2641

House districts are required to be roughly close in size due to a series of “one man, one-vote” Supreme Court decisions. The people per Senator gap is enormous, though; Wyoming at 280k/Senator, California at 18,800k/Senator, or a factor of 70.

2642

Timex is still right; the number to look at for whether the House adequately represents equitably by population is the number of people per district. So ~2:1 is the correct number to complain about.

2643

Yes, it doesn’t matter that the population is different from state to state… because the house gives you more representatives if you have a higher population. And, in that regard, it’s generally pretty much doing its job. For the most part, states’ representation in the house reflects their relative population sizes, with the absolute maximum difference coming in less than 2:1… and, even in that case, it’s actually the difference between two relatively low population regions anyway. It’s not like it’s the case that the low population states are being hugely over represented compared to high population states.

In terms of the senate, the entire purpose of that part of congress is that it specifically does not intend to represent differences in population.

2644

The issue with the Senate isn’t so much that smaller states have more say, its that the Senate is fucking broken and you need 60 seats to do anything anymore. If the “filibuster” crap wasn’t so easy to throw around it would be less of an issue.

2645

Hilarious. Santorum almost drops the n-bomb talking about Obama, or seems to anyway.

Look, I’m not a telepath. I have no idea what word Santorum intended to say there, although the number of sensible alternatives is relatively low. But it doesn’t really matter. People who like him will wave it off. People who dislike him will have further evidence of what a weasel he is (along with the pink bowling ball thing, I mean, really, you’re a grown man and this is the shit that you worry about?).

I just find it hilarious.

2646

Hugin

Fantastic, thank you!

Also, this:

“I mean, really, you’re a grown man and this is the shit that you worry about?”

That sums up what I feel about most of the shit politicians spend their time on.

2647

Am I the only white man older than 30 that isn’t a blazing racist? Seriously, Santorum would have been about the last conservative I would have expected that from.

H.

2648

Remember, this is Rick “Blah people” Santorum.

The emerging apologist pushback seems to be that Santorum really meant to say “negotiator”.

Yeah, Obama is a sucky President, that dirty anti-war government…negotiator!

…?

Okay.

2649

They’re blacks until they get elected, and then they’re –

2650

And I can see why he’d stop short and back out of saying negotiator. Don’t need that sort of thing following you around for the rest of your campaign…

2651

Also, if my family is anything to go by, Catholics are crazy racist, although that might be more of the Roman part than the Catholic part of Roman Catholicism. My family’s xenophobia extends not just to other culture and races, but to other parts of Italy. (My father, for example, refers to anybody north of Rome as “the Swiss”.)

2652

One of the most liberal families I know are catholics. I have known them most my life (grew up across the street from them…mom, dad and 5 kids). They are raving liberals, but good people. They are probably of English extraction however, so maybe that explains it.

2653

So we’re agreed, it’s the filthy Italians?

2654

2655

His publicist needs to watched “Blazing Saddles” as soon as possible.

2656

Anti-war government niggotiator?

Cause the “I” in what he said was pretty solid, so either he can’t say the word negotiate correctly or he was saying nigger.

2657

I have to agree, even with my crippling Southern accent there’s a pretty clear difference between “Nig…” and “Neg…”

H.

2658

I think it’s pretty simple. Santorum uses the word all the time in his private life. And here he is in a group of people that he considers “his people”, and so he starts talking the way he would normally. And then he realizes that there are cameras there. And he tries very hard to change what he would say.

Edit: Of course the only real backlash he will get is from the people that love him. “Hey Rick, why didn’t you call that nigger a nigger? You getting soft now boy?”

2659

Does he refer to everything south of Rome as “North Africa”? I always chuckle when my Milanese friends do that.

2660

Probably just misspoke when the word popped into his head, which is itself I think is hilarious commentary on the people he’s hanging out with no - how often do you accidentally say it? - but I really doubt he constantly uses the word all the time as Rich suggests. He’s a crazy religion culture warrior, not a southern good-ol-boy.