Electoral college

A Colorado ballot initiative has received too little attention this year. The proposal would allow Colorado's electoral votes to be divided proportionately instead of "winner take all." My understanding is that the proposal would take effect immediately if passed.

While it is regrettable that this initiative would hurt the reelection of George Bush, George Bush is not the only one who will suffer. Nor will the damage be temporary.

Colorado's governor rightly points out that Colorado would lose clout in Presidential elections if this measure passes. The rural and suburban areas would no longer be able to offset urban areas for the purpose of awarding all of CO's electoral votes. Candidates of both parties would have less incentive to campaign or pay attention to Colorado. Even worse, the same damage would be done to any state that adopts a similar proposal.

Nebraska and Maine already operate on a modified proportional system (a much ignored fact). Other states will follow suit in the coming years, as Republicans around the country seek to offset the advantage that Democrats will gain from the Colorado initiative. If Republicans are successful in carving up Democrat or Democrat/swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, the rural and suburban portions of those states will lose clout, even though Republicans will enjoy short term benefits nationally.

At the same time, Democrats will ratchet up the war by proposing similar measures in the South.

This feeding frenzy will ultimately reduce the clout of entire regions of the U.S., as the electoral college system will be in jeopardy and the major population centers in the east and in California will dominate elections. Small states whose clout exceeds their population under the current system will lose that clout entirely if the electoral college is scrapped.

States and state lines exist for a reason. This country is not a "pure democracy" for a reason. Erasing those state lines will only push us further on the road to Roman Empire style ruin.

Misinformation from one of our own.

"Vox Day" from WorldNetDaily has used very shaky history to attack Michelle Malkin's new book, "In Defense of Internment." Malkin's book focuses on the threat from Japanese espionage on the west coast during World War II.

Vox Day plays a little fast and loose with the information related to the location of American aircraft carriers in 1942 and the classification of certain ships as carriers on the east coast.

A review of navsource.org reveals that some of the ships "Vox Day" refers to as "aircraft carriers" actually were little more than training ships.

He also plays fast and loose with his research on battleship strength in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. Check out the battleship page at Navsource.org. "Vox Day" overstates our military capability and overstates the number of ships in the American fleet. He does this for the sake of downplaying the potential damage of West Coast Japanese spies.

While these arguments may be debatable, there is hardly justification for "Vox Day" to call Malkin, John Leo and Thomas Sowell "evasive" or dishonest.

Malkin's warnings on the present crisis are too important to be dismissed this way. Malkin qualifies as a "Cassandra" in her own right by virtue of her warnings on immigration and the Islamic threat.

Voter fraud in Wisconsin

The following articles detail the latest voter fraud scam in Wisconsin:

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/007968.php

http://www.gmtoday.com/milwaukeetoday/editorials/belling.asp

http://vistaonevents.blogspot.com/2004/09/wisconsin-voting-rules-make-it-easy.html

If we don't publicize this scandal now and mobilize for a big fight, this election will be thrown into confusion in November and December. The latest polls mean nothing if the Democrats win by cheating. The polls don't take into consideration the illegal votes to be cast in Kerry's favor.

Things to come . . .

As the intro and opening post indicate, this site will focus on warnings for the future. In other words, thoughtful discussion of today's political situation. It is not really about the ancient Greeks. We find ourselves in serious enough trouble on so many fronts that I am forced to start with immediate issues of the day and save the rough stuff for later.

The meaning of "Cassandra"

And indeed, the burden of Cassandra's "gift" is evident in mythology. She predicted the outcome of many disastrous events. In one memorable example, Cassandra announced the dire consequences of the Trojans accepting the infamous Wooden Horse from their Greek opponents. But as Apollo made certain, no one believed Cassandra when she warned her companions about the future. And this, in the end, was to be Cassandra's tragic fate.

http://www.loggia.com/myth/cassandra.html