I have urged Gov. Newsom in the strongest terms to put a redistricting initiative on the next available State ballot. My understanding from the news is that it’s not possible to do this in California (the way it is in Texas) without the voters’ express approval. However, based on my research, this is not so much a matter of law so much as of custom.
In martial arts there is an esteemed maxim: No first attack. It is morally repugnant to utilize one’s martial skills unless severely provoked. However, once the provocation occurs, then the gloves come off (so to speak), and the fighter is permitted to demolish his opponent—if he can.
In this case, the provocation has come from the State of Texas, with Greg Abbott’s threat to redistrict his state before the 2030 census. As a Democratic congressman from Illinois observed, “Two can play that game.” A Texas Democratic State representative, John Bucy, noted, “[S]ometimes, the only way to uphold your oath is to refuse to play along with a rigged game.”
I should hope that everyone agrees that Gov. Newsom is entitled to do this, given the situation in Texas, which indeed is a rigged game. You may love or hate Newsom; you may be a liberal Democrat or a MAGA Republican, or neither. Whatever, we all have to obey the same rules of the road. Even Trump fans (if they’re honest) will admit that Trump is playing the hardest political hardball we’ve ever seen in our lives. If you’re MAGA, you welcome that. But if you are, please grant that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and the same weapons Trump wields can be used against him and his Republicans.
I try, in my comments on this blog, not to wander too far from our local politics, and I don’t, unless there’s a direct connection. In this case, there is. What Abbott and the MAGAs in general are exhibiting is exactly the same intolerance and cancel culture they accuse the left of doing. I loathe the left, as exemplified locally by Fife, Price and Bas, for that reason; I loathe the right for the same reason. I’ve tried to be a voice of reasonable moderation and I will continue to be. I wouldn’t mind if all the firebrand MAGAs and all the firebrand wokes were uplifted into a flying saucer and then taken to parts unknown in the Universe, never to be heard from again. Oakland and California and America would be better off.
As of this morning (Tuesday), Sacramento news media report that Newsom is “eying a special election in November” for the redistricting effort, adding that Legislative “Democrats seemed ready to follow the governor's direction despite the tight timeline, cost, and legal questions behind the effort.” I don’t know what this developing split between Red and Blue states means for the future, but it does seem like the fissure between Left and Right is widening.
Steve Heimoff