The Democrats are trying to file suit in Maricopa County? EL OH EL. Good luck with that one.

As Chairwoman of this Commission, the buck stops with Ms. Mathis.

And since she won't do what we want, we're forcibly removing her.

Lumpmoose: Ugh. So in their wisdom, Arizona created an Independent Redistricting Commission then gave the State Senate the power to impeach the chair? How did she even get the job?

Had to put on a show first. They'll appoint a ringer next time.

IrateShadow: The Democrats are trying to file suit in Maricopa County? EL OH EL. Good luck with that one.

Hehe yeah I thought that too.

The panel is composed of Mathis, a registered independent, two Republicans and two Democrats.

Also, WTF. You're upset with a decision made by a committee that is split down the middle, you call it partisan and so you impeach the independent? WTF Arizona, WTF.

lennavan: IrateShadow: The Democrats are trying to file suit in Maricopa County? EL OH EL. Good luck with that one.

Hehe yeah I thought that too.

The panel is composed of Mathis, a registered independent, two Republicans and two Democrats.

Also, WTF. You're upset with a decision made by a committee that is split down the middle, you call it partisan and so you impeach the independent? WTF Arizona, WTF.

But it's not split down the middle. In the eyes of Jan Brewer and her lackey's it's "2 Republicans and 3 non-Republicans."

max_pooper: But it's not split down the middle. In the eyes of Jan Brewer and her lackey's it's "2 Republicans and 3 non-Republicans."

She probably figured she was getting 2 Repubs, 1 Tea Partier, and 2 Dems.

If the comments are to be believed, the redistricting plan was considered balanced by a lot of Arizonians (or...whatever you call people in Arizona), so this is pretty blatantly an abuse of power by Jan Brewer.

Any Arizona Farkers want to confirm/deny? Was the redistricting plan pretty well balanced?

hawcian: If the comments are to be believed, the redistricting plan was considered balanced by a lot of Arizonians (or...whatever you call people in Arizona), so this is pretty blatantly an abuse of power by Jan Brewer.

Any Arizona Farkers want to confirm/deny? Was the redistricting plan pretty well balanced?

It potentially allowed Democrats to take a seat, so no.

I would pay real money to watch Jan Brewer get beat by a psychotic pimp...

hawcian: Any Arizona Farkers want to confirm/deny? Was the redistricting plan pretty well balanced?


Yes it was. In fact, the GOP still had most of the districts. Jan is mad that she didn't get ALL of them...

lennavan: IrateShadow: The Democrats are trying to file suit in Maricopa County? EL OH EL. Good luck with that one.

Hehe yeah I thought that too.

The panel is composed of Mathis, a registered independent, two Republicans and two Democrats.

Also, WTF. You're upset with a decision made by a committee that is split down the middle, you call it partisan and so you impeach the independent? WTF Arizona, WTF.

If it's not Republican, it's partisan and it's wrong.

lennavan: IrateShadow: The Democrats are trying to file suit in Maricopa County? EL OH EL. Good luck with that one.

Hehe yeah I thought that too.

The panel is composed of Mathis, a registered independent, two Republicans and two Democrats.

Also, WTF. You're upset with a decision made by a committee that is split down the middle, you call it partisan and so you impeach the independent? WTF Arizona, WTF.

If they impeached the Democrats they'd have to replace them by other Democrats. This way they can replace the independent by an "independent" who just happens to vote Republican on everything.

Russell Pearce is up for recall next week (it's a "vote for Pearce to keep him, vote for Jerry Lewis to dump Pearce" recall). So that's idea 1 for you Arizonans.

And the people trying to bring top-two elections to Arizona just got a present.

Hopefully Florida's experiment, which doesn't attempt to create any independent panel, will produce better results. Florida left it in the hands of the legislators but added that districts, other than minority access districts, must be as compact as possible. It's going to hinge on if the courts believe that compact is a meaningful word or just a feeling.

It's sad that gerrymandering a district to eliminate competition is legal. The only thing you can't get by with is doing it for racial reasons (and that only in the ex-Jim Crow states). If we want real political reform, fixing redistricting is the place to start.

The amount of corruption in American politics is staggering. A lot of your politicians don't even pretend to care about good governance anymore. Another reason OWS is hitting such a cord...

Wall St. motto: Greed is good, Money leads to more power, which leads to more money.
Washington motto: Power is good, Money leads to more power.

Both are shamelessly amoral, there is just a slight variation in the driving motivations.

hawcian: whatever you call people in Arizona

Arizombians?

Tyrone Slothrop: It's sad that gerrymandering a district to eliminate competition is legal. The only thing you can't get by with is doing it for racial reasons (and that only in the ex-Jim Crow states). If we want real political reform, fixing redistricting is the place to start.

More and more state constitutions are saying that if it's done with the intent to benefit or harm one person or one political party, it is illegal. Such intent is not hard to prove in the age of e-mail correspondence. In 2002, for instance, one Tom Feeney out of Florida wasn't even shy about it. From his position as House speaker, he made one of the new districts included his home, some like-minded voters, and didn't include any current rep's home. Feeney was one of the less ethical reps Florida has ever had. What he did is now illegal.

I don't see what the fuss is about. Mathis' commission completely disrupted the status quo and threatened duly elected party positions. This isn't some minor political spat, this is the attempt of an anarchist to circumvent the American process and do an end run around the tax payer. I was going to say democratic process, but that sounds too much like the Democrat party and they only like voting when it's done by welfare queens and illegals, except in Chicago, where it's also acceptable for dead Unionistas to vote multiple times.

So the Senate stepped in and removed Mathis from authority. So what? That's what they're supposed to do in a well-lead government. The head authority directs, and legislature responds. Our national model could take a good example from Arizona--when you have proper leadership, things get done.

Oh, and it turns out if the state hires you for a job and you don't do it well, you should get fired. Arizona is another leader in firm examples, something those Demorats in national power should also take note of. You don't get your country in debt by pensioning off the incompetent, N0bama!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the state legislatures have no business being involved in redistricting. The federal government ought to require that all states redistrict according to a shortest split line method or other similar algorithim and be required to show cause for any deviation thereof.

palelizard: I don't see what the fuss is about. Mathis' commission completely disrupted the status quo and threatened duly elected party positions. This isn't some minor political spat, this is the attempt of an anarchist to circumvent the American process and do an end run around the tax payer. I was going to say democratic process, but that sounds too much like the Democrat party and they only like voting when it's done by welfare queens and illegals, except in Chicago, where it's also acceptable for dead Unionistas to vote multiple times.

So the Senate stepped in and removed Mathis from authority. So what? That's what they're supposed to do in a well-lead government. The head authority directs, and legislature responds. Our national model could take a good example from Arizona--when you have proper leadership, things get done.

Oh, and it turns out if the state hires you for a job and you don't do it well, you should get fired. Arizona is another leader in firm examples, something those Demorats in national power should also take note of. You don't get your country in debt by pensioning off the incompetent, N0bama!

9/10. Misspell a few words and throw in a sparkly, crying eagle picture, and you would have gotten that last point.

I heard that Gov. Brewer's case for impeachment is that the panel member in question had a Mexican grandparent. Under Arizona law, 1/4 Mexican blood means you are beaten to a pulp and then flung over the border via catapult.

meat0918: I just had my county government gerrymander and compartmentalize the liberal parts of the county into one district despite not having anything else in common, and spread the conservative areas of the other 4 seats to solidify their hold on the county, so.. big angry kick.

Lane County, Oregon by any chance?

gerrycommandeering?

moops: meat0918: I just had my county government gerrymander and compartmentalize the liberal parts of the county into one district despite not having anything else in common, and spread the conservative areas of the other 4 seats to solidify their hold on the county, so.. big angry kick.

Lane County, Oregon by any chance?

It could apply anywhere. I had to register as a Democrat, our district is so gerrymandered, only a Democrat can win. Throw the bums out in the primary is the only hope.

As a resident of Southern AZ the districts sucked.

There are two districts that wrap around Phoenix from Mexico(essentially) to Utah. The Yuma district goes right up into Maricopa County (Phoenix) so it will be controlled by Phoenix as well. The only pure Southern AZ district doesn't even include all of Tucson.

The whole thing is a gift to Phoenix, which sucks.

Link (new window)

I didn't look at the redistricting maps, but I'm in Arizona so I kind of followed the news on this... for the last month or so, Brewer's been coming up with all kinds of excuses to throw out the maps since they were presented. There was a bit of drama where she said she was going to scrap the whole thing unless all of the panel members could prove they were acting completely ethically (ie "PROVE YOUR INNOCENCE", I guess), and now this.

Even if my area was right, I don't know enough about the rest of the state to say if the maps would be completely accurate. Because of that, I'd have faith in the panel to act properly, so despite my apathy, I'm sort of pissed that the local GOP's pulled this. I'd be pissed at Democrats doing this too, but I feel like they're too spineless to try something like this.

lennavan: IrateShadow: The Democrats are trying to file suit in Maricopa County? EL OH EL. Good luck with that one.

Hehe yeah I thought that too.

The panel is composed of Mathis, a registered independent, two Republicans and two Democrats.

Also, WTF. You're upset with a decision made by a committee that is split down the middle, you call it partisan and so you impeach the independent? WTF Arizona, WTF.

John Avlon wrote this about Jan Brewer going after the redistricting commission:

"This is the logical conclusion of the reflexive "fair and balanced" defense offer by Republicans since the rise of right-wing talk radio: only conscious bias in favor of conservatives can be called independent in ideologues' eyes."

Gerrymander

meat0918: I just had my county government gerrymander and compartmentalize the liberal parts of the county into one district despite not having anything else in common, and spread the conservative areas of the other 4 seats to solidify their hold on the county, so.. big angry kick.

^^^so much THIS^^^^

in the nuts/pussy while wearing steel-toe boots.

Serious Black: John Avlon wrote this about Jan Brewer going after the redistricting commission:

"This is the logical conclusion of the reflexive "fair and balanced" defense offer by Republicans since the rise of right-wing talk radio: only conscious bias in favor of conservatives can be called independent in ideologues' eyes."

I'm not gonna lie, I'm not surprised at all that Brewer and the Republicans wanted districting in their favor. I would be surprised if they did not. And hey, let's be honest, both sides do that shiat and it has to stop. But I get it, you game the system, you stack the deck in your favor. So stack the committee in your favor, make it a rubber stamp. Or when the committee doesn't district in your favor, call it biased and crappy and whatnot.

But impeachment? Shiat, that's one scary slippery slope. Makes you wonder why they don't just one by one impeach all of the members of minority party for not voting with the majority.

lennavan: Serious Black: John Avlon wrote this about Jan Brewer going after the redistricting commission:

"This is the logical conclusion of the reflexive "fair and balanced" defense offer by Republicans since the rise of right-wing talk radio: only conscious bias in favor of conservatives can be called independent in ideologues' eyes."

I'm not gonna lie, I'm not surprised at all that Brewer and the Republicans wanted districting in their favor. I would be surprised if they did not. And hey, let's be honest, both sides do that shiat and it has to stop. But I get it, you game the system, you stack the deck in your favor. So stack the committee in your favor, make it a rubber stamp. Or when the committee doesn't district in your favor, call it biased and crappy and whatnot.

But impeachment? Shiat, that's one scary slippery slope. Makes you wonder why they don't just one by one impeach all of the members of minority party for not voting with the majority.

I feel the same way about recalls.

WhoIsNotInMyKitchen: The amount of corruption in American politics is staggering.

Compared to where, exactly? The US government is actually pretty good about holding itself accountable, compared to both our own past and western Europe. I guess Canada can probably give us a run for our money and maaaaaaybe the UK, but the latter is cracking down on corruption more as a side effect of cracking down on everyone for everything.

I mean, I'm not arguing that there's not corruption, especially at the local levels where oversight is difficult, but 'staggering' isn't really the word I'd use. Most of the farked-up-ness of the US system is the honest result of the electorate and officials being openly kinda farked-up themselves, relatively little of it is sinister skullduggery and shadow government attempts.

meat0918: I just had my county government gerrymander and compartmentalize the liberal parts of the county into one district despite not having anything else in common, and spread the conservative areas of the other 4 seats to solidify their hold on the county, so.. big angry kick.

At least you have a district that isn't so conservative that it will automatically elect whatever Republican comes out of the primary. The latest Kansas proposals I've seen involve throwing part of the Kansas City metro area into the same district as the entire western half of the state to eliminate any chance of a non-Republican getting elected.

I'm an Arizona native. I listened to the Senate impeachment proceedings last night on the radio. What troubles me the most about this was that the hearing itself included no substantive discussion of the allegations. Democrats tried in vein to ask about the events but there were but 6 of them and the Republican super-majority silenced all substantive debate and discussion to get its way. .

meat0918: I just had my county government gerrymander and compartmentalize the liberal parts of the county into one district despite not having anything else in common, and spread the conservative areas of the other 4 seats to solidify their hold on the county, so.. big angry kick.


I really, really, REALLY hate shiat like that. Gerrymandering is essential to the semi-permanent incumbency our kleptocratic political class depends on.

FTA:
"Andrei Cherny, chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, called the impeachment vote "a historic abuse of power without parallel in modern American history."

Just give it a week, Mr. Cherny, the GOP will offer a parallel.

yert: hawcian: whatever you call people in Arizona

Arizombians?

If that were the word, we'd all starve to death.

/No braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaainssssssssss...

smitty04: Gerrymander
[pajamasmedia.com image 574x612]


What the fark is that? No, really. What the fark is that?

i thought Gerrymandering was illegal or unconstitutional or something. How it this still legal?