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2022-08-26
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THE HEART OF AMERICA
by Dave Moorman
First, for those who live in
places other than the USA, please
forgive me for ranting about my
country. I like to think that we have
a surprisingly free society that has
maintained its freedom fairly well,
even in the face of great threats to
our security. And I do not want to use
this space as a bully pulpit for my
political opinions.
However, the US is facing the
greatest decision of the Century. OK,
it's the [first] Presidential Election
of the 21st Century. But we are in the
shadow of a cloud that might be in
fact a Constitutional Crisis. That
means that the law of the land, which
must follow the outline of our
Constitution, is shifting in a
different direction.
Or at least, that is my read of
the situation. If I am right, then it
behooves every citizen to get out and
vote. If I am wrong -- then every
citizen needs to make that fact known.
At the polls.
An election is a war. In the US,
it is especially a "land" war, as each
candidate must win state after state
-- all or none of the representative
electorial votes go to the victor. We
have a lot of complaining about this
odd and seemingly obsolete method of
electing a President. But I see good
reason behind it.
First of all, while the Federal
Government is a sovereign entity, it
is so as a federation of States. The
true sovereignty resides in the
States. (It all goes back to who owns
the land in perpetuity -- but that is
another lesson.) The successful
candidate must "conquor" the various
States -- using ballots instead of
bullets. Elections are always, to some
extent, revolutions. Governments can
be changed. That is revolutionary!
In baseball, the World Series is
not won by the total score. It is won
game by game. That is what matters.
During one particular Series, the
winner would have lost because the
other team accumulated more total
points. But since points is not the
points, we don't seem to notice.
In 2000, the outcome of the
Presidential Election would have been
different if a popular vote was
counted. But the electorial system
does give greater power to the people.
For instance, in that election, every
counted vote of the people of Florida
really counted, swinging the whole
election. The same can happen this
year in numerous swing states. It
could even happen in so-called safe
states should the electors just stay
home because the revolution does not
seem real enough.
So, regardless of your politics --
don't waste your time ragging on the
incumbent or poohing the challenger!
VOTE! That is the one place where your
opinion as a citizen matters, and will
make a difference.
As they used to say in Chicago:
Vote early and often!
DMM