Americans, Please Put Down Your Swords and Make Peace

I'm sure that I'm not the only person in the world who has been horrified by the behavior of the American public, American citizens who have been condemning the results of the recent Presidential Elections, not with the usual benign disappointment, but with riots, lawsuits and more.

I don't know how Basic Democracy and Democratic Principles are taught nowadays, but way back when in the middle of the previous century we were taught that you had to accept your loss with dignity. Here in Shiloh, I've been on the Election Committee for almost every local election for thirty years or so, and it has happened many more times than once, that after the votes were counted, I'd discover that none of the candidates I had voted for had been elected. And sometimes I really don't like the results at all. That's life. I've always taken pride in how fairly and legally I've run elections, and that's why now two generations of Shilohnians like seeing me in charge.

Now, after at least two years or more of campaigning and mudslinging and worse, the 2016 American Presidential Elections are finally over. Yesterday was the voting of the Electoral College. And they voted, as is the law/custom according to the state voting results, for Donald Trump.

People protest against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as electors gather to cast their votes for U.S. president at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. December 19, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Republican Donald Trump prevailed in U.S. Electoral College voting on Monday to officially win election as the next president, easily dashing a long-shot push by a small movement of detractors to try to block him from gaining the White House.
Trump, who is set to take office on Jan. 20, garnered more than the 270 electoral votes required to win, even as at least half a dozen U.S. electors broke with tradition to vote against their own state’s directives, the largest number of “faithless electors” seen in more than a century.
The Electoral College vote is normally a formality but took on extra prominence this year after a group of Democratic activists sought to persuade Republicans to cross lines and vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. She won the nationwide popular vote even as she failed to win enough state-by-state votes in the acrimonious Nov. 8 election. (Reuters)

It's time for all Americans to accept the results. That's what true democracy is all about. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose, and sometimes it really hurts.

Reflections on Elections 2016

So, sue me. I just can't be quiet about the American Elections. Looking at this map, I finally understand the importance of the Electoral College. 

Yahoo News

I'm big on color-coding things, which is one of the reasons that this graphic is so helpful for me.

At this point, it seems that various news sites are still giving conflicting numbers concerning the popular vote, re:Trump vs Hillary. But when you look at this map, and you see the paltry amount of states that gave Hillary Clinton the majority or plurality of its votes, Trump's victory is much more convincing.

That swath of red which goes almost from coast to coast, certainly from north to south and demonstrates a very convincing show of support among the vast majority of states for Donald Trump.

If you go through the numbers state by state, you will see that many of Hillary's big popular vote victories/majorities were in the bigger states which gave her a "surplus" of popular votes which cannot be transferred to a different state.

Also in the states that had a close popular vote between Hillary and Trump, the win for Trump came from the fact that there were many who voted for one of the "third parties," a party that had no chance of winning. They could also be called the "spoiler" or "distorter" parties.

For decades, "middle America," or "the silent majority" have claimed to be disenfranchised by the mainstream media and also the party establishments of both Democrats and Republicans. Ronnie Reagan and Donald Trump both gave that segment of American society the feeling that somebody understood their concerns.

And in general, when you think of the very low voter turnout in the United States, it seems pretty obvious that people prefer complaining (and rioting possibly) to actual voting.

Also, don't forget that there's a shadow or illegal society living in America who have been there illegally, without papers/citizenship procedures sometimes for decades. Children born to them in the USA are citizens which create a very Kafkaesque situation. It's sad, but it's complicated and the media has been highlighting stories about them, as if they are innocent victims of American injustice, even though technically they are criminals. Before legalizing the illegals, I think the American Government should speed up citizenship procedures for those who have been so carefully following the rules and not reward those who haven't.

The pundits have been showing surprise at the higher than predicted Latino/minority/immigrant support for Trump. Those pundits were not listening; they were projecting according to racist ideology and totally misread the situation. The Latino/minority/immigrant sector working at precarious minimum wage jobs live in fear of losing their income to illegals who will work under the table for less. Also they feel like "suckers" having gone through the difficult bureaucracy to become citizens, when Obama/Hillary have been campaigning to make it easier for illegals.

I'm sure that the Clinton team is having major problems trying to figure out why, even after bringing in the most popular cinema and sports celebrities to campaign for her, she still lost. This is just proof of how totally ignorant that segment of American society is of the "other half."

On BBC I saw a graphic showing the difference in media support for Hillary vs Trump. She had this enormously high pile of newspapers that publicly supported her versus a very low pathetic looking pile for him. But he won. Most voting Americans don't give hoot about what the media thinks.

Way back when in the mid-1960's when I was active nationally in NCSY, the youth organization of the Orthodox (Jewish) Union people would try to tell me how New York is not like the rest of the United States. Looking at that colored map on the top of this post, I'm beginning to understand them more and more.

The United States is not united, not at all. There are dangerous divisions, no less than there were in 1860 as the pro-slave-owning south split/seceded from the union. Americans have a lot of thinking to do if they want to remain a united states in North America.

PS I haven't yet found the final count numbers of the popular vote which includes all the write-ins and "third party" numbers. I want to see if the total of write-ins and "third party" votes top the difference between Hillary and Trump. If you find it, please send to comments, thanks.

Americans Right, Left and Center Must Agree that System Undemocratic!

It's 2016, two-hundred-forty years since Americans declared its independence from England, and the convoluted method they came up with for electing a president is totally out of date and completely non-democratic by modern standards.

• Yes, it is time, and has been for the past few decades or longer, to amend the Constitution and institute the election of President by popular vote. 
• Yes, that means to cancel/delete the Electoral College!

The Electoral College distorts the results of the votes, the will of the people.

• A person can be elected President without getting the highest number of votes.
• People living in states with smaller populations have more powerful votes, because the state's delegates are the sum of its congressmen and two senators. So if you calculate how many potential voters per delegate in each state you will see that New York and California there are many more citizens per delegate than Nevada or Colorado. 

USA Electoral College System

As I had been taught, way back when, the principle of democracy is that each vote has the same weight. All citizens are supposed to be equal. I don't see how this is possible with the system as it now stands.

What do you think?

Good luck America!

US 2016 Elections, Ronald Reagan's Legacy

http://media.salon.com/

Unlike Alan Dershowitz, I'm not at all surprised at the unpredicted by people of his ilk success of Donald Trump. As I've blogged many times the past year plus, I feel that Trump's popularity, unpredicted by the usual experts and pundits, and his primaries victories are a continuation of the process begun over half a century ago by Ronald Reagan.

I remember how Reagan was mocked by the media.

"What does an actor known about politics and government?"

That was the theme of many op-eds and political speeches. But the silent, yet voting, majority loved him. In California he was elected Governor in  1966 serving for eight years, and then he was elected President of the United States in 1980 and then for a second term in 1984.

Reagan was a more popular and successful politician than actor, though no matter what he did, he couldn't rid himself of the "actor" label. One of my favorite Reagan stories is from an interview I once read in which he wondered why people thought his acting background wasn't suitable for the US Presidency. He wondered how a non-actor could succeed in the job.

http://www.slate.com/

Ordinary Americans trusted Reagan much more than they trusted the professional politicians who opposed him. And today's Americans seem to trust Donald Trump more than they trust the professional politicians of today. Many have gotten to know him on his tv shows on the small screen, which nowadays is pretty big in most homes. That's very much like how Americans got to know Reagan by watching his old movies on television.

Nowadays everybody knows that JFK, the fairy tale Camelot POTUS, was more Peyton Place, before the censor got to it.  Just like Reagan's marital history broke the anti-divorce "rule," Trump's personal life just makes him more attractive to ordinary Americans who now have "everything" in their families.

There's a good chance that the Electoral College will give Hillary the Presidency, while popular vote will go to Trump. Nobody can predict at this point. It's a rollercoaster of a campaign for sure.

Olympia Looping POV Largest Most INTENSE Traveling Roller Coaster Ever Built

Hold onto your hats! And because the Electoral College can very easily distort the results of a Presidential Election, I'd like to see Congress passing a Constitutional Amendment to eliminate it completely!

American Presidential Wannabes, Israel Next Stop?

Obama in Sderot, AP

Barack Hussein Obama did it, so I do expect most of the United States Presidential hopefuls to be flying to Israel soon for symbolic photo-ops and memorable soundbites to galvanize their Jewish and pro-Israel supporters.

The Israel visit has been a rite of passage in the campaign for quite a few years or even decades. The usual formula/itinerary includes a pledge to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's Capital City and move the American Embassy to there. But we all know that it's a lie, a joke, just something they say to get applause and votes.

The persistent repeat presidential wannabe, Mike Huckabee has already been here. Actually, he one-upped the usual pro-Israel line by having headline grabbing fundraiser in Shiloh.

“I would happily go to Shiloh anytime,” he said. “I think it is very important that as Americans we show support for Israelis in their capacity to build their neighborhoods in their own country.”
Huckabee, who stressed he did not view Judea and Samaria as occupied territory, said Israel – with a 3,500-year historic tie to Shiloh – has a much stronger link there than Americans have to Manhattan, a connection dating back only four centuries. (Jerusalem Post)

Actually, Huckabee, unlike most other presidential hopefuls actually has a consistent record of being pro-Israel and Israeli rights in the Land of Israel.

From my observations, here in Shiloh, Jews and Israel will have a smaller role in and value in the 2016 presidential election campaign than for decades. As I've written before, there's an internal revolution going on in the United States. And if the American public was more knowledgeable they'd be campaigning for the immediate abolishment of the Electoral College so that the USA President would be elected by popular vote and not the convoluted way he/she is now, which can create a situation in which the winner received fewer actual votes of the citizens than the loser.

But we shouldn't forget about tradition, so no doubt campaign managers are reserving suites and rooms in Israel's fanciest hotels for the presidential hopefuls and their staffs. I wonder if any other wannabe will put Shiloh on his/her itinerary.

The Farce of American Democracy

This map shows the relative strength of the individual vote in United States Presidential Elections. While America is bragging about its great system, and many countries jealously wish that they had a governmental system like in the states, I suggest that you read this excellent article from The New York Times. There's no reason for me to try to explain what the writers do so well.

America, you can start by ridding yourself of the Electoral College System.

Maybe The "Silent Majority" Likes The Unconventional

The polls and the big money are going to Obama, but it seems like middle America, that silent majority rarely heard in the media like Sarah Palin.

Dudes sure do.

The media keeps hounding away that Obama's in the lead. If middle America believes them, loses hope and doesn't vote, then McCain loses the election. If they go out to vote in record percentages, then McCain has a good chance. Of course, the Electoral College distorts the popular vote.

The next big question is how many individual votes per Electoral College vote per state. It's not totally equal. Each state gets the total of their Congressmen and Senators. So, if that's the case, it takes fewer voters in the less populous states.

Add that into your computation.

"Change" is a Catchy Slogan

From the Jerusalem Post:
America Decides 2008
Obama-mania and cult of self-esteem
Obama supporters really couldn't care less what policies he advocates.

It's all in the marketing, the labels, the packaging. Politics is just a business. How could anyone forget how Nixon lost to Kennedy by a whisker? If only he had shaved immediately before their debates. Underarm sweat-guards would have helped, too. According to the popular vote, it was a very close election. But the United States Presidential Elections are not according to the "popular vote." It's not a true democracy.

"Change" is a magic word. Everyone interprets it according to his/her own needs and desires.

“This is the first time I’ve voted Democrat, ever,” he said, sounding surprised. He said he supported Mr. Obama because he believed he could actually bring about at least some of the change that is the core of his message. (complete article)

It's brilliant.

The Clinton-Obama fight is going to end up between the popular vote and the state--winner takes all system, since the choice of a party candidate isn't simple math. Many of the delegates are required to vote according to the majority decisions in their states. It's similar to the Electoral College, the terribly out of date and undemocratic American Presidential Election system. If Clinton gets the nomination, it will be because of that system.

If that happens, I wonder if Obama will then campaign to finally retire the Electoral College and all remnants of it. That would be a good change for America.