Posted on 03/09/2004 7:44:09 AM PST by Arrowhead1952
Taking the pulse of democracy at the spot where three redrawn congressional districts meet
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Not long ago, I took a walk in Central Austin, looking for a story to tell about our city and today's primary election. That's when I bumped into a slender wooden cross along West 38th Street, near the Marimont Cafeteria just off Guadalupe Street. The white cross, 4 feet tall, bore this inscription:
R.I.P.
Democracy
Killed by Tom DeLay on this spot
You've heard of the Four Corners of the southwestern United States? The place where the borders of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado meet at one point? Well, Austin now has its own Three Corners, where the boundaries of three U.S. congressional districts touch at one spot — at this roadside cross, on the southeast corner of West 38th and Ronson streets.
Once upon a time, Austin was a self-contained congressional district, represented in Washington for the last decade by a Travis County resident, Democrat Lloyd Doggett. But when Republicans in the Texas Legislature (with the encouragement of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay) drew a new district map last summer, our city was carved into three different congressional districts — and what's more important, each one of these districts has been attached to constituencies that flow more than 100 miles beyond the heart of our city.
What does this mean? If you stand before the Cross at Three Corners and look northwest, toward Central Market, you are looking into District 10, which tumbles its way into suburban West Houston and figures to vote strongly Republican. If you stand before the Cross at Three Corners and look to the southwest, into the Heritage Neighborhood, you are looking into District 21, which stretches into suburban San Antonio, the stronghold of incumbent Republican Lamar Smith.
If you stand before the Cross at Three Corners, holding your arms wide, and face due east: This is the one slice of Austin that has the chance to remain Doggett Country, though District 25 runs through McAllen all the way to the Mexican border. Doggett's chief opponent in today's primary election, Democrat Leticia Hinojosa, lives in South Texas.
I presumed that the residents of Austin's Three Corners might be a little conflicted by this situation. So I walked south, into the Heritage Neighborhood. There, I ran into Lee May, who happened to be walking to his car from his home on West 35th Street. A longtime Austinite. Very friendly, very polite.
We talked in the street. We could clearly see, from here, a Lloyd Doggett yard sign three houses away. After looking at that yard sign for so many days in a row, May presumed he could cast a vote in Doggett's race. But he can't. His house falls in District 21. As a voter, May shares a district with suburban San Antonio — but not the woman three houses away.
"Really?" Deep down, says May, he suspected this might be true. Still, he held out hope he might be mistaken. "The enemy is among us," he says with a smile. "Tom DeLay."
Julia Deisler — a nurse, a single mother, whose Austin roots go back to the 1970s — is May's neighbor, the woman with the Doggett sign in her front yard. She hadn't noticed the white cross on West 38th until a week ago. Clearly, however, she shares its sentiment.
"I'm not happy about redistricting at all," says Deisler, who describes herself as a yellow-dog Democrat. She shudders at the thought of living 20 yards to the west and not being able to vote for Doggett. "Austin is such a major metropolitan area, so unique as a city, you'd think that would warrant a district of our very own. There are so many issues related specifically to Austin, growth issues for one. How are Austin citizens going to be best served by someone living in San Antonio, or Houston, or the Valley?
"There is a bumper sticker I saw the other day that sums it up for me on all levels right now: 'If you're not appalled, you're not paying attention,' " Deisler says with a laugh. "I may be overly optimistic, but I still wish for the day our government takes partisanship out of the picture and instead faces the problems we face as a state and a nation. I don't want my kids to inherit this legacy."
Was Democracy really killed at 38th Street? From the Cross at Three Corners, I walked north and chatted with a dozen Austinites in the cozy little park near Central Market. During many of those conversations, I found myself thinking, "Democracy isn't dead, but it sure feels sleepy over here." Many residents didn't know the name of the man who currently represents them in Austin or the date of the next election. Some thought their voting precincts had changed, not their congressional district.
"I don't think the newspaper did a very good job of explaining it," said cheerful 21-year-old Mark Gentry, an unregistered voter who was walking to the bus from the Heart Hospital of Austin. "All of this is pretty confusing for me, for a lot of people my age."
Mark, let me try to make things right for my paper. Let's imagine Austin as this great big circle, represented in Washington by Lloyd Doggett. Now imagine that circle has been divided into thirds, and then attached to other constituencies that stretch like fingers throughout Texas.
"I understand that," said Mark. "But tell me how that makes things better than they already were?"
You know, Mark, that's a very good question. (Deep breath here). Let's start with how the Republicans might answer that. . . .
An hour later, I met Janice and Angela, two joggers on the trail. Good friends, they work together in a medical complex within footsteps of the Cross at Three Corners. Janice is a tall redhead, 46. Angela is dark, petite, 37. They admit that they're "clueless" about how redistricting affects the congressional ballot in Austin. They're reluctant to share their last names, not wanting to come across as uniformed. "I agree with that other guy," says Janice, giving me that "we know where you work" look. "The newspaper didn't explain it very well."
Well, let me try: Janice, you live in Circle C — so that means you're in District 21, which runs to San Antonio. Angela, you live in Pflugerville — so you're voting in District 10, which goes to Houston. You're best friends, voting in different races, and neither of you will vote in the District 25 race that involves the man who for years has represented Austin, who in fact represented the very ground on which we're standing right now.
"Hmm," said the joggers. "Time for us to start running again."
One last time, I returned to the Cross at Three Corners. Then I walked to a pear-colored rental house: 613 W. 37th St. As best as I could determine, no house was situated closer to Three Corners than this one. Something symbolic in that, I thought.
John Schoolfield, 25, chatted with me on his front doorstep. Shaggy blond hair, blue eyes, earring. He's lived in the Austin area for a long time. He's taking a year off from his philosophy studies at Marlboro College in Vermont. In the company of his friend, Jacob Williams, we talked a bit about district lines and the concept of gerrymandering. Beyond the presidential primary, Schoolfield wasn't sure exactly what was at stake in today's election.
Do you know what congressional race you're voting in? Do you know what district number is printed on your voter registration card? Has any candidate left any material at your door or in your mailbox?
In the dirt, next to his front steps, we spotted a piece of paper — a white door sleeve, soggy and muddy — with printed political material on it. John unfolded it. "I guess it's Lloyd Doggett," he said.
As fate would have it, Schoolfield — the man who lives so close to the Cross at Three Corners — is registered in Rollingwood, not at this house. He says he's neither a Democrat nor a Republican. His leanings are more Libertarian, those of a "Jacksonian Democrat" who believes in states rights and property rights. The Cross at Three Corners? John Schoolfield said he'd never noticed it before.
So what do you think? Did democracy really die here, in front of your house? Perhaps we should ask you as the philosophy student: What would Plato have said about this?
"Plato doesn't like democracy very much," said Schoolfield. "He believed that as there is corruption in society, it will show itself . . . at least as much . . . in a democratic government. The gerrymandering here is an outgrowth of that. If people are so corrupt that they want to remain in power, you will have gerrymandering. . . . When you give elected people the authority to control their own destiny by keeping themselves in power, it subverts the democratic process.
"In 'The Republic,' Plato wrote that the Philosopher Kings . . . the wise rulers of society . . . were not supposed to be enamored with having to rule or holding power. They considered it a responsibility. It was not something to covet."
As we finished our chat — he had to run, a rent check to deliver — John Schoolfield remarked he'll probably vote in the November election. But he's not so sure about this one. As he locked his house and went to his car, I walked the hundred paces to the Cross at Three Corners. Passing from one district to another, I looked over my shoulder and waved goodbye as Schoolfield pulled out of his driveway.
LOL!!!!!!!!
What a butt-head. How many square miles does Austin cover?
He just "happened" to bump into this thing?
Like a pile of rocks on an otherwise rockless beach?
Who are bigger fools - the fools who write this stuff, or the fools who believe it?
Liberal speak for why can't the Republicans all die so we can take over without interference?
The problem with this is, the Austin Un-American Ultra Liberal Rag is the only paper in Austin. There aren't anything but liberal writers for that paper, considering they LOVE and believe everything Molly Ivins writes.
Everyone gets their "news" from that paper, and the high percentage of RATs in Austin will believe it.
Any Congressman who voted against impeachment and for Willie the Sleaze is especially dirty. They all know that Willie screwed them and made their word even crappier than it was. They can't blame Willie but have to raise their own image and they do this by attacking Bush and EVERYTHING he does. These leftist can not be trusted to look at things objectively and make decisions that are best for the country. Now, more than ever, they must be discarded.
At the top of this list is Martin Frost. All these remianing dem Texas crap weasels must be replaced. Let's put these losers behind us to help the nation move forward.
Another one is Lloyd Doggett. I hope he gets the boot this cycle. He has been non-representing central Texas for five terms. I wish a Republican would win this district, but District Judge Leticia Hinojosa (D) probably has the best shot at unseating him.
The apartment I lived in when I went to college there is only about 150 yards from this spot.
Thanks for the post and ping !You've heard of the Four Corners of the southwestern United States? The place where the borders of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado meet at one point? Well, Austin now has its own Three Corners, where the boundaries of three U.S. congressional districts touch at one spot — at this roadside cross, on the southeast corner of West 38th and Ronson streets.
Once upon a time, Austin was a self-contained congressional district, represented in Washington for the last decade by a Travis County resident, Democrat Lloyd Doggett. But when Republicans in the Texas Legislature (with the encouragement of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay) drew a new district map last summer, our city was carved into three different congressional districts — and what's more important, each one of these districts has been attached to constituencies that flow more than 100 miles beyond the heart of our city.
How about a pic there, instead of a cross, then ?? ...
____________________________________________________
08-04-2003
Demo senators strike note of defiance in maintaining holdout
(Chicken Run Official Song...)
Excerpt (Freeper comeback lyrics):
"The Killer D's of Texas"
Tune: "The Yellow Rose of Texas"
Words copyright 2003 SChad Fairbanks
Oh, the killer D's of Texas,
Are running away.
They don't act like real Texans,
so who needs 'em anyway.
They fled across the border,
to avoid a little fray.
And the killer D's of Texas
are afraid of Tom Delay.
bttt ...
At the top of this list is Martin Frost. All these remianing dem Texas crap weasels must be replaced. Let's put these losers behind us to help the nation move forward.
Texas Democrats are quickly becoming an endangered species.
The Texas Dodocrat:
Remap could create an endangered species -
Texas' white Democratic Reps struggle for survivalTexas Redistricting starts a National Trend !:
There was a picture of the cross in the print edition, but couldn't find it on line. This uproar by the RATs just goes to prove they like to dish it out, but can't take it when things don't go their way. That's the reason for the "whiney RAT seal" on my first comment.
Oh ! The 'RAT Logo/Seal was perfect !What I meant was that instead of a Cross with 'RIP', we should replace it with a memorial to Delay.
That would REALLY TICK them off, then ! haha !
I'm 'BAD!' ;^)
That would REALLY TICK them off, then ! haha !
That is what someone should do. Just to stick it in their face (or elsewhere).
I am glad that Doggett does not non - represent me anymore.
I'm looking for one right now. I can't believe that the entire city of Austin was previously in a single district.
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