POLS ON THE STREET: City’s Political Leaders Blast Hate Groups

by Joe Shaheeli

EXPRESSING her outrage at the election of Donald Trump, a young woman’s sign at a Thomas Paine Plaza rally makes her statement. Photo by Bill Myers

GWEN SNYDER, holding her Jobs with Justice poster, attended the rally, which was attended by reps from several progressive organizations. Photo by Bill Myers

Mayor Jim Kenney made it obvious this week Philadelphia will not tolerate hate groups. His statement is on P. 14 of this issue. Republican City Committee Chair Joseph DeFelice did the same.

His statement, in part, follows:

DeFelice stated, “In our city Republican party we have ward leaders who are members of the African American, Latino, Asian, Muslim, Jewish and LGBT communities. Our supporters and voters are diverse and come from every ward in the city. Our party is made up of these people – so how could we, on the whole, stand for racism or oppression of any kind?

“Moreover, let’s remember this: despite the media narrative that Trump’s campaign was entirely racist, he improved his vote counts among Latino, Black and Asian American voters.

“Perhaps something is wrong with the media narrative that lumps all dissent from ‘progressive’ values in with the most-virulent racists. Maybe it’s the same reason why nobody in the media accurately predicted a Trump win – because they’re more focused on narratives than on reality.

“If we can learn one thing from this election it’s that people with well-thought-out, unprejudiced political views are tired of being branded as oppressors by progressives with no empathy and a penchant for hyperbole.”

Sen. Wagner Feels Wolf Is Vulnerable

IT SEEMED like all of Philadelphia turned out at World Café Live to celebrate State Sen. Vincent Hughes’ 60th birthday. In the crowd were, L-R, Zack James, Hughes, and Maxine & Dan Woodall, Sr. of Laborers’ Local 135 fame. Photo by Wendell Douglas

State Sen. Scott Wagner (R-York) is planning a run for governor in 2018 and has told local press to expect an official announcement after the first of the year.

Well, it would be more accurate to say that the state senator keeps inching closer to an announcement.

If he does and wins the Republican nomination, it will mark a prestigious moment for York County voters, with two favorite sons arm-twisting in the same arena for governor.

Porn Email Back in News

The Office of Attorney General is expected to release the long-awaited report regarding an investigation of potential pornographic and racist emails traded between public officials on state computer servers between 2008 and 2012. It is not known whether the report will include the names of individuals who exchanged the emails.

State officials and employees have faced disciplinary action and others, including two state Supreme Court justices, have retired or resigned from their posts as a result of their being named as recipients or senders of such mail.

’Tis Time to Put an End To Electoral-College Debate

In creating the basic architecture of the American government, the Founders struggled to satisfy each state’s demand for greater representation while attempting to balance popular sovereignty against the risk posed to the minority from majoritarian rule.

THANKING these Gold Star Mothers for their ultimate sacrifices at Veterans Day ceremonies at the Vietnam Memorial were Congressman Bob Brady, Councilman Mark Squilla and Mayor Jim Kenney. Photo by Joe Stivala

As students of ancient history, the Founders feared the destructive passions of direct democracy, and as recent subjects of an overreaching monarch, they equally feared the rule of an elite unresponsive to the will of the people. The Electoral College was a compromise, neither fully democratic nor aristocratic.

The Constitution states:

“Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress.”

In addition to balancing the protection of individual rights and majority rule, the Founding Fathers attempted to create a “federalist” system that would keep most policy-making power reserved to states and localities. America’s presidential-election system also was designed to empower the states, not just the American people as an undifferentiated mass.

The total number of electors and thus electoral votes across all states and the District of Columbia — included after the passage of the 23rd Amendment — adds up to 538. The winner must receive a majority, or 270, of these votes to become president.

The system empowers states, especially smaller ones, because it incentivizes presidential candidates to appeal to places that may be far away from population centers. Farmers in Iowa may have very different concerns than bankers in New York. A more-federalist system of electing presidents takes that into account.

The states are free to select the method in which they choose their electors. In the early days of the republic, most states chose to have their legislatures pick electors, rather than the people. But over time, the states shifted to choosing electors via the state’s popular vote instead. Every state has opted for popular election at least since the Civil War.

What needs not to be forgotten is the fact if the president were elected by unfiltered national vote, small and rural states would become irrelevant, and campaigns would spend their time in large, populous districts.

EXPLAINING his new drive to simplify and ramp up the criminal-pardon process, Lt. Gov. Mike Stack visited Finley Rec Center in Cedarbrook as an eager audience learned how to clear their records. Photo by Wendell Douglas

Unneeded tinkering with a process that is over two centuries old could destabilize one on the steadiest political systems in the world.

America’s election systems have operated smoothly for more than 200 years because the Electoral College accomplishes its intended purposes. On Election Day, Americans should appreciate the great and long-lasting constitutional tradition bequeathed to them — including the quirky Electoral College system created by the nation’s Founders.

   Send article as PDF