Both parties are not equally bad. Except for this.
"Your bad gerrymandering threatens to cancel out my righteous and justified gerrymandering"
Both-sidesism” is a cardinal sin online, and in 2025, on most issues, I firmly reject the assertion that Democrats and Republicans are somehow equally bad or equally at fault for the state of American politics and culture.
Except on this one issue, a classic example of political mutual-assured-destruction in which both parties game the system whenever they have to votes to do so, and there’s no sign of a ceasefire any time soon:
Texas Democrats on Monday prevented their state’s House of Representatives from moving forward, at least for now, with a redrawn congressional map sought by President Donald Trump to shore up Republicans’ 2026 midterm prospects as his political standing falters.
After dozens of Democrats left the state, the Republican-dominated House was unable to establish the quorum of lawmakers required to do business. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has made threats about removing members who are absent from their seats. Democrats counter that Abbott is using “smoke and mirrors” to assert legal authority he does not have.
The Republican-dominated House quickly issued civil arrest warrants for absent Democrats and Abbott ordered state troopers to help find and arrest them, but lawmakers physically outside Texas are beyond the jurisdiction of state authorities.
[…]
Beyond Texas, some Democrats want to leverage the fight.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential contender and outspoken Trump critic, welcomed Texas Democrats to Chicago on Sunday after having been in quiet talks with them for weeks. Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, another potential 2028 contender, held public events about the Texas fight before the quorum break.
“This is not just rigging the system in Texas,” Pritzker said Sunday night. “It’s about rigging the system against the rights of all Americans for years to come.”
I don’t begrudge Texas Democrats from doing whatever they have to do to stop this.
I do very much begrudge Texas Democrats for protesting against gerrymandering by fleeing to freaking Illinois:
In 2021, when Democrats worried the House might slip from their grasp, Illinois Democrats approached redistricting with surgical precision — eliminating two Republican congressional seats and reinforcing their own fortress in D.C.
How it changed: Illinois, which lost a seat due to population changes, went from having 13 Democrats and five Republicans in Congress to 14 Democrats and three Republicans.
This week, Pritzker left open the possibility of more map tweaking. Asked if Illinois would try to “counterbalance” what Texas might do, Pritzker said: “We have to see what they decide to do about Texas.”
We reached out to lawmakers on the redistricting committee to see if there’s any appetite for another round of map-making. No one responded. And a spokesman for Senate President Don Harmon told Capitol News’ Ben Szalinski, “That’s not something we’re pursuing.”
Redistricting “overreach” can be a risk, says Ryan Tolley, executive director of CHANGE Illinois, which supports fair mapping. He pointed to how Illinois lawmakers also carved up state legislative districts in southern Illinois, with the goal of favoring Democratic incumbents LaToya Greenwood and Jay Hoffman.
But the outcome backfired. Greenwood lost.
This is what the Illinois Congressional map looks like at the moment:
I was so captivated by districts 13, 15 and 17, it took me a while to realize how insanely the boundaries of the Chicago-area ridings were drawn. But of course Gov. Pritzker, proving once again that you can only make it in politics if you suppress any semblance of shame or were born without it in the first place, is threatening to “retaliate” by redrawing the map even further.
Mind you, Texas Republicans would probably point to that and rig the system even further in their own favor, and then Illinois would go even further still, yada yada yada, eventually the their respective Congressional delegations are 100% Republican and 100% Democratic.
Oh, and multiply that by 25, more or less, as every other state does the same damned thing, and the idea that the U.S. has “red” and “blue” states instead of varying shades of purple ones becomes more firmly embedded.
Of the two parties, of course, Donald Trump’s GOP is the much greater threat to the foundations of American liberal democracy. His corruption and authoritarianism is like nothing we thought possible. But it’s at times like this I realize the difference between Republicans and Democrats is one of degree, not of kind.
Russia: “Russia is great! Russia is strong! Russia bows to no one! The world will tremble at the might of Russia!”
Also Russia: “Hey, Ethiopia, you got any planes you can lend us?”
Russia wants new planes—a perfectly normal requirement for a country with a thirst for air travel both domestically and globally. Hampered by Western sanctions, Russian airlines are no longer able to access new Airbus and Boeing aircraft, nor spare parts to maintain their existing fleets. This tricky situation has driven several innovative solutions, including the manufacturing of unapproved spare parts locally.
Russia's head has now turned towards Africa. Specifically, the country is eying Ethiopian Airlines, the continent's leading airline in terms of fleet size and passengers carried. In a recent meeting with the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA), Russian officials proposed a tit-for-tat trade deal, supposedly benefitting both parties. This included a possible wet-lease agreement for modern planes.
To be fair, Ethiopian Airlines is considered the best airline in Africa, and that’s not damning with faint praise: it really is a world-class carrier. (We Canadians can only sigh and remain on hold with Air Canada for another hour.) But Russia, a country with a long history of designing and building military and civilian aircraft, having to go cap in hand to Ethiopia to keep its jets aloft feels a bit like if they had to ask, say, North Korea for help in keeping its military supplied.
Oh, right: they did that, too. Russia, you coulda bought all the Dreamliners and A350s you wanted - and maybe even gotten your own long-delayed Yakovlev MC-21 flying by now - had you not invaded Ukraine, but I guess it was worth it for the overwhelming victory you celebrated after you steamrolled your way to Kiev (yeah, the name has changed back) in 48 hours.
Oh, right…