The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Other PA-12 Blogging From Christopher Renner At Red State

Posted on | April 30, 2010 | 6 Comments

by Smitty

Christopher Renner is also on the PA-12 case, posting at Red State and his own digs, including a map of what a train wreck the layout of the PA-12 district has become under the Murtha tenure. Maybe I should walk that back: I don’t live there, and the citizens of PA may think its ducky. However, any system designed to lock in “safe seats” smacks of aristocratic skullduggery, so my criticism stands.

We can accurately blame Eldbridge Gerry for this tortured state of affairs for having foisted gerrymandering upon us. What do you expect from a gnarly old cuss who said:

“The evils we experience flow from the excess of democracy. The people do not want virtue, but are dupes of pretended patriots”

It’s the Information Age now. We can and should move the fight to raw Census data, and then have a published, legislated algorithm whereby raw data are turned into sensible voting districts according to whatever criteria are decided, e.g. population, tax base, size, or whatever. Let our politics be more like chess, and less like poker, say I, for the current situation makes pokees of us all.

Category: Pennsylvania, Politics

Comments

6 Responses to “Other PA-12 Blogging From Christopher Renner At Red State”

  1. Christopher Renner
    April 30th, 2010 @ 10:29 pm

    Thanks for the linkage. I’ll see Stacy in a bit and thank him personally.

    PA’s current congressional districts were actually drawn by the GOP folks who controlled the legislature in 2000, illustrating that gerrymandering is a bipartisan problem which has no chance of going away without a constitutional amendment prohibiting it.

    Basically this district consists of many small older cities and boroughs. The newer suburbs of Pittsburgh are mostly in the 18th and the 4th CDs, the more rural areas near Johnstown and Indiana are in the 9th CD.

    Clever work on the part of the PAGOP, but the folks I know around here who aren’t part of the establishment would have no problem with nice square district boundaries.

  2. Christopher Renner
    April 30th, 2010 @ 5:29 pm

    Thanks for the linkage. I’ll see Stacy in a bit and thank him personally.

    PA’s current congressional districts were actually drawn by the GOP folks who controlled the legislature in 2000, illustrating that gerrymandering is a bipartisan problem which has no chance of going away without a constitutional amendment prohibiting it.

    Basically this district consists of many small older cities and boroughs. The newer suburbs of Pittsburgh are mostly in the 18th and the 4th CDs, the more rural areas near Johnstown and Indiana are in the 9th CD.

    Clever work on the part of the PAGOP, but the folks I know around here who aren’t part of the establishment would have no problem with nice square district boundaries.

  3. smitty
    April 30th, 2010 @ 10:31 pm

    @CR,
    Yeah, ‘clever’ != ‘good’ in all cases.

  4. smitty
    April 30th, 2010 @ 5:31 pm

    @CR,
    Yeah, ‘clever’ != ‘good’ in all cases.

  5. TR Sterling
    April 30th, 2010 @ 11:14 pm

    Stacy,
    Stay on it!
    This is a mini-brown story and you are leading the national innernets on the story. Tim Burns is a ‘de novo’ tea party candidate who found his voice at the grass roots level in rallies last August and had the courage to run (against LTC Russell also) when Murtha was still alive. He made the trip to CPAC (you will recall) and was picked by the Republican committee to best represent the party in the special. They picked him because he is articulate, poised, can motivate people and is a potential winner.

    Given the massive pork that Murtha brought to the district, it would be like running against Robt. Byrd in WVa. They are all republican now there but they do love Robert Byrd and all the money, hosptials etc he brought to the state. When Byrd passes the next candidate will not besmirch the Bryd name but that doesnt mean a Republican can’t win in WVa. Thus, Tim Burns can win by carefully attacking the Pelosi agenda, i.e. not Pelosi personally and without dragging in her former right hand man, Murtha.

  6. TR Sterling
    April 30th, 2010 @ 6:14 pm

    Stacy,
    Stay on it!
    This is a mini-brown story and you are leading the national innernets on the story. Tim Burns is a ‘de novo’ tea party candidate who found his voice at the grass roots level in rallies last August and had the courage to run (against LTC Russell also) when Murtha was still alive. He made the trip to CPAC (you will recall) and was picked by the Republican committee to best represent the party in the special. They picked him because he is articulate, poised, can motivate people and is a potential winner.

    Given the massive pork that Murtha brought to the district, it would be like running against Robt. Byrd in WVa. They are all republican now there but they do love Robert Byrd and all the money, hosptials etc he brought to the state. When Byrd passes the next candidate will not besmirch the Bryd name but that doesnt mean a Republican can’t win in WVa. Thus, Tim Burns can win by carefully attacking the Pelosi agenda, i.e. not Pelosi personally and without dragging in her former right hand man, Murtha.