Meathead Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Trump can’t stop the Freedom Caucus. He has GOP gerrymandering to blame. For years, Republicans have used redistricting to grab power. Now they can't control their own far-right flank. If Republican leaders don’t like Meadows and far-right conservatives like him, they have only their own power grabs to blame. Republican gerrymandering efforts have made Meadows and the rest of his Freedom Caucus electorally invincible. The 40 members of the Freedom Caucus represent such safe Republican districts that the only threat they fear is a primary challenge from a conservative further to their right. Republican redistricting guaranteed the GOP a near-lock on the House after the 2010 Census — but it also created a nearly ungovernable caucus. They gerrymandered themselves into this predicament. These congressmen are perfectly content to say no and lose on principle, because compromise and conciliation — the actual work of politics — are the only things that can cost them their jobs. Meadows, after all, holds his seat because of a Republican gerrymander in 2011. His 11th District in North Carolina includes the liberal college town of Asheville and nearby Republican-leaning mountain towns. It had been a competitive district, most recently represented by a conservative Democrat, Heath Shuler, when Republicans in North Carolina’s state legislature won the power to redraw maps after the 2010 election. Aided by national Republicans, they divided Asheville between two districts to dilute Democratic votes. A seat that had seesawed between the two parties is now rigged to safely and permanently reelect one of the most conservative members of the House. The new lines worked: They guaranteed a Republican victory. Shuler knew he could not win and did not seek reelection. The proprietor of Aunt D’s Place, however, saw a path to victory. The seat shifted from a conservative Democrat willing to work with the other side to Meadows, a true believer unwilling to work with anyone That encouraged the New Yorker to study the districts that sent these politicians to Washington. The results were shocking: All of the Freedom Caucus had seats as safe as Meadows’s, seats that did not look like those in the rest of the country. In 2016, fewer than three dozen of the 435 House seats were considered competitive. Trump’s tweets might move the stock price of Fortune 500 corporations, but they can’t influence politicians that secure. Nothing can. This is how gerrymandering distorts democracy. When district lines are drawn to elect only members of one party, a different kind of politician gets sent to Washington. The result is a deeply divided and dysfunctional system. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/03/29/trump-cant-stop-the-freedom-caucus-he-has-gop-gerrymandering-to-blame/?utm_term=.ad0390300e5a ive long felt that the gerrymandering of districts was deeply dishonest, undemocratic, unamerican, and should be expressly illegal. and yet it has continued almost unabated for the last decade as much as id love to say the republicans are getting what they deserve for gaming the system so unfairly, the net result is that we have deep dysfunction and entrenched gridlock that is paralyzing our ability to govern i honestly dont know what the solution is bc so far there has been very little successful legal challenge to these ridiculously redrawn districts. republicans have rigged control so much in their favor statewise that only a federal order would force them to redraw the districts fairly, they certainly arent going to do it on their own. and it seems far fetched the the republicans in congress are going to take this issue up now bc it would jeopardize their control of those seats possibly going to democrats so permanent gridlock remains at some point we are going to have to make this gerrymandering illegal so that the electorate is represented properly. i see nothing on the horizon to indicate we have any chance of that happening soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Important point: By David Daley David Daley is the author of “Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count”, a senior fellow at FairVote, and the former editor in chief of Salon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Gerrymandering is always evil in the eyes of the weaker party at that exact moment. I remember all the whining stories about the Dem doing it during the 70s and 80.s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Nothing burger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meathead Posted March 29, 2017 Author Share Posted March 29, 2017 i recall that, too. and ive been against it the whole way i hope we are finally seeing the rotting fruits of that effort and find the courage to do something about it. i am not confident Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 i recall that, too. and ive been against it the whole way i hope we are finally seeing the rotting fruits of that effort and find the courage to do something about it. i am not confident It's the prize of being the dominant party. It's only a national scandal when the GOP exploits it. (BIG SURPRISE THERE!!!!) One seat in the House in NC back in the Dem's day was an interstate highway heading north to south and 1/3 of a mile one either side of it, just to exploit the demographics. a nice finger to ensure a seat in the House. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beef Jerky Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Man, who would have thought politics is corrupt... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Man, who would have thought politics is corrupt... sucks losing power, especially when one party thought it was so totally sewn up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meathead Posted March 29, 2017 Author Share Posted March 29, 2017 (edited) yeah but i recall some serious pushback when the dems were doing it. in fact, there was the most significant court case ive seen that twarted their efforts, iirc. we can probably find it with a quick search but the point is it happens it is legitimately a problem on both sides, but it appears republicans have fine-tuned the process, which creates this next level that is causing a serious breakdown do we want to shrug our shoulders when the election results are being manipulated extremely enough to put entrenched ideologues in positions of disproportionate influence? iow - do we want fringe nutjobs of either side holding hostage on a healthy political process? hell the fk no for me this has been equally distressing when both sides do it. unless perhaps youre a tea party lover, it seems obvious when it gets to this level thats its very harmful its frustrating and something should be done, but it probably wont because weve created a self-rigging system that creates and enforces its own self-serving laws. that blows no matter which party is presently doing it Edited March 29, 2017 by Meathead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meathead Posted March 29, 2017 Author Share Posted March 29, 2017 think about it this way: what benefit does this extreme gerrymandering give us? i dont see how it benefits us as citizens. it has far more potential to be damaging. and i really do think its unamerican it needs to become enough of a problem that WE decide gerrymandering has to go. idk what would make that happen, what exactly would make the voter specifically address this abomination of democracy. maybe these kinds of hostage taking are the events that make it happen i hope its this cycle cuz im tired as ѕhit of seeing it. we should be representing the population properly, not with some ridiculous district maps that look more like rorschach ink blots than properly drawn population sectors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Any redrawing of district lines is gerrymandering. I'll task the OP with providing what he believes to be a better, non-arbitrary, drawing of those lines for every district in the country, and then providing his reasons why his preferred lines are better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Any redrawing of district lines is gerrymandering. I'll task the OP with providing what he believes to be a better, non-arbitrary, drawing of those lines for every district in the country, and then providing his reasons why his preferred lines are better. usually that means whatever the Dems think, they are the only honest party that never fear-mongers and always takes the side of the angels.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meathead Posted March 29, 2017 Author Share Posted March 29, 2017 Any redrawing of district lines is gerrymandering. I'll task the OP with providing what he believes to be a better, non-arbitrary, drawing of those lines for every district in the country, and then providing his reasons why his preferred lines are better. i didnt say that and frankly im kinda pissed you tried to make it look like i did homey dont play dat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 i didnt say that and frankly im kinda pissed you tried to make it look like i did homey dont play dat I know you didn't say that. I said that, then I asked you to provide what would be better, and your reasons why. I have no idea why you'd be upset by that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Frankenstein's Monster Who knew it would be so complicated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Frankenstein's Monster Who knew it would be so complicated? Nobody cares about it until the gap between the parties is small and that this minutiae has the ability to possibly sway things. You put up your best efforts and lose half the time with the two party system these days, most move on with their lives, others sulk and whine for the whole two years till the next election. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Nobody cares about it until the gap between the parties is small and that this minutiae has the ability to possibly sway things. You put up your best efforts and lose half the time with the two party system these days, most move on with their lives, others sulk and whine for the whole two years till the next election. Apparently people are starting to care. The Republicans litterally have enough votes to pass anything they want - as long as the all get along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Apparently people are starting to care. The Republicans litterally have enough votes to pass anything they want - as long as the all get along. Kinda funny how it turned out that lopsided, eh? I expect about 1/3 of Congress will routinely go against the expected flow of its party when it is allowed to use its personal and constituent voice. The goal is a muddled delay that leads to keeping things the way they were, with some issues needing a little more of a push, usually for the right reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Apparently people are starting to care. The Republicans litterally have enough votes to pass anything they want - as long as the all get along. As I mentioned earlier, the Republican Party is a loose coalition cobbled together from many different sub-parties. The are not a monolith, and will be unable to govern as one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 As I mentioned earlier, the Republican Party is a loose coalition cobbled together from many different sub-parties. The are not a monolith, and will be unable to govern as one. Which is the way it should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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