Rob Reilly Podcast - Commentary
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Middle Aged (35-54)Accents
North American (General)Transcript
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At this moment, the tally for the 2016 US presidential election is Hillary Clinton, 60,467,245 votes. Donald Trump's 60,071,650 votes. The numbers have not been completely tallied, and Clinton's lead will probably increase a bit. But as of now, rounding Clinton's number down in rounding Trump's number up, Hillary Clinton has 395,000 more votes than Donald Trump. So congratulations, Secretary Clinton. The people have spoken, and you are our next president. All right. Donald Trump is going to be the next president because, of course, the electoral vote counters Trump to 90 Clinton to 28 once again, much like in 2000 the preference of the people the American people is ignored. The direction of the country will be the direction that nearly 400,000 more Americans voted against will of the people be damned. You've probably been hearing a lot of talk over the last few days about the smooth transition of power about how, after an election, we all come together, is one, and I have no argument with the first point but the second I'm not so sure about that. We're all one part. You'll have to forgive me if I'm a little concerned for those 395,000 people Americans who have been reduced to a non entity who don't count who must not be Americans because their wishes in this election have about as much importance as the wishes of the people of Brazil or Canada or Spain. They might as well not be Americans because our system has told them their vote doesn't count. You're also going to hear a lot of talk over the next few weeks as people continue to be angry about the fact that the person the people elected is not going to actually serve that the direction America chose is going to not only be ignored but is going to be completely demolished and undone. You're going to hear people say that the founding fathers, in their wisdom, made the Electoral College to preserve regional balance and protect the young democracy. While one can debate how wise the writers of the constitution, where some would probably say they were just a bunch of cranky old white men crammed in a boiling insect rate in room in a hot summer in Philadelphia who wanted to go home? The democracy is not so young and looks less and less like a democracy. There is ample evidence those founding fathers didn't really trust the people to decide who their leaders should be. And there is ample evidence that the founding Fathers definitely felt that that leader should be a white man. Times change. Even the Founding Fathers created a system of amendment because they knew that times change. It will be hard to pass an amendment to abolish the Electoral College. Considering the president makeup of the Congress, it may be presently impossible, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to fix the system, which presently exists. For instance, there is no constitutional amendment necessary to make state electoral results proportional as opposed to winner take all. Even that will be an uphill struggle. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. The system must change. For the second time in 16 years, the will of the people has been countermanded by an archaic system designed to suppress the will of the people. In that sense, it is working perfectly. We must decide. Are we a dictatorship where the minority suppresses the majority? Or are we as we have so often told ourselves? A nation As Republican Abraham Lincoln stated of the people, for the people and by the people? Today's Veterans Day Lincoln spoke those words at Gettysburg and honor of those that had died there. Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth is how he put it in 2016. Let us carry on that fight. The Electoral College, as presently constituted, is thwarting the will of the people. It must be abolished or changed. The fight may be long and hard, but let it begin.