this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2024
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[–] DogPeePoo@lemm.ee 150 points 1 week ago (1 children)

He’s never won the popular vote and he never will. The majority of Americans despise this Russian agent/asset.

The electoral college is an antiquated relic employed to game the system for Republicans and needs to go.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 69 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

Even if we got rid of it, the senate is still non representative with small states wielding more power, and the house isn't proportional because the seats are capped.

So much is fucked.

[–] DogPeePoo@lemm.ee 43 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I agree. It’s fucked that a citizen in Wyoming has a vote weighted much more heavily than a citizen in California or New York.

However, as far as the Presidential race is concerned we have been screwed at least twice (Georgia G.W. Bush 2000, Trump 2016) by the electoral college usurping the mandate from the masses.

Gotta start somewhere. Out with the electoral college, we are not commuting by horseback any longer.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

we are not commuting by horseback any longer.

Is there some reference specifically to the electoral college and horses, or was this just about the passage of time?

Half of me thinks there was something very specific about horses and the college after you wrote that lol.

[–] Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 20 points 1 week ago (2 children)

One of the arguments for the electoral college was that news travels by horseback and a new development needed a representative at Washington to accout for it.

These representatives (electors) must therefore be able to vote differently that how they were asked to if they deem the situation requires it. Say it's uncovered that one candidate was plotting treason, or has a heart attack.

Because we can communicate instantaneously now, electors are not needed to vote for people or states anymore; a direct vote is easily accomplished.

The unfair allocation of those votes is a different aspect of the Electoral College, but also a reason to be rid of it.

Ah thanks, I knew about this part "tne candidate was plotting treason, or has a heart attack." but didn't know the back story on that.

[–] barsquid@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

I sure wish electors would vote differently if a candidate was plotting treason.

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's how the Senate is designed and intended. That's not the issue. The capped House functions as a second Senate because it no longer represents population correctly, because of that cap imposed in the 1920s.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Its intended, but it's still a problem. It gives disproportionate power to smaller states and it gets worse as certain areas grow and other don't.

Wyoming with a population of 581k in 2022 wields as much power in the senate as California with 39 million.

And if you control either the house or senate, you can pretty much stall almost anything.

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE SENATE. It is the reason Congress is separated in two the way it is.

In the Senate, every State is equal, regardless of physical size or population. A foundational pillar of our Union has always been State equality. The Senate is working EXACTLY as designed, it is there specifically to prevent large States from dictating what smaller States have to do. Larger States have their bigger voice heard in the House. The two serve very different purposes.

The real issue is the House needs to actually be proportional again. The cap at 435 means it cannot be properly representative with States like Delaware and California both existing. A representative in Delaware represents a fraction of the number of people as a Rep in California because the cap limits how that apportionment works. Without the artificial cap from the 1920s, and proper apportionment by population again, our House of Representatives would be more like 1,600 members and actually representative of this country instead of being a glorified pseudo Senate.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE SENATE

I really do get that, you don't have to try and explain it again, but it doesn't mean it's serving the country any further, just like the electoral college isn't severing the country or first past the post isn't.

Things change, and it turns out that this system is allowing for the tyranny of minority which is ironically is the opposite of the intended effect of it preventing tyranny of the majority.

I'm not offering a solution, I'm just saying its a problem just like the others. Everything can be reformed if there a problems.

But yes as I said, fixing the house would be a start.

[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 week ago

A foundational pillar of our Union has always been State equality.

Foundational pillars can be dumb and undemocratic. They were trying to pull together largely independent entities two hundred years ago during a fragile time that really needed unity, not setting out a perfect democratic system. There's a reason we don't just make copies of the American system when we regime change democracies into existence.

[–] andyburke@fedia.io 3 points 1 week ago

So let's win and push for ranked choice.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

The Senate was never meant to be proportionate, and that would be perfectly fine if the House was actually proportionate.

Edit: I'm not going to respond individually to the same point(s)... The US is a federation of states. Whether you like it or not, the country was set up this way on purpose. And believe it or not, there was a lot of thought put into it.

There would be zero point to having a bicameral congress where both houses were proportional representation. Why not just have one at that point?

Each state has its own legislative, executive, and judicial branches. They are each microcosms of a nation within the nation. The Governor is akin to the President. State legislatures are the same concept as federal legislatures, and state judiciary is analogous to the federal judiciary. But each state has some leeway in the actual specific ins and outs of how those positions operate. And it can vary slightly state by state. This has its pros and cons, but it was completely intentional.

It makes perfect sense to have a congressional house made up of representatives from each of those states to represent their state's interests in the federal legislature. The interests of a state as a whole do not always align 100% with the will of the people. People are stupid, and often wrong.

Does that make sense? It is one thing if you are advocating to eliminate the concept of states entirely. But as long as we have the federated system that we do, it makes complete sense to have a legislative body made up of two representatives from each of those states.

[–] expr@programming.dev 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

While that's true, it doesn't make it right. All representation should be proportionate.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] expr@programming.dev 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

First of all, not all state legislatures are the same. Nebraska has a unicameral system, and despite the issues with the legislature, it's overall a much better system than a bicameral one. A bicameral state legislature makes even less sense than a federal one. The federal government should be unicameral.

This isn't 1789. We aren't some loosely federated collection of colonies anymore. We are one nation, and no citizen should have greater voting power than another. The interest of a state can be effectively represented by that state's representatives working together towards a common goal.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago

So you give an example of a state being somewhat independent and doing things differently, and then immediately talk about how we aren't that? The exact thing that you just described?

[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That in no way makes it perfectly fine. It's an undemocratic kluge when trying to get individual states that were acting as independent entities to sign on. The founders weren't prophetic visionaries handing down the perfect democracy. They were horse trading for practical goals and dealing with the limitations stemming from literal horses being used to carry messages.

There's a reason when we regime-change we don't install clones of our own system.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)
[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 1 points 6 days ago

There's no reason to treat the US as a federation of states anymore, at least at the federal level. They're not independent entities and haven't been for a long time. There are certainly more differences in needs and beliefs within California than between North and South Dakota. That doesn't mean states need to be abolished, just that they don't have an independent nature in the federal government that justifies them having an equal say when deciding country-wide matters.

Nothing "makes sense" about giving each state equal representation, no more than expecting that state legislatures should be made up from two representatives from each town. Barely any other democracies work like this and there's nothing unique to the US that demands a different system, it's just the first and has some sacrifices for expediency that should have been ironed out long ago, except the people that the bug empowers value their power over democratic ideals and that power enables them to maintain it.

There's other reasons for bicameral legislatures than giving unequal entities equal power, most of which are seen in the differences between the Senate and the House already. Senators are elected by larger constituencies, meaning they're balancing issues from must larger areas and usually less extreme, they have longer terms giving them some resistance to quick changes in political opinion, and the split means certain tasks can be assigned to the different bodies based on whether it should be quickly reactive to changes or not.

[–] barsquid@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

And if the House was as able to block appointees.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago

Maybe... I would have to think about that more before agreeing. Also note, I made an edit to my comment to clarify my position for the "the senate makes no sense" people.

[–] watson387@sopuli.xyz 98 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Waaaah waaahh waaah! All this motherfucker does is cry and play victim. How people see him as a strongman blows my fucking mind.

[–] IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world 41 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

It's the paradox of the modern conservative; simultaneously gun toting manly men with no time for woke libtard cucks and also the whiniest bunch of snowflake piss babies ever to walk the earth.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 week ago

Same for the opposite side in their mind, they're both the weakest people alive but they somehow still control everything

[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 week ago

I'm pretty convinced it's just angry ignorant bitches that want to see the world burn. Sadly there are tons of them.

[–] andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works 60 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

“I shouldn’t have left. I mean, honestly, because we did so, we did so well,” Trump said during his rally in Lititz as he claimed the US-Mexico border was more secure under his administration.

It was a rare public admission of regret over participating in the peaceful transfer of power after he incited his supporters to violently storm the US Capitol as he tried to subvert the results of the 2020 election that he lost but refused to concede — something Trump is currently facing federal charges over.

Old White Man Getting Stomped By A Brown Woman Prosecutor Is A Challenge To Your No Nut November

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

He's not even saying he should have left because he thinks the election was a fraud. He's saying he shouldn't have left because he did a good job.

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[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 45 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Goddammit. I was so hoping he'd refuse to leave. Watching him be literally dragged out, crying, in handcuffs would have been a wonderful sight.

[–] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Pretty sure that's the only reason he left. He would've been literally dragged out of there, and facing up to a hard reality of an embarrassing moment for him was the only thing that registered in his pea brain so he had to avoid it.

[–] JustZ@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

It was the Joint Chiefs letter dated around then.

[–] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago (2 children)

He should have just kept doing The Apprentice, literally everyone would be happier and generally better off.

[–] Podunk@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thats the thing everyone forgets. He never planned on winning. He didnt want to win. Go watch him right after they announced victory. The man was lost. The plan was always do the show circuit and play victim and rake in the money without any responsibility for his shitty actions.

He didnt want it either, but all that is left is toperpetually double down. And here we are...

[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thanks, Obama!

I jest, but I seriously believe he ran because Obama embarrassed him with a joke at that political dinner event. I do not actually blame Obama.

[–] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

I blame Obama (and now, Biden) for continuing to expand the powers of the executive office instead of undoing Bush's expansions. The president isn't supposed to be this powerful. People like trump are the reason why.

[–] Laristal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 week ago

I wonder how many people would still be alive of he'd done that, between pandemic mismanagement, vaccine hesitancy that he championed, and various other things that don't come to mind off the top of my head, he's got a significant amount of blood on his hands, directly and indirectly.

Him being elected will only make it worse.

[–] businessfish@lemmy.blahaj.zone 22 points 1 week ago (2 children)

“Arnold Palmer was all man, and I say that in all due respect to women, I love women,” Trump said. “This man was strong and tough, and I refused to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros they came out of there, they said, ‘Oh, my God. That’s unbelievable.’”

lmao

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago

A few days later he sucked off his microphone on stage.

[–] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Is he trying to pull the Johnson power move but the best he can do is talk about someone who had a large cock? Or are these ramblings of a man sinking deeper into dementia and losing what remained of his filter and just talking about what's on his mind? Or maybe it's a power move by Putin and he ordered Trump to humiliate himself to show someone else that he pulls Trump's strings? Or... Maybe a power move Trump is using to say it doesn't matter what he says at this point since he's intending to try to loophole his way into the presidency rather than get elected in?

Kinda fucked that all of those seem plausible.

Not that it wasn't meaningless toxic bullshit when Johnson whipped his cock out to settle disagreements or do whatever the fuck he was trying to do when he did that.

[–] Glitterbomb@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Bro maybe he just really likes big dick

Ain't nothing wrong with that, but he doesn't need to be so weird about it.

[–] MyOpinion@lemm.ee 17 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Do not let the Orange Turd near anything other than a coke.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Does that include a jail cell?

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Shouldn't have left? As if he had a choice - if necessary he would have been carried out.

On the plus side it's nice to see him telegraph that he knows he is about to lose. IDK how this shit-for-brains moron was such a good con man. Everything he says is a tell.

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

hes right. he shouldve been physically kicked out or carried out kicking and screaming like the spoiled baby bitch he is

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 3 points 1 week ago

Should have been dragged out in chains and prosecuted for treason.

[–] solsangraal@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 week ago

LOL shoulder pads

[–] JustZ@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

The country received an eviction letter from the Joint Chiefs. Trump was leaving no matter what.

[–] PedroMaldonado@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Goddamn PIECE OF SHIT

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