Not so sure comparing the legislature's redistricting session to the chaos of post-Katrina New Orleans was the best way to go there, Clancy. Aside from the fact that some people may find it insensitive, it also doesn't quite scan logically. Rather than flood victims fighting for survival, politicians fighting over a reduced apportionment draws more closely to images of kindergarteners screaming at each other over who gets the rest of the cookies.
That doesn't mean it's inappropriate to bring the storm into this conversation. I'm not sure that Louisiana wouldn't have lost a congressional seat regardless but certainly we can attribute the accelerated ascendancy of Republican political power within the state to demographic shifts wrought by the flood.
Anyway, whatever metaphor helps you visualize what's happening, it's going to be an ugly one. At the very end of this column DuBos reminds us that whatever plan squeezes through will still need to be approved by the Justice Department to ensure that it is in compliance with the Voting Rights Act. I can't help but wonder what weight Kostelka's "little lady" comment might bear on that process.
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