image: ocsea.org

"Faithless elector" sounds like a pejorative created by the religious right to describe people like me, but it's not. It's an archaic term that could portend the demise of an archaic system, namely the electoral college.

Think of the electoral college as the inflamed appendix of democracy. It may need to be removed. According to Donald Trump, "The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy."

You can see that 2012 tweet HERE.

The electoral college was established by Article II of the Constitution. It was, is and always will be a way to provide an edge for rich, white conservatives.

In 2000 Al Gore got a half million more votes than G.W. Bush, but conceded the election when the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to halt the recount of some very questionable returns in Florida.

Slave owners were accommodated in a provision known as the Three-fifths Compromise, which allowed each slave to be counted as 3/5 of a person, a way to jack up their influence in national elections.

As it is embodied in the Constitution, it would require an amendment to change or remove it. Not something easily accomplished, especially with a Republican controlled Congress.

A little more info HERE.

No one can deny that the 2016 presidential election was anything but ordinary. It was, in fact so out of the ordinary that no conventional wisdom or scientific polling could accurately predict the outcome.

The man at the center of the hurricane, Donald Trump was the most unconventional candidate in every imaginable way possible to ever run for the most influential office in the Western Hemisphere.

Without detailing each and every one, Mr. Trump regularly did and said a bucketful of things, each of which would have disqualified any other candidate from participating in the process.

So much of the sentiment expressed by Mr. Trump before and during the campaign is antithetical to the principles of both America and democracy that he could accurately be labeled an enemy of the state.

Mr. Trump's departure from the norms of civilized society and our political process can only be described as drastic. You can probably see where I'm going with this.

Drastic times call for drastic measures.

In only 21 of our 50 glorious states are electors locked into voting for the candidate winning the popular vote in their respective states. In the other 29 states, electors are (technically) free to vote their conscience.

Some states have penalties for rogue electors, but they are usually minimal. At $1,000, Washington has the steepest fine, a bargain at twice the price.

With the exception of long dead slave owners, our country is founded on the principle of one man (or woman), one vote. The electoral college, however negates many of those votes.

As of November 23, Hillary Clinton received over 2 MILLION more votes than Donald Trump. That is numeric reality.

If members of the electoral college vote on behalf of the 62,9 million people who voted for Trump, who is representing the 65.8 million people who voted for Hillary?

The voices of almost three million (3,000,000) Americans are being silenced as if they never existed. Who will speak for them?

For the past 10 years, Republican legislatures across the country have done everything in their power to make it difficult for the elderly, minorities and students to vote. These are the groups whose voices are typically Democratic.

How many of those voices have been silenced and eliminated from the process completely?

Someone needs to speak for the voiceless, for the disenfranchised and for those whose votes don't count because of gerrymandered voting districts and arbitrary censuses.

Donald Trump offered to pay legal fees for any of his supporters arrested for assaulting a protestor. Here's my offer to all electors:

On December 19, cast your ballot as you see fit. Vote patriotically, in the best interest of your country. Speak up for those whose votes have been discarded.

If you are fined for doing the right thing and not the "white" thing, I know plenty of people who will gladly pay your fine. That has to be the best thing you've heard since November 8.