Half of Virginia votes to disenfranchise the other half

Half of Virginia votes to disenfranchise the other half

This 1862 map by Civil Engineer E.G. Arnold of Washington, DC encompasses the original District of Columbia as laid out by Andrew Ellicott in 1791-92 as a ten-mile-square diamond straddling the Potomac River. The map itself is of historic interest. The map shows in great detail the network of roads, turnpikes, and railroads, the routes of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal and the nearly-completed Washington Aqueduct. It also shows the ring of forts surrounding the city and the hospitals built north of the city to care for those wounded in the on-going Civil War.

Unfortunately for Arnold the map was too detailed and appeared in early September of 1862 right after the Union defeat at Second Manassas (Bull Run). The War Department deemed the map to have too much detail about the topography and fortifications of the capitol and would be of immense potential value to the Confederacy. The War Department aggressively suppressed the map.The Washington Post reported “…two days after the first copy had been put on sale, the rumor of its existence reached the ears of the War Department, and the officers of the law swooped down on the bookstores and gobbled every copy in stock…. Not only were all the bookstore copies taken, but the names of those who had bought copies of the map were also learned, and those individuals were promptly called upon and given the alternative of surrendering their purchase or of going to the Old Capitol, which was then the political prison of the city. The plate from which the map had been printed was confiscated as well….” (Washington Post, Nov. 6, 1892)

This makes the Arnold map one of the most valuable maps ever produced in this country. What makes it especially interesting now is that it depicts the original layout of Washington, DC. The map shows the District carved out of portions of Maryland and Virginia. But the Virginia portion was retroceded to that state in 1846 because of slavery. That brings up a brilliant suggestion made by Chad Mizelle in Fox News: “Trump has a bold option to counter Virginia’s new gerrymander scheme.”

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-bold-option-counter-virginias-new-gerrymander-scheme

Virginia has just done a Massachusetts and gerrymandered the state to change its congressional delegation from 6 democrats and 5 republicans to 10 democrats and only one republican. The vote shows the tyranny of the majority in that the proposal passed by only 51.5% to 48.5% which is aligned with the current congressional representation. The new delegation will effectively disenfranchise 90 percent of Virginia’s republican voters and will be dominated by the left-leaning northern Virginia counties leaving the more conservative southern counties without an effective voice in Congress. Unlike the Civil War where the western counties seceded from the state to form West Virginia, although many of the southern and western counties would like to join West Virginia, that likelihood is nonexistent. To counter the gerrymander, Mizelle suggests returning the northern Virginia counties that were included in the original plat of Washington, DC back to the nation’s capitol. Virginia was excluded from DC because of slavery – Virginia had it but the capitol and Maryland did not. 

Mizelle suggests that Trump (who is fond of issuing executive orders) issue one bringing northern Virginia back into DC. Mizelle notes that “presidents, including William Howard Taft, have considered retrocession unconstitutional and wanted to reclaim the land for the district, but the Supreme Court has never been asked to weigh in.” He says “President Trump could issue an executive orderdeclaring the slavery-motivated retrocession unconstitutional, triggering certain legal action, and allowing the courts to finally weigh in on whether the county of Arlington and the city of Alexandria in fact properly belong to the District of Columbia.” He notes “As some of the deepest blue areas of the commonwealth – and the country – and loaded with federal government employees, residents of this region should feel right at home as part of D.C.” As to the legality of such an order Mizelle says “This order would be on better legal footing than many of President Joe Biden’s most egregious orders, such as those imposing an eviction moratorium or forgiving billions in student debt with the stroke of an (auto) pen.”

Finally, remember that these are the same people always whining about “fairness.” There is nothing “fair” about disenfranchising half of Virginia’s citizens. President Trump should move quickly to restore northern Virginia to its rightful place as part of the District of Columbia.

Brilliant!