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Absurdity of the Electoral College:
Here's one nice thing we can now say about the Electoral College: it's slightly less harmful to our democracy than it was just days ago. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that states have the right to "bind" their electors, requiring them to support whichever presidential candidate wins the popular vote in their state. Justice Elena Kagan's opinion was a blow to so-called "faithless electors," but a win for self-government. "Here," she wrote, "the People rule."
Yet while we can all breathe a sigh of relief that rogue electors won't choose (or be coerced) into derailing the 2020 presidential contest, the Court's unanimous ruling is a helpful reminder that our two-step electoral process provides America with no tangible benefits and near-limitless possibilities for disaster. To put it more bluntly, the Electoral College is a terrible idea. And thanks to the Justices' decision, getting rid of it has never been easier.
[...] The Electoral College, in other words, serves no useful purpose, other than to intermittently and randomly override the people's will. It's the appendix of our body politic. Most of the time we don't notice it, and then every so often it flares up and nearly kills us.
[...] Justice Kagan's words – "Here, the People rule" – are stirring. But today, they are still more aspiration than declaration. By declining to make the Electoral College an even great threat to our democracy, the Court did its job. Now it's up to us. If you live in a state that hasn't joined the interstate compact, you can urge your state legislators and your governor to sign on. And no matter where you're from, you can dispel the myths about the Electoral College and who it really helps, myths that still lead some people to support it despite its total lack of redeeming qualities.
More than 215 years after the Electoral College was last reformed with the 12th Amendment, we once again have the opportunity to protect our presidential-election process and reassert the people's will. Regardless of who wins the White House in 2020, it's a chance we should take.
Would you get rid of the Electoral College? Why or why not?
Also at:
Supremes Signal a Brave New World of Popular Presidential Elections
Supreme Court Rules State 'Faithless Elector' Laws Constitutional
U.S. Supreme Court curbs 'faithless electors' in presidential voting
Supreme Court rules states can remove 'faithless electors'
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday July 14 2020, @07:20PM (2 children)
We're going through a painful period now, but the tools to shatter the status quo are here and regular people are gaining proficiency with them. What happens when we all have solar panels and/or wind turbines? Oil companies lose their control. What happens when additive manufacturing hits a tipping point? Manufacturers lose control.
Those are only a couple revolutions underway now. There are many more. The crappy political and economic systems we have now are ripe for collapse.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday July 15 2020, @01:39PM (1 child)
While we have a right to peaceably assemble, we do not yet have a right to repair.
The Centauri traded Earth jump gate technology in exchange for our superior hair mousse formulas.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Thursday July 16 2020, @06:39PM
We don't, but we should. After the collapse of the First American Republic, we must write it into the new Constitution. The Right to Privacy should also be formally declared, so that we can kill off social media and other invasive parties.
Personally, I would also like to split up Washington DC and re-locate its various departments all over the US so that the Beltway culture dies. The banking system needs to be broken up and decentralized as well. If we don't rip up the hidden, non-elected systems of control we'll never have real democracy.
Washington DC delenda est.