By Bob Ray Sanders
bobray@ star-telegram.com
"Didn't you notice a powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity in this room? ... There ain't nothin' more powerful than the odor of mendacity... You can smell it." -- Big Daddy, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
That's the smell that has been coming out of Austin for months, especially since the Legislature passed gerrymandered congressional and legislative redistricting lines that heavily favored Republicans.
Our state leaders told us that their adopted maps, which greatly diluted minority and Democratic voting strengths, were both "constitutional and fair." Surely they didn't believe that, and no matter how often they repeated that falsehood, it wouldn't make it true.
The odor of mendacity became even more pungent when Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott feigned shock after a three-judge federal panel in San Antonio created new interim maps that took into account the state's incredible growth fueled by dramatic increases in the Hispanic and African-American populations. Those judges drew the lines when an appeals court in Washington, D.C., found that issues raised by the Justice Department concerning Texas' redistricting deserved a full trial to determine if the Voting Rights Act had been violated.
The judges pushed back the start of the filing period, originally scheduled for Nov. 12, to Monday, causing many eager candidates who already had announced the intent to run for office to rethink their positions as some districts had changed considerably from their configurations in the clearly biased legislative maps.
That obnoxious odor got stronger when Abbott, along with a hired gun who is a former U.S. Solicitor General, petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to issue an emergency stay to block the San Antonio court's maps, hear the case on an expedited basis, reverse the lower court's decision and prohibit elections under the court-drawn maps.
The attorney general, armed with tired, worn-out states' right jargon and charges of "judicial activism," accused the "non-elected" court of over-stepping its bounds and interfering with the duly elected representatives of the state.
State lawyers seemed completely ignorant, or merely not caring, about the fact that the phenomenal minority population growth in the state was the reason Texas was the only state to gain four additional seats in Congress. Yet, the Republican-controlled Legislature deviously split minority communities in order to give their party control of those four new districts, including one in Tarrant County.
In fact, the state's attorneys had the audacity to complain about the shape of the court-drawn District 33, which now is entirely in Tarrant County and is majority minority.
The smell of mendacity is almost overwhelming considering the crazy boundaries drawn by Texas lawmakers to ensure protection of most incumbents and enhance Republican dominance in the Legislature and the congressional delegation.
The truth is, Republicans overplayed their hand from the beginning. It was they who overreached, not the judges. They already control two-thirds of the Texas House of Representatives, and in Congress Republicans hold 23 of Texas' current 32 seats.
How much more do they want? I know, they want it
all.
Regardless of what political party you support, if you're a Tarrant County resident, you ought to be happy with what the court has done. The Legislature's map, in order to satisfy the majority's greed and quest for more power, had split Tarrant County among five convoluted congressional districts that divided communities of interest. The court's plan has more logical -- and much fairer -- boundary lines, and the new 33rd likely will produce a minority (probably African-American) member of Congress for the first time from this county, something that should have happened at least 10 years ago.
Abbott, knowing that the legislative-produced maps would not pass muster with the Justice Department, decided to gamble by going straight to the D.C. court for approval. Texas, because of its history of discrimination, has to have pre-clearance from one or the other when making any changes in its voting procedures.
He gambled. He lost.
Democracy won.
But, this still isn't over. Before it is, be assured your nostrils will continue to be tormented by that powerful odor of mendacity.
Bob Ray Sanders' column appears Sundays and Wednesdays.817-390-7775
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