http://wichitaliberty.org/raj-goyle/raj-goyle-lecturer-wichita-state-university-sporadic/

He and his co-authors arrived at that figure by assuming that the number of workplace detentions represented the U.S.’s best efforts at deporting illegalaliens caught working at job sites. Obvious to anyone who’s been following this issue, anyone who makes that assumption isn’t even trying to be intellectually honest.

Just to clarify, what baseline assumptions would you make instead concerning the “best efforts” to deport the undocumented?

The shape of congressional [legislative] districts in Kansas would be the handiwork of the Kansas legislature. While DeLay was involved in reshaping Texas districts to suit Republican ends, trying to blame DeLay for what Kansas did is pretty farfetched.

Uh, as we say in the midwest, “duh,” which is why I wasn’t doing any such thing. My point was that while Abhi thinks this district in Kansas is ridiculous looking, it actually isn’t, relatively speaking — the districts in Texas are, by comparison, much worse (hence the link to the Texas district map). And that’s directly relevant to the particular point made by Abhi.

And keep in mind, many states believe that in order to keep in line with the Voting Rights Act, they have to draw districts that will ensure at least one black (or in some cases Latino) member of Congress. This has the result cutting black voters off from whites, which limits the need for each side to reach out to the other.

I’m actually not sure if you mean to suggest this, but the Voting Rights Act is not the only or even the principal explanation for why and how most of these districts get drawn the way they do. (And in fact, the Supreme Court today held that the Texas map is not fully compliant with the VRA.) I think it’s fair to say that partisan advantage and incumbency protection are still the driving forces — the Voting Rights Act simply adds one additional constraint, and if those other factors played less of a role, we might well see very different district boundaries that would still be VRA-compliant.

Gotcha – but I still don’t see the point in bringing up DeLay or Jindal when discussing Goyle’s candidacy.

The shape of congressional districts in Kansas would be the handiwork of the Kansas legislature. While DeLay was involved in reshaping Texas districts to suit Republican ends, trying to blame DeLay for what Kansas did is pretty farfetched. And keep in mind, many states believe that in order to keep in line with the Voting Rights Act, they have to draw districts that will ensure at least one black (or in some cases Latino) member of Congress. This has the result cutting black voters off from whites, which limits the need for each side to reach out to the other.

Still, crossing my fingers that he wins, and finally brings some real brownness to the House (Bobby Jindal does not count).

Hmm… if black folks can issue a “ghetto pass” for those who are “authentically black” or “down with the peeps”, what do Indians hand out? Come one now – if you want to grab a piece of the grievances pie, you have to come up with something clever.