Three
Is A Tragic Number
 There
are clearly three different kinds of elections in this
country now.
The Electoral, wherein we choose our president.
The Gerrymander, which decides our Congressmen.
The Popular, which determines our Senators.
We all know about the problems/benefits of the Electoral
College but what you may not realize is that many voting
districts are gerrymandered to the point where the
election outcomes for the next eight years are locked
in stone.
For example, President Obama took Pennsylvania by five
points in the popular vote of 2012, that's a lot, but
Democrats only got five of the 18 congressional seats.
The
same thing happened in Ohio and Virginia. That's
because
Republicans,
who won heavily in the mid-terms, redrew the voting
lines and condensed the Democrats into small areas
of the state. For example, here's Pennsylvania's congressional
districts:
Republicans can count on these results until 2020 when
the lines can be redrawn, but as long as they're the
majority in the state legislatures that's not going
to happen. And since they draw the district lines they're
deciding who
wins in the future.
We accept gerrymandering because we like the idea that
it protects minority populations, but that just gives
unscrupulous
politicians
the tools they need to make the voting process a joke.
I think it's no longer worth the trade-off.
As for Senators, it's harder to gerrymander a whole
state into two parts so they're generally chosen by
the popular
vote. That's why Democrats currently own a 53-45 advantage in
the Senate. (Throw in two blue-leaning Independents
and it's a 55-45 advantage for the good guys.)
You're probably thinking that there has to a better
way to draw congressional lines, and there IS! It's
called the
Shortest-Splitline
Method
and here's a video to show you how it works.
As
for the Electoral College, it's becoming moot. The Hispanic
population is growing so fast that Texas will soon become
a Blue state, and when that happens it's game over for
the GOP's White House aspirations for a LONG time to come.
Smile.
Addendum: Mother Jones offers a
more detailed look at this
same, sordid story.
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Uncle Lefty's Saturnalian Shopping Tips
Looking for something special for
that special someone this holiday season? Well, Uncle
Lefty's here to help. I've scoured Amazon
for the most expensive gifts they offer and here's
today's impractical discovery.
 Datastroyer
Model 1000 Disintegrator
Meet the Rolls Royce of document shredders.
No, I don't mean you can balance an egg on its idling
engine. I mean grab
a melon-baller and start harvesting your organs because
it's the only way you'll ever afford one of these babies
as it'll set you back over $120,000 dollars... or a
heart, two kidneys, and a pancreas on the German market.
In return you'll get 14,000 pounds of screaming, data-shredding
satisfaction. And if the recipient complains you can
tell them where to bloody well shove themselves.
=Lefty=
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