have changed parties. I like to think that I have followed these issues relatively closely, but I had no idea of the burden that has been carried all these years by the white Texas Democratic representatives (they are the ones who stand to lose under the new districts, not minority representatives).
“The real victims are some 3.6 million Hispanics and African Americans in Texas, and minority Americans across the nation whose fundamental voting rights will no longer be protected by federal law if the U.S. Supreme Court allows this radical, dangerous and far-reaching decision to stand,” said Rep. Martin Frost (D-Tex.), a veteran lawmaker whose 24th Congressional District was dramatically reconfigured by the Republican map in an effort to minimize his chances of reelection. (Emphasis added)
Silly me. I thought they were representing only constitutents in, you know, their own districts. I had no idea that Frost and his fellow white Texas Dems were representing minorities everywhere. I’d say those good old boys deserve a rest.
In any event, as I’ve insisted before (here, here, and here), since the Dems argued that their redistricticting in North Carolina was really partisan and not racial even though it certainly looked racial, they can hardly expect us to listen to them with a straight face when they now argue that the redistricting done by Texas Republicans is really racial even though the asserted motive and clear effect is partisan. There is, in short, a strong element of hoist-on-their-own-petardness about their current predicament.
I the dems had done their job in 2000, none of this would have happened.
The Legislature was following TX law, this should be interesting if the USSC overrides it. Sure let’s throw all 50 state constitutions in the bin for the greater good.
I live in Texas and in one of the seven areas that have seen the biggest changes.
The local Dems responses to this are becoming hysterically funny. When ‘illegal’ didn’t work, they started yelling ‘partisan’ and now they’re hollering ‘racial’. They seem to change to whatever gets them the kind of response they want.
Then this morning, I read an editorial in our local paper criticizing President Bush’s new plan for immigration reform and a ‘temporary workers program’. The author called it ‘pandering to Hispanic voters in order to buy their votes’.
And what the Dems do with programs targed for racial groups and special interested groups isn’t “pandering”? Well, according to Dems it’s just ‘looking out for their constituents’ when they do it.
Wonder if Dems ever get tired talking out of both sides of their mouths at once?
By the by, this county used to be a hotbed of Democratic party power. Now it’s swung around completely, and the Dems usually can’t even find someone willing to run in opposition to Rep incumbents. Heck, they didn’t even have a primary last year because they couldn’t get more than one person to run for any county office. What is so sad is that the Dems can’t or won’t admit that they’re basically doing it to themselves. In their minds, everything is the responsibility of some secret conservative Republican conspiracy; it would be laughable if it’s weren’t so dangerous to American freedoms.
Thank you, Claire, for your post. I lived in Texas for six years, and I agree with you. But I consider it likely that the mainstream media will not draw these comparisons, as they tend to sympathise with liberal social views, and view themselves as the vanguards of change. So you can likely bet that many people will not learn of the hypocracy, and that the Supreme Court will defend the Democrats. And then, when the districts are back the way they were – the way Dems want it now – and the Dems are still losing votes, the Dems will accuse Republicans of somehow “screwing them anyway”. Boggles my mind. But at least I’m using it.