In a word:  GERRYMANDERING.

But before ya get to the word itself, you have to bore down a little to what made GERRYMANDERING possible in the first place.

Our ‘friends’ on the right did something brilliant — they recognized that you build a political machine from the ground up.  And that’s what they did.  Evangelicals especially — with their ‘Put-A-Prayer-Book-In-Every-Classroom’ goal.  The fact that we’re even HAVING a conversations where “SCIENCE CLASSROOM” and “intelligent design” could be in the same sentence — that represents just how successful the right wing was in ‘Trojan-Horsing’ its backward belief system  into our progressive culture.

And American culture is the EPITOME of progressive culture.  Or, it COULD be.  Or SHOULD BE.  Cos it WANTS TO BE.

Cos it is:  PROGRESSIVE.

But our problem has always been — there are Americans more prone to being REGRESSIVE (we know why; we ALL know why).

We fought a whole war to fix some of that REGRESSIVENESS — because some CHRISTIANS somehow used ‘Do Unto Others’ to justify SLAVERY.  Because, despite their ‘Enlightenment’, the MEN who founded this country could still see ‘certain people’ as LESS ‘people’ than themselves.  That wasn’t Progressive Thinking… but — eventually — we started to at least TRY to get it ‘right’.

And it is still a work in progress.

Regressive Thinking — almost always associated with Extreme Christian Philosophy in this country — is still a dynamic force in America.  The ‘Know-Nothingism’ was always a ‘quirk’ to our National Character.

Perhaps ‘Know-Nothingism’ was the foundation for the blissful ignorance that gave us the ‘Dutch Courage’ to plunge into the vast unknown of the American West (and steal it from the people to whom it belonged but — another day).

Or maybe ‘Know-Nothingism’ is just an outward symptom of Willful Ignorance.

And if someone is being WILLFULLY IGNORANT, ya have to ask the OBVIOUS next question: WHY?  What are they ‘protecting’ with their Willful Ignorance?

99 times ouf of a hundred?  It’s gonna be greed or religion.  They know what they know — and they will do everything in their power to protect it.  Including GERRYMANDERING…

Where were we…

Ah — Yes — GERRYMANDERING… And Why Do Americans Feel So Disconnected From Their Political Representation…

Remind us all again, class — the whole POINT of GERRYMANDERING — is it to more ACCURATELY represent the Will of the People?

Or is it to actually CIRCUMVENT the Will of the People?

Take all the time ya need.