Only fair maps can end the GOP assault on government

by | Oct 9, 2017 | Politics

The Republicans had barely finished their vote to authorize plastic trash when leadership announced another session. I speak for most of us when I say: Stop. But Berger, Moore and Lewis will not yield to public opinion. Only fair maps can end their long attack on the common good.

I hardly need recount what they’ve done. We’re declining along multiple vectors of social welfare. Education is suffering, our economy is pulling apart, infant mortality is on the rise, and our environment has been subject to serial disasters. North Carolina is a meaner, weaker place because of their handiwork.

And GOP leaders aren’t blinking. Hitching their wagons to hate once again, reactionaries like David Lewis plan to move forward with yet another Voter ID effort. Another constitutional amendment would permanently depress public investment. The worker-haters of the House want to push an Alabama-style “Right-to-Work” amendment that would guarantee unsafe, under-compensated workplaces for generations. For the NCGOP, evidently, things cannot get bad enough.

That’s because they believe in this nasty doctrine in their bones—and they know it doesn’t matter who disagrees. As long as they’ve got gerrymandered districts, the slings and arrows of public opposition are futile. A party with strong autocratic instincts can impose their will. And they fully intend to keep doing it.

With the people defanged, only the federal judiciary stands in Republicans’ way. Just a few weeks ago, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice requested a court to say “enough is enough” and draw fair lines. It’s the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel. But until then things won’t get better. The beatings will continue until the maps improve.

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