Tuesday’s column: Don’t believe Senate GOP looks out for blacks
Lordy, the cynicism about Richmond is running rampant these days. Much of it has to do with recent election-related actions that have raised many eyebrows.
One of the big ones is the surprise move by Republicans to redistrict the evenly divided Virginia Senate in a way that could help the GOP gain control in the next election. The last redistricting happened only two years ago, and traditionally it occurs once per decade.
In an interesting touch, Republicans sprang the new map on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Democrats were unable to block it because a key senator was attending President Barack Obama’s inauguration in Washington.
Many explanations have been offered for what looked like a naked power grab timed as cynically as it could be.
One of the most candid came from Sen. Ralph Smith, R-Bedford County. Even if you don’t agree with the way he votes, Smith is one of the straightest shooters in the General Assembly. Also, he’s probably been redistricted more than any lawmaker in Virginia history.
When I asked Smith about his vote for the new map, he said it was retribution for the GOP-unfriendly map the Democrats drew a couple of years ago. That moved him out of his own district. He added: “For the other side to squeal about this is hypocritical.”
“That was nothing more than spite, that’s what they did to me,” Smith said. With the new map, “you could argue retaliation.” Tit for tat, so to speak. It’s real.
The most unreal explanation came from Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County. It was in a legislative newsletter he sent out this past Sunday, in which he complained, “Most of the news reports, however, have only been telling part of the story.”
READ THE REST OF THIS COLUMN HERE
January 29, 2013 - 6:00 AM
no they don’t they will look out for the mexicans who come here and are nor citzens, our blacks wee born and raise here, and should be treated as same as whites, we have some many greedy people i roank,salem, christiansburg, and blacks bugr that we need to hire our stae born blacks instead of mexicans, most of them are here illegaly and our blacks are American ctizens, there is a thing about busineses i roanoke salem, blacksburg and christinsburg ans all through the stae ofVA.that latino’s get pick for jobs that blacks and whites used to have, is our state goverment paying our state to pay illigels to be here and be able to take jobs away for our whites, and blacks, yes i believe that the republican party has money going in their pockets to support the mexicans and companies don’t have to pay all the wages, so we virginias pay for their pay checks, and ahy does our state goverment allow 20-30 mexicans to live in mobile homes or small houses whe we know it is not satitory. it is time to put out blacks and whites back to work, and kick the mexicans back to mexico, that way we can bet the will smoggle drugs back in and if they do shoot on site, that is all they know.
Another op ed masquerading as a metro column. IF republicans found a way to turn old tires into gold DC would have a problem withi it.
Save your time.
I thought we elected adults to office, not children.
The mere fact that it is generally done every 10 years (after a census) tells us all we need to know about this ruthless power grab. CAN they do it? Sure, that is what the split has wrought. Should they have done it? Hell no. The GOTP proves at every chance that they know nothing of good governance and tons about “retribution”. What a way to govern. How sad for our Republic.
Dan, if you bother Stanley too much, he might stick a Glock in your face.
Oh look. The Democratic Party-controlled newspaper is attacking the Republicans again.
What comes around, goes around.
The main problem is not that they gerrymandered the districts in their favor, but how they did it. Both sides play games with and politicize the redistricting process. Not allowing debate or public input on redistricting is another can of worms (and probably illegal). Our governance will not improve until the method of selecting our respresentatives is less partisan.
#2…“What the `split` has wrought“ ???? What split ? Thought there was NO division in this Country/State ? Thanks, Sandi….you always come through for us when its the least convenient for you and your ilk.
Along with Akin, Jindals inspiration MUST have been the Virginia GOTP when he gave his “Party of STOOPID” speech.
“If republicans found a way to turn old tires into gold DC would have a problem with it.”
–Comment by Bob H
Darn right. That would be fraud. Everybody knows you can’t turn rubber onto gold.
Oddly, I think it is safe to say that IF Democrats found a way to turn old tires into gold Bob H would have a problem with it.
Look applewood, if you are unaware of the 20/20 split, that is really not my problem. Dan explained it above, try reading before commenting.
Can the RT get an updated photo of Stanley? I think that’s his Senior Prom picture.
Way to go, Ralph Smith. Tell it like it is.
“Oddly, I think it is safe to say that IF Democrats found a way to turn old tires into gold Bob H would have a problem with it.”
-Comment by Sandi Saunders
And he would be right to have a problem with it, because that would be fraud, too. BobH’s problem is, he’s got his fraud blinders on 24/7, and he’s quite selective about perceiving it.
First the democrats complain that there are not enough minority representatives and now they complain that there are too many. And according liberal logic, Republicans are evil whether they vote for more minorities or fewer minorities. I’m glad the the republicans have figured out that with liberals, you just can’t win. So they stuck the new redistricting law right up their a**. I’m proud of them.
terps, you’ve got it backwards, and you’re being as intellectually dishonest as Stanley is on this issue. The Democrats weren’t complaining there were too few minority voting districts. It was the Republicans who cynically brought the issue up as a smokescreen to gain the upper hand in the 2015 Senate elections.
You should borrow a page from Sen. Ralph Smith and tell it like it is.
Man are you gullible, terps. Sad.
Bob H, it was mighty charitable of you to spend all that time reading Dan’s column so that you could warn everybody else not to waste theirs. And then to return to your role of blog topic nanny. What a guy.
Good article Dan. The VA Senate has grabbed National headlines for its power grab. What a disgrace to democracy.
I used to facilitate an ethics program for federal employees, and the program defined ethical behavior as doing what is right, fair, honest, and legal. The lowest of those standards was legality. What the GOP has done here is legal but glaringly unethical. Moreover, for Mr. Stanley to suggest that the move was a nod to civil rights is a ruse. That sanctimonious excuse was really a nod to the contempt he and his white colleagues in the Senate have for the inccreased influence of African-Americans, Latinos, and Women.
Gdad, at least BobH didn’t complain that it wasn’t “metro” enough. We are making progress!
“Gdad, at least BobH didn’t complain that it wasn’t “metro” enough.”
I don’t know, Dan, he didn’t say it in so many words but he did sort of say it:
“Another op ed masquerading as a metro column. “
Dan
Affirmative action is “intellectually dishonest.” So,the republicans have found away to utilize the concept of affirmative action to screw their enemy. That’s hardball politics the way Cranwell used to play it. Now the shoe is on the other foot.
I like the irony in this article, considering the nation’s first black governor.. Doug Wilder was the king of gerrymandering.
I meant to link this RT article to my last post…sorry.
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/nuckols/wb/305286
I stick with my belief that although the new districts seem more cohesive and compact, the manner in which this was done was so blindly partisan that it is beneath VA politics and more akin to DC politics; I hate to see our commonwealth follow that example.
Sounds to me like Stanley outsmarted the Democrats while using their own rules to do it.
That’s why Dan here is squealing to high heaven.
And now we find out that “Glock In Your Face” Stanley is working on adding a state constitutional amendment that will allow students to get out of studying evolution and will also make Virginia more of a theocracy. What an embarrassment.
This is the same as the GOP strategy for suddenly calling for significant immigration reform. Their reason is not that it is needed, that it is a problem that needs to be solved, or that thyey give a crap about the immigrants and their lives. The only reason is that they suddenly realize they need a fewe votes from them.