Author: Thos

Blame the Founding Fathers.

Had the 2016 Democratic primary and convention been merely a debacle, it would have been a great improvement.

Bernie Sanders started the most important movement in a very long time, probably the most important since around 1776. He is also one of the most respected and influential leaders America has seen.

Bernie’s populist movement made record-breaking progress. It looked like he would make it to the White House, a new beginning for America. That didn’t happen. Bernie conceded to and endorsed Hillary Clinton. Many of his followers, members of his political revolution feel betrayed and angry. Many feel that Bernie Sanders is a fraud and/or a political opportunist. He is neither. Anyone who takes the time to listen carefully hears two messages from him:

• We must not allow Donald Trump to be president. To that end, we must elect Hillary Clinton.
• We must continue our political revolution. change must work its way from the bottom up, not the top down.

It was a dream; Bernie Sanders is president, implementing all of the policies that excited and motivated us. It was a dream that didn’t come true, but even if it had, reality might not have looked like the dream. Had Bernie Sanders been elected president, the outcome would probably have been four years of political stalemate.

The president is one third of the process that develops and implements policy. The president is outnumbered by 535 members of congress. The policy positions of the president and congress may be overridden by the supreme court. That means that actually, the president is 0.18% of the government. The president can suggest, propose, and demand, but if a majority of congress does not agree, nothing will happen. On the other hand, congress can pass all of the legislation it wants, but the president can veto to prevent it from becoming law…unless there is sufficient support in congress to override the president’s veto.

But why would he concede so easily, without complaint? In a way, you can blame the Founding Fathers.

When the constitution was written, the authors did not anticipate  political parties because they didn’t desire political parties. Many of them felt that political parties would become powerful factions that would not represent the people as well as they would represent their own interests. They were right.

Unfortunately, political parties developed, largely founded by some of the folks who thought that they were undesirable and dangerous.

Our two political parties are effectively private clubs that have complete control over the government. They set the rules for choosing presidential candidates, they set the rules for presidential elections, and they set the rules for how congress conducts its business. Whichever party is in the majority runs the show.

Yes, there was apparent election fraud in several state primaries. Regardless of the private club nature of the parties, fixing elections is a crime. However, in order to substantiate accusations, regardless of the definite appearance of fraud and collusion, it must be pursued through the court system. That takes time.

A popular political strategy in the US is gratuitous accusations. A party, a candidate, or a public figure makes an accusation, true or not, and the guilt of the accused party is implied by the media and assumed in public opinion. If the accusation is later proven to be false, it makes no difference. The damage has already been done merely through accusation.

Bernie Sanders approached his entire campaign with integrity, which is what drew millions to follow him. At no point did he make any accusations that were not substantiated. The election fraud, although patently obvious, was not substantiated by the courts. Bernie made no accusations, but his movement is pursuing the matter in court. That is the correct way to pursue the matter. Unfortunately, court procedures take time – a lot of it.

Then there’s the treatment of his movement at the Democratic convention. The Bernie Sanders delegates and staff were maligned and mistreated to an extreme. The entire convention was merely a show for the installation of Hillary Clinton as the presidential nominee. Bernie Sanders never said a word of objection.

That’s probably because it was not for him to object. The Democratic Party is a private club. They set the rules. They do what they want. Paraphrasing Lesley Gore, The convention is their party and they can do what they want to.

Having obviously lost and anticipating return to the senate as an independent, he needs to have the cooperation of the Democrats in congress in order to be effective at all. He will do none of us any good as one lone voice, alienated from the rest of congress.

Why did he run as a Democrat in the first place and why not run for president as an independent or join Jill Stein in the Green Party? As our system is currently structured, there is very little, actually almost no, chance for success for an independent or a third party. The process of the electoral college choosing the president is virtually impossible for a third party or an independent to circumvent.

There is no almost and there is no aggregate of the popular vote. In each state, the candidate with the most popular votes wins all of the votes for that state. Elections have been apparently won in the nationwide popular vote and lost in the electoral vote. To run as an independent or Green would have unintended negative consequences.

The Founding Fathers didn’t anticipate or want political parties, but they exist. The Founding Fathers couldn’t have even dreamed of instant communication, let alone the effect of instant communication on politics. The telegraph wouldn’t come along for another 40 years. The concept of  a little box that allowed instant access to audio and animated pictures was not present in even the wildest dreams.

Our political system was developed in 1787 for the conditions of 1787. It has served well, but its obsolescence is showing.

Bernie’s political revolution requires five important steps in order to advance:

• Obtain a sufficient number of congressional seats to allow progressive legislation to be formulated and passed.
• Elect a progressive president to sign progressive legislation into law.
• Eliminate money as the deciding factor in elections.
• Limit the power of the political parties. Don’t allow them to set the rules for choosing presidential candidates.
• Change the method of electing the president from the arcane electoral college to elections based on aggregate popular vote.

There is plenty for Bernie Sanders supporters to do. They all need to choose the part they can and want to act upon, and implement the changes that we all want and need.

Anger, complaints, and/or return to apathy will do nothing for any of us.

HW

 

The conventions are finished. The 2016 Presidential campaign is on. It’s not heating up, it was already pretty hot. It’s not getting into full combat mode, it was already in full combat mode.

There is a substantial populist movement that is, with good cause, quite upset. They feel that the primary election and the Democratic Presidential nomination were stolen from them and, more accurately, from their standard-bearer. They are right, it was.

Well, let’s put it this way, there was a concerted effort put into stealing the election and the nomination. The party’s candidate won. It is not really possible to know what the outcome would have been because the actions to rig the process were so diverse.

There are many cries of I’m not voting for and I’m voting for.

The title of this article came from that famous American philosopher, Yogi Berra. The advice comes from another, Stephen Stills.

I think it’s time we stop
Children, what’s that sound?
Everybody look – what’s going down?

Today is July 31. Nobody is voting for anyone today. The election is November 8, 100 days from now.

In a normal election year, having already chosen a candidate to vote for would be reasonable. This is not a normal election year, however.

Of the two major party candidates, one, Donald Trump, the Republican, is being investigated for fraud and is widely unpopular for his unreasonable and hateful positions on important subjects. The other, Hillary Clinton, the Democrat, has committed crimes outlined by the FBI after a long investigation, for which the Justice Department has decided to not prosecute. However, there are other pending problems.

The primary progressive contender, Bernie Sanders, has conceded. The next most popular progressive candidate, Jill Stein of the Green Party, has become the primary progressive candidate. However, there is a second alternative candidate, Gary Johnson of the Libertarian party.

The situation is complicated by the arcane Electoral College process of electing the president. That process has in the past, occasionally resulted in the candidate with the most popular votes nationwide not being elected president. Popular vote is only rather remotely related to electoral vote.

If one  candidate does not receive the required 270 electoral votes, the House of Representatives will elect the president, choosing from the three candidates with the highest electoral vote count. The House is now overwhelmingly Republican. Complicating the situation further, the Senate would elect the vice president, choosing from the two candidates with the highest electoral vote count. The Senate currently has a Republican majority.

Right now, neither of the alternative candidates has sufficient popularity to win the election. Being that there are two of them, the risk increases of not having sufficient popularity to win the required number of electoral votes, but at the same time either might have enough votes to force the election into the House and Senate. On the other hand, given the ongoing troubles and investigations, one or both of the two major candidates may disappear from the race before the election.

The best course of action to follow today is to provide support to your chosen candidate. Don’t worry about impossible or long shot. At the beginning of November, take a careful look at legitimate independent and professional polling results to determine if voting for your chosen candidate may result in an unintended consequence.

On November 8, vote your conscience, but make sure that results in a situation that your conscience can be comfortable with.

HW

Dear Ms Clinton,

It Takes a Village. Do you remember that? Long ago, you wrote it and you said it.

You said that society has a shared responsibility for raising children.

At the 1996 Democratic convention, you said that you wanted to talk about what matters most in our lives: children and families. Are you still interested in that?

What are children learning in your village?

• They are learning that lies are acceptable when they are the means to the desired end.
• They are learning that cheating is not only acceptable, it is rewarded.
• They are learning that doing illegal things is not only acceptable, but can be done with impunity.
• They have learned that bribery is acceptable as long as the bribe is large enough.
• They are learning that if someone has something that you want, taking it is acceptable.
• They are learning that anyone who disagrees with you can be taken away.
• They are learning that gratuitous accusation is acceptable if it is effective in neutralizing an opponent.
• They are learning that being caught in wrongdoing should be merely dismissed as irrelevant.
• They are learning that conquering other countries is not only acceptable, but is the preferred method to keep the military industrial establishment employed and profitable.
• They are learning that people, including the children, in other lands are expendable. If they are not American, they are merely collateral damage or a simple mistake. Their own village may be erased, as might be their families, or even themselves. It doesn’t matter.
• They are learning that their own family is expendable if their way of life interferes with corporate profits.
• They are learning that the future habitability of our planet is subsidiary to profits.
• They are learning that speaking, writing, and acting sincerely is an impediment to success.
• They are learning to consider their own success before considering anything or anyone else.

I really don’t like your village. The children and I are leaving now.

Thos

In the past year, we in the US have been given a lot to see, hear, and think about.

Some of it may not be what it seems. Some of it may be much more complex than it appears. Some of it may be deceptively simple.

The citizens of the US are faced with difficult choices that may affect our future for generations. The Presidential Primary Season is officially over, but that has been just the surface of what we must explore, decide, and turn into action.

In these articles, we will explore current political and social events and topics in the US, how they affect us now and in the future, and what we can do to guide America into a future that will be bright for all of us.

Harrison Wells