Electoral College on trial-Verdict?

Electoral College Votes

Barbara Boxer, one of the feistiest Democratic Senators in Congress, will do her best to get rid of the Electoral College. She introduced a bill Tuesday to put an end to this institution that dates back to the Founding Fathers. One of the myths out there is that the whole concept came into being because the group couldn't make a decision around the idea of the popular vote decision so they settled on the Electoral College. If so, it's time for a change.

Boxer said, "The Electoral College is an outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society, and it needs to change immediately. Every American should be guaranteed that their vote counts." CNN also quoted Donald Trump tweeting this in 2012, "The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy." Now he's all for keeping it. It has already chalked up two recent disasters: Gore-Bush in 2070, now Clinton-Trump in 2016.

The problem with the California Senator's bill is that two-thirds of each house of Congress must pass it plus approval in three quarters of states. Finding the states to make the change might not be so hard but convincing an overwhelming conservative Congress is another thing. All 435 House seats are up for reelection in 2018, 33 Senate seats. Hate to say it again,but look forward to 2018. 

Trump honed incendiary style from National Rifle Assn.

For years the National Rifle Assn., led by Wayne LaPierre, has railed against a government that suppresses its people and denies them their constitutional rights. Of course, the opposition has always been designed to protect their precious 2nd Amendment, a part of the Constitution that should have been done away with or at least modified significantly. Something that obviously could never happen under a Donald Trump presidency or Republican controlled Congress.

A recent post on this subject pointed out how the emphasis on state elections will probably increase in the next four years, while pointing out the high amount of gun violence the U.S. suffers annually from too many guns. At one point Trump said, “I support the ban on assault weapons and I also support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun.” The Trace article also said that during the election, "...Trump adopted an incendiary message that matched the NRA’s own."

When the NRA heard Trump's repeated rhetoric that the 2nd Amendment was sacred, something that must be protected at all costs, the decision was made to pump $30- million into ads that supported Trump. It started with 5-million NRA members, then picked a rural population the NRA has been appealing to for years, all ramrodded by the huge ad campaign both for Donald Trump and against Hillary Clinton. It worked. Trump was elected but can the NRA really depend on his fickle nature?




The fact is that almost all of the Republican hierarchy shunned Trump in the early stages, as well as further into the campaign. Special interest groups ignored him; do the Koch brothers come to mind? Even the conservative press was caught off guard by his zany antics. Sociologist Scott Melzer, author of the 2012 book "Gun Crusaders: The NRA’s Culture War," told The Trace:

"The gun group and its candidate speak to 'this white rural conservative population that feels left behind by economic shifts and cultural shifts. These changes pose a threat to their identity.'”

Wayne Lapierre wasn't able to beat Barack Obama but he was successful defeating Hillary Clinton. I continue to wonder how long a gullible American public will buy the NRA's bullshit. Meanwhile, it accepts 12,000+ gun deaths a
year, over 3,000 of them children. Thank you America.

Young vote helped elect Donald Trump

2016 election protesters

Obviously a nation is pissed with Donald Trump as the newly elected President. Protests are going on across the country, but one thing bothers me about the reports. Apparently the demonstrations include a lot of young people, which raises the question of where they were last Tuesday...when Trump was elected. The Atlantic reports:

A national exit poll suggests more young adults in 2016 than in 2012 “supported a third-party candidate, did not vote for a presidential candidate, or specifically chose not to answer this poll question,” according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

 Further, the article provides that 37% of ages 18 to 29 voted for Donald Trump. When you add that figure to those voting for third-party candidates plus those who didn't vote, the numbers become significant. A new DNC chair will be welcomed since Debbie Wasserman Schultz has allowed the Democratic Party to weaken to the point where everything from local councils to the presidency is now controlled by Republicans.

We are not so much a conservative nation as we are a nation controlled by conservatives. This did happen on Schultz's watch and now that she is gone and new blood is coming on--perhaps Keith Ellison--the new head must work vigorously to develop the youth, Hispanic and black vote. It took years for the GOP to lay the groundwork for their success and I am afraid it will take some time for the Democrats to catch up.

Rudy Giuliani called the protesters “spoiled crybabies.” Trump thinks they may not know him. The uprisings stretched all the way from Maryland to Oregon and several states in between and you can bet these "spoiled crybabies" knew exactly what they were doing and who it was about. Donald Trump as President is bad enough but looking forward to a GOP controlled Congress and overall Republican domination for the next few years really sucks.

Gun Control: With Trump emphasis shifts even more to states

NRA head, Wayne LaPierre

For years now a cowardly Congress, scared to death of Wayne LaPierre and the National Rifle Assn., has failed to act on reasonable gun control. Even the simplest steps like background checks, closing the gun show loophole and banning assault weapons. And now in comes Donald Trump with his open philosophy on guns, including a belief that there should be absolutely no limit on gun sales in America. With 112.6 guns per 100 residents already.

The gun situation in the U.S. can be defined in one word: obscene. The Washington Post reported:

"Homicides in the United States went up by more than 10 percent in 2015 over the year before, while violent crime increased by nearly 4 percent in the same period, according to new statistics released Monday by the FBI."

Translated into specifically gun-related violence, the Gun Violence Archive 2016 reports:

Total gun incidents-49,816
Number of deaths-12,860
Number of children to age 11 killed or injured-594
Mass shootings-342
Accidental shooting-1,846

In another report, you can see Donald Trump's position on nine issues in his own words. One in particular is laughable. Here's what he says about the national right to carry:

“The right of self-defense doesn’t stop at the end of your driveway … A driver’s license works in every state, so it’s common sense that a concealed carry permit should work in every state.”

Can you believe that kind of stupid reasoning? It's like saying a driver's license gives you the right to drive and your gun gives you the right to kill. Especially when you are talking about carrying an AR-15 assault rifle. Only a dedicated gun nut would espouse or believe this kind of bullshit. Or...a political candidate trying to get your vote.

Steve Bannon reconfirms Donald Trump extreme right plans

Kellyanne Conway

Steve Bannon is Donald Trump's new White House strategist, signaling the fact that he definitely has radical tendencies in mind for his administration. Bannon is the former president of Breitbart News, the ultra conservative publication so far to the right, its followers don't even recognize the other direction. Bloomberg News said: Steve Bannon, "is the most dangerous political operative in America. That's scary, considering his position in the new Trump administration.

Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump's campaign manager, screamed foul, spouting off Bannon's credentials:

“He has got a Harvard business degree. He’s a Naval officer. He has success in entertainment. I don’t know if you’re aware of that. And he certainly was a Goldman Sachs managing partner. Brilliant tactician.”

I wonder if he was the "brilliant tactician" that almost brought Goldman Sachs down when it defrauded its customers in a hedge fund scandal, part of the George W. Bush financial disaster that almost brought the country down? But my concern is more with the fact that the Tea Party--remember them?--has endorsed not only Steve Bannon but also Reince Priebus, former head of the RNC and now Trump's Chief of Staff.

It's hard to see how the election of Donald Trump could get any more bizarre but it just did. Anyone want to predict what's next?

Real reason Donald Trump won

Is this reason for the low turnout?

All things considered, anger at Washington insiders, people didn't like Hillary Clinton, and on and on, the real reason Donald Trump won this election was the low turnout. Almost 5% less votes were cast in 2016 than 2012, and the latter was 3.7% less than 2008. The Bernie bunch let us down. The blacks let us down. And once again the Hispanics let us down. So in comes a stampeding group of Trump do willies who stumble through the process of electing...him.

A low turnout by lazy Democrats has always favored a Republican base, which at least rises to the occasion when it is important.

The outcome is that we are stuck with Donald Trump for the next four years--but maybe not says Michael Moore--as the President of the most powerful country in the world. More than scary, right? In case you are interested, this is the profile of the gang that elected your President. By "your," think you know what I'm talking about. Here is how Allen Clifton of Forward Progressive describes the supporters for the new President-elect:

1. They’re not very well-educated
2.They have delusional visions about how wealthy they might be
3. They really don’t know a damn thing about politics
4. They’re highly misinformed about nearly everything and extremely gullible
 5. They think they’re a whole lot smarter than what they actually are and tend to be extremely stubborn, if not outright arrogant

Now here is one I've never heard before, #2: They have delusional visions about how wealthy they might be. You mean even the dimmest of the Donald dimwits think they can do what he did? Take a million dollars from your father and turn it into four bankruptcies? Well, they would. And more power to them. But meanwhile we're stuck with, well you know what. But like I said earlier, maybe there is hope when Trump starts again with his bizarre antics.

Let me finish with a question. Can we surmise from the above plus other recent articles on Donald Trump's election; are his followers simply uneducated rednecks? Shades of the Tea Party.

Bernie Sanders: Stay healthy for 2020

Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Michael Moore and Allan Lichtman predicted Donald Trump won't survive a full four years as President. As encouraging as that is, we need a backup just in case for 2020. I read a comment yesterday on an Internet site covering the Trump demonstrations across the country. It said, eat right and get plenty of exercise, Bernie, for 2020. Not being anything close to a Constitutional Law expert, or even layman, not sure if he could fill in for an impeached Donald Trump.

I harken back to the unethical antics of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, disgraced former head of the Democratic National Committee, who repeatedly showed overwhelming favor for Hillary Clinton in the primaries. She was fired for her actions, things Bernie Sanders frequently exposed during the campaign, but only to the deaf ears of demented Democrats. Who, obviously, got what they deserved, Donald Trump.

Here's one such email from Brad Marshall suggesting that they use religion against a certain possible atheist with a Jewish heritage:

From:MARSHALL@dnc.org To: MirandaL@dnc.org, PaustenbachM@dnc.org, DaceyA@dnc.org Date: 2016-05-05 03:31 Subject: No shit

It might may no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to ask his belief. Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.

Marshall was chief financial officer of the DNC, who later tried to claim his message did not refer to Bernie Sanders. Bernie beat Donald Trump consistently in the polls leading up to Clinton's nomination. But the election results were a complete turnaround from what all the polls were predicting between Clinton and Trump. I would like to think this:

When Bernie Sanders lost the primaries, the force of his following was so let down and discouraged that the majority fractured completely away from the Democratic Party and with no direction or leadership either didn't vote at all or simply looking for change from the typical Washington insider, Hillary Clinton, they misguidedly voted for Donald Trump. This added to Trump's rural support put him over the top.

But, of course, we'll probably never know.