The Republican redistricting lawsuit - unnecessary and unprincipled

While I applaud efforts by Alabama Republicans to win control of the Alabama legislature, I would prefer that they attain that goal by winning elections, not by seeking federal intervention to redraw legislative district lines. That is a tactic worthy of Democrats, being both unnecessary and unprincipled.

One of this state's goals should be to get the U.S. Justice Department and the federal courts out of the redistricting process altogether. An important step in that direction would be for Congress to reject the extension of a portion of the Voting Rights Act requiring Justice Department "pre-clearance" for changes to election practices. Attorney General Troy King spoke in favor of that in a recent statement, saying, "After four decades of tremendous progress, for which we can all be thankful, it is time to recognize that Section 5 (pre-clearance) has served its purpose and oftentimes unnecessarily restricts the ability of the states to regulate their own elections."

The new Republican lawsuit flies in the face of the sound principle advocated by Attorney General King. On the Voting Rights Act extension, King says that it's time to get the feds out. But, when it comes to drawing legislative district lines - in a way that is likely to benefit Republican candidates - the Alabama Republican Party overtly welcomes federal intervention.

Maybe that's just politics, but is it too much to ask for just one prominent Republican to point out this glaring inconsistency?