"It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Dear Electors ... History is calling. Also, I'm sorry.


Dear presidential electors,
Let me first say that I’m sorry. You have, over the last six weeks, been put through an ordeal different from anything you may have signed up for. It reminds me of the young men and women in the military at the start of the Gulf War who may have signed up in peacetime for the education and training, but suddenly found themselves facing deployment. They knew it was possible, but never expected it to become reality. I’m guessing many of you have been feeling the same way. Your role, as electors, was supposed to be easy, pro-forma, non-controversial. And yet you have been deluged with emails and phone calls and letters, with petitions and opinion pieces, with lawyers and lawsuits and legal advice. You are stuck between hundreds of years of electoral college history and allegations which should worry every American. It must be a very difficult time for you, and for that I am sorry.

Of course, the electoral college is controversial because it is a strange stop-gap place between democracy and oligarchy. If you believe in democracy, then Hillary Clinton should be the president of the United States, having won the popular ballot by over 2.8 million votes. There’s no good reason why the votes of 79,000 people in three states should outweigh 2.8 million voters nationwide. If you believe in democracy, then you should cast your vote for the popular vote winner and make Hillary Clinton the next president.
If you believe in the electoral college, however, then you must take that role seriously. I will not review here all the reasons that the founders invented the electoral college or all the arguments made by Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers. They have been well explained elsewhere, and I don’t want to waste your time rehashing them. My point is that if you believe in your role as electors, then you must understand that America is counting on your wisdom, your discernment and your patriotism. You have been called to this moment – a moment unlike any that previous electors have faced but which Hamilton foresaw – and, as in the musical, “history has its eyes on you.”

It is up to you decide, by Monday, whether you will blindly follow the dictates and traditions of the electoral college, or whether you will take seriously your duty to the United States of America. To do that, you will have to seriously consider whether Donald Trump is worthy of the office of President of the United States – worthy of the mantle worn by Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. None of them were perfect, by any means, but they each strove to do their best by their country. Do you honestly believe that Trump belongs in that company? Is he capable of putting aside his own interests? Has he demonstrated any commitment to the American people? Is he working in the interests of a foreign government (to which he owes huge sums of money)?
Consider these things:

·        He has never released his taxes and continues to evade requests to do so. These documents would provide valuable information of his holdings, debts, and potential conflicts of interest.

·        He has disclosed no plans to divest himself of his businesses, and has now postponed a press conference to answer questions related to that. Again, there will be no way to prevent him from using the office of the Presidency for personal gain.

·        He refuses the daily intelligence briefings and repeatedly suggests that he is “smarter” than our national intelligence personnel. How can a president protect the United States “from all enemies, foreign and domestic” if he refuses to even learn about those enemies?

·        He has repeatedly attacked the press, refused to hold a press conference since early summer, and attacks private individuals for criticism of him. These are acts which undermine or attack the first amendment, one of the cornerstones of our democracy.

·        And, most frightening, are the latest reports of the Russian government’s interference in the 2016 election for the explicit purpose of undermining Hillary Clinton’s campaign and putting Donald Trump in the White House. In the past, when a foreign country has attacked us, we have united to fight back, not handed them the keys to the government. Can you imagine if, after Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt had given Hawaii to the Japanese and asked if they wanted California as well?
I think any of the first four items are enough to disqualify Donald Trump from the presidency. But if these last reports are true (and I encourage you to demand the intelligence briefings like some of your fellow electors have already done), then you are one of 538 people acting as a bulwark against a Russian takeover of the United States.

You are Fort McHenry at the Battle of Baltimore in 1814. You are the ones who will decide if the Star-Spangled Banner yet waves ….

So yes, you’ve gotten a lot of attention this year for a job which usually gets none. But this is what you were called to do, and like the Gulf War soldiers I mentioned above, it will soon be time to make your decision. Will you choose tradition or duty? Will you choose party or country? Will you demand to have all possible information before you make your decision or will you bury your head in the sand and hope for the best?
As an historian, I will tell you one thing I know about American history. Our greatest moments have come not from some great people doing great things, but instead when ordinary people, facing difficult circumstances, find the courage and the will to do what is right.

That has always been what has made America great. It is the only way to make it great again.
Thank you for your time & your consideration. I hope to also thank you for fulfilling your duty to the United States of America.
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P.S. – Wouldn’t it be cool if we could get back at Vladimir Putin and the Russian hackers without firing a single shot or risking our economy? Actually … we can! We could put someone in the White House that Putin both hates and fears more than anyone else. As a bonus, she happens to be someone who won the popular vote by 2.8 million. Democracy wins and Putin loses all in one fell swoop!


 

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