Opinion/Streetalk

Elector roulette

The pesidential electors have done their damage this year and can go back into hibernation for four years. In our report on the presidential elector system, there were portions of its history we did not deal with for space reasons. The electors were created as part of an execrable deal to preserve slavery a little longer, each slave counted as three-eights of a person for purposes of allocating electors. That provision has fortunately seen its time and the U.S. has moved on with the enactment of the 13th Amendment.

Another section we didn’t really touch on dealt with concerns of the founders about other nations tampering with U.S. elections. This obviously has considerable relevance today, though it’s good to keep in mind that claims of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election come from the same U.S. intelligence agencies that claimed before the Kuwait war that Iraq had a fearsome military or before the second Iraq war that there were weapons of mass destruction. Among the constitutional convention comments during debate on presidential electors or presidential powers:

Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania: “No man wd. say, that an Executive known to be in the pay of an Enemy, should not be removeable in some way or other.”

James Madison of Virginia: “Limited as the powers of the Executive are, it will be an object of great moment with the great rival powers of Europe who have American possessions, to have at the head of our Governmt. a man attached to their respective politics & interests.”

Pierce Butler of South Carolina: “The two great evils to be avoided are cabal at home, & influence from abroad.”

James Wilson of Pennsylvania: “The power of making Treaties involves the case of subsidies, and here as an additional evil, foreign influence is to be dreaded.”

On another issue, one of our readers has written, “Consider that Trump not only won 30 states (60 percent), but over 2,600 counties (83 percent) to Clinton’s less than 500. Clinton’s measly 2 percent margin in so-called ‘popular vote’ pales in comparison.”

This is nonsensical. As the U.S. Supreme Court once ruled, our officeholders “represent people, not trees or acres.” If Trump had carried a 99 percent majority of trees, he’d still be far behind Clinton—as he is.

Next, a few years ago in these pages, we noted that the U.S. Senate has recently begun operating routinely— instead of rarely—on a supermajority basis. Most bills or resolutions of importance must pass by 61 out of 100 senators, with the result that it has become the world’s most dysfunctional legislative body. We pointed out that every governing body in the United States, from the Churchill County Mosquito Abatement District Board to the U.S. House of Representatives, mostly operates on a simple majority system, and all those governments function more efficiently than the Senate.

We must ask the same kind of thing about the presidential elector system. If the so-called “Electoral College” is so great, then why, out of all the democracies on the planet—from Canada to India, from Costa Rica to France—is the United States of America the only one that needs it? Ω

Who’s your favorite author?

asKed at Grassroots BooKs, 660 e. Grove st.

GreG Burnett

Medical scribe I really like Raymond Carver’s short stories, because Carver accurately and depressingly summarizes the American Dream.

Hollie templeton

IT specialist I’m not going to lie. It’s probably J. K. Rowling. It’s the book series that I grew up with. Part of the reason ... is because my son is now old enough, too. So we just did Fantastic Beasts. And so he’s finally starting to get into it.

Cassie lundy

Grassroots team member Like genre-specific? Do I have to pick one? … That’s a lot of pressure. My go-to is Neil Gaiman. I also really, really love Joe Hill. I also really like A. S. King, if you want some YA [Young Adult] in there. This is like the worst question to ask me, because I can’t pick one.

tristan KenBoK

Warehouse worker My favorite author is Stephen King, actually. I would say that’s just hands down, because he writes about everything. It has romance, horror, science fiction. It has it all.

mary Zuliani

Retiree I like James Patterson. … I mean, I love him. Well, it’s between him and John Grisham, really.