...forgive me for what I’m about to say: They [the Founding Fathers] also made enormous mistakes that haunt us to this day. Uh, oh. Wow. This must be a really big deal. Something fundamental and enormous? Did they write Taylor Swifts recording contracts into the Constitution? I’m bringing this up because one of those mistakes just delivered the U.S. Senate to the Republicans. Well, of course! Its not a mistake when it delivers the U.S. Senate to the Democrats. Then its called the rule of law. The problem is that all states, big or small, get the same two seats in the Senate. That gives a nearly vacant state like Wyoming the same heft as California or New York. Wait: Thats a problem? I thought that was a feature, not a bug: it prevents more populous states from running roughshod over less populous ones. It gives a voter in Cheyenne 66 times more power than a voter in San Francisco in shaping the Senate. I suppose if one views the individual as the sole legitimate political entity, one could say that. A more reasonable person might say that in a republic composed of multiple states, each state might have equal power in some areas. Of course, we could always go back to the way the Founders originally framed the situation: State legislatures elected the senators from their states. Problem solved. --- Look at a political map, and you can see that this is a bonanza for Republicans. According to a Gallup poll after the 2012 elections, the five most red states in the country were Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota, and Alaska. Their combined population is less than New Jersey’s. But they get 10 seats in the Senate, while we get just two. And nine of their 10 seats are held by Republicans. --- ...and we New Jerseyans get a boatload more representatives in the House! Whats the issue? That always struck me as insane. Ah. Because it strikes you as insane that less-populated states would want to maintain a semblance of sovereignty? Isnt it just possible that *some* states wouldnt want your overweening do-gooderism foisted on them just because you happen to live in an overcrowded suburb of New York City? So I was gratified to learn that it’s regarded as insane by one of the nation’s premier experts on the U.S. Constitution, Professor Sanford Levinson of the University of Texas, author of “Our Undemocratic Constitution.” Super. Because an appeal to authority is the BEST fallacy. I mean, argument. He dug into this and learned that the Founding Fathers embraced this not because they thought it made sense, but because they were forced into it by small states that were worried about being bullied by big states like Virginia. STOP THAT. Stop it right now. This is not an issue that a learned scholar of Constitutional law digs into. Its something that a third grader is taught in the most basic courses on American history. Dont you go pretending he dug into this and learned about. Okay, I have to be done. Ill skim, not comment, because... no, wait, you did NOT... And that brings us another big mistake of the so-called geniuses in the powdered wigs: They made it almost impossible to amend the Constitution. Thats not a mistake. Its a feature designed to protect us from know-it-alls like you. They engraved their mistake in marble. GOD BLESS THEM. --- Blame Founding Fathers for GOP hold on Senate: Moran | NJ nj/opinion/index.ssf/2014/11/blame_founding_fathers_for_gop_hold_on_senate_moran.html
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 04:51:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015