U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher told a group of Realtors last week that homeowners should be able to refuse to sell their property to gays and lesbians, a statement that cost him the support of a key national Realtor group.
“Every homeowner should be able to make a decision not to sell their home to someone (if) they don’t agree with their lifestyle,” Rohrabacher told an Orange County Association of Realtors delegation at a May 16 meeting in Washington, D.C., according to Wayne Woodyard, a former Orange County Realtor president who was at the event.
On Thursday, Rohrabacher confirmed the accuracy of the sentiment, and added that homeowners should have the right to “choose who they do business with.” [1]
The Orange Country Register, May 24, 2018, Jeff Collins – Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher says it’s OK not to sell homes to gays; loses support of Realtors (PDF)
CNN, May 26, 2018, Clare Foran and Kate Sullivan – Rep. Dana Rohrabacher loses endorsement for saying it’s OK to not sell homes to gay people (PDF)
In this book, The Electoral College 4 Dummmies: Would it be better to simply count the popular vote?, you will learn about the purpose of the Electoral College and be able to come to your own conclusions about whether the Founders were all wet in the late 1700’s and we now need to revert back to the popular vote. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the Popular vote yet Donald Trump won the presidency. Therefore, many of the political left are crying foul. In 2000, when George Bush was elected president without winning the popular vote the same cry was heard.
Neither of these were as bad as in 1824, when John Quincy Adams was elected president despite not winning either the popular vote or the electoral vote. How could this be? Andrew Jackson was the clear winner in both categories. Jackson’s popular vote total was 38,000 more than Adams. Moreover, Jackson beat Adams in the electoral vote 99 to 84. Despite being victorious, Jackson did not win the presidency. Why?
Andrew Jackson did not reach the majority 131 votes needed in the Electoral College to be declared president. Neither candidate did. So, what happened? The decision was made by the House of Representatives. It was the House—the People’s Representatives, which voted Adams into the White House.
There were only two other stories like these. In 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes won the election by a margin of just one electoral vote; but he lost the popular vote by more than 250,000 ballots to Samuel J. Tilden. In 1888, Benjamin Harrison received 233 electoral votes to Grover Cleveland’s 168, winning the presidency. Harrison lost the popular vote by more than 90,000 votes.
Why is this? When U.S. citizens go to the polls to “elect” a president, they are in fact voting for a particular slate of electors, though they vote for a properly named presidential candidate. In almost every state, the candidate who wins the most votes (that is, a plurality) in the state receives all the state’s electoral votes. These are electoral votes based on the popular votes.
Why is this? You bought this book to find out. Is it a good or is it a bad idea? Is there any rhyme or reason to it? Were the Founders out on a bender the night before they made this decision or was the Electoral College a stroke of genius?
This is your best book to discover the answer and for understanding the current system and other possible systems to determine the presidency fairly.
Just because powerful people choose to ignore our rights and freedoms does not mean we must endure tyranny. The first step of course is to understand the most basic written precepts in the Constitution. Understanding the role of the Electoral College in our Constitution is of prime importance. Reading this book is a must.
A blistering critique of the forces threatening the American intelligence community, beginning with the President of the United States himself, in a time when that community’s work has never been harder or more important. This book by General Michael V. Hayden, The Assault on Intelligence, is a must read.
In the face of a President who lobs accusations without facts, evidence, or logic, truth tellers are under attack. Meanwhile, the world order is teetering on the brink. North Korea is on the verge of having a nuclear weapon that could reach all of the United States, Russians have mastered a new form of information warfare that undercuts democracy, and the role of China in the global community remains unclear. There will always be value to experience and expertise, devotion to facts, humility in the face of complexity, and a respect for ideas, but in this moment they seem more important, and more endangered, than they’ve ever been. American Intelligence–the ultimate truth teller–has a responsibility in a post-truth world beyond merely warning of external dangers, and in The Assault on Intelligence, General Michael Hayden takes up that urgent work with profound passion, insight and authority.
Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA.
It is a sobering vision. The American intelligence community is more at risk than is commonly understood, for every good reason. Civil war or societal collapse is not necessarily imminent or inevitable, but our democracy’s core structures, processes, and attitudes are under great stress. Many of the premises on which we have based our understanding of governance are now challenged, eroded, or simply gone. And we have a President in office who responds to overwhelming evidence from the intelligence community that the Russians are, by all acceptable standards of cyber conflict, in a state of outright war against us, not by leading a strong response, but by shooting the messenger.
There are fundamental changes afoot in the world and in this country. The Assault on Intelligence shows us what they are, reveals how crippled we’ve become in our capacity to address them, and points toward a series of effective responses. Because when we lose our intelligence, literally and figuratively, democracy dies.
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote – Image from Wikipedia
Lost by three million of the popular vote.
The Independent – Trump has lost popular vote by greater margin than any US President: President-elect is now 2.8 million votes behind Hillary Clinton – five times more than the second biggest deficit
Wikipedia – United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote
CNN – It’s official: Clinton swamps Trump in popular vote
Washington Post – Why did Trump lose the popular vote? Because he didn’t care about it. And because they cheated
Aljazeera – Trump’s foreign policy: Follow the money: Making money has been the guiding principle of Trump’s foreign policy decisions.
Curbed – Trump condo sales indicate possible money laundering, says report: More than a fifth of all Trump condo sales were all-cash transactions by shell companies
Forbes – Trump’s Biggest Potential Conflict Of Interest Is Hiding In Plain Sight
He Acts Guilty
The Week – If Trump is innocent, why is he acting so guilty?
The CT Mirror – Himes: Trump ‘is not acting like an innocent party’
Vanity Fair – Wall Street is Sick of Trump’s Act: “The Comey firing is actually dispositive,” one Wall Street C.E.O told me. “Unlike the rest of this stuff that is going on . . . this is different. It feels different.”
Washington Post – How Trump’s budget helps the rich at the expense of the poor
Atlantic – Inequality Between America’s Rich and Poor Is at a 30-Year High: The economic distance between the nation’s wealthiest and everyone else has been growing.
Slate
One of the great advantages of being an electronic publication is that Slate can publish stories very quickly. When the president makes an important speech, our political correspondent’s analysis can be live before the janitors have cleaned the auditorium. When the stock market rallies after the tragic death of a senator, our financial writer can break down the phenomenon just hours after the event.
The Washington Post
“Democracy dies in darkness” is their cut-line under their banner. The Washington Post has led to the charge for honest and fair reporting of the United States government.
The Daily Beast
Independent. Irreverent. Intelligent. The Daily Beast delivers award-winning original reporting and sharp opinion in the arena of politics, pop-culture and power. Always skeptical but never cynical, The Daily Beast reaches more than 1 million readers a day.
He Thinks He Is Above The Law