Politics: Traditional Minorities

One way you can tell if Rep. Tom DeLay is being deceitful is by checking his lips. If they're moving, he's probably screwing you. The latest example comes in the form of Mr. DeLay's plan for redistricting Texas. As Democrat Martin Frost said, "It's very clear what Tom DeLay is trying to do. He is trying to eliminate five Democratic congressmen from office while at the same time not increasing the number of Hispanics and the numbers of blacks in office."

But DeLay's folks had an answer for that. Apparently, DeLay's plan targets traditionally under-represented groups, though the logic isn't quite there.

[Jim Ellis, who heads DeLay's Americans For Republican Majority political action committee] said DeLay's office has submitted several maps to state lawmakers. He said others have submitted maps as well. He disputed Frost's assessment of the map and said it does create another minority district.

"There's no final map on any of this, but we believe the court map is deficient because it under-represents Hispanics and African-Americans and Republicans. That's what we're trying to fix," Ellis said.

I'm excited to see DeLay's plan to boost representation of Republicans, as well as African-Americans and Hispanics.