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.

First, We'll Count the Chaste, and Then We'll Count the Bodies

In the debate in the N.C. General Assembly on whether parents of high school kids should get the option of putting Sally & Joe into "comprehensive sex ed" classes or into "abstinence only" classes or into study hall, where there'll be no info whatsoever about anything (the Healthy Youth Act, H88, would establish that parental option), some Republican members couldn't tolerate the thought of free choice:

Guilford Republican John Blust accused his fellow House members of living "on Fantasy Island…with Tattoo and Da Plane," for thinking more information would lead to less sexual activity. But supporters say the educational change is less focused on curbing teens' sexual activity (which they're obviously engaging in, anyway) than on making sure they don't get pregnant or ill as a result of it. (Via Laura Leslie at Isaac Hunter's Tavern)

While you absorb the political outlook that would sacrifice young lives for the sake of theology, Rep. Mark Hilton (R-Catawba) "argued the only people who want comprehensive sex ed are liberal fringe groups."

This is part of the reason the Republican Party is so robust and successful right now.