The Electoral College is coming up fast. It's important because Trump isn't President yet, it's a vote taken on Dec 19th that will seal our fate. Peter Binary associate professor of political science at the City University of New York wrote an informative article about the Electoral College and looks at various aspects of petitioning them not to vote for Trump. Thoughtful reading from The Atlantic. It's another bootleg, but I am posting most of it here with some added comments since Peter overlooked a few profoundly (national security) important issues that demand looking at before Dec 19. Why elect an impeachable president?
Dear Atlantic editors, will substantially reduce the following to acceptable limited quotes after Dec 19th, I beg your understanding. CC/PM
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The Electoral College Was Meant to Stop Men Like Trump From Being President
The founders envisioned electors as people who could prevent an irresponsible demagogue from taking office.
PETER BEINART NOV 21, 2016
Americans talk about democracy like it’s sacred. In public discourse, the more democratic American government is, the better. The people are supposed to rule.
But that’s not the premise that underlies America’s political system. Most of the men who founded the United States feared unfettered majority rule. James Madison wrote in Federalist 10 that systems of government based upon “pure democracy … have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property.” John Adams wrote in 1814 that, “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself.”
The framers constructed a system that had democratic features. The people had a voice. They could, for instance, directly elect members of the House of Representatives. But the founders also self-consciously limited the people’s voice.
