I’ll admit it. I was against changing how we did our redistricting. Perhaps it was fear of change, but ultimately, it didn’t turn out that badly. California has largely sorted itself politically anyway, with progressives on the coast, and more conservative voters inland. Gerrymandering can’t change that, but at the margins, differences can be made.

And while there wasn’t a whole lot of turnover after the 2010 census redistricting that was the first under our new redistricting system, there were a handful of districts that became more competitive. Cook puts the following districts as “competitive”:

Now, that’s just 9 of the 53 California districts that can even be considered competitive. I suppose you never know what will happen given the craziness of the last election and the current administration, but let’s just go with this list.

I actually think Schwarzenegger means well here. Gerrymandering is a problem, to the extent that we have not already sorted ourselves. Where the problem is really acute, and Republicans have drawn themselves outlandishly favorable maps, it will make a difference. And so for that, this is a worthwhile effort.

To be clear, the reason Congress is worse than herpes goes far deeper than gerrymandering. But if Arnold is only going to take on one thing, there are probably worse uses of his time than this.

Well, that went over well in Skopje

by Brian Leubitz

US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher is one of the most significant people in the House of Representatives. Or at least that’s what the Google translate says of the Albanian text from the video below, where the OC Republican says that Macedonia is not a country. It’s in Albanian, so, there’s that.

From Vision Plus Albania (via Google Translate)

US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher is one of the most significant people in the House of Representatives. As a former aide to President Reagan, Mr. Rohrabacher likes to give a jolt of internal policies and external. He expects enthusiastically carrying out such a policy by the new President of Vizion Plus Trump.Kamera was within the Congress, Mr. Rohrabacher’s office a few days after he sent a letter to Serbian President Nikolic, in which, sought to examine the possibility of exchange of territories in the north of Kosovo as the best solution. Rohrabacher goes further: Let’s change the boundaries of Macedonia.

And from the UK Independent:

“Kosovars and Albanians from Macedonia should be part of Kosovo and the rest of Macedonia should be part of Bulgaria or any other country to which they believe they are related,” he told Albanian TV channel, Vizion Plus. “The idea is to keep Macedonia alive because someone 30 years ago decided it is a configuration that should come out of the dismantling of Yugoslavia, does not lead to an explanation that this idea is still held.”

I’ll not claim to be an expert on the Balkans, but I am confident that there is, in fact, a Macedonian people that speak Macedonian. And, for some reason, they don’t take kindly to American Congressmen saying that they shouldn’t exist:

“His expressed views generated immense anxiety regarding Macedonia and the region,” [the Macedonian government] said in a statement. “They inflame nationalist rhetoric in the neighbouring regions, taking us back into the past. We believe that the US State Department will adequately remove any doubt about the stated positions and will affirm its policy towards Macedonia and the Balkans.”

Described by Republican Senator John McCain as one of the party’s “lunatic fringe”, Mr Rohrabacher is a staunch defender of Russia. In the past he has called accusations of human rights abuses in the country, “baloney”.

And yes, Rohrabacher is down with Putin’s Russia. Click the read more button to see a fun video of a tussle between Joe Scarborough and ol’ Dana where he thinks that Putin is just the strong man we need to help defeat terrorism, just like our old friend Stalin. Continue reading Dana Rohrabacher: Macedonia “is not a country” →