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For 119 years, Democrats controlled the Texas
Legislature. For 119 years, the Republican Party was the minority party.
Now the shoe is on the other foot, for the first time Republicans
control the Texas Legislature. This month, the nasty issue of redistricting
came up in the State of Texas. The Republicans were set to ramrod a plan
through the House, using their newfound control to advance the agenda of
Tom Delay and the Republican Party. The issue turned so nasty that the
Democrats knew they did not have the votes to stop the Republican plan.
If the legislature continued with its business, the Republicans, for the
first time in 119 years, would redistrict the state giving Republicans
an advantage--giving the Republican Party an opportunity to elect
Republicans over Democrats. Doomed to failure, the Democrats bolted, they
left Texas for Okalahoma. By leaving, the Democrats crippled the
legislature—without the Democrats, the legislature lacked a quorum and
could not do its business. The Democrats stayed away long enough causing
the republican redistricting plan to die for want of legislative action. In response, the Republican leaders dispatched
the Texas Rangers. The Republican leadership gave the Rangers direction
to find, and forcefully return, the Democrats. “The Republican Texas
Ranger Recoupment Plan” was designed to recover those wayward
Democrats, forcing them back so Republicans could push their plan
through the legislature. Of course, the Texas Ranger plan failed. The
Texas Rangers could not cross state lines, go to Okalahoma and retrieve
the AWOL Democrats. Eventually, just after the deadline to take action
on redistricting passed, the wayward Democrats boarded a bus, and
returned home. Victorious in their return, the Democrats knew their
revolution defeated the Republican plan. The redistricting plan proposed by Republicans
would cost the Democrats five house seats. The plan proposed by
Republicans was spearheaded by the Majority Leader of the US House of
Representatives—US Representative Tom Delay (a Texas Republican). A
conservative, Congressman Delay saw an opportunity to change the
political landscape in his home state. What Congressman Delay did not
see was the Democratic Defection—a defection derailing the Delay plan. The Democrats, while in exile, stayed at a
Holiday Inn in Okalahoma, ate at Denny’s and used their cell phones by
the pool to take calls. Upon their return, some voters held up signs
saying “welcome home heroes.” “We’ve weathered some troopers,
we've weathered a tornado, and we weathered Denny's," said
Representative Jim Dunnam, the group's leader. "No matter what
happens, democracy won." Did Democracy win? The Republicans were not interested in
compromise, they were not interested in fairness, and they were not
interested in the Democratic view on the redistricting issue. The
Republicans wanted Republicans in office. Republicans were wrong. The
Democratic Defection showed they were wrong. But what about the Democrats? Was their
defection a stand for Democracy, or was it a realization that they were
going to lose? Was the defection an action designed to thwart the
Democratic process? How many times, while Democrats were in control, did
they ramrod legislation through the Texas Legislature? Now that the shoe is on the other foot, can we
truly say Democrats defended Democracy, or are they now “sore
losers”? Although innovative, and bold, the Democratic Defection shut
the legislature down; they stopped the people’s business. The
Democrats are wrong. Democracy lost. Neither side conducted the
people’s business, neither side compromised; neither side took action
to do what is best for the people of Texas. The people lost. The New York Times
reported “Redistricting may not be dead yet this year. Gov. Rick
Perry, a Republican, could call a special session to address
redistricting.” Despite the defection, Democrats back at square one if
Govern Perry calls the special session—probably prepared to defect
again. What remains to be seen
is whether this defection will prompt compromise— If it does, Democracy
wins. If it does not, the Republicans win. Stuart James
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