The Bush Administration has no shame.  Once again, they've taken a government agency and twisted it into an arm of the RNC.  This time it's the DOJ and their intervention in Alabama's election system.  Read today's NY Times Editorial to learn about the most recent potential voter disenfranchisement by Republicans.

Apparently there is no situation--or agency--this administration won't politicize.

Remember George Deutsch, the 24 year-old "Bush-Cheney '04" campaign staffer that was assigned to NASA?  He spent a year terrorizing scientists and demanding changes to their scientific reports.  The problem?  He didn't know anything about science.  In fact, he didn't even have a college degree.  His only qualification was a few months of propagandizing on the president's campaign trail--a trait that he brought along to NASA.  As a political appointee, Mr. Deutsch claimed that his job "was to make the president look good."

An ancient Chinese proverb states: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step."  Fortunately, Ralph Reed's first step towards the presidency went backwards.

Once a power broker in the evangelical movement, Reed's projected political ascendancy was easy to chart.  The first stop was Lt. Governor of Georgia--a demotion in responsibility but a necessary step-ladder for his political ambitions.  After dutifully serving his four-year term, Reed would've been perfectly positioned to succeed term-limited Gov. Sonny Perdue.  (Assuming, for the moment, that Perdue is re-elected in 2006.  If not, Reed would've been the likely challenger to a Democratic incumbent.)  Once Chief Executive in Georgia, Reed would've had a prominent platform to promote his legislative agenda, consolidate evangelical support and plan a run for the presidency.  Unlike the failed campaigns of Pat Robertson, Gov. Reed would've had a legislative track record to accompany his roots in the Christian Coalition.

But Reed's blueprint has been officially scuttled by Georgia voters.  Republicans, no less.

The Supreme Court's decision to uphold Tom Delay's gerrymandering of Texas is a window of opportunity for reformers.  

The case, League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, has brought exposure that money simply can't buy.  Nonpartisan organizations finally have an audience for their message that self-serving redistricting plans inflict irreparable harm on our political system.  An effective national campaign could ignite a backlash of legislation from states that want to avoid the bitter partisan battle witnessed in Texas.

There is recent precedent for a state backlash.  Last year, in Kelo v. City of New London, the Supreme Court declared that local governments had the right to seize private property for economic development.  The national outcry resulted in state legislatures specifically banning the use of eminent domain for economic purposes.