Justice Department lawyers concluded that the landmark Texas congressional redistricting plan spearheaded by Rep. Tom DeLay (R) violated the Voting Rights Act, according to a previously undisclosed memo obtained by The Washington Post. But senior officials overruled them and approved the plan.
The memo, unanimously endorsed by six lawyers and two analysts in the department's voting section, said the redistricting plan illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power in two congressional districts. It also said the plan eliminated several other districts in which minorities had a substantial, though not necessarily decisive, influence in elections."
"'The State of Texas has not met its burden in showing that the proposed congressional redistricting plan does not have a discriminatory effect,' the memo concluded."
"The memo also found that Republican lawmakers and state officials who helped craft the proposal were aware it posed a high risk of being ruled discriminatorycompared with other options."
Read those paragraphs again. Notice the words "unanimously endorsed." In other words, of the 8 professionals in the Justice Department who reviewed this memo, all 8 agreed that the redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Acts. Such a ruling would of course go completely against the overall effort to rig the elections in Texas to solidify Republican power in Congress, which is why it was overruled by "senior officials."
I for one would like to know who these senior officials are, and I'd like to know why they overruled the memo. Or since we know their actual motivations, I guess I should say I'd like to know what excuse they'd give us for overruling the memo. And how many chats did they have with DeLay and his advisors before they did so?
Minority voter dilution isn't the only thing the Justice officials had a problem with:
"Testimony in the civil lawsuit demonstrated that DeLay and [DeLay aide James W. Ellis] insisted on last-minute changes during the Texas legislature's final deliberations. Ellis said DeLay traveled to Texas to attend many of the meetings that produced the final map, and Ellis himself worked through the state's lieutenant governor and a state senator to shape the outcome.
In their analysis, the Justice Department lawyers emphasized that the last-minute changes -- made in a legislative conference committee, out of public view -- fundamentally altered legally acceptable redistricting proposals approved separately by the Texas House and Senate.
'It was not necessary' for these plans to be altered, except to advance partisan political goals, the department lawyers concluded."
It was that obvious even to them.
This whole affar is sickening. That DeLay would do his best to rig the elections in Texas in favor of Republicans is no surprise; he stood to benefit personally from it. That Republicans in general would support and defend his actions is also no surprise. That he could thwart any criticism of the plan from government officials, with the complicity of senior officials, is disgusting. I'd like to see more of this dragged out into the sunlight, including specifics about who approved this plan and whether the big man Ashcroft himself had anything to do with it.
4 comments:
"I for one would like to know who these senior officials are..."
"J. Edgar" Ashcroft had to approve it. It was a major decision. I don't believe the deputy attorney general would have that level of authorization.
You know, we should have a law against sabotaging the democratic process. That is, in addition to all the other laws against such shenanigans.
Really, do most Texans just not care how DeLay and his kind get things done, or do they not know? I realize he and his ilk like to keep their criminal behaviors in the dark, but still, since this stuff gets out from time to time, you'd think there'd be more of an uproar.
I mean, come on, for such "freedom loving people" (as George Bush puts it) we sure don't semm to mind people taking our rights away.
I have to give Texans more credit then that. I think before most Republican Texans know the details they'd most likely say this is just partisan nonsense. But to see this sort of thing...honestly, how can you not wonder how it is that the memo was overridden, when DeLay wanted all the help he could get in getting his plan through? I think most conservatives with integrity would get squemish about that. Or, I could be wrong.
I'm certain that Ashcroft knew about this, formally or informally. The question of whether he participated in getting the memo overruled is a much harder one to prove. I don't find it implausible that over lunch he might've told a deputy to make sure that memo dies. But we'll never know that for certain, and I seriously doubt he was stupid enough to put such a thought to paper. The Atty General-even in this administration-can't be seen as overriding the competent and strongly voiced opinion of his own employees. That's for his underlings to do.
"I seriously doubt he was stupid enough to put such a thought to paper.
One would not have thought Scooter Libby would be so stupid as to put so much incriminating evidence on paper either.
The sad thing is, once these people achieve a certain level, they seem to lose a degree of reality with it...as if they are above and beyond being accused, much less caught.
Power is a potent narcotic with a very sweet taste, but painful when not readily available.
Post a Comment