Letter 113... Dear Mr. President...Republicans are Hilarious!

Letter #113

Dear Mr. President:

With all that’s going on in the world today there are plenty of topics to write about, but every now and then it’s good to write about something that I believe to be amusing, so today’s letter should give you quite a chuckle.

As you probably know, California passed a voter created initiative two years ago calling for a Citizens Redistricting Commission (which I applied for but was not selected) to redraw political boundaries and put an end to political gerrymandering.

It was passed with an overwhelming majority of votes, with rules and timelines clearly defined. According to Chairman Stanley Forbes, the commission was very careful in meeting the requirements for creating the districts, and everything had to be vetted by Voting Rights Act attorneys.

The Republicans were not big proponents of this initiative, fearing that it would favor Democrats and they might lose additional Senate seats. Once the maps were complete and everyone had the opportunity to see the new districts, the grumbling started, with calls for referendums opposing the newly drawn lines.

A separate referendum drive against the maps called Fairness and Accountability in Redistricting was filed with the U.S. Department of Justice challenging the legality of the new boundaries. The Republicans have repeatedly complained that the new boundaries favor Democrats that could give the Democrats a two-thirds majority in the upper house, just the margin needed for the Democrats to raise taxes. After all of their efforts the Republicans failed to convince the California Supreme Court to disallow the State’s new maps.

You may be wondering what’s so funny about all of this?

Here’s the downright hilarious part… the Republicans are asking the Federal Government to reject the new maps claiming it’s a “dilution of Latino voting power.“  I don’t know about you Mr. President, but the last thing I ever expected to hear coming from a Republican, is their concern for Latino’s. Isn’t it Republican Governors who are passing laws in state after state restricting voter rights that affect mostly poor and minority voters? Isn’t it Republican Governors who are targeting mostly Latino workers in Alabama and Arizona? Isn’t it the Republican Party that says the Federal Government is too big and too intrusive? And yet… they want the Feds to reject a citizen led initiative passed by a vast majority of Californian’s. Now that's what I call a real knee slapper.

It’s a good thing I wasn’t eating when I read about this because I’m sure I would have choked on my Cheerios… it’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time… the hypocrisy is positively mind boggling… Republicans worried about Latino voters… HA… what a pathetic joke!

Most Respectfully,

Marcia Reimers, 

Your Gadfly Granny