[Movemout]

"This is what you get from the practice of gerrymandering all the democrat (in this case, black) voters into a few districts, thereby creating safe seats for republicans all across Georgia"

I wish it were so simple. This is what you get for giving everyone a vote. Your theory doesn't explain the elections of Barney Frank, Ted Kennedy, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Barb Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Mister Rangel, Jesse Jackson Jr, Hillary Clinton, numerous governors, and a cast of thousands of local shake and bakes. The fact is that some people by their sheer ignorance do not merit the privelege of a vote in an election. They are unable to weigh the consequences of their vote. Thomas Jefferson was correct in his assessment of the general public's ability to understand the meaning of a constitutional republic. The 17th Amendment was another bad move from a strategic point of view. As we move from republic to empire I am profoundly disturbed by the similarities to the "Bread and Circus" syndrome that so badly afflicted the Romans.

[thucydides]

I would agree that the expansion of suffrage has done little to improve the quality of elections, especially allowing people to vote who have little or no property and who look to the government for benefits, or work for the government. However, the prevalence of loonies is certainly in part explicable by the practice of gerrymandering, especially types like Maxine Waters, Major Lewis, and Cynthia McKinney.