Letters We Wish We'd Written Dept.

In today's once-great Washington Post Kaplan Daily, a reader writes to comment on the recent action by Rethuglicans in the Virginia Senate to do some redistricting hanky-panky:

No doubt Virginia Senate Republicans consider themselves brilliant political tacticians after seizing the Inauguration Day absence of a Democrat in the evenly divided chamber to force through a redistricting plan highly favorable to their party. But it also exposed a contempt for the legitimate redistricting process and their insecurities about Virginia voter preferences.

The concept of public interest was a small but necessary sacrifice to ensure the perpetuation of the GOP’s preeminence in Virginia politics. Apparently skeptical of its continuing appeal, the party is pursuing off-cycle realignment to achieve what it couldn’t at the polls.

Ironically, the strategy illustrates why the GOP has cause to worry. A party that values its power more highly than the interests of those it was elected to serve can’t be attractive for long. The House of Delegates and the governor should prevent this bill from becoming law.

James A. Lindsay Jr., Arlington

"A party that values its power more highly than the interests of those it was elected to serve can't be attractive for long." That's it in a =ahem= nut-shell. Well said, sir.

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Cheat 'Em, Cont'd.

The Virginia State Senate is split evenly 20 - 20 between Dems and Rethugs...at least for now. Yesterday, while 79 year-old African-American State Sen. Henry Marsh was attending President Obama's historic second inauguration, the Rethuglican Senators, having a temporary one vote majority, rammed through a redistricting bill that would give them greater advantages, and likely cost one Democratic State Senator his job.

From playing with voter suppression laws to gerrymandering districts to their advantage, the Rethuglicans in State legislatures are hoping to achieve what they can't seem to win at the ballot box. It's symbolic of their deep anti-democratic, authoritarian make-up, and it should anger all Americans who believe in fair play and justice.