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turbinetree's JournalFive Common Misconceptions About the Electoral College
Defenders of the Electoral College argue that it was created to combat majority tyranny and support federalism, and that it continues to serve those purposes. This stance depends on a profound misunderstanding of the history of the institution.
November 29, 2019
G. Alan Tarr
Board of Governors Professor at Rutgers University-Camden
Two of the nation’s last three presidents won the presidency in the Electoral College, even though they lost the popular vote nationwide. In 2000, Al Gore outpolled George W. Bush by more than 540,000 votes but lost in the Electoral College, 271–266. Sixteen years later, Hillary Clinton tallied almost 3 million more votes than Donald Trump but lost decisively in the Electoral College, 306–232. And, as a recent New York Times poll suggested, the 2020 election could very well again deliver the presidency to the loser of the popular vote.
Despite this, defenders of the Electoral College argue that it was created to combat majority tyranny and support federalism, and that it continues to serve those purposes. For example, Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas, responding to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent criticism of the Electoral College, tweeted that “we live in a republic, which means 51% of the population doesn’t get to boss around the other 49%,” and that the Electoral College “promotes more equal regional representation and protects the interests of sparsely populated states.”
But arguments like these are flawed, misunderstanding the pertinent history. Below, I identify five common mistakes made in arguing for the preservation of the Electoral College.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/five-common-misconceptions-about-electoral-college/602596/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Five Common Misconceptions About the Electoral College
Defenders of the Electoral College argue that it was created to combat majority tyranny and support federalism, and that it continues to serve those purposes. This stance depends on a profound misunderstanding of the history of the institution.
November 29, 2019
G. Alan Tarr
Board of Governors Professor at Rutgers University-Camden
Two of the nation’s last three presidents won the presidency in the Electoral College, even though they lost the popular vote nationwide. In 2000, Al Gore outpolled George W. Bush by more than 540,000 votes but lost in the Electoral College, 271–266. Sixteen years later, Hillary Clinton tallied almost 3 million more votes than Donald Trump but lost decisively in the Electoral College, 306–232. And, as a recent New York Times poll suggested, the 2020 election could very well again deliver the presidency to the loser of the popular vote.
Despite this, defenders of the Electoral College argue that it was created to combat majority tyranny and support federalism, and that it continues to serve those purposes. For example, Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas, responding to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent criticism of the Electoral College, tweeted that “we live in a republic, which means 51% of the population doesn’t get to boss around the other 49%,” and that the Electoral College “promotes more equal regional representation and protects the interests of sparsely populated states.”
But arguments like these are flawed, misunderstanding the pertinent history. Below, I identify five common mistakes made in arguing for the preservation of the Electoral College.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/five-common-misconceptions-about-electoral-college/602596/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Note: Also included on Editorials and Opinion section forum
Bankruptcy judge considers $1.3M bonus for Purdue Pharma CEO
Source: Associated Press
By GEOFF MULVIHILL 17 minutes ago
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — The judge overseeing the bankruptcy case of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma will consider Wednesday whether the company’s CEO should get a bonus equal to half his $2.6 million salary.
Attorneys general representing about half the states say the company’s chief executive Craig Landau shouldn’t get a bonus, arguing in court filings that he bears some responsibility for the national opioid epidemic that they say the company’s signature painkiller helped fuel.
“Purdue should not award bonus payments to Landau before resolving the allegations that Landau committed deadly, illegal misconduct,” the states said in a filing this week.
A hearing is scheduled Wednesday afternoon in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York, where the company has sought protection from creditors as it tries to settle 2,700 lawsuits it faces over the toll of opioids.
Read more: https://apnews.com/ae2700130c023935efa2054be601175e
Germany expels Russian diplomats in probe of Berlin killing
Source: Associated Press
By DAVID RISING 43 minutes ago
BERLIN (AP) — Germany expelled two Russian diplomats Wednesday over the brazen killing of a Georgian on the streets of Berlin in August as prosecutors said evidence suggested the slaying was ordered either by Moscow or authorities in Russia’s republic of Chechnya.
The allegation by Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office was the latest from a Western European nation accusing Russia of an attack on its soil, after Britain last year blamed Moscow for an attempt to poison a former Russian spy in the English city of Salisbury.
Russia denied those allegations, and similarly Russia’s ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechaev rejected the accusations in the Berlin killing, while threatening consequences for the expulsion of its diplomats.
“Such German action will have a strong negative impact on the Russian-German relations and naturally will not be left unanswered,” Nechaev said in a statement.
Read more: https://apnews.com/7f1d1a1e77a6443cbd82338e2cfd539a
Legal experts trash Bill Barr's 'despicable' threat to strip communities of police protection for
disrespecting cops
Published 2 hours ago
on December 4, 2019
By Matthew Chapman
This week, during a meeting with police officers and prosecutors, Attorney General William Barr suggested that “communities” that choose to protest police brutality and racial bias incidents by law enforcement could “lose the police protection they need” — a remark that sounded strongly like a threat to criminal justice and civil rights activists, and the towns they live in.
Barr’s remarks were roundly condemned by multiple legal experts, including several former federal prosecutors, on Wednesday, who noted that in addition to playing politics with public safety and threatening freedom of speech and assembly, Barr may not actually have the authority to follow through on such a threat:
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/12/legal-experts-trash-bill-barrs-despicable-threat-to-strip-communities-of-police-protection-for-disrespecting-cops/
Sun yields its secrets to Parker Solar Probe
Published 2 mins ago
on December 4, 2019
By Agence France-Presse
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, having survived its closest encounter so far with the Sun, has sent back a “spectacular trove” of data on its corona, the super-hot outer edge of its atmosphere, scientists said Wednesday.
The car-sized probe, launched in August last year, will come within some four million miles (six million kilometres) of the sun’s surface during a series of fly-bys at other distances and trajectories over seven years.
It is hoped it will allow a better understanding of the solar wind and electromagnetic storms which can cause chaos on Earth by knocking out the power grid.
One puzzle concerns the corona itself which at one million degrees is many times hotter than the sun’s surface at 6,000C, when it would normally be expected to cool the further from the heat source.
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/12/sun-yields-its-secrets-to-parker-solar-probe/
Jonathan Turley walloped for bragging about friendship with Bill Barr: 'Like a bad reference on a
resume’
Published 1 min ago
on December 4, 2019
By Bob Brigham
The Republican witness during the House impeachment hearings spoke of controversial Attorney General William Barr as a “friend” on Wednesday.
Jonathan Turley, who argued against impeaching President Donald Trump, is a professor at George Washington University.
Turley made his comments while testifying before the House Judiciary Committee.
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/12/jonathan-turley-walloped-for-bragging-about-friendship-with-bill-barr-like-a-bad-reference-on-a-resume/
GOP candidate sends email saying Democratic congresswoman should be hanged
By
Josh Israel -
December 4, 2019 1:40 PM
A message sent by Florida Republican George Buck's campaign calls for Rep. Ilhan Omar and other Democrats to be executed for treason.
Florida GOP congressional candidate George Buck's campaign sent a fundraising email late last month that baselessly accused Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) of secretly working for Qatar and suggested she and other Democrats were traitors who should be executed.
Buck is hoping to take on Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) once more, after losing to him by more than 15 points last year.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, in a Nov. 26 fundraising email with his signature at the bottom, Buck's campaign accused Omar — a Somali-born naturalized American citizen and one of just two Muslim American women in Congress — of treason.
"We should hang these traitors where they stand," the email read.
https://americanindependent.com/george-buck-florida-gop-candidate-ilhan-omar-treason-charlie-crist-republicans/
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