Posted on 11/25/2016 8:39:23 AM PST by dirtboy
Conventional wisdom tells us that the electoral college requires that the person who lost the popular vote this year must nonetheless become our president. That view is an insult to our framers. It is compelled by nothing in our Constitution. It should be rejected by anyone with any understanding of our democratic traditions — most important, the electors themselves.
The framers believed, as Alexander Hamilton put it, that “the sense of the people should operate in the choice of the [president].” But no nation had ever tried that idea before. So the framers created a safety valve on the people’s choice. Like a judge reviewing a jury verdict, where the people voted, the electoral college was intended to confirm — or not — the people’s choice. Electors were to apply, in Hamilton’s words, “a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice” — and then decide. The Constitution says nothing about “winner take all.” It says nothing to suggest that electors’ freedom should be constrained in any way. Instead, their wisdom — about whether to overrule “the people” or not — was to be free of political control yet guided by democratic values. They were to be citizens exercising judgment, not cogs turning a wheel.
Many think we should abolish the electoral college... What if the people elect a Manchurian candidate? Or a child rapist? What if evidence of massive fraud pervades a close election? It is a useful thing to have a body confirm the results of a democratic election — so long as that body exercises its power reflectively and conservatively. Rarely — if ever — should it veto the people’s choice. And if it does, it needs a very good reason.
(Excerpt) Read more at kenm77.newsvine.com ...
Don’t forget about all the non-voting conservatives. Many don’t bother to vote in California because they know it won’t make a difference. If they knew their votes would count in a system where the popular vote picks the winner, they would most certainly have voted.
This is like telling people the rules of football, and then after your team scores one touchdown and the other team scores 3 field goals for a 7-10 score, you tell them that only touchdowns count toward the winning score.
So if the tables were reversed, our right winged blogs would be advocating similar things. I said it. I said it. You would hear someone saying the same thing if Hillary had won.
But! We would not be hearing it out of the WSJ or Fox News. We would be hearing normal RINO speak from those guys. So we can gather that MSM is equal to Breitbart or any of the most left blogs. They are not “measured” or “thinking of the country first” or any of those thinks said by the RINO talking heads.
The reality is that Time or The New York Times or The Washington Post are run by a lot of young leftist, almost like Che or Cesar Chevas or Jane Fonda. I bet if you go to one of these places there is nobody over 35 except the few faces that show up in front of the camera. The rest are just kids straight out of Brown or Oberlin with a double major in Women Studies (or frankly any number of blank-studies) and Poli-Sci.
I think that 'confused' is the wrong description. They do not understand America or it's founding and why we have a Federal system. The States created the Federal government and they elect the president. Period. I suppose ignorant is a better term.
Well, most do....but I seem to recall that at least one state allocates their electoral vote by the majority vote of the specific Congressional district that they represent. Two additional electors are selected "at large", and they do cast their vote according to the state vote majority.
I actually like the above approach a LOT, as it represents the peoples wishes more closely than even a state majority vote.
Leave it to the Marxists to use the words of the most ardent imperialist federalist of all our found fathers to make their case for pure democracy. So funny! You couldn’t make this up.
Maine and Nebraska.
The funny thing is that if this goes to a tie then each state gets one vote and she loses by even more. When one person does not get 270 EV. Then it goes to congress. But not a straight up vote. It is one vote per state. So each state votes as their congressmen direct. Each state delegation votes for one of the top three candidates. Then Hillary loses by more. Probably 30 to 20.
Thanks for the additional info. I wish more states would implement it.
The electoral college was the rule during the election, WAPO. if it had been the popular vote Trump would have campaigned for that. And won. Can’t change the rules now, as incredulous as h is in the result.
I would hope the American people would fight if the Electoral College was subverted. However, I doubt they would fight as eating, drinking, drugging, copulating with boys or girls, and snoring are much more valuable to Americans.Then, of course, there are always the “GAMES!” “Bread and Circuses”are this degenerate cultures passions.
There is an undercurrent in the country that is very ugly. Despite the political rhetoric about unity, we are anything but one nation other than in the legal sense. IMO (for what it may be worth—take it or leave it), America is something like a more prosperous Yugoslavia, circa 1990. It will not take much to provoke violence on a large scale. If you do not live and work around enough leftists to be aware of this, I envy you. There is rage beyond anything I ever witnessed during the Bush years, and now there is a strong racial component coming to the fore. This EC stuff is part of the drumbeat, however unlikely to come to fruition it may be. The worst PROBABLY won’t happen, but if it does your only chance will be to fight. So that’s what I mean by prepare. Be mentally and materially ready to fight for your life. Do it, and you’re out the cost of some arms and ammo, along with some (generally enjoyable) training time. Likewise, it makes sense to have some general emergency stores of necessities. Don’t do it, and you just might lose your life. If that’s silly, well I’m OK with that. I think we’re entering a period that simultaneously presents great opportunity and extreme danger for America. Let’s not get caught with our pants down.
I believe that this is the 5th time in history that the popular vote has been superceded by the Electoral College. The College is absolutely necessary in order that lesser populated states have a say in the election. We don’t want California and New York to elect our president.....they don’t even do a good job with their governors!!
These people are contemptible. They ran Nixon out of office, but kneel and grovel for their corrupt queen and her loathsome ideology.
I honestly don’t see how this country can stay together when one side cheats to win and is insufferable when they don’t.
Exactly, What part of “The United States Of America” do they not understand? They love throwing the Democracy word around knowing full well we have never been a Democracy and the Fathers went to great lengths to keep us from becoming one.
But our presidents starting with Wilson wanted to make the world safe for democracy.Mob rule is never safe.
“I think we’re entering a period that simultaneously presents great opportunity and extreme danger for America.”
I agree. Great post.
When a mirror is held up to a brainwashed leftist, his deeds, his worth, his whole world view is challenged.
The truth of that momentary self-reflection is so unbearable and life shattering that they become unhinged.
We’re dealing with mental illness and brainwashing on a mass scale. Your words of warning are spot on.
Below is the presidential section of our ballot in the 11/8/16 election. Note that the vote was for a party’s electors, not the individual electors or the individual candidates of the parties. We are voting for the respective parties’ appointed electors. So I don’t know how each of the electors chosen by their state’s party, can threaten to vote against the interests of the party or why the party couldn’t substitute any given elector who threatens to be ‘faithless.”
“President and Vice President
(Vote for only one)
“DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Electors for
Hillary Clinton, President
Tim Kaine, Vice President
“REPUBLICAN PARTY
Electors for
Donald J. Trump, President
Michael R. Pence, Vice President
“LIBERTARIAN PARTY
Electors for
Gary Johnson, President
Bill Weld, Vice President
“GREEN PARTY
Electors for
Jill Stein, President
Ajamu Baraka, Vice President
“INDEPENDENT
Electors for
Evan McMullin, President
Nathan Johnson, Vice President
“Write-in”
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