To mention the term, however, is introducing a foreign language. Confusion rears its vexed head when thrown to the wolves of misinformation and virtual unknown. Ignorance reigns. Silent screams of incredulity - "What's that? Who?" The explanation is lost in universal astonishment, spun on yarns of hype, bugged out by that back-alley biathlon of Biblical bile and bigwig bantering: politics.

It's that time of the decade when partisan baritones reach chalkboard scratching crescendo ending time, reason, fairness, justice and maturity as we all know it. But, if only we did know - since certain segments of the general population, have little to no control over their determined political fate. Redistricting is the where the power is @ ...

We get left behind and mad caked in wet dust saturated by the monsoon size insanity of the contemporary body politic. The decennial Census is mixed and matted in the microphone mathematics of partisan antics. Capitol Hill grows tentacles and the Potomac stretches its polluted waters like the Dark Side of The Force. Minneapolis lawyer David Lebedoff dubs it Democracy in a Noose: "Soon lines will be drawn to ensure another undemocratic decade." Hence, redistricting is as important an issue as why the sky is blue.

Driving that point further is D.C. and neighboring Virginia as crusty cases in point. Once you swerve, tilt and tumble like a crashing SUV turning at 90 degrees, you'll then find yourself wading in flammable liquids while deciphering State and Ward battle-lines. Already, the Great Eight Wards may get bunched together like salty commuters on a 6pm Metro - conversations soon switch from loss of urban subsidies to the phobia of gentrification moving mach speed. The underbelly of the post-Census beast is underlying preoccupation with the perceived threat of Chocolate-City-No-More: a conquering scourge of White yuppies strategically supplemented by rising tides of Hispanic and Asian immigrants.

But, in times like these, it's the coalition-building, political power-broking and economic planning that really count.

Virginia ranks high on the smell of sour milk and rhetoric scale. "There certainly must be political motives in every plan that ever existed," Virginia House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins (R-Amherst) recently schooled reporters in response to accusations of majority Republican state assembly shenanigans during the state redistricting battle with Democrats. "I'd be telling you a damn lie if I didn't say that." Like thirst obeying a can of Sprite, Wilkins' candor is "damn" refreshing, despite remanding Republican redraws potentially plundering modest homes scorched by the unwelcome ideological firebombing of modern conservative fundamentalism. But, hey, let's call the spades: VA. Democrats once went stir crazy foul with the redistrict cut and paste while they boasted Zeus' perch atop Richmond's Olympus. Karma sucks ... particularly when state party leaders dream to please Congressional grandmasters with perks for the larger reapportionment shuffle - huh? Sorry peeps - same page, different column ...

This discomforting cycle of partisan pillow fights dictating the uncertain fate of taxpaying you and me is leeching life from that fragile vein we call "democracy." Lost in all the bickering is any consideration for Joe and Jane voter - instead, it's the total focus on re-election bids and spread of party influence. Let's wager for a moment that 5 year-olds could draw it better because at least they learn how to share the crayons.

Next bout of rage: reapportionment.

C.D. Ellison is a contributing writer to Metro Connection. Please feel free to contact him by email - againstthegrain@metroconnection.info - or phone: 202.777.2643 x7915