Texas Redistricing, Democrats and Artichokes

For obvious reasons, I never read the paper before church on Sunday morning.  This afternoon I headed for the porch with my cup of coffee and, sure as shootin,’ found something there that would have ruined services for me.  The, “Valley and State” section of The Monitor had an article about local legislative leaders giving commentary on Texas’ new congressional districts. 

            The Democrats are using all of the usual hyper-emotional verbiage to complain about redistricting.  The article highlighted three Rio Grande Valley districts: the 34^th (primarily Cameron County), the 15^th (a hodgepodge of counties both including and west and north of Hidalgo County), and the 27^th (around the Corpus Christi area).  The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) General Counsel, Luis Vera, had a quote in the article that is both ridiculous and revealing.  In reference to the 27^th district, which is almost evenly split between Anglo and Hispanic voters—and which puts Anglos in the minority if you include the black voters with Hispanic—Mr. Vera concludes that the district forms a nefarious cabal.  “In leaving this design in place, the court’s plan strands over 200,000 Hispanics in a district controlled by Anglo Republicans, leaving the Hispanic voters no opportunity to elect their candidate of choice.” 

            I realize that this man does not have a job if he doesn’t beat out a steady rhythm of cultural discord and nothing makes him more impotent than the truth, but this statement is like an artichoke.  Every layer of nonsense peels back to show another layer of exactly the same thing.  Let’s take a look at the first few layers. 

1.      Districts 34 and 15 are 79% and 77% Hispanic, respectively.  Would Mr. Vera describe those districts as, “…controlled by Hispanic Democrats, leaving Anglo voters no opportunity to elect their candidate of choice?”  Of course he wouldn’t. 

2.       Peeling down that layer of hypocrisy, we have Mr. Vera assuming that all Hispanics are Democrats.  Does he think that all Anglo’s are Republicans?  Why does he insist upon treating the entire Latino population as one monolithic structure, incapable of individual thought, independent action or intellectual diversity?  The same paper that ran this article had a front page story earlier this week about the increase in Latino leadership in the McAllen and Edinburg Republican Party. 

3.      After peeling off this layer exposing Mr. Vera’s racism we next have the fact that the Congressman whose success Mr. Vera says this district is meant to assure, Rep. R. Blake Farenthold (R-Corpus Christi) was elected before the redistricting.  Evidently the good people of this area already had decided that the Democratic incumbent was failing to adequately represent their needs.  So we add duplicity to Mr. Vera’s tirade. 

 Make no mistake, what Democrats like Mr. Vera are really angry about is losing a majority in the state legislature in the last election, which means they are not in charge of redistricting.  They also continue to fight the problem of lukewarm support from the Hispanic population they claim to champion and poor voter turn out.  These are not problems of redistricting; these are problems of demonstrable advocacy.  The Democratic Party has spent my lifetime trying to demonize Republicans and make underrepresented groups dependent on a big government. 

The Republican Party has a message that all Americans can relate to.  Personal worth and personal freedom are the gifts this country offers all of its citizens.  Education, free enterprise and the rule of law are the tools we use for success.  Obedience to the law and respect for one another is what we ask in return. 

Don’t call me an Anglo and keep the faith.