Excellent article! But it failed to mention Mr. Conyer's blossoming acting career.
Posted on 06/17/2005 7:23:46 AM PDT by SJackson
One more thing.
John Conyers often comments that people who have been covicted of a felony cannot vote in Michigan. This is a blatent LIE. I am a convicted felon and a legal voter. Under Michigan law any legal resident over 18 may vote as long as they are not currently incarcerated, on parole or probation.
Conyers true goal is for prison inmates to vote.
Shine that light, the MSM certainly won't.
I swear. Listen to him.
He was outside the White House gates last night trying to deliver a "petition" to the guards there on the DSM.
We chanted "Conyers is a phony" to him and about 100 of his supporters.
It was like swatting a hornet's nest.
*interesting read ping*
It may also be stated that Conyers district(s) that he has represented over the past 40 years has lost more people than any other district in the U.S. The phrase "votes with ones feet" most certainly applies here. Conyers is a sad, pathetic relic and very much a willing tool of the radical anti-American haters. It's sad we no longer arrest people for treason and sedition.
I am a former Detroiter; there are lots of former residents of that city. Conyers district is a sewer. Residential streets are NEVER plowed in the winter, crime is out of control, people live behind bars in their own homes. Gangs rule the neighborhoods, prostitution is open, homes are into as neighbors stand by afraid to report the thieves to police. Is Conyers interested in any of this? No, he's too busy toting the radical Muslim propaganda line.
It is a joke that a man like this can be elected over and over again to the House.
LOL!
Not to mention a prime example of what has happened with allowing African-Americans to put all of their proverbial political eggs all in one basket. A two-party system would never allow this abomination to happen. Sadly, when Conyers finally heads south for his eternal nap, his replacement will scarcely be better than he. Only some will recall, but his former fellow Congressman from the other majority-Black district was George Crockett, another unabashed Communist (perhaps even more leftist than Conyers), who replaced the crooked Charles Diggs, Jr. Crockett was then replaced by the rabidly racist nitwit Barbara-Rose Collins (though at least to that district's credit, defeated her in a primary, although she's now back on the Detroit City Council), and now we have Kwame's Mama, Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick. Disgraceful.
His district has a higher proportion of Muslims than any other in Congress, and his official congressional web site can be read in Arabic
That was only recently with the 2002 redistricting. Until then, East Dearborn was represented by John Dingell (For 40+ years). Dingell now only has West Dearborn where he lives. I'm not sure if Hamtramck was Conyers or Kilpatrick country. I know that Conyers has had West Detroit since Detroit went from three reps to two.
This district, slightly redrawn since the 2000 Census, has had an electorate 61 percent African-American and in 2000 cast 81 percent of its votes for Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore. In 2004 Conyers won re-election with 84 percent of the vote, approximately 11 percent more than Democratic standard bearer Senator John F. Kerry drew here in Wayne County.
That was because of Detroit. Detroit went 93% for Kerry and Gore. Dearborn went 58% for Kerry(and Bush won it in 2000). One other thing that needs to be mentioned is that Detroit and Dearborn do not get along. The blacks and whites there for years were not fond of one another, and the blacks and Arabs there do not get along that well either. There's a lot of regional Detroit dynamics in effect. All Conyers cares about is what the City of Detroit thinks - which is what most of his district covers. The burbs in his district, including East Dearborn, have no representation.
Whether Conyers voted against this resolution because he represents more Arab-Americans than any other Member of Congress,
In March 2002? That most likely isn't possible. The redistrict battles were still going on at that time and the representatives might not have known what their district would look like. Conyers did not represent East Dearborn until late 2002.
I know the 1992 and 2002 maps, but not before then.
I agree - and those who have completed their prison terms should be allowed to re-register to vote .. while I also agree that those who are currently imprisoned should not be allowed that priviledge.
And I believe .. Boxer/Clinton have already submitted legislation to do just that - allow incarcerated felons vote.
I get pretty irritated by some of the felon voting threads here sometimes. They tend to be heavily populated by people who don't know what they're talking about. In the end those people will only help Hillary because they're uneducated about the real issue.
When I was committing my crimes voting was the last thing I cared about. When I cleaned up my act I became conservative and got registered and have voted almost exclusively republican. I think most of the other freeper felons are much the same way.
A prison inmate on the other hand will vote simply for a change of pace for a day and there is little doubt that they will vote for the candidate most likely to release them early.
Most disgusting are the freepers who have said that I should be stripped of all of my rights for good because I'm a felon who can't be trusted. Seems a little harsh for past drunk driving arrests to me. This is especially true coming from people who brag about their drinking prowess.
"will only help Hillary because they're uneducated about the real issue"
That statement is the key. This is exactly why Hillary and her goons want these people to be able to vote.
I still say .. once a person has done their time and turned their life around, they should be allowed to apply for voting rights. However .. if they end up back in jail for some reason .. it's easy to remove that right .. so I don't see what the problem would be.
It's an issue for the states. Hillary wants inmate voting nationwide. As it is only Maine legally allows prison inmates to vote. Hillarys true goal is to get rid of the electoral college and she can't do it with individual states holding separate elections.
Her goals are far wider than inmate voting.
Yes .. I can see that!
Looking at it from 1963-on, there were roughly between 6-8 Detroit or partial Wayne County seats.
District #1 (pre-1965) was represented by (Caucasian Pole) liberal 'Rat Lucien Nedzi, that district was the north/south sliver of east of Downtown straight out to 8-Mile, encompassing Hamtramck.
District #13 (pre-'65) was represented by (Black) 'Rat Charles C. Diggs, then the lone African-American from Michigan (first elected in 1954), and his district was central downtown, in the same sliver north/south shape as the 1st, also taking in Highland Park on its way up to 8-mile.
District #14 (pre-'65) was represented by centrist 'Rat(Caucasian) Harold Ryan. His district was everything east of the 1st, to the river and the Grosse Points, obviously upper-crust.
District #15 (pre-'65) was Dingell's bailiwick. Then it was also the similar-shaped sliver virtually identical to the 1st & 13th, running along the west side of downtown up to 8-Mile. It did not even go as far as Dearborn, yet.
District #16 (pre-'65) was John Lesinski's district (a Caucasian Polish 'Rat, and fairly Conservative), then encompassing all of southern Wayne County including Dearborn.
District #17 (pre-'65) was Martha Griffiths' (lib 'Rat) district, encompassing west of the city to the northwest corner of Wayne County.
Due to the CRA as well as Baker v. Carr, the state was forced to redraw the lines for the '64 elections. In doing so, despite an obvious decline in population for the city, increased the number of districts touching the city and county from 6 to 9 !
The 1st district had its southern half chopped off above downtown and was merged with most of the upper half of the 13th, creating John Conyers' district (Conyers had narrowly beaten the more moderate Richard Austin in the primary. Austin later became the first African-American elected statewide in MI 6 years later). That new district had everything north of downtown to 8-Mile. Lucien Nedzi had to move east to run in the 14th where Harold Ryan was.
The 2nd, which had previously been not in the city, but in the far distant suburbs (and a heavily GOP seat), was moved into a semi-circle around Wayne County, going so far into Martha Griffiths' 17th into NW Wayne, and the seat flipped to a 'Rat in that election, Weston Vivian.
The 12th, which had previously the district for the Western UP (!) was shifted to the Detroit area. The previous 7th district liberal 'Rat incumbent, James O'Hara, represented the Thumb, was forced south into compact Macomb County, and as far down into Wayne County as Harper Woods !
The 13th was designed to encompass all of the central downtown now, merging the old 1st, 13th, 14th, & 15th southern halves into one. Charles Diggs no longer had to worry about representing the Polish or Caucasian sections of the city anymore.
The 14th saw a brutal primary between Nedzi and Harold Ryan, with Nedzi prevailing, taking the redrawn 14th, now including his old area near Hamtramck and all of the Grosse Pointes (save for Harper Woods).
Dingell's 15th was eliminated completely, now it was apart of 3 separate districts, the 1st, 16th, and 17th. He chose to move south into the 16th. The new 15th was now in southwest-central Wayne Co, west of Dearborn. That was won by liberal 'Rat William D. Ford.
The new 16th was downriver Detroit, above Monroe County (cutting off the Western half, which became the new 15th). This was the seat Dingell carpetbagged into and he unexpectedly knocked off John Lesinski, Jr., who represented the bulk of the seat.
The new 17th was the result of the old one being chopped up into 3 parts. Martha Griffiths remained in the seat, but the new district centered on west of Conyers district, including Southfield.
The new 19th was the central part of the old 17th, essentially all of Livonia, and that seat also fell to a 'Rat named Billie Farnum.
With unchanged lines, LBJ tidalwave winners in the 2nd and 19th districts fell to Republicans, Marvin Esch (a liberal RINO) and Jack McDonald (a moderate).
After redistricting in 1972, with the rapidly declining population, the number of districts abutting the city and county went from 9 to 7.
The 1st, Conyers's seat, was forced to expand slightly east and west to more Caucasian/Polish areas (and also had to allow for the Diggs' 13th to expand as well).
The 2nd, still in the hands of RINO Marvin Esch, saw it expand within Wayne to encompass both it and the old 19th in the NW end. Previous 19th incumbent, GOPer Jack McDonald moved into Oakland County and lost to old 18th district GOPer incumbent William Broomfield in the new 19th.
The 13th, still remained in Charles Diggs's hands, with only minor modifications and expansions (into the 1st and 14th, north and east).
The 14th, Nedzi's seat, remained largely the same, though taking back the Harper Woods section and slightly inching up into Macomb County.
The 15th remained in Bill Ford's hands, though rejiggered slightly, now having to reach into Monroe County and partially along downriver.
The 16th under Dingell stayed mostly the same, save for shedding part of downriver to Ford.
The 17th under Griffiths also remained largely the same, although having to inch slightly westward.
The only changeover in 1974 was Griffiths' retirement and replacement by another liberal 'Rat, Bill Brodhead (who barely beat a Conservative in the primary).
In 1976, the changeover was in the 2nd, when RINO Esch ran against ex-RINO turned 'Rat Don Riegle, losing 53-47%. He was replaced by another liberal RINO, Carl Pursell.
No changeover occurred again until the indicted Charles Diggs resigned and was succeed by elderly radical Commie George Crockett, Jr. in the 13th in 1980.
Later that year, liberal 'Rat Dennis Hertel succeeded Lucien Nedzi in the 14th (Eastern Detroit/Grosse Pointes) seat, who had seen his career descend downwards after missteps.
After the 1982 redistricting, we begin to see where the ridiculous Justice Dept.-ordered gerrymandering to preserve Black districts begins. Still holding onto the same 7 districts, despite jaw-dropping population declines, the districts still reelected 6 of 7 incumbents.
Conyers's 1st now had to dramatically expand outward, gobbling up 1/3rd of Hertel's old 14th, and most dramatically, more than 1/2 (!) of Brodhead's 17th, with a tentacle reaching down into Dingell's 16th.
Pursell's 2nd also similarly expanded westward, although still encompassing the last vestigates of substantial Republican strength in NW Wayne, the bulk of his district went as far west as the Indiana border !
Crockett's 13th also had to increase dramatically in size, now expanding partly more into the 14th and downriver into Dingell's seat.
Hertel's 14th was forced to move further into Oakland, though still hanging onto what was left of extreme NE Wayne.
Bill Ford's 15th was forced to cede sections on the NE and SE sides to the 16th and 17th districts respectively, and forced westward towards Ann Arbor to take up the slack.
Dingell's 16th was also similarly shifted, though maintaining the sliver between the river, Ford's and Crockett 'n Conyers's districts, was forced to expand dramatically southward into Monroe County, and into Pursell's GOP areas in the previous 2nd.
The big surprise was in the 17th, where Bill Brodhead was expected to remain, he chose to retire out of the blue, and the seat was halved and expanded (in a sliver) southward into Ford's 15th and into Oakland County. Forced out because of the division of the 14th, 17th, and 18th districts was then-Rep. Jim Blanchard, who vacated his seat for the successful Governor's race that year. The new 17th would now be represented by our friend, the obnoxious liberal 'Rat, Sandy Levin.
And, of course, things remained the same in all the districts for the next 8 years until Barbara Rose-Collins succeeded Crockett in the 13th.
When the '92 redistricting came, the number of districts abutting Detroit/Wayne was reduced from 7 to 6.
What was formerly Conyers's 1st was "moved" to the Upper Peninsula.
Pursell's 2nd, too, was "moved" to the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, hundreds of miles away.
In their places now were the new 11th, while mostly in Oakland County, took in Livonia and Redford Twp, now mostly what was left of Pursell's chunk of the old 2nd and Broomfield's 18th (both leaving Congress that year), with the new Conservative GOPer, Joe Knollenberg, taking the seat.
The 12th was now what remained of the old 17th and parts of what was left of the old 14th, now mostly (barely) anything left in Wayne, and that was what Sandy Levin held onto, now mostly in Oakland County.
The new 13th was essentially all of the old 15th, still represented by Bill Ford, though taking part's of Pursell's old 2nd (and Pursell opted to retire rather than take on Ford).
The new 14th was Conyers's newly-drawn district, taking in all of the old 1st and expanding it mostly into Dennis Hertel's old 14th and most of the Grosse Pointe areas. No doubt had you told many residents there in the 1960s that Conyers would be their Rep. within 25 years, they'd have thought it insane.
The new 15th, still with Barbara Rose-Collins was also similarly expanded, originally the old 13th, now had to expand westward into what Conyers didn't have in the Grosses and southward further along the river into Dingell's realm.
Dingell's 16th still was largely the same shape, though having to lose some to Collins, but he was further and further away from the seat he originally represented, now entirely gobbled up within the Conyers district years beforehand.
After Ford's retirement in the 13th and replacement by the leftist 'Rat, Lynn Nancy Rivers in '94, and Collins's primary defeat in '96 by Carolyn Kilpatrick, there were no changes until the '02 redistricting.
Since I have not seen the new maps for '02, yet, I don't know how many of the seats were changed around and still take in Wayne County anymore. I know that Rivers and Dingell were forced into an Ann Arbor-area seat (which would've been quite the shock to Dingell's old man).
In any event, that's pretty much the history of Detroit's/Wayne County seats from 1963-2003.
It's actually not easy to remove that right. Sometimes even mortally challenged people don't have their voting rights removed.
You always hear about those people that voted Republican until the day they died.....then they vote DemonRat.
I don't know what it is about death that changes their politics like that.
Great info, DJ!
In 2002, Conyers' district (now the 14th) got half of Dearborn and also extended all the way Downriver to Grosse Ile. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Congress_14_30530_7.pdf
Kilpatrick's CD (now the 13th) took the Gorsse Pointes and Harper Woods and extended Downriver until just north of Grosse Ile (Wyandotte). http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Congress_13_30528_7.pdf
Knollenberg's new 9th CD was placed entirely within Oakland County, and many of Knollenberg's NW Wayne suburbs, along with some of Rivers', were included in the new 11th CD (half of which is in Oakland), where McCotter won. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Congress_11_30523_7.pdf
Dingell lost many of his Downriver precincts, and his district (now the 15th) extended to Ann Arbor, and of course he beat Rivers in the primary. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Congress_15_30533_7.pdf
As I've written before, I think the GOP could have done an even better job at redistricting. First of all, instead of adding the Grosse Pointes and working-class white Downriver townships to the two black-majority districts, they could have added the two Ypsilantis, Superior, Romulus, and Inkster to Kilpatrick's CD (making it well over 60% black) and most of Southfield plus the other black parts of Oakland to Conyers' CD (making it well over 70% black). Dingell could have gotten a district encompassing Dearborn, the white Downriver towns that are heavily Democrat, Democrat parts of Monroe, and Ann Arbor, and Rivers probably wouldn't have even tried to run in such a district, 65% of which had been represented by Dingell. Republican parts of Monroe could then be added to Smith's 7th CD in order to make it more Republican.
The Grosse Pointes could have been connected to eastern Macomb and Rochester, Rochester Hills, Troy and Clawson in Oakland to make a suburban, comfortably Republican (53% for Bush in 2000) district for Candice Miller centered around her hometown of Harrison. This would allow a separate comfortably Republican (53% for Bush in 2000) Thumb district to be drawn comprising Huron, Sanilac, Tuscola, Lapeer, St. Clair, northern Macomb and northern Oakland, as well as a few townships in Saginaw and Genesee and one township in Bay. Knollenberg could have been given a district similar to the one from the 1990s, but comfortably Republican (53% for Bush in 2000), which would exclude heavily Jewish and Democrat eastern West Bloomfield and heavily black and Democrat Pontiac. Pontiac and esatern West Bloomfield would join white Democrat parts of south Oakland, SW Macomb and NNW Wayne in an overwhelmingly Democrat district where Sander Levin would almost certainly win. Some of western Oakland and NW Wayne would be appended to Livingston and parts of the Ingham, Eaton and and Clinton counties to create a comfortably Republican (53% for Bush in 2000) district for Rogers. Lansing and East Lansing would be removed from Rogers' and Smith's CDs and attached (by a sliver of towns) to Bay City, Saginaw, Flint and other heavily Democrat areas to form an overwhelmingly Democrat district where conservative Democrat Jim Barcia would have had the edge.
Smith's 7th CD would be made more Republican (53% for Bush in 2000) by also taking out Battle Creek, and moving the CD north. Upton's CD would be made comfortably Republican (54% for Bush in 2000) by taking out Kalamazoo City and adding most of Allegan County, although it would have to take in Battle Creek. K-zoo City would be attached to most of Kent County for a still very Republican CD for Ehlers (over 56% for Bush in 2000). Hoekstra's CD would exclude most of Allegan County and add several Dem-leaning counties from Camp's 4th CD and would remain a heavily GOP district (like 58% for Bush in 2000). Camp's CD would take in part of Kent County and surrounding Dutch areas and even with parts of Barcia's CD added it would still be comfortably Republican (over 54% for Bush in 2000). Finally, Democrat Stupak's 1st CD would be extended a bit south and would be about as Republican as before (around 54% for Bush in 2000), making it winnable in the short-run and a likely GOP pick-up when he retired.
Had the GOP adopted a plan like the one I described, it would have created 9 safe Republican districts, 5 safe Democrat districts and 1 district that would be very competitive as long as the incumbent Democrat ran but would probably go Republican when he retired. This would be a far better plan than the one adopted by the GOP, which also created 5 safe Democrat seats, but gives the Democrats takeover opportunities in the Knollenberg (just 51% for Bush in 2000), McCotter (51%), Smith (51%), Upton (52%), and Rogers (52%), and which gave Stupak a district that is safe for him and very competitive for a Democrat when he retires (52% for Bush in 2000).
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