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The American Political Thread

948K views 22K replies 68 participants last post by  Vader101 
#1 ·
Something I've noted several times is that, while most of us agree it's important to be informed about Canadian politics and to be an engaged citizen, the fact is that Canadian politics are generally pretty boring (this can be a good thing, IMO). The Americans, on the other hand, have turned the dysfunction of their political system into an entertainment industry (although it appears Harper, et al., are determined to reduce the Canadian system to the same level).

So I thought I'd start a thread for discussion of the Reality TV show they call American Politics.

I'll start with this posting I saw on another forum, with respect to the Republican's policies on women's health care, especially with regard to contraception and abortion:
After years and years and years of specifically targeting homophobes, racists, bigots, religious zealots, anti-intellectuals and sociopaths why should we be at all shocked that the GOP picked up a ****load of misogynists along the way?
 
#9,561 ·
And, for those of you who want the Electoral College disbanded, and/or don't understand the purpose thereof...

"i am hillary clinton, and i approve of this rioting, hell, i fomented it" .... understand this, the riots are just a continuation of the election campaign ....

The penultimate paragraph (most of the preceding is not germaine):

hillary appears to have received the majority of popular votes, from the states of new york and california. letting those two states control the election because of their huge populations is precisely what the electoral college was designed to prevent: it is just another one of the institutions in u.s. politics from preventing wealth, power and population from dominating totally.
M'bold.

That'll Be Enough

(Interesting bit about the 17 Amendment I was unaware of)

There's a very good reason our founding fathers designed a Constitutional Republic instead of a Democracy. They understand the problem with democracy: It doesn't work. Democracy always ends up leading to riots and civil war, because exactly what the blue folks are doing now escalates until everyone starts shooting everyone.

A Constitutional Republic avoids this outcome because even a very large majority cannot infringe the rights of everyone else -- even when the majority lives in big, concentrated places like cities.

That was the magic sauce of the original design in our legislature and Presidency. It's why we have an Electoral College -- to provide a bit of "overweighting" to those places that are utterly crucial to the cohesiveness and survival of the nation as a functional republic -- that is, a bit more balance against tyranny of the majority of 50%+1.
All emphasis from the link.

Sunday Morning Book Thread 11-13-2016: There's Got To Be A Morning After

At the time of the American Revolution, when the Founders were hashing out the features of the federal goverment they thought would be the best (and by 'best', I mean 'most just' not 'most efficient'), one of the issues that they needed to resolve was the competition between large states vs. small states. The Founders were concerned that the large states would simply overwhelm the small states in every election, so they wanted to balance that out a bit, and give the small states a bit of leverage so that they wouldn't be shut out entirely.

Thus the Electoral College.

I think the Electoral College is a work of genius. It makes presidential elections more difficult to win, and forces the candidates to earn the support of a broad coalition of states, not just a few populous ones. Without the EC, the president would be elected by a mere plebiscite and nowadays, that means that all a candidate has to do is to carry in a few blue states, 30-35 counties tops, and he can pretty much ignore the rest of the country. Or, back then, all they had to do was carry 2-3 big states, and that would be that.
And then there is the Loser's perspective...

Michael Dukakis calls for end to Electoral College

A former Democratic presidential nominee is calling for the Electoral College to be abolished after Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but still lost to Donald Trump.

Michael Dukakis, who lost to George H.W. Bush in 1988, told Politico that the Electoral College "should have been abolished 150 years ago."
 
#9,562 ·
#9,566 ·
Many people are unaware that a state won't count its absentee ballots unless there are enough of them to change the outcome. Absentee ballots typically break 2/3 for Republicans. Had these been counted, even the claim that Hillary "won the popular vote" is unlikely to be true.
 
#9,567 ·
I think there is a paradigm that the U.S. Presidential election is a "national" election where, in fact, it is more of a State election. The Electorial College was the brain child to prevent the populous states from taking control..... the issue with the EC is that if it were based on a proportional allocation it would be much fairer, and possibly more democratic. My understanding of the College is that it is based on one vote per elected representative ( the House and Senate +3 from D.C. ) generally to carry a state's EC votes you must win the State...but in away this is still based on population as the more population the more districts in a given state..... I think as long as the party you vote for doesn't win people will be complaining. Bottom line, if you don't like the result don't bitch, get out and help make a chance next time.... the system is the system for all parties involved.
 
#9,568 ·
Bottom line, if you don't like the result don't bitch, get out and help make a chance next time.... the system is the system for all parties involved.
+100

It is frustrating when people whine after every election when whoever they voted for did not win, and even more so when all this talk of leaving, or petitions to change the democratic election that was held. I voted Conservative last few elections, and while I did not vote for Trudeau I support our Prime Minister and wish him nothing but the best and hope he will do right by our country.
 
#9,569 ·
#9,572 ·
I think there is a paradigm that the U.S. Presidential election is a "national" election where, in fact, it is more of a State election. The Electorial College was the brain child to prevent the populous states from taking control..... the issue with the EC is that if it were based on a proportional allocation it would be much fairer, and possibly more democratic. My understanding of the College is that it is based on one vote per elected representative ( the House and Senate +3 from D.C. ) generally to carry a state's EC votes you must win the State...but in away this is still based on population as the more population the more districts in a given state..... I think as long as the party you vote for doesn't win people will be complaining. Bottom line, if you don't like the result don't bitch, get out and help make a chance next time.... the system is the system for all parties involved.

https://youtu.be/DGlbJQP2tIQ


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#9,574 ·
Today Is the Anniversary of Ruby Bridges' Historic First Day of School

I was 12 years old when I watched the CBS news report on this courageous little girl. I could freely walk to and from my elementary school in Queens, NYC by her age. Luckily, my mother, who was a progressive liberal Democrat, explained to me the significance of this act of courage. I have not forgotten that lesson to this day. Paix, mes amis.
 
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