How We Raise Our Kids Republican:

Denton is about 35 miles north of Dallas, with a population of around 75 thousand. The local paper, the Record-Chronicle, has an, er, interesting take on the quorum-busting renegade democrats from the past week: apparently it wasn't about redistircting so much as, well, read from the page one story:

Lady Broncos Cry Foul Over Democrats’ Walkout:
The Class 4A state champion Denton Lady Broncos were set to head down to Austin Friday morning to be honored by the Legislature. The players were supposed to be introduced on the floor and receive a certificate declaring Friday Denton High School Lady Broncos Soccer Day, said Denton girls soccer coach Iseed Khoury. The team was also planning to take a tour of the state Capitol.

"It would have been a terrific experience for the kids to go to Austin and see how changes are made to the law," Mr. Khoury said. "But unfortunately, these are circumstances beyond our control and we’re just going to have to live with it." Denton defeated Austin Lake Travis, 2-1, in April in the Class 4A state title game in Georgetown, which is about 30 miles outside of Austin.

Many of the Lady Broncos were upset when hearing their trip had been canceled. "This would have been a good experience," said junior Lisa Stephens. "It’s disappointing we won’t get to go. The team would have enjoyed being introduced at the state capital and having the day proclaimed in our honor." "I’m just mad," said senior Callie Lawing. "I planned on this being a three-day school week because Senior Skip Day was Monday. Those politicians ruined this experience for us. They had to run to Oklahoma like sissies." Added senior Erin Cadenhead: "I was really looking forward to this. I wanted to miss school. I guess I’m kind of mad at the politicians. This whole situation seems weird to me. I don’t understand it. It seems like the politicians are just being selfish."

Despite Friday’s cancellation, Mr. Khoury said the team has other events planned to honor their accomplishment.

Presumably the Lady Broncos were told that the Republicans' redistricting plan was unnecessary and possibly unlawful since the house districts were already redrawn per the year 2000 census and they're only supposed to be redrawn once every 10 years, not whenever Tom Delay and his associates smell a potential power grab in the air. Right?

While we're on the topic, Tendentious has a before and after map of one of the districts up on his site.(see "Tommymander".)