I love my state

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So the sneaky Texas republicans are trying to redistrict the state, dividing Austin, its one liberal stronghold, into three separate districts, essentially eliminating any chance of having any more democratic house members ever. (Is that called Gerrymandering? I forget.) This upset the Democrats so much that they planned an organized walk-out. Fifty three of them didn't come to work today, enough that the House cannot conduct business.

But here's the interesting part -- a warrant has been issued for their arrest. State troopers are out right now trying to round them up, arrest them, and assumedly make them go to work. I'm imagining all the Texas Democrats huddled in an attic right now, while the nasty SS Republicans search every cupboard...

http://news8austin.com/content/top_stories/?ArID=71168

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 12 May 2003 15:37 (twenty-two years ago)

what?

― DV (dirtyvicar), Monday, 12 May 2003 15:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Yay Texas!

― NA. (Nick A.), Monday, 12 May 2003 15:42 (twenty-two years ago)

This story makes me happy (well, not the arrest part).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 12 May 2003 15:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow, that reminds me of what they did at my school when kids slept in.

― Charles McCain (Charles McCain), Monday, 12 May 2003 15:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Wait, there are Texas Democrats?

― NA. (Nick A.), Monday, 12 May 2003 15:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Once there were a lot of them. LBJ, fer instance.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 12 May 2003 15:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Texas used to be a totally Dem state until the ascendancy of Karl Rove.

― hstencil, Monday, 12 May 2003 15:49 (twenty-two years ago)

...sez this week's New Yorker.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 12 May 2003 15:58 (twenty-two years ago)

last week's, actually. And it is true.

― hstencil, Monday, 12 May 2003 16:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, last week's. I forgot that today is the dawn of a new week. But I actually just stayed up last night reading that article, so it's fresh in the mind.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 12 May 2003 16:08 (twenty-two years ago)

*ding ding*

You are correct sir...'gerrymandering' is a term referring to redistricting of voting areas in a way that unfairly benefit a particular interest group.

*thinking "those years of political science classes are finally paying off..."*

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 12 May 2003 16:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow. I'd let them hide out at my place. I wonder what the penalty is for aiding and abetting a democrat?

― cprek (cprek), Monday, 12 May 2003 16:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow cheap shots from both sides. Wonder what they are being arrested on.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 12 May 2003 17:54 (twenty-two years ago)

"Failure to go quietly"

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 12 May 2003 18:09 (twenty-two years ago)

a modern day version of 'treason'?

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 12 May 2003 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

CNN gets in on the action:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/05/12/texas.legislature.ap/index.html

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 12 May 2003 19:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I wish I could just leave work when a meeting doesn't go my way.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 12 May 2003 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

You'd need 52 friends for it to carry any weight.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 12 May 2003 20:08 (twenty-two years ago)

If I had an meeting of 150 people. I think 3 would break most action groups in my office, still we don't cry and stamp our feet when things don't go our way.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 12 May 2003 20:13 (twenty-two years ago)

It's more like civil disobedience, really. They're intentionally trying to gum up the works. They get no respect, and now the Republicans are trying to literally eliminate them through dubious means, and the Dems are just sick and fucking tired of it. It's their way of saying, eat a bag of dicks. Without us, you can't do ANYTHING. See how much fun that is.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 12 May 2003 20:16 (twenty-two years ago)

They got voted in to represent all their riding in their House or Senate or what have you, not run and ride because their party lost the election.
I'm still wondering what the charge would be if they were arrested, I could see being forced into the legislature but I can't imagine a criminal offense.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 12 May 2003 20:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Small story of something the NDP managed to pull off.
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_07.03.97/news_views/thepark.html
They tacked on 11,000 admendments to a bill to create Toronto which like the GST has become a complete nonissue a few years later. Each of those admendments took 3 minutes or so.
Another time the both opposition parties caught the majority PCs without a majority in the house when a member went for a washroom break, I can't remeber what standing order they passed but the government had to live with it till they broke for summer. Sadly I can't remeber what time or bill that was done to fight.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 12 May 2003 20:33 (twenty-two years ago)

"Chicken D's"!!!!!!

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 12 May 2003 20:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha - some of them are in a Holiday Inn in Oklahoma.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Tuesday, 13 May 2003 13:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Update: The Texas Rangers have found the representatives just across the border in Oklahoma, but they do not have the authority to arrest them. The governor of Oklahoma said unless he got an arrest warrant from a judge, he wouldn't interfere. So the rangers are surrounding them and trying to convince them to return to Texas. The only other option for Texas is to call in the Feds and get them to bring the reps back. I wish all politics would be this entertaining.

― fletrejet, Tuesday, 13 May 2003 14:36 (twenty-two years ago)

apparently this has been tried before (from the NY Times):

"In another walkout 24 years ago, a dozen state senators defied then-Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby by refusing to show up at the Capitol. The Killer Bees, as the 12 became known, hid out in an Austin apartment while troopers, Rangers and legislative sergeants-at-arms unsuccessfully combed the state for them."

― hstencil, Tuesday, 13 May 2003 14:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Acting upon a rumor that the Killer D's were in New Mexico, Governor Dick
Perry called their AG to see if they'd arrest the Killer D's and return them
to Texas.

New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid said her state has no authority
to arrest lawmakers who show up there.

``Nevertheless, I have put out an all-points bulletin for law enforcement to
be on the lookout for politicians in favor of health care for the needy and
against tax cuts for the wealthy,'' said Madrid, a Democrat.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 13 May 2003 15:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Here's Molly Ivins on the situation

― Kerry (dymaxia), Tuesday, 13 May 2003 16:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Heh. I was just about to post that. Bless that woman.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 13 May 2003 16:41 (twenty-two years ago)

A similar thing (I think it was the Dems not coming to the Senate in order to avoid something from moving forward, warrants being put out for their arrest, etc.) happened a few years ago here in Oregon. It was pretty cool. Apparently the legislators were all very wary when answering their phones...

― Chris P (Chris P), Tuesday, 13 May 2003 16:53 (twenty-two years ago)

they're in oklahoma ... and the oklahoma gov. told the texas repugnant gov. to go pound sand if he thinks he's gonna arrest them in oklahoma.

needless to say, this makes me happier than a motherfucker!

― Tad (llamasfur), Tuesday, 13 May 2003 16:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh come on, it's all a big joke. The democrats have printed up a fake wanted poster, the republicans have issued playing cards in the style of those made for the Iraqi leadership.

This is what politics is, people doing silly things in response to silly things. Gerrymandering? Oh, that's certainly nothing that Democrats have EVER done. It's like filibustering, a fun game that legislators play to break up the tedium.

― Chris H. (chrisherbert), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 01:13 (twenty-two years ago)

The Dems were once the sneakiest of the sneaky motherfuckers. Again, I cite LBJ as an example.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 01:54 (twenty-two years ago)

hey, if that's what the people want, let them get rid of all the democrats in TX. Then when the entire population of Austin sans a few greedy assholes decides to vote with their feet and take all the redeeming qualities of the entire state with them as well as a nice chunk of the TX GDP + tax revenue, the rest of the country can learn a lesson about crushing dissent and diversity. With any luck the massive hispanic population will eventually rise up and pike the fucking cowboys before too long anyway. Santa Ana's Revenge!

― Millar (Millar), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 02:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Millar: you'll probably like the latest Molly Ivins, where she talks about the shenanigans of this TX legislature from which the TX Dems bolted.

A highlight therefrom:

Most of us thought it was pretty funny when Rep. Debbie Riddle popped out with her now-classic statement: "Where did this idea come from that everybody deserves free education, free medical care, free whatever? It comes from Moscow, from Russia. It comes straight out of the pit of hell."

shit i'd bolt to get away from dumb motherfuckers like that, too!

― Tad (llamasfur), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 02:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah I read the Ivins column. Sweet. I saw one of the Texan Rs on the tube earlier today calling the Democrats cowards and something else silly. I wanted to melt her with my eye-lasers.

It's sad but true that this is the way democracy has to work sometimes. As The Economist pointed out, Texas really is kind of leading the way for most of America at this point in history, and I agree with some of the other sentiments expressed on this thread that what is happening right now is kind of a microcosmic reflection of the entire US political arena, and probably a good looking-glass for what might be in store. As I've stated elsewhere I don't think these shenanigans will be remembered for anything else but what they are, and most of these right-wing fear politicians will be described in an extremely unfavorable fashion once the pendulum swings back.

Not that that makes me want to shoot them in face any less.

― Millar (Millar), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 03:04 (twenty-two years ago)

The Texas Republicans have made up Iraq-stylee playing cards... and n the Daily Show (that bastion of real news heh) they had some quote from one of them calling the Democrats "terrorists who are using weapons of mass obstruction." (the joke was, "they left to get away from that guy."). Anyway, what gives with all this rhetoric???

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2003/05/14/national/14texa.jpg

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 13:46 (twenty-two years ago)

As for leaving the state to avoid the "morans", I'm holding out for as Millar says. . .Santa Ana's Revenge!

― That Girl (thatgirl), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

six years pass...

Proud isn't the word...

― Roomful of Moogs (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 16 April 2010 20:10 (fifteen years ago)

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