Each side has its spin on redistricting standoff

It's a hard PR war to win, with the liberal newspapers solidly behind the Rats.

But I'm glad we're trying, especially since we have a winning argument.

Are there any Albuquerque freepers out there that can pay these bozos a visit?

So what is the "end game" in all of this? If they don't redraw the lines, do the lines stay the same or does a panel of judges do it again?

The lines would stay the same if the GOP drops this effort, but don't look for that to happen. The Rats are looking for an exit strategy, because they can't win this war.

I'm sure many of the 'rats think the Pubbies are power mad but the center and the right look at the 'rats as chickens and obstructionists.

What little I know about Texas pride tells me even the 'rats don't like to be considered cowards. I gotta think this issue is hurting the 'rats with at least some of their own voters, and I'm positive it is not making converts out of any voters in the middle or the right.

Well, I have to say this is about the most balanced article I've seen on the issue. Maybe AP and the NYT should send their reporters to the San Antonio Express-News to learn a little about unpartisan reporting.

After about the 4th SS maybe a crack will begin to show in the democrats resolve. SS #6 will get it into Dec. if it goes that far and are called back to back.....

The 11 Democratic senators who fled here from Texas to stop GOP-backed congressional redistricting say they're fighting a power play coached by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, one that threatens representation for minorities.

A power play? The people of Texas put them in the majority. They have every right to do the redistricting as they see fit. Apparently, the Democrats were ok with all the power plays in the world when they controlled the majority for well over a century.

The "Texas 11" as the senators call themselves, have stuck to a single basic message: the removal of a longstanding Senate rule to get redistricting enacted is a direct slap at minority voters whom they represent,

Tooo....damn...bad. Redistricting is about census numbers, which district has how much of a population. Not about segregating districts by race.

and they're not coming back until Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst agrees to restore the procedure — which would allow them to continue to block redistricting.

Goodbye. Stay there then. Without the procedure in place, you can't block redistricting, in which case, who needs you back?

In daily media briefings, Democrats claim to hold the high moral ground. They won't let a bill come up for debate that they say would marginalize 1.4 million African American and Hispanic, mostly Democratic, voters if new lines are drawn.

"We are speaking from the heart, and we are of one view, so we speak with one voice," said Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo.

"Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" -George Wallace

Well, I have to say this is about the most balanced article I've seen on the issue.

I agree. It was a rare find.

If the GOP plan threatens representation for minorities, it won't be approved by the Justice Dept or the courts. The 11 chickens don't have to fight that battle.

It's a lie, anyway. The GOP plan creates a new hispanic district and a new black district. How is that a setback for minorities?

Well, I have to say this is about the most balanced article I've seen on the issue.

I hate it. It treats the Democrats arguments and lies for running away as something to be taken seriously and factually. As if their lies were good reasons for running away. And as if the Republican argument was, for better or worse, an equal argument.

The GOP plan creates a new hispanic district and a new black district. How is that a setback for minorities?

Segregated districts are ALWAYS setbacks for minorites, even if the segregation is in their favor (assuming that these hispanic and black districts are created on purpose rather than what the census numbers show). But the Dems dont care about that. All they care about is winning the propaganda war, making themselves look good and the opposition like a bunch of racists, no matter who gets hurt, and the Republicans might be making the mistake of creating the minority districts (assuming its on purpose) just to placate liberal propaganda.

I guess the point is that just about every other article written on the subject is unbalanced in favor of the Rats.

I think the Republicans are very clever in purposefully creating two new minority districts.

First, it helps the map comply with the Voting Rights Act, and survive court challenges.

Secondly, it is doing so at the expense of liberal white Democrats, and a couple of Yellow Dogs. When this map finally passes, the only elected Democrats in Texas are going to be minorities.

And they'll tend to be very liberal minorities.

Whites and moderates of all races in Texas will be driven to vote Republican.

It isn't minorities who will be hurt by the new plan. It's white Democrats. They'll be extinct.

Man, I'm getting sick of Van De Puke ! (pardon the pun).
The message from Republican leaders in Austin "is to try and justify a pure power grab, and the people will not go for it," predicted Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio.

It isn't minorities who will be hurt by the new plan. It's white Democrats. They'll be extinct.

Well, that's better. As long as white Democrats become extinct. I'm all for that. :-)

Here is a list of recent articles on Redistricting:
FR Search: Keyword "Redistricting"

08-03-2003
Each side has its spin on redistricting standoff

08-03-2003
Dewhurst's reputation depends on 11 who fled

07-31-2003
Dewhurst: I'm honoring tradition and precedent
(Article exposes ‘RAT Lies!!)
Congressional districts in Texas today are essentially those drawn by a partisan Legislature in 1991. At that time, a national publication called the Texas map the most outrageously gerrymandered redistricting effort in the nation, resulting in Democratic strength in our congressional delegation well beyond its representation among voters.
Our congressional lines are even more outdated today. When the Legislature failed to draw new lines to accommodate Texas' two new congressional seats in 2001, the job fell to a federal court. The judges made the fewest changes possible to the existing 1991 map, in essence protecting incumbents.
07-29-2003
Democrats bolt again – to New Mexico
(Senators trying to halt new special session on redistricting)

Link to pics of the 11 Democrat Senators that Obstructed Redistricting
(Post #4)

07-28-2003
Session ends as 11 Democrats slip out
(Dem's Flee state again!)

07-26-2003
GOP effort to redraw districts is crushed
[Texas redistricting]

07-24-2003
Democrats may be free to flee - constitutionally protected, says lawyer

07-24-2003
As new Texas redistricting map offered,
Dewhurst says compromise is in the air

07-23-2003
Committee passes redistricting bill (Texas)

07-23-2003
Texas Republican Senators Forge Ahead on Congressional Redistricting Plans

07-19-2003
[Texas] Senators talk of boycotting any redistricting session
Mr. Dewhurst said he would be on solid ground in working around the Senate tradition requiring a two-thirds vote to take up a bill. The late Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, a Democrat, did the same thing in a 1992 special session on legislative redistricting, Mr. Dewhurst said.
07-18-2003
New map, same pain for Dems
(Texas Redistricting fun)

07-17-2003
New map surfacing in Texas Senate

07-16-2003
Dewhurst at crossroads on redistricting in Texas Senate

07-15-2003
Ratliff joins Democrats to oppose redistricting
The state Republican Party was quick to point out that the [2/3rd’s] rule has been abandoned on occasion – such as when the Senate took up a state senatorial redistricting plan in 1992.
07-09-2003
DROP IT -- Redistricting would benefit few Texans, harm many
(Editorial)

07-08-2003
Senators have problems with House redistricting map - Texas redistricting

07-08-2003
House passes remap
Veteran Democrats may lose seats if bill goes through Senate

Above article is worthy of showing that a picture indeed is worth a thousand words:
First the Chicken D’s run away to Ardmore, Oklahoma. That didn’t work, so here they are,
still having a fit during the Redistricting debate:

As King began his argument for the new congressional boundaries Monday afternoon, about 30 Democrats in the gallery donned white socks as hand puppets to mock King. Every time he spoke, the little white mouths flapped.
07-07-2003
TEXAS REDISTRICTING--Vote TONIGHT!

07-07-2003
Race rhetoric stokes Texas redistricting fire

07-07-2003
Tension may soar as map debate hits House floor - Texas redistricting

07-06-2003
House panel quickly passes Republican redistricting plan -
map likely to unseat six Democrats

07-04-2003
New GOP map restores (Rep. Martin Frost's) district

07-03-2003
Republicans pull proposed map - redistricting

07-03-2003
Chamber of Commerce and GI Forum Hire Temps to Testify

07-02-2003
The Great Texas Power Grab - redistricting

07-01-2003
Tx Democrats Trying Fight, Not Flight, Over Districts
(The-Terrific-Texan-Special-Session)

I guess the point is that just about every other article written on the subject is unbalanced in favor of the Rats.

True. Articles such as this one is indeed rare. I wish to see the media stop taking the Democrats lies at face value. It's happening a LITTLE, but not enough for me. :-)

You do a great job with that index.

On second thought, "hate" might be the wrong word. I don't hate the article. It IS amazing to see a balanced one, but it still kinda rankles me that the Dems lies are treated "fairly" alongside the Republicans truths.