Virginia Republicans Give Blacks the Finger on MLK Day

The Virginia state senate is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, 20-20. Republicans really hate this, but what can they do? Answer: wait for a Democratic state senator to be absent and jam through a mid-decade redistricting plan that switches one seat from D to R by creating a new pack-and-crack majority black district just south of Richmond. The vote was 20-19.

But wait! That’s not all. The deed was done on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and at the end of the session Republicans adjourned in memory of Confederate general Stonewall Jackson, whose birthday is today.

On motion of Senator Stosch, the Senate adjourned in memory or General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson at 4:10 p.m. to convene Tuesday, January 22, 2013 at 12 m.