I’m thinking of holding a little election, allowing people to vote on which American state is the most comically insane. The three nominees are easy: Florida, California, and Texas.
Florida would have been the runaway vote getter before this year, due in large part to fiascos like the 2000 election “recount” and the Elian Gonzales mess. California, of course, would be the frontrunner right now because of the recall election and the embarrassing circus surrounding the 155 gubernatorial candidates.
But let’s not forget our friends down in Texas, where the Legislature is still tied up due to the conflict surrounding Tom DeLay’s redistricting scheme and the 11 Democrats on the lam to deny the state Senate a quorum.
In case you’ve been wondering what’s been happening lately down in the Lone Star State — don’t lie, I know you’re curious — there was a little flurry of activity late last week.
Dems from the state Senate, who are now calling themselves “The Texas 11,” are still in New Mexico, vowing to stay as long as it takes. Gov. Rick Perry’s second “special session,” devoted exclusively to voting on DeLay’s scheme, is still underway.
The one thing that was missing from the fun were dueling lawsuits. They took care of that little oversight on Thursday.
The Texas 11 and Gov. Perry’s administration traded state lawsuits last week, each accusing the other of breaking the law during the redistricting flap. The Dems charged Perry with unlawfully trying to seize them and bring them back to the Legislature, while the GOP filed suit to force the Dems to return.
Since that approach doesn’t appear likely to make this any better, the 11 Dems also floated a new idea. Isn’t there someone who liked to brag about bringing Democrats and Republicans together in the Texas Legislature? Someone who boasted at the 2000 GOP convention that in Texas he “worked with Republicans and Democrats to get things done”? Someone who happened to already be in Texas for a month-long vacation?
Yes, Texas Dems are reaching out to George W. Bush to help settle the redistricting dispute. In an effort that belongs in the snowball’s-chance-in-hell category, the Texas 11 sent a letter to the president at his ranch to ask him to get involved in brining this matter to a halt.
“Clearly you recognize the increasing significance of the Hispanic and African American vote in national elections because you sought our help in Texas,” the senators said in their letter. “Early on, you vowed to unite, not divide. Today your Texas successors threaten to divide us as never before in our state’s history. This flies in the face of your national Latino outreach programs. With all due respect, Mr. President, you cannot have it both ways.”
Naturally, the White House said the president would not get involved, calling this “a matter that the state of Texas is addressing.”
Who says politics in August is boring?