Democrats Won't Get Justice Memo: Texans Say Document Could Embarrass GOP (Thanks to Gary Denton for the heads-up!!)
Wow, I am shocked- SHOCKED!!!- that political appointees in the Justice Department may have played a role in the Texas redistricting clusterf**k. Whodathunkit??
The Justice Department has formally refused a demand from Texas Democrats to release a lengthy internal memo about a Republican redistricting plan that experts believe could produce a GOP gain of as many as seven House seats in that state later this year, according to documents and officials.
The internal legal opinion, which includes a 73-page narrative and 1,750 pages of accompanying documents, is eagerly sought by 14 Democratic House members from Texas as part of their attempt to halt the GOP redistricting. The new voting map was enacted in October by the Republican-controlled Texas legislature after months of conflict, and Attorney General John D. Ashcroft cleared it in December.
The Justice Department notified the Texas lawmakers last week that it would not release internal documents on the case because they contain "predecisional deliberative material" that is exempt from public information laws, according to a copy of the letter.
"Predecisional deliberative material"? Isn't that lawyerly doubletalk for premature ejaculation? Of course, the political hacks are afraid of being embarrassed, as well they should be. Some of these folks are likely in it up to their eyeballs, and while I seriously doubt that anything illegal occurred, it is not unthinkable that there are some enbarrassing hijinks that might require an explanation.
Realistically, unless the goal of Democrats is to merely embarrass Republicans, this whole enterprise will prove rather pointless. The reality is that Republicans have the numbers in Texas. They are going to win this battle. The challenge for Texas Democrats is to formualte a strategy to win back our state. It certainly will not be easy, but lest we forget, Democrats controlled Texas poltics not all that long ago. It could (and should) happen again.
