7/23/2007

Thoughts On A Sunday

It was a brief trip out on to the lake yesterday evening. BeezleBub had one of his long time friends from Keene up for a visit and, with the weather being so accommodating, we figured it would be a great way to wrap up the day. It set up things for our extended time out on the lake today.

Unfortunately there was quite a bit of traffic on the lake, making it less than pleasant under some circumstances. In one instance it caused me to overstress one of my knees, which has made known its state with a considerable amount of discomfort.

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BeezleBub has finished out his second week on the farm and is thriving on the work. Unlike some kids, he actually enjoys it. The farm's owner commented to me the other day that he wish he had more kids like BeezleBub working for him. (Am I bragging? Of course!) He's always been a self-starter and feels “off” if he isn't doing something constructive during the daylight hours. I wish I had half his drive.

Then again, BeezleBub has always liked tractors and farm machinery, something he picked up from the WP Dad-In-Law. This job lets him get up close and personal with the equipment that he's only been able to see at fairs, on RFD-TV, and at Old Home Day in Gilsum, NH.

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Jay Tea gets into the Electoral College debate. Some folks (primarily Democrats, and particularly younger Democrats) want it abolished in favor of using only the popular vote.

However, that leaves the country open to what is called “Tyranny of the Majority”. The framers of the Constitution understood that problem and worked to eliminate it. That's why the US Senate has equal representation by each state – two senators per state, regardless of population – and why they created the Electoral College, to make the states elect the President, and not the individual people. It balances the difference between population and the number of states.

As I questioned in one of my comments to the post, why should large states (states with a large population) have disproportionate power in Presidential elections?

While it is an unlikely scenario, it could happen this way: The ten top population states have a little more than 50% of the population of the US. If those ten states were able to convince all of their registered votes to cast their ballots for the same candidate, they would indeed elect the next President of the US. The other forty states would have no say in the matter even if the every voter in those states voted for the other candidate. That is what could be called Tyranny of the Majority because a minority of the 50 states decided what the majority of the states would do only because the “minority” has over 50% of the population. With the Electoral College, the forty states would outweigh the ten states (but only under this highly unlikely condition).

The Electoral College works just as the framers of the Constitution intended. It ain't broke. It don't need to be fixed.

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I still wish the Democrats in Congress could get it through their heads that the firing of the eight US Attorneys was not criminal, was not illegal, and does not require investigation. Appointment or firing of US Attorneys is not a legislative function, but belong in toto the Executive branch of the US Government. They are political appointments. They serve at the pleasure of the President. Period. But the Dems are working hard to encroach on the Executive branch and are trying to criminalize something that is purely political, something that, by the Constitution, they have absolutely have no say.

I see this as but another manifestation of BDS.

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And that's all the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the summer boaters are back in numbers not seen since last summer, some marinas are seeing a pick up in business, and where we can get some of the best marinated steak tips we've ever tasted from one of the local butcher shops.

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