Wednesday, July 06, 2011

More Tales from the Gerrymander

City of Hickory unthrilled to be partitioned into three different districts in order to shiv Heath Shuler and keep both Foxx and McHenry safely shielded.

Under the proposed Republican scheme, 20,578 Hickory residents, or 51 percent, would be shoved into Madam Virginia Foxx's 5th District; 19,348 residents, or slightly more than 48 percent, would remain in Patrick McHenry's 10th; and about 84 Hickory residents would be sliced off into Heath Shuler's 11th.

N.C. Rep. Mark Hilton, a Republican who represents the 96th N.C. House District, sez he doesn't like this divvying up of Hickory. But you watch him salute and vote for it anyway.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Crazy. Offensive. Preposterous. Scandalous. Shocking. Unconscionable. Absurd. Bizarre. Cockeyed. Harebrained. Irresponsible. Ludicrous. Outrageous. Ridiculous. Atrocious. Horrible. Abhorrent. Abominable. Despicable. Detestable. Odious.

That's about every word we could pull from the thesaurus to describe the shape of proposed new congressional maps that appeared Friday.

There were other words we could have used, but they all tended to be four letters in length.

Asheville Citizen Times http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110706/OPINION01/307060007/New-district-plans-very-nearly-indescribable

Moose said...

Strange. I mean, I know that re-districting is always political and dirty, but I don't understand why anyone would want to put a mere 84 residents of a city into another district. That one boggles the mind!

The Skeptical Teahadist said...

Moose,

Most redistricting these days is actually done by computer analysis; plug in a voter registration list, a map, and the %'s you want and it spits out districts.

Those 84 people are what happens when you combine large-scale government databases with modern statistical software.

Can't wait until Obamacare's electronic records directive turns our bodies into fodder for computer analysis and bureaucratic intervention (all "in our own good," of course).

Not Really said...

Skeptical Teahadist says "Can't wait until Obamacare's electronic records directive turns our bodies into fodder for computer analysis and bureaucratic intervention (all "in our own good," of course)."

From the Wikipedia entry on Conspiracy Theory:

"A conspiracy theory is a fringe theory which explains a historical or current event as the result of a secret plot by exceptionally powerful and cunning conspirators to achieve a malevolent end.

According to political scientist Michael Barkun, the appeal of conspiracism is threefold: First, conspiracy theories claim to explain what mainstream narratives cannot. They appear to make sense out of a world that is otherwise confusing. Second, they do so in an appealingly simple way, by dividing the world sharply between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. They trace all evil back to a single source, the conspirators and their agents. Third, conspiracy theories are often presented as special, secret knowledge unknown or unappreciated by others. For conspiracy theorists, the masses are a brainwashed herd, while the conspiracy theorists in the know can congratulate themselves on penetrating the plotters' deceptions."

Because obviously, keeping medical records on a computer must be part of a larger government plot to control our bodies.

I'm curious, Teahadist - do you think that making women undergo ultrasounds or forcing them to wait 24 hours before having an abortion constitutes any sort of government control over their bodies?

The falsely accused Teahadist said...

Not really,

Woah, I hope you didn't spend too much time writing that. Who said anything about a plot?? I sure didn't.

Please tell me you've heard of government policies having unintended consequences before.

Someone does a study with public health data, bureaucrats get wind of their results, and announce that based on scientific research, they're issuing regulations--the trans fat ban in NY is a perfect example. That wasn't a conspiracy, and there's certainly no mastermind behind it, it's just how public health bureaucracies operate.

And don't listen to me, that's fine. How about the ACLU? Try this url:
http://www.aclu.org/ordering-pizza

Actually JW censored the comment I wrote about abortion delays--I said they are just as unconstitutional as similar delays on exercising constitutional rights like 2nd amendment rights.

Not Really said...

Fair enough, Teahadist. I may have read too much into your post. I do think using the phrase "turning our bodies into fodder for..." implies malevolent intent, though.

And I don't necessarily think you can tie the trans-fat ban in NYC to govt. health care. Absolutely you should argue against regulation that you feel is overreaching, but don't blame the studies that show trans fat is bad for you. There's nothing wrong with medical research giving us more information about our health. Doctors in private hospitals do research, too, and they also base it on information from their patients.

I just think you're choosing the wrong target here by going after health care reform and computerized medical records. And frankly, a lot of people in the Tea Party seem to want to make everything Obama's fault, even when it clearly isn't.