Armando is right in his
comment today:
Democratic controlled states must retaliate [against the DeLay redistricting and today's LULAC v. Perry decision] by doing their own redistricting. It is distasteful but what else can Democrats do?
So Frist & Co. threatened the "nuclear option" in the Senate? Let's see how they like the possibility of redistricting in every state any time the legislature flips sides. It's the ultimate in political nuclear warfare, and we're going to see it. And I think it's a good thing.
The relevant analyses by
Oscar Chamberlain,
Adam B., and
oldskooldem are identical: there is no constitutional limit on the number of times a state can redistrict (and darned few limits on gerrymandering).
Given that, there is enormous power in every Democratic state legislature starting the process next year, threatening to marginalize its Republicans. Because you can be sure that the Republicans will continue to try to redistrict the states under their thumb.
The only way to have a fair redistricting system is a national set of standards, best imposed by the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act but backed up by the threat of mutual assured destruction in state after state. And those of us who advocate offensive political weaponry can call ourselves the Peacemakers...