Cooch tells the Federal Government not to look at him while he changes… the voting districts

Virginia Attorney General Cuccinelli has said that Virginia should no longer be required to have our redistricting approved by the federal government, as mandated by the Voting Rights Act. A long and ugly history of segregation and racism caused the Justice Department to step in and oversee the manner in which Virginia draws its political boundaries.

In a universe that is not this one, Cooch might have a point.

Virginia has made incredible strides in civil rights over the last three decades, and many of the prejudices that led to gerrymandered districts have dissipated. However, the concern that Virginia’s redistricting process will result in an undermining of democracy remains alive and well. In Virginia the redistricting process is overseen by the State Assembly, and therefore occurs along partisan lines. Every 10 years, after the national census is taken, we reevaluate our districts and the party in power runs amok. Be it Democrats or Republicans, the party in control carves up our state, not along community boundaries but along political ones. The result is watered down votes, and politically disenfranchised neighborhoods.

The easiest way to gerrymander a state is to draw a line around everyone who won’t vote for you. I live in the perfect example, Virginia’s third district. Here is a map of this absurd district. As you can see it runs from Norfolk to Richmond, which would seem silly unless you know who lives in these areas. The geniuses that drew up the district basically drew a circle around every predominantly black area from Hampton Roads to Richmond, effectively isolating this heavily Democrat voting demographic into one congressional seat. My favorite part of the district is where it dramatically avoids affluent and white Williamsburg on its way up I-64; apparently Newport News has more shared interest with Hopewell than the city with which it shares a border. Why does Norfolk and Portsmouth vote with the Southside of Richmond, but not Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, with whom they share a region? Because that would have made Scott Rigell lose this last Election Day.

Bobby Scott wins reelection each year by an absolute landslide because they did such a good job concentrating black voters in one disjointed district. Good for Bobby Scott. Bad for democracy. The fracturing of our communities along race lines has continued, but for different reasons. Should the federal government relinquish its right to oversee our redistricting the citizens of Virginia can look forward to another decade of artificially created majorities, and disenfranchised voters.

The worst part of all of this is that during the campaign our Governor Bob McDonnell supported the idea of a non-partisan redistricting committee. Since winning and seeing significant Republican wins around the state, he’s gone all silent. Who can blame him though? When you’re winning, why stop to do the right thing?

Democrats, in all fairness, would probably do the same thing if they were in his position. As for us, the average Virginia citizen who would like our votes to count equally, and who would like our districts to reflect the neighborhoods we love and live in… well, all we can do is hope that the Justice Department still thinks we are too racist to handle this on our own.

Virginia Beach Passes a Resolution to Recognize Human Rights

Tuesday night the city council passed a resolution to recognize human rights within its boundaries. Particular segments included recognition of:

-         Indigenous heritage populations

-         Immigrants and their important contributions

-        Virginia Beach’s commitment to prohibit discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, sex, age, marital status, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and disability.

-         The diversity and contributions of the military

-        The importance of tourism and how their culture of tolerance has made this possible

At another time it would be easy to dismiss the importance of a feel good document like this. After all, who is against human rights? Unfortunately, it turns out that the answer is a lot of people. On the federal level, at this moment, we have the state of Arizona defending discriminatory legislation in court against our government, and our government is fighting itself over Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

Here in Virginia, the Chairman of the Prince William Board of Supervisors, Corey Stewart, continues his push for the anti-immigrant “rule of law” bill here in Virginia, and the Fairfax Republican Delegate Albo has prefiled an Arizona style law in the House of Delegates. Furthermore, our Attorney General preemptively gave law enforcement legal cover for racial profiling, and Delegate Chris Peace has prefiled a bill to bar illegal immigrants from state colleges (an attempt to head off the admirable intentions of the Dream Act currently under consideration in Congress).

Sadly, we here in Hampton Roads will have no shortage of debates and challenges to the civil and human rights of our residents in the months to come. I applaud Virginia Beach for this strong symbolic measure that went beyond traditional classifications of protected classes by reaching out to our immigrant community. Virginia Beach is the largest city in the state of Virginia, and as such it is fitting that they set a good example for our state, which seems bent on targeting our immigrant community in the upcoming year. In fact I am so happy about this that I am going to refrain from teasing out a Councilman Bill DeSteph joke. Instead I will be satisfied with including this article for contrast.

I suppose my only real beef is the line about tourism. I mean, really Virginia Beach? Was a mention of tourism really necessary in this resolution? It kind of cheapens the loftier sentiments a bit as it makes it seem like the tolerant culture this measure recognizes is nothing more than an economic decision. But given the hostile climate in which we currently live, I’m willing to let this one slide too. If tourism is part of why Virginia Beach wants to recognize its tolerance, so be it. I remain hopeful that one day Human Rights will be recognized as a good unto itself and not a means to a financial end, but for now Virginia Beach you are A OK in my book.

The full resolution will be unveiled today at 4pm in Virginia Beach at the fountain in Town Center. Please stop by and show your support if you can.

Please refrain from any jokes about living here being like Groundhog Day, GRACIAS.

Tidewater AAA and Anheuser Busch Inc want you to drink safely this holiday season

This is an awfully nice thing to do. AAA does not want you to drive drunk and so they will be offering free one way rides to people who call (757) 631-1700 and request a free Tow To Go. AAA membership is not required. Take a piece of paper and write down that number people. Make it easy for yourself and do the right thing. I love you too much for you to go taking your life and that of others in your drunken hands this holiday season.

Third Crossing making headway and the Pilot posts unfortunate photo of Mayor Fraim

I am glad to see traction on this transportation project that has been a long priority for Norfolk. I am sad to see the Pilot post such an unflattering picture of our mayor. In order to remedy this I am including my own picture of Mayor Fraim, who I believe to be in reality the Mayor of Punxsutawney in Ground Hog’s Day. I also think we should get a ground hog.

Just read this and ask why… then if you want to really hurt your mind think about how they were paid for this.

Not surprisingly the Virginia Congressional Delegation has different views on the proposed tax deal

Tax breaks for people that make more than a million dollars is beyond ridiculous. The estimated cost of extending these cuts for the uber-wealthy is estimated to be about 100 billion dollars. 100 billion dollars that could help stimulate the economy through job creation, help our increasing unemployed citizens, provide tax incentives to spur the green economy, or pay down 100 billion dollars of our debt. Hell, this money could buy the whole nation some ice cream and still be better spent. I appreciate the President’s position in these negotiations, but this decision is a bit beyond the pale for me. It’s about time he drew a line in the sand and took a stand on something he promised to the people that support him.

Google maps broken dreams with a home foreclosure map

Last night I got a lecture about how cool and ahead of the times this site was by a friend, and so I decided to see if he was right or merely drunk. Turns out he was right, but I’m still not ruling out drunk too.