Don't laugh - this is US democracy at work (Electoral College beyond the grasp of idiot Scotsman)

The Scotsman ^ | 10/27/04 | FRASER NELSON

[COBOL2Java]

And no one will be murdered at the polls. There won't be 100,000's of people rioting in the streets. There won't be 10,000's of troops called out with tanks to control the population.

I hope you're right. However, Elizabeth Edwards has said the Democrats will play nice only if they win.

[SedVictaCatoni]

And Scotland has contributed to the world in what again?

You must be completely out of your mind, or totally ignorant of history.

[taxed2death]

good post. So many people are reactionary....strictly based on the title of the article.

[DrDavid]

Every democracy has its vice - and America’s is the Electoral College system which has returned a president against the majority wishes of its national electorate only three times. But it’s still three times too many - and, next week, it may become four.

The same thing can happen in the British Parliament since the PM isn't elected directly either. The House of Commons becomes the Electoral College which selects the Prime Minister.

[Little Ray]

I already have one those, not to mention three books signed by James Doohan (The Engineer Series by James Doohan and SM Stirling). Great books, not as dark as the stuff Stirling normally does and includes some very funny transliterations of Doohan's WWII experiences into SF format. They are signed by both Doohan and Stirling and are among my great treasures.

James Doohan was hero before he was an actor. Wish they still made ahk-tors like him.

[js1138]

Obviously, countries that have wide margins in their elections are better governed.

Saddam got 100 percent.

[hiramknight]

"And Scotland has contributed to the world in what again? "

HAGAS!! don't forget the HAGAS!! Ground up sheep inards stuffed in entrails. yum

[6SJ7]

Men in skirts should refrain from commentary on the U.S. election process!

[Republican Wildcat]

I wrote my senior thesis in undergrad on the Electoral College.

It is always mind boggling to read such ignorance about the Electoral College.

[Yardstick]

He actually seems to have a pretty fair grasp on the "why". Plus he seems to be offering an endorsement of our system.

Yeah, I like the note he ended on. I'm sure many of his UK and European readers were disappointed when they got to the end.

His jabs at the disorder of our recent elections reminds me of the standard Eurostatist critique of the disorder of American capitalism. They like to harangue us for the "anarchy" of our system, but in the end it produces superior results. That's why the laugh we hear from across the Atlantic strikes me as an unhealthy laugh. There's more than a little self-doubt in it.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Who gives a hootin' hell about what some Scottish prick thinks about the U.S. electoral process.

[Cogadh na Sith]

And Scotland has contributed to the world in what again?

Golf, whiskey, the steam engine, television, anesthesia, the thermos, cloned sheep, antisepsis, Buick, pneumatic tires, percussion powder, penicillin, refrigeration....

[KeyesPlease]

Congress may pass no law that violates the rights of the individual. Such restrictions are codified in the Bill of Rights, the wall that protects our liberty from the whims of the majority.

I wish this were entirely true. Just look at the federal cases that have interepreted the National Guard (which is primarily under federal control) as being our states' militia. Look also at the interpretation of the second amendment as being a right specifically reserved to the states and not the individual. As much as the founding fathers tried to protect the rights of the individual, we have, to a degree, suffered an erosion of those rights.

[cripplecreek]

If he were an American I have the feeling he would vote against Bush but accept a loss with some kind of grace.

[Polybius]

The Electoral College was the Constitutional price that the larger States paid in order to have the smaller States agree to form a Union with them.

The smaller States did not want to see a day when they would be tyrannized by the larger States just like England had once tyrannized Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

[dead]

Who gives a hootin' hell about what some Scottish prick thinks about the U.S. electoral process.

You apparently, or you wouldn’t have clicked on the thread, let alone take the time to respond to it!

[Yardstick]

Wonderama owned up to his mistake:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1258755/posts?page=32#32

[Cogadh na Sith]

Since April 1746, The Battle of Culloden....

[KarlInOhio]

Even if the Electoral College votes were shared out, it would still have been imprecise enough to deliver victory for Mr Bush last time, on a (narrow) minority of votes. The only fair method is to abolish the idea of state-voting, and have a straight election.

Just what we need. "And another million ballots were found in Chicago just in time for the recount". Among other things, the Electoral College stands as a partial firewall against vote fraud.

[george wythe]

The article ends with this conclusion:

The US presidential election will be ugly, messy and - above all - thoroughly entertaining. But at least Americans have a plausible opposition and a real chance of changing their government. Many in Britain would give their eye-teeth for either.

It does not seem that the author really hates the Electoral College system. He explains that no system is perfect, but the Electoral college gives Americans a "real chance of changing their government."

In Euroland, that's the closest thing to a strong endorsement you are going to get.

My $0.02