The emails ordered released by a Federal Court on Thursday have received a great deal of attention in the media recently. What has received little to no attention are the emails (see page 18 of the emails)referencing Keith Gaddie(Professor of Political Science – Oklahoma University) , and the critical role Gaddie has played in Wisconsin and other states (Texas, Georgia, etc.) recently in the redistricting process. Gaddie is a renowned expert on the treatment of minority populations in redistricting, has consulted on numerous redistricting processes nationwide (particularly in southern tier states), and was a consulting expert in the 2002 Wisconsin redistricting with then Speaker Scott Jensen. Professor Gaddie has already been cited as an expert in the January 3 filing in Federal Court by Wisconsin Congressional Democrats against Congressional Republicans and the GAB. A review of Gaddie’s prior testimonies and writings, coupled with the Michael, Best and Friedrich emails, show his “expertise” may well be the basis for minority redistricting in Wisconsin – and its legal defense.
In a January, 2011 edition of the “Southern Political Report” Gaddie teamed up with his regular collaborator Charles S. Bullock III (University of Georgia) in a piece that previewed a GOP strategy for 2011 redistricting. The strategy they cite leads to a compacting of minority districts (primarily Hispanic) in southern states, minimizing their influence, as a trade-off for increased Republican concentration in surrounding districts:
”Republicans fully support initiatives to increase minority concentrations in selected districts since each time the minority percentage in one district increases, a concomitant decrease in minorities occurs in one or more adjacent districts. As nearby districts become whiter, they become more likely to elect Republicans.”
The effect is to “surround” the minority district with several of a “conservative” nature, leading to a net conservative gain. Gaddie is active in conservative “policy research,” contributing to American Enterprise Institute (AEI) publications and testimony regarding Voter Rights Act enforcement and minority representation. Gaddie was cited in a 2006 AEI submission by Fellow Edward Blum to the US Senate Judiciary. AEI was lobbying for Section 5 of the VRA to expire in 2006. Section 5 requires select southern states with historically high voter disenfranchisement history to obtain “preclearance” for election and redistricting plans from the US Department of Justice, to assure equal protection of minority voter rights under law. Gaddie had led a study which concluded :
“…there is no longer sufficient justification for the preclearance mandate. Greatly increased minority voter registration rates, minority voter turnout rates, and number of minority elected officials all indicate that the aim of the act has been fulfilled—voting rights and representation for minorities have solidified and section 5 should be allowed to expire.”
While the 2006 Congress eventually voted to continue the Section 5 practice, Gaddie is consistently cited in the final for opposing this minority protection. Indeed, his expertise aligns perfectly well with the recent GOP redistricting pattern and agenda.
Instead of seeking a true representation of the population, Gaddie gives GOP leadership like Fitzgerald the “tools” to manipulate the census data to further “compartmentalize” minority districts. They are then pared down to the lowest possible percentage of voter turnout utilizing a complex statistical equation (which puts a greater emphasis on voter turnout and population growth than representation) to rationalize under-representation (in this case 42.3% in Milwaukee, when the Federal standard is about 52%). Meanwhile, to compensate for a planned and programmed “minority majority” district, surrounding districts must then be drawn to compensate by making them more “Republican” than “tending Democratic.”
In December, 2011, Gaddie testified in Maryland to just such methodology. The emails from Michael, Best and Friedrich referencing Gaddie are consistent in showing this as an intentional strategy – and one they believe they are able to defend legally. The reason for gerrymandering this way is in actually “compartmentalizing” these minority districts, to give them the appearance of complying with redistricting precedent. The reality, sadly, is they are used to justify expanding conservative majorities surrounding these “minority majority” districts; instead of representing the natural population growth and change reflected in the census.
In retaining Professor Gaddie, the GOP knew what they were getting, and what they were doing. The method in which they obtained co-operation from certain Hispanic voter groups in reconciling this process is reprehensible – and the emails show it to be intentional. This is collusion – to defraud and hide their true agenda from the people of Wisconsin in this process. Professor Ronald Keith Gaddie has given them the tools they needed, and he will likely be a key witness for the GOP if the case is heard in court; just as he has in many other states for the GOP.
Badger Democracy has submitted an Open Records Request with Senator and Representative Fitzgerald(s) to explain the amount of taxpayer money Keith Gaddie has been paid in this fraud.
And here we go again in Wisconsin…of idiots and ideologues
Is there a better processional for the parade of idiots and ideologues in the 2013 Legislative Session? The People who were here long before Wisconsin became a state were led by visionaries that understood the motivation of a white man corrupt with power.
A Mining Bill is poised to pass out of both committees this week, on the fast track to a swift vote within weeks. A bill which would mean devastation to one of the world’s great supplies of freshwater. Water which means life not only to an indigenous people, but those who have since settled and call the Bad River watershed and Lake Superior Basin home. But damn the torpedoes, science, and those inconvenient geological facts…full speed ahead Mr. and Ms. Chairman/Woman, we have (paying) corporate constituents to serve.
The only hope for defeat of this bill lies in the Republican-controlled Senate, and the possibility that four of its members still listen to a little voice most of us hear as a conscience. Dale Schultz, Mike Ellis, Robert Cowles, and Luther Olsen may be the only sane Republicans left in this biennial assemblage of insanity we still call a “Legislature.” This writer holds out hope that the smokescreen of empty jobs promises is wearing thin in a state moving closer to honorable entry into socio-economic “Dixie”…and further away from its progressive roots.
Has there been a time in our state’s recent history which more closely resembles oligarchy than democracy? The unholy triumvirate of Walker, Fitzgerald, and Vos…let’s face it, in 2010 Jeff Fitzgerald was nothing but a figurehead. Vos is, and has been pulling the strings all along. I digress. This triumvirate has the state government in lockdown, controlling the message in and out, controlling debate, the media, and god forbid anyone should sing in the Capitol. Every moment of every day is a campaign. Public policy is built on a campaign strategy, and supported by money. Lots of it. If you are on the right (literally) side, the money pool is almost unlimited. If you are on the wrong side…well, money doesn’t follow losers. And no money, no access.
Even the Capitol press corps is being kept on a short leash, with passes and access being strictly controlled by the powerful few. Say the wrong thing, write the story the wrong way, come across as the least bit partisan (read – report what we tell you to), and no access for you. End of story, end of job as a Capitol correspondent. This sort of power concentration is rare in Wisconsin. Scott Walker has power, and he is using it.
Walker is raising unprecedented amounts of money, and spending a lot of it on his legal defense fund. Let’s all be honest here…something stinks about the way Walker has campaigned, raised money, and conducted his business in and out of office. His administration is loaded with insiders, fixers, and power mongers. No interest in governing, just power and money. Crooks, liars, sharks. The smart money is that there is something illegal here…but that same money doubts the political will of a Milwaukee County DA to take on the Walker machine. But the Feds? Reminds me of something…
Richard Nixon in 1972. Re-elected, destroying McGovern in a landslide. Everyone knew, but few said it, that Richard Milhous Nixon was a crook. The media knew – but sat on the story until after the election. Once there was blood in the water, the media went in for the kill. Before Watergate, Nixon was untouchable, and had concentrated more power than almost any other president in history. The scary part is, once the scab was ripped off, no one knew how bad the wound was, or how long it would take to heal. Maybe it never has…and maybe we failed to learn the lessons of too much power in the hands of a man like Nixon…or Scott Walker. And so here we go again…in Wisconsin.
There is some light, in this dark time of plutocracy. There are voices rising above the din, who don’t rely on a Capitol press pass. We are getting one back tomorrow. John “Sly” Sylvester is back on the air Monday, February 4th from 3 – 6:30 pm. Sly will be on one of the last remaining locally owned and independent stations in the entire country – 93.7FM WEKZ. He’ll now have a three state reach – Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa. Sly will also be contributing to the good fight against Democrats who are mere posers in our neighboring states – like Rahm “NAFTA, TIF King, Kill Public Schools” Emanuel, and Pat “screw the pension fund” Quinn. Station link to listen live here.
I’ll be listening. Why? Because in this time of incredible propaganda, Sly is honest about what he says and believes. He’ll question and confront both Republicans and Democrats who turn their back on Wisconsin working families. And that is important.
The new debate on economics and education will continue to demonize teachers and other public employees. It will perpetuate the myth of impending fiscal doom to preserve the wealth of those paying to spread that myth. Scott Walker will continue to do what Sitting Bull warned about in 1877: “They take their tithes from the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule.” It is voices like Sly’s we need to call out the Walkers, Fitzes, Vos’ Emanuels, Ryans, and Johnsons of our time for what and who they are. Greedy, power-hungry, sharks and fixers who are out for blood. The life blood of Wisconsin – its people and resources in exchange for money and power.
A final quote before sign-off…a warning shot across the bow of our fragile democracy:
No, that was not from a Walker secret conversation with Robin Vos.
It was Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels, 1935 propaganda pamphlet, quoted in Vol. I “Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression,” US Government Printing Office 1946
Vigilance. Always vigilance.
Share this:
Like this:
Posted by Badger Democracy on February 3, 2013
http://bdgrdemocracy.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/and-here-we-go-again-in-wisconsin-of-idiots-and-ideologues/