A Republic, not a Democracy

A Republic, not a Democracy You Bleeding Nincompoops The creation of the Electoral College was certainly part political pragmatism. The proponents of the proposed Constitution wanted a way to reassure skeptical states that their voices would be preserved in a system with a strong federal government. Having states, not the nation as a whole, choose the president was a reassurance. But it was also philosophical, as the Federalists were eager to avoid rule of the mob and demagoguery. As resentful as they were of the aloof tyranny of George III and the British nobility, the American patriots were, if anything, more alarmed by the prospect of the tyranny of the masses. Remember, Russia is a democracy. Iran is a democracy. America is a republic. As Hillary Clinton’s lead in the popular vote stretches out to 1.5 points and may grow more with ballots still being counted in California, the sour grapes caucus in the Democratic Party is getting louder. This is the fourth time in history that Democrats have won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College. And this one is shaping up to be the widest discrepancy since 1876 when just one elector and the threat of renewed civil war stood between Republican Rutherford Hayes and Democrat Samuel Tilden. What’s that you say? The Electoral College is undemocratic? Well, yeah. That’s the point. Pressure is growing on members of the Electoral College to refuse to vote for the winners of their states. Given Donald Trump’s 74-vote lead in the Electoral College based on state returns, the effort seems to be a symbolic one at best. More tantalizing for Democrats though, is the claim from “top computer scientists” that they see evidence of electronic ballot rigging in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The fact that the experts made their case to the remnants of Clinton’s campaign that she dispute the official election results has allowed some embittered supporters of Clinton to remain in denial about the actual result. But as data dervish Nate Silver explained Tuesday night on Twitter, the computer guys might have benefitted from some practical knowledge of politics. The claims don’t bear even modest scrutiny once you take into account the composition of the counties in question. Part of the problem here, of course, is that many Democrats believed their nominee’s campaign rhetoric that Trump’s election would bring about the apocalypse. Here, some Democrats have fallen into the same trap that led Republicans, including the now president-elect, to search for conspiracy theories and loopholes to invalidate the Obama presidency all the way through his first term.* It’s sick stuff. [FULL] *Whoops. Not analogous. Putting aside wide-spread (documented) charges of voter fraud, perped by ACORN, NAACP,  and SEIU, to name a few, there were (and are still) legitimate questions about Obama's eligibility, radical background, education, and charges of political  racketeering.  Trump "deniers" are just sore losers.