utbagpiper
Banned
Forgive this somewhat off-topic post.
Seems the "non-partisan" redistricting folks had their favored congressional and legislative district boundary maps drawn by...a high level operative for the Democrat Party of Utah.
I certainly do not want to bring partisan politics into RKBA; I know we have grassroots supporters of RKBA from across the political spectrum.
But I also recognize that while no party is perfect (or even really very good) on RKBA, we do need to be aware of how partisan politics can affect our rights. I wish both the Democrats and the Republicans were so committed to RKBA that they worked to outdo each other in protecting and advancing our rights, giving the Libertarians, Constitution Party, and other 3rd parties a run for their money on the issue. But the fact is, the majority in party in Utah, representing the general will and culture of the majority of Utah voters has been better on RKBA than has the minority party which represents mostly a small minority of inner city dwellers in downtown SLC. (Those who have been around a while might recall that it was originally an attempt by SLC to more or less ban lawful possession of guns--ala NYC--that lead to the legislature enacting Statewide gun law preemption many moons ago.)
In light of these facts, I believe that any attempt to remove power from our elected officials and invest that power into an unelected, unaccountable body--by whatever name--is to place RKBA at risk. (Removing power from government officials and returning it to the people ala l/Libertarianism is a different subject altogether.)
While I have long believed that there is no such thing as a "non-partisan" (or more importantly, unbiased) redistricting committee, this is really beyond the pale. And it demonstrates why I oppose so called "independent" or "non-partisan" redistricting or ethics or other commissions who would exercise authority over our elected legislature.
No doubt, the GOP is far from perfect. Ditto the Democrats. But at least when elected officials misbehave we can vote them out of office. What do we do with un-elected officials who wield serious power and them misbehave? Think of the RKBA problems we've had for years with the State's higher education system. Unelected, mostly unaccountable officials on the board of regents, boards of trustee, and college presidents.
Charles
From a couple of days ago...
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=17359688
"Just a day earlier, lawmakers learned that maps presented by Fair Boundaries, the group behind a failed initiative to create an independent redistricting commission, were produced by a state Democratic Party adviser."
And from this morning:
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=17345592
said Glenn Wright, a board member of Fair Boundaries, the group behind the failed ballot initiative to create an independent redistricting process.
Wright said he deliberately did not disclose that Todd Taylor, the Democrats' longtime executive director and now a senior adviser, drew the maps with party software, using the group's guidelines.
"Certainly, the fact that the Democratic Party was drawing it for us was going to cause some controversy," Wright said. "I wasn't volunteering any information that I didn't need to volunteer."
Seems the "non-partisan" redistricting folks had their favored congressional and legislative district boundary maps drawn by...a high level operative for the Democrat Party of Utah.
I certainly do not want to bring partisan politics into RKBA; I know we have grassroots supporters of RKBA from across the political spectrum.
But I also recognize that while no party is perfect (or even really very good) on RKBA, we do need to be aware of how partisan politics can affect our rights. I wish both the Democrats and the Republicans were so committed to RKBA that they worked to outdo each other in protecting and advancing our rights, giving the Libertarians, Constitution Party, and other 3rd parties a run for their money on the issue. But the fact is, the majority in party in Utah, representing the general will and culture of the majority of Utah voters has been better on RKBA than has the minority party which represents mostly a small minority of inner city dwellers in downtown SLC. (Those who have been around a while might recall that it was originally an attempt by SLC to more or less ban lawful possession of guns--ala NYC--that lead to the legislature enacting Statewide gun law preemption many moons ago.)
In light of these facts, I believe that any attempt to remove power from our elected officials and invest that power into an unelected, unaccountable body--by whatever name--is to place RKBA at risk. (Removing power from government officials and returning it to the people ala l/Libertarianism is a different subject altogether.)
While I have long believed that there is no such thing as a "non-partisan" (or more importantly, unbiased) redistricting committee, this is really beyond the pale. And it demonstrates why I oppose so called "independent" or "non-partisan" redistricting or ethics or other commissions who would exercise authority over our elected legislature.
No doubt, the GOP is far from perfect. Ditto the Democrats. But at least when elected officials misbehave we can vote them out of office. What do we do with un-elected officials who wield serious power and them misbehave? Think of the RKBA problems we've had for years with the State's higher education system. Unelected, mostly unaccountable officials on the board of regents, boards of trustee, and college presidents.
Charles
From a couple of days ago...
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=17359688
"Just a day earlier, lawmakers learned that maps presented by Fair Boundaries, the group behind a failed initiative to create an independent redistricting commission, were produced by a state Democratic Party adviser."
And from this morning:
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=17345592
said Glenn Wright, a board member of Fair Boundaries, the group behind the failed ballot initiative to create an independent redistricting process.
Wright said he deliberately did not disclose that Todd Taylor, the Democrats' longtime executive director and now a senior adviser, drew the maps with party software, using the group's guidelines.
"Certainly, the fact that the Democratic Party was drawing it for us was going to cause some controversy," Wright said. "I wasn't volunteering any information that I didn't need to volunteer."
