"But of all the views of this law none is more important, none more legitimate, than that of rendering the people the safe, as they are the ultimate, guardians of their own liberty. For this purpose the reading in the first stage, where they will receive their whole education, is proposed, as has been said, to be chiefly historical. History by apprising them of the past will enable them to judge of the future; it will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions and designs of men; it will enable them to know ambition under every disguise it may assume; and knowing it, to defeat its views."

--Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 14, 1781

As we enter this New Year and new era (error?) of politics, I feel it is appropriate to consider what got us to this position. Once again it appears that the American voters have failed to learn from history and have set us on a course that has been tried before without success. While it is certainly premature to judge an administration that has yet to even take office, it is clearly a valid time to consider the causes of the results of the late election in light of history, both recent and longer term.

One thing in particularly is glaring in the exit polls. A significant plurality of voters had no idea what Barack Obama stands for. In fact there were many Obama voters who answered the questions in the affirmative that where directly in contradiction of Obama’s views. Questions on issues such as Right to Life, the Iraq War and the selection of Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential candidate were all answered incorrectly by voters. Many voters agreed that Obama’s commitment to Right to Life, his commitment to stay in Iraq until Victory is achieved and his selection of Sarah Palin as VP were all important to their decision to vote for Barack Obama.

What does this tell us? That American voters are idiots? No, it tells us that American voters are un-educated and ill-informed. It makes clear that the media failed to present the issues accurately and, more importantly, that our education system has failed to inculcate an awareness of the importance of civics and understanding the world around us.

Right, wrong, or indifferent, the American voters wanted change. There is no doubt they will get it. It remains to be seen whether or not they will like it.

God Bless America

It seems to me that most people, both in America and elsewhere, think that the United States is a democracy. Even our politicians routinely refer to this country as a democracy. But the fact is that the United States is not now, nor has ever been, a democracy and our founders would be horrified if we were to become a democracy.

The United States is a republic. Every school child should know this: “…and to the republic for which it stands…” For those of you with a public school education, note that this is not about the Republican and Democrat parties, but is about our form of government. A democracy is a form of government where the people rule by popular vote; in a “pure” democracy all laws require the vote of all the people. Some countries have “representative” democracies, where the government is elected by popular vote. That is not the case here.

During the 2000 recount fiasco, we often heard the phrase “one man, one vote.” Well that is not part of how our government works and certainly not part of electing the president. Part of the genius of the form of the government our founders selected is that it is built to avoid one of the great traps of democracy: the tyranny of the majority. They avoided it by making sure that our government was structured to be responsible to all the people, not just the majority. They created three branches, of the three branches, only ½ of one them would be elected democratically. The House of Representatives is the ONLY democratically elected body in our government. In fact, it was not until 1913 and the passage of the 17^th Amendment that Senators were elected by direct vote of the people. But note that even with that change, the United States Senate is not a democratically elected body. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two Senators. Therefore people living in a more populous state are under-represented in democratic terms.

The federal judiciary is appointed, not elected. No democracy there. But what about the Presidency? Every four years, millions of people cast ballots to elect a president and vice president, or do they? In reality they do not. The President of the United States is not elected by popular vote. In fact, there is no requirement for a popular vote for President in the Constitution. The Constitution instead sets up the Electoral College which is defined in Article II Section 1.

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

While all states have decided to appoint electors by means of popular vote, it is NOT a requirement of the Constitution. It is entirely legal for the legislature of any state to decide that the Governor shall appoint the Electors. Why did the founding fathers set it up this way? Is it now irrelevant and obsolete since all 50 states have decided to use the popular vote to select electors? (Note that on election day, despite what some ballots say, votes are NOT cast for individual candidates, but rather for a slate of electors committed to those candidates.)

What is the purpose and benefit of the Electoral College? It is one of our firmest and most enduring defenses against the tyranny of the majority. Notice the makeup of the body, each state has one member for each Representative and Senator. This has the effect of giving the small states slightly more power (proportionally) than the large states. This only works in a “winner take all” scenario which is used in 48 of the 50 states. This difference is enough to prevent New York, Florida, Illinois and California from electing our president every four years. It means that candidates MUST campaign in the so-called swing states because they must carry more than just the population centers.

Abolishing the Electoral College would fundamentally destroy the delicate balance of power that founders struggled so hard to achieve for our great country.

God Bless America