I have said it before and I will say it now - Gerrymandering is ruining our country and will quite possibly cause our government to fail entirely unless we do something.
.
Look at the pictures of districts above. They have been drawn specifically to provide a Republican or Democratic Representative (which state these are from are almost inconsequential... Texas or California - you pick if you can).
.
Too get elected in this type of district you must be VERY true to the party and a narrowly defined voter pool. And so we get crazy ass Democrats and Republicans. Those who are so left or right that they can't think about compromise. To do so, in fact, is the only way to loss an election. If you are too soft on the opposition party, you MIGHT loss the primary.
This is a highlighted map of one district in Philadelphia, but the others aren't the banners of consistency either. And here is what is totally screwed up - while it isn't legal to Gerrymander just on race or ethnicity - it is totally legal to do so along party lines!!!
.
Which gives us a dysfunctional government. There are two solutions.
.
1. Do as in Iowa and let a non-partisan group draw districts every 10 years. Although in order to do this, the state assemblies have to pretty much remove their lock on power. As the Republicans in 1994 showed with their "promised self-imposed term limits" - that ain't gonna happen. No knock on Republicans, Democrats wouldn't even promise to get out!
.
2. Go to some sort of proportional system - where you have maybe fewer districts and the top 2 vote getters each get office. This is often how city wide commissions are run and they are usually less partisan.
.
(There is a 3rd option that is really our only hope. There are lawsuits working through the system that argue that computers, modeling and current tools make the opposition party in these districts powerless - thus removing the right to a meaningful vote. I hold little hope that this will work because, mainly because it reeks of judicial activism - and truthfully it is a stretch.)
.
But I see little hope of either options working and so I see a Congress that is more concerned with scoring points, stealing money and cheating on their spouses than they are in doing any work for our country - and lobbyist happy to sell out their country for a buck. Why do I bring this up now?
.
Well, now it is said and done and behind me. I refuse to worry about this horse-shit anymore. If we all want to sit and let our country go down the toilet with a happy face - fine. I won't agree with you - I think the country is worth saving - but I am done getting a headache about it. Let Sarah Palin and Obama drive the truck into the ditch. All bitchin about it has done for me is made my psoriasis worse and driven up my Efexor prescriptions.
.
Done and Dun.