From: Steve Schoettmer
Elizabethtown
I think I am beginning to understand why the Republican party is trying to ban all kinds of classic books. The book that currently comes to mind is “Animal Farm” by George Orwell.
Vice President J.D. Vance was in Indiana the other day to try and get Hoosier Republicans to further gerrymander the state. They want to take the two remaining Democratically controlled districts and put them into the Republican column. This is the same thing that Texas Republicans are trying to do.
The Republican Party will say that it’s OK because both sides do it. This is partially true, as we can see across the border in Illinois. In many other Democratic states, even those with Democratic supermajorities, independent non-partisan commissions draw the lines. California, Washington, and New York are three examples of this reform in action.
I understand the sentiment of these Democratic states. I, too, want fair districts. I am vehemently opposed to them doing this right now, though. The Republican-controlled states are grossly and purposefully trying to warp the states they currently control to erode the voting rights of Democrats. I would have preferred a clause in the Democratically controlled state laws which put the independent non-partisan commissions into effect only after a national non-gerrymandering law was passed.
To protect our democracy, Democrats cannot unilaterally disarm.
Now, back to “Animal Farm.” In the book, the pigs were trying to take over the farm. Every morning, all the animals would stand in the yard and read their credo that was written onto the side of the barn. It simply read, “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL.”
I am not trying to give out any spoilers here, but eventually the pigs do take over. After their takeover, all the animals would still show up outside the barn each morning and read the sign together. Only now it read:
“ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.”
If we do a simple mental exercise and replace the animals with people and the pigs with Republican legislators, our barn will read:
“All voters are equal. But some voters are more equal than others.”
