Tuesday, August 01, 2006

The Incredible Shrinking State Legislature

Sounds like the State Legislature is trying to pull an Alice, and is about to have a taste of the cake that says "Eat Me"... or is it have a sip from the vial that says "Drink Me?" I can't remember, but suffice it to say that if I see Don Walko playing a bizarre variation on croquet with an anthropomorphised deck of cards or Michael Diven disappearing behind his own smile, I'm going to up my meds by at least half.

Anywho, I'm of mixed feelings about shrinking the size of the Legislature. On the one hand, I recognize the necessity of providing ample oportunity for citizens to be represented by their government and the further necessity to provide a multiplicity of varying viewpoints in the policy-making process.

On the other hand, I believe that politicians should generally be imprisoned shortly after taking their oath of office, in the name of expediency.

Obviously the biggest problem in any change of legislative districts is going to be how the Commonwealth draws the lines. Certain populations (Democrat/Republican; White/Black; Rich/Poor) will obviously be at risk of being excluded and/or have their votes minimized. Gerrymandering isn't just advocating for the elimination of television.

No, wait, that's Jerry Mander, my bad.

Anyway, I don't really buy it: no one really advocates for the elimination of his/her own job, let alone their own gravy train.

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