electoral college

Here’s The Real Problem With Chris Cillizza

(Editor’s Note:  This dates from July of 2017.  Aside from the fact that Cillizza is no longer new at the job, it’s aged pretty well.)

The online version of CNN has a new dedicated contributor in Chris Cillizza.  In case you don’t know him, he’s an extremely clever writer, experienced in the arena of political commentary and a regular commentator and panelist on news shows.  He wrote for many years for the Washington Post blog The Fix, and he knows politics, elections, and how the media views them.

He contributes daily content to the CNN site, unique for having his name attached to the headline instead of the more traditional byline.  Considering his content ranges from virulently anti-Trump to passionately anti-Trump all the way to reasonable and thoughtful anti-Trump (more…)

Comey Testifies Again; Still Says Nothing

On March 20th, I wrote an article about Director Comey’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.  The headline was, “Comey Testifies, Says Nothing”.  Today, he testified as a private citizen before the Senate, and the story is the same.  Once again, James Comey said nothing, and he said it well. (more…)

Write A Letter?

The news is full of it.  Lots of people are crushed by the results of the election.  Folks are taking to the streets and protesting; suicide numbers are up a little.  Despair is everywhere.

And that’s wrong.

I’m not going to tell you here just how great a guy Donald Trump is or (more…)

Popular Vote: We Still Don’t Know Who Won

This year, Google has a live results page for the presidential elections.  They’re reporting 100% of the results are counted in most states, and give a definitive result.  So does Politico, and so does CNN.  Each of the three draws their data from the Associated Press.

And all three disagree. (more…)

Discard The Electoral College? Pros and Cons.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote while losing in the Electoral College.  This made her the fifth candidate to have that distinction, following Al Gore’s loss in 2000.

There’s been a growing movement aimed at eliminating the Electoral College entirely, and converting the country to a popular vote standard.  There are certainly (more…)

Is Voting Third Party Wrong?

NOTE:  This is intended as a response to an article by T. N. Reider published at “The Conversation” entitled “Is the ‘lesser of two evils’ an ethical choice for voters?”  That article is well-written, and I recommend reading it.  All quotes come from there.

As I’ve discussed in other articles, despair is endemic in this country.  The presidential politics of this year underline this in a fashion seldom seen before, with the fiercest supporters of each candidate shouting loudly that their pick for president isn’t quite as bad as the only other choice.  People have stopped questioning the system, which seems to guarantee that the worst possible candidate always gains their party’s nomination.  Instead they like to shout at one another about how the other option is worse.

One thing that cannot be denied:  Americans hate both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and they do so in record numbers.  We haven’t seen this level (more…)