| POLITICAL
ELECTIONS: TRUTH OR FICTION?
Guest Columnist: Michael G'Francisco
Let’s begin with the genre APOCOLYPTIC FICTION
which involves an event that devastates and brings down
society as we know it. These events are sometimes the makings
of mankind. To open one’s mind about this genre a good
read is One Second After (2009) by William R. Forstchen.
Then, there is DYSTOPIAN FICTION which is based
on the nightmare of a civilization where everything has fallen
apart. One of the best reads to fully understand this genre
is the 1949 publishing of the book 1984 by George
Orwell.
Having defined and presented written examples of these two
genres the big question comes to mind? Is the
United States of America a failing DEMOCRACY?
(Examples of books on this subject are Dark Companion
(2004) by David Vanmeter Smith and Deception Point (2001)
by Dan Brown.
DEMOCRACY is defined as a government that is run
by the people who live under it. A true DEMOCRACY
is the supreme power vested in the people’s voice (votes)
to elect a person to this country’s highest position,
the President. His foremost duties are to serve on their behalf
to enrich the betterment of their country and lives. But,
alas, several times throughout the history of the United States
it has failed to prove that as a truth.
As examples: In 1824, Andrew Jackson, in 1876, Samuel Tilden,
in 1888, Grover Cleveland and in 2000, Al Gore all won the
country’s popular vote, but still lost the presidency
because they didn’t get enough electoral votes. And,
as the vote count stands today November 11th 2016, Hillary
R. Clinton has over 500,000 thousands more votes than Donald
Trump. But Trump got the majority of electoral votes. Maybe
the trouble lies in the fact that 43% of America’s registered
voters DID NOT VOTE.
The Constitution states that “Each state shall appoint
a number of electors” and that they shall have the right,
if they so decide, to cast their electoral votes for the candidate
that received the most votes in their state and disregard
the country’s popular vote. This electoral system violates
the basic principal that the majority decides who shall be
appointed to the oval office.
Americans tend to believe that they live in a DEMOCRACY
and don’t comprehend that their country has succumbed
to money and power. So that point begs the obvious question:
What system of government do we now have in America?
One thing we now know for certain is that the people of this
country no longer have the power or voice to elect a person
to the oval office. The process by which United States citizens
vote to elect a person of their choice has become nothing
more than a sham and a disgrace to the principals of a real
DEMOCRACY. Unfortunately, this is fact not fiction.
The very nature of the way the United States picks its president
tends to create a disconnect between the outcome in the Electoral
College and the popular vote.
Now, back to the original question: what
system of government do we currently have? Are we living in
an oligarchy, i.e., “a government structure where a
relatively small, elite, but very powerful group of individuals
possesses all the power.” Today that relatively small
elite group of powerful individuals are the billionaires who
control, through Wall Street, America.
In an attempt to explain the Electoral College, we have to
venture back in history to the early 1800’s. This was
the time when all state electors began voting as a “block”
in favor of the presidential candidate who won the most votes
in their state. So, the Electoral College
has become a mechanism for registering the state’s decision
over the populist choice. Thusly, over ruling the theory that
the popular vote elects the president of the United States.
At the time of this writing: In the 2016 presidential race
Hillary Clinton received 60,828,358 votes and Donald Trump
received 60,261,924 votes. Thusly, giving Clinton 566,434
more votes by the populist. But, in the United States the
race to the presidency is not about winning more raw votes.
Instead, it’s about winning more states for their electoral
votes.
Strange as it may seem, Donald Trump, in 2012, tweeted: “The
Electoral College is a disaster for democracy”. Ironically,
the electoral votes got him elected!
A closing thought. The only way America can restore its
lost DEMOCRACY is through the power of the people;
nothing else will do it. Remember: We the People of the United
States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice……
Now, go softly into the night. mgf
Comments always welcome.
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