Justice Staff Saw Texas Districting As Illegal
Justice Department lawyers concluded that the landmark Texas congressional redistricting plan spearheaded by Rep. Tom DeLay (R) violated the Voting Rights Act, according to a previously undisclosed memo obtained by The Washington Post. But senior officials overruled them and approved the plan.
The memo, unanimously endorsed by six lawyers and two analysts in the department’s voting section, said the redistricting plan illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power in two congressional districts. It also said the plan eliminated several other districts in which minorities had a substantial, though not necessarily decisive, influence in elections.
I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.
Was the court that upheld the redistricting plan racist too ?
There are plenty of good, persuasive, and even logically sound ways to argue against the redistricting plan.
However, you chose to use the fact that an advisory memo was disregarded by Senior Officals in the Justice Department to reach the conclusion that Republicans Continue to Love Racism. Hyperbole, that is.
Make an argument for or against something, Oliver. But simply hiding behind your monitor squealing racism with no substance behind it lessens the validity of actual instances of racism. But you apparently do not care about that.
No big surprise here. Though… I do find it interesting that the story didn’t get much play in the media back when all this was going on - let alone now.
So you would say devaluing the votes of black and hispanics isn’t racism? Interesting.
Funny, you forgot to quote this line:
So … INCREASING the number of African-American seats is racism?!? Only in Oliver-world…
So you would say devaluing the votes of black and hispanics isn t racism? Interesting.
Do their votes only count 2/3s each now?
Gerrymandering has gone on both sides for sometime now. Is it only racism when its done to help Republican constituencies? When Democrats did it in Georgia to decrease Republican (I could be as nasty as you and say ‘white’) strength, what was that? Look at a map of Georgia’s districts for 2002. http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/gacdmap.htm. Tell me about gerrymandering.
Dugger
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/1201-03.htm
Texans for Public Justice, Common Cause Texas and Public Citizen today petitioned Travis County Attorney David Escamilla to investigate the Texas lobby activities of Ralph Reed.
According to state records, Reed did not register as a Texas lobbyist in 2001 or 2002, when he reportedly received $4.2 million to lobby Texas state officials to shut down two Indian casinos in Texas……
Playing on their close ties to indicted former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (who once had employed Scanlon as a press secretary), the same lobbyists who had worked behind the scenes to shutter Speaking Rock sold themselves to the Tigua tribe as the lobbyists who could press Congress to reopen that casino.
The Tiguas-who hired Abramoff’s team for an initial fee of $4.2 million-have since accused Abramoff, Scanlon and Reed of fraud.
Happy Critical Thinking Holiday!
Brothers Dugger and JD
The Texas redistricting of 2003 served its intended purpose of permanently decapitating the ability of White Democrats to hold swing congressional districts. Any party which cannot elect White politicians becomes a majority-minority party and becomes a politically impotent minority for the forseeable future. That is the definition of racism my friends. It is Rove’s/Delay’s strategy for permanent neo-confederate control by an oligarchy of wealthy white folks to rule Texas like a plantation. The fact that the GOP of Texas has a large stable of elected Colored lawn jockies is beside the point.
Hypocrisy Alert: O Dub Plays Race Card, Fails
Hypocrisy Alert: O Dub Plays Race Card, Fails
…
Oliver, we all know that you have mastered the trade of “copying and pasting” “cherrypicking”, and even hypocrisy, but why don’t you explain the meaningfulness of this. Do you not remember when former KKK member Robert Byrd said “white NIGGERS” or is that okay since he is a Democrat? I guess it’s also okay to have a former grand wizard — or whatever he was — go around and pimp the Democratic agenda (I’m talking about David Duke btw).
I guess because I align my self with Republican values I must hate blacks, mexicans, jews (even though I am one), and a-rabs.
The hypocrisy in this post is enough to turn Hillary Clinton straight.
I would say the only ones left aligning with the Repubs are the rich, the dumb and those that have been in the game too long and have too much pride to admit they were wrong to begin with.
Happy Holidays!