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Slavery may have ended legally, but it hasn't ended in the minds of many Southerners. I've lived mostly in the south the last 35 years, and MANY people feel superior to blacks, well not just blacks, anyone darker than them, anyone who has an accent, and women.
In pursuing WHY, I found it starts in school. Southern history books don't mention the two main reasons the South seceded:
1. to protect slavery - it's in the first 3 sentences of EVERY articles of secession.
2. to oppose State's Rights - the South was LIVID when the SCOTUS refused to upold Federal slave laws over State laws that said any slave making it across the border was free. It's noteworthy that in the Confederacy, Federal Laws SPECIFICALLY overruled ANY individual state - they were never going to allow any state to free slaves.
In fact, most Southerners falsely believe that slavery wasn't the main issue, and actually argue the OPPOSITE on State's Rights, they are told the south was PRO-State's Rights, when the exact opposite is true.
I agree the EC should be eliminated, but the far larger problem is the brainwashing of America. If Americans were all high knowledge, the EC wouldn't matter.
Let's start addressing the disease instead of treating the symptoms.
It appears that Russia may have tampered with the vote count in many states. We need to raise holy H about this. I met people in Florida who laundered money for the mob. They ran legitimate restaurants that were PACKED all the time becasue they sold fabulous food very cheap. They were losing money but all revenue became "clean". About once every 5 years the restaurant would fail, and re-open with another brother or cousin running it. The kids (between 20 and 30) who ran it were all cousins, the "millenials" of Miami based Mafia families. Their income was a %, a fee for running the place, which they didn't own or fund. What they did was legal, anyone is allowed to borrow money from an uncle to open a restaurant, then run below cost and constantly borrow money for operations, then go belly up after 5 years. They told me that if they did a good job running the laundry, which was intended to lose money anyway, they would be funded in a legitimate business, from which 50% went back to the family. It sure looks like Trump is laundering money for the Russsian mafia, as most of his ventures go bankrupt and usually he doesn't own anything, he just licenses his name.
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PUZZLEMENT {a rhyme}
Trump’s often vile,
and ought to be muzzled.
Then he changes his style,
and this leaves us puzzled: -
- WHICH way DOES his schizoid mind wag?
On WHICH of his shticks will America gag?
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By-TOLES ‘TOONS {a rhyme}
Toleseses’s ‘toons are magnificently worth
a thousand pundits’ thousand words, eh what?
Cartoons in which there’s of insights no dearth.
His short-captioned drawings SAY a lot.
{Lookit his lower-right corners too; -
- additional wit about things which are true.}
… An Example:
http://www.gocomics.com/tomtoles/2016/11/23
====================================
America's dirty little "secret:" We've been implementing fascism (by definition) for years, slowly and from the bottom up. Because the US itself is an economic entity, it makes sense that our form of fascism would be class-based. We've already stripped the poor of a list of fundamrental civil and human rights. Facism takes root when enough of the population agrees that a particular segment of the population is undeserving of fundamental rights and protections.
It's important to keep in mind that unlike the 1960s, those who are not on the right wing today are deeply divided by class and race. We're 20 years into our war on the poor, brought to fruition by the Clinton wing. The majority of US poor are white. Even though we don't talk about this issue, it certainly has an impact.
Establishing the electoral college system was not about slavery.
http://uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/electcollege_history.php
I'm pretty sure that with each election, the party that lost has called for doing away with the Electoral College system. Of course it no longer serves a legitimate purpose, and we've known this for decades.
Trump's cabinet, so far, is composed of extremely competent people who will work for the mainstream and promote American Exceptionalism, which is a good thing.
This election has prevented an Obama-chosen cabinet and advisors that resembles the Star wars Cantina more than the American mainstream.
There are huge differences between the election of Donald trump and the rise of Hitler and Naziism.
First, our country is not suffering economically under anything remotely comparable to the punitive treaty of Versailles.
Second, we don't need to conquer other nations for their resources. We are, at this time, energy and materially self sufficient, except for a few minerals/raw materials we now trade for on a friendly basis.
Third, our political system does not accomodate or tolerate dictators.
Fourth: A "reichstadt" vision of destiny does not drive our politics.
We simply don't have to be concerned about a dictator turning our nation into another Nazu Germany. The hysteria after the election is either manuctured by those who are unhappy with the results, or a result of fearful overreaction.
Does anybody recall what Comey did? I didn't think so!
We need to do away with swing state election fraud before we do anything!
Crooked Donny has admitted to "de facto" guilt in both his university fraud and charity fraud cases. Lock him up, lock him up, lock him up! ...c'mon Skeeter! lmao
The electoral college prevents candidates from campaigning solely in the cities and ignoring the rest of the country.
It also discourages the voter fraud that would influence a presidential election if there were a popular vote.
This has nothing to do wth race, at present.
Hephaestus. :):)
Ou812 - Not too sure I understand the race connotation with regard to slavery! It is not necessarily always a black and white matter. Pun intended!
The problem with your argument, is that the election race was waged knowing the electoral college would decide the election. Also, in a popular vote, candidates would campaign only in the most populous areas, ignoring the less populous midsection of the country, leaving voters there feeling disenfranchised. Not a good way of uniting an already fractious country. Some traditions are a good thing.
God, yes.
History of the formation of the electoral college is what Thom wrote. There is no need to ashamed of reporting it.
A foolish question. If you are Democrat, It's time to end the electoral college. If you are a Republican, no it's not. Either way, It's not going to end any time soon. Changing the electoral college system requires a Constitutional Amendment to be passed.
Everyone knew going in to the election, that Presidents are elected by the electorial college. The electoral college vote is even close. As of today Trump has 292 electorial votes, Clinton has 232. Michigan, with 16 electorial votes will finish counting by the end of the month. With 96% of the votes counted, Trump leads Clinton by about 12,000 votes. The final electorial vote tally will probably be Trump 308, Clinton 232. In the unlikely event Clinton wins Michigan, the final tally will be Trump 292, Clinton 248. Still not close.
I don't believe writing race baiting articles saying slavery is the reason the electorical college exists helps anyone. At the time the constitution was written, Virginia was the most populous state. James Madison, who was from Virginia, is considered the father of the constitution. Virginai slave owner Jefferson won the popular vote in the second presidential election, but lost the Electorial vote to John Adams of Massachesetts (a non slave state). You should be ashamed of yourself Thom Hartmann
Yes, it's time for the electoral college to end. In spite of that--and in spite of being a strong supported first of Bernie then of Hillary--I have not signed any petitions asking the college to vote for the winner of the nationwide popular vote. I am quite sure that, if that were to happen, Hillary Clinton would find the country ungovernable. If she were elected fairly under the roles existing at the time of voting, she would have had a hard time. If she wins it this way--OMG! the reaction could be more chaos and violence than we can tolerate. I lived through the late 60's and know how violent it got and how close we got to violent revolution. We may be headed that way anyhow, but a shift in college votes now would go off like a bomb. But, yes, of course, use of the electoral college has become a highly destructive procedure, and it needs to end.
Informative history of the electoral college.
Believe it will take a constitutional amendment
to change it.
Would not the repubs fight this?
They know they are a minority party and will cling
to every such trick in our archaic form of democracy.
How could it be presented so they would go for it?
ct
Do you mean the electoral college that our forefathers set up to insure that a large localized population that expected "free stuff" from a socialist or liar who promised everyone else would pay the costs?
No, you got your ass kicked all over the country by plain working folks, gun owners, and voters that saw through Clinton's lies and voted for Trump or one of the other two on the ballot.
This was the greatest rejection of progressive values in history. Yes, it will turn but not before 99 judges and three Supreme Court Justices are appointed by Trump.
Consider occupying something. It will ease your pain.
Dianereynolds. In the early 70's, I lived in Germany for 18 months and had wonderful opportunities to listen to many "old heads" open up about their attitudes during the rise of their most famous fascist. I must say, given the nationalistic fervor of the time, the disillusionment of the establishment, the blaming of liberals, democrats, minorities, and "others" -- and a power-hungry narcissist who could verbalize those attitudes and whip up the crowds -- their rationales sounded exactly (and I do mean exactly) like what you just posted above.
By the way, "Mainstream America" did NOT elect your (not mine) pussy-grabbing, so-called "leader." The anachronistic, undemocratic Electoral College will appoint him in December. He lost the will of the people by almost two million (and counting). There's your "dose of reality. "
I'm retired (forcibly, but still retired). I'm an Electrical Engineer with a 163 IQ and 50 years of action. I'm going to embed myself in the local Dems but I have time. If there is ANYTHING you need, let me know. My fee is $1 a year, but you can owe me.
Thom, I've been a freedom fighter for 50 years, couldn't do much as a 13 year old, but I did argue with my parents........
My secondary point: Trump deserves an EMMY. Not for convincing 60 milion fools he could win, for convincing 130 million people that HRC was going to win by landslide, so don't bother to vote!
My main point: Trump is performing ALL THE TIME AND ANY TIME ANYONE SEES HIM. NEVER, EVER FORGET THiS.