Selectmen draw the line at 'Gerrymandering'

Salem News ^ | Allan Burke

[raccoonradio]

MARBLEHEAD — Abbot Hall will host the new documentary "Gerrymandering" on Dec. 9. What's more, the selectmen agreed to waive the usual $450 fee for use of the hall. The event will be sponsored by the Marblehead Museum and Historical Society.

After all, this film, which has already won critical acclaim across the country, is a tribute to the craftiness of Marbleheaders. Patriot, former governor and former vice president Elbridge Gerry is often painted as the originator of the practice of gerrymandering, which involves redrawing legislative district lines — often into bizarre shapes —to maximize the clout of your supporters.

The selectmen, meanwhile, drew a line of their own at a suggestion that they waive the fee for the custodian.

Selectman Bill Woodfin also included one condition, "That a hard G be used."

In another bow to Marblehead tradition, you can't get in for free — admission is $10.

[raccoonradio]

It's frequently mispronounced: "Gerry" in this case is pronounced "Garry" not "Jerry". Like former openly gay MA politician Gerry ("Gary") Studds. Another openly gay MA politician benefits from gerrymandering.

From the comments:
Maybe for some! Here are the MA district maps.

find your reps

"Click on Bawney's district 4. Look at the shape and scope of it! And Newton has so much in common with New Bedford, no?"

The commenter also links to this Star Parker column

[raccoonradio]

>>The Gerry 5 (pronounced with a hard G) was the built for Marblehead, MA by Hunneman & Co. of Boston, MA and delivered on July 1, 1845. The Hunneman serial number is 267. The engine was named after Elbridge Gerry, a native of Marblehead, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a delegate of the Constitutional Convention. He refused to sign the Constitution because it obligated the new federal government to assume the unpaid revolutionary war debt of the states. He held a significant amount of that debt, and his belief that the new government should not assume that debt made it less likely that he would collect what was owed to him. He later became Governor of Massachusetts, and the fifth Vice President of the United States. The political term gerrymander, constructing a legislative district to favor the election of a person from a particular political party, resulted from his action as Governor.

source

[raccoonradio]

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=MA&district=4

Note the twisted shape of Barney Frank’s district, from
Newton (nr Boston) to New Bedford

[antiRepublicrat]

That's nothing.

Sadly, that's a vast improvement over the original drawing of D-12, which until the lawsuits was at times as thin as a highway lane in order to create a majority black district. It used to look like this when first drawn by the Democrats in charge of the NC legislature:

I don't expect that to last. Republicans are now in charge of both houses.

[raccoonradio]

wow, interesting! thanks

[antiRepublicrat]

What’s even more sad is that they did this after pressure from the DoJ to make another black-majority district. Even Justice O’Connor called it “bizarre” in the Supreme Court case that threw it out.