But That Doesn't Seem Fair! - 28 September 2021 - Plague Journal Day 565

Micah 6:8
Psalm 58
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

The Electoral College is apparently one of those hard-to-understand bits of our republic. The reason for such a thing was that when the Declaration of Independence was signed, we were, and of rights ought to have been, free and independent States. Yes, that means they were considering each of the colonies to be an independent State, State as in Country. The federal government, as limited in the Constitution, was strengthened from the nearly powerless entity of the Articles of Confederation, but was still seen as subservient to the States themselves in all areas not specifically designated to its purview in that Constitution.
Given that state of affairs, it was - and I would assert remains - important that larger States not be able to ignore the needs of smaller States. For that reason we have a bicameral legislature, arranged so that the House of Representatives is aligned by population (and the Representatives were to represent their actual, local constituents), while the Senate was set up as a council of the States with equal representation for each (and the Senators were to represent the interests of their own State).
There is now a fairly big movement to abolish that Electoral College and to elect the President by popular vote across the country, just as we do with every other elected office. (Of course, there are no other national elected offices, so the analogy doesn't really apply, but that's never gotten in the way of pushing an agenda, has it?) When I heard that former leaders of both major parties in Michigan are working for this it became obvious that this is something that the political class wants, and in my mind, if the political class wants it it's almost certainly a bad thing for the people.
To abolish the Electoral College would continue the dismantling of the federal system that is typified by the 17th Amendment, moving to direct election of Senators. (Yes, State legislatures used to appoint Senators to actually represent the State rather than to play at being national leaders.) I think that was a major mistake and would strongly support a move to repeal that amendment and go back to an appointed Senate.

Again, when the two major parties are colluding to change the way our votes are counted, my first reaction is to say no, and to try to figure out why they think it's good for them, because it's almost certainly not good for the country nor for the people.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.