Quote:
Originally posted by bilmore
Okay. It just strikes me that a "save the integrity of the system" argument that values process over result is what you (and I) use when we don't like the result.
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I think you're right. In this case, there are so many twists and turns along the way that were used to "maximize" the process to get the result that people wanted that it's very difficult to determine what is right. Assuming that the Democrats wanted to keep the status quo and the Republicans wanted to redistrict, everyone started looking for ways to meet those particular ends.
The Democrats drew a work of art in 1991. As far as I can tell, this is the only result and process that everyone can live with, though some charge that it was an unfair map due to party representation issues. The Republicans fought work of art at the 2001 census debates, ended up deadlocked and court ended up drawing map. Unfair result and bad process, say Republicans. The Republicans reintroduced the issue in the next session, excluded Democrats from participating in discussions about the map in April, and brought the issue to vote before anyone even looked at it. Unfair result and bad process, say the Democrats. The Democrats left the state twice to thwart Republican efforts. Unfair result and bad process, say Republicans. Republicans change a couple of senate rules to try and get a quorom. Unfair result and bad process, say Democrats. Finally, Democrats come home and the Republicans get everything worked out after nearly a month of fighting amongst themselves, in October. (Charges of unfairness coming from Democrats regarding shitty parking assignments and fines as punishment for leaving the state not really relevant here.)
I think that the result from the court yesterday was pretty much, yeah, unfair, but as far as we can tell the process was ok, though we really would like some guidance from the Supremes on this one.
edited to add: Whatever the ultimate result, I would like to avoid these fights more than absolutely required by the constiution, especially in years where the state's coffers are very low and my income is somewhat impacted by how much money the state has that year.
