REDistricting

Another Cup of WTF!

“Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.” - Ambrose Bierce

One of the most consistent things about President Trump is his ability to say on message (lies). He will go on and on and on about how great everything is under his leadership. The booming economy. The overwhelming victory against Iran. The surge in respect that we have achieved around the world. Falling gas prices and so on. He’s extremely firm and on point when it comes to boasting about these non-existent achievements, but behind this facade he’s also fully aware that he’s in trouble when it comes to the midterm elections in November. That realization is why he and his political minions started pressuring Republican state leaders to redraw congressional maps to create red districts out of blue ones.

Redrawing congressional districts isn’t new, but it typically takes place after an end of decade census takes place and it’s purpose is to make adjustments based on the changes in populations. This mid-decade redistricting nonsense is based solely on politics and was initiated by Donald Trump towards Texas this past July. It has now lead to several states, both red and blue, moving the political goalposts through mid-decade redistricting efforts. At the moment it appears to working in favor of the Republicans. Congressional districts have been redrawn in several red states and a number of seats will most likely be added to the slim margin that Republicans currently enjoy. At the same time the counter-redistricting efforts of Democrats have been handed recent judicial defeats. The Supreme Court handed down a decision against a Black-majority district in Louisiana which opened the door for other southern states to eliminate districts with minority populations. Another decision by the Supreme Court in Virginia invalidated a Democrat redistricting plan that was approved by the voters in that state.

This is still an ongoing situation and I expect many more twists and turns before November rolls around. Unfortunately, I also expect that this will be the new normal moving forward. I believe that moving forward whichever party holds the reigns of power will do whatever they can to adjust, pivot and rig the game in order to maintain control. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could simply form a more perfect union and elect or re-elect our leaders based on their quality of performance in governing rather than their quality of performance in manipulating the game?

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

To be honest, I’m not very happy with this cartoon. There are just some days where you get an idea and you’re very happy with it and then as you proceed the luster seems to fade and you begin to second guess everything. That’s what happened here.

I wanted to comment on the redistricting efforts across the nation and I was pleased because I had come up with an image that wasn’t of a political nature. It wasn’t Trump or a Republican elephant or Democrat donkey. It was a kid coloring. I liked that. I also liked the idea of adding in a jab about the insanity of gas prices.

What began to bother me as I moved forward was that the imagery seemed a little too lighthearted for the issue. I was using a cute kid coloring a picture to express my dismay at our nation and the politics of cheating to win. A kid with a crayon should have been a kid with a bazooka. At least that’s where my abundance of over analyzation and self-doubt were taking me as I worked on this. The good news is this (and it’s always this), I get another blank sheet of paper in front of me today and another turn at bat. That’s one of the best things about this gig. I get a new and different opportunity to say something and improve my skills every day.

Final drawing…

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