Gerrymandering begets 'Bullwinkle'

Angered by a dramatic redrawing of the electoral map, State Sen. Andy Dinniman announced that Pennsylvania's new Seventh Congressional District will be dubbed "Bullwinkle J. Moose" after a contest to name the  gerrymandered territory.

Dinniman said in a news release that suggested monikers for the new district - which has tentacles in Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Lancaster and Berks Counties - ranged from "blob without borders" to "emaciated hammerhead shark" to "scrapple." He said "Bullwinkle" was chosen because the district closely resembles the children's cartoon character Bullwinkle J. Moose." Dinniman offered congratulations to Jim Callahan of Berwyn for coming up with the name.

The map was constructed and approved by the Republican-controlled legislature despite Democratic opposition and recently approved by Gov.  Corbett. Dinniman said that it is clear that Republicans wanted to ensure that they maintain control over the 12 GOP-controlled seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, one of which is represented by Congressman Pat Meehan in the Seventh District. "There is no doubt that the Republicans concocted this ridiculous-looking district to dissuade Democrat challengers and ensure the reelection of their members in Congress," Dinniman said.

Of course, had the Democrats controlled the process, what the configuration would have been is anyone's guess.