DC2DQ

I went to a town hall meeting, it was the 2^nd annual DC2DQ event held by US Congressman Will Hurd (that wasn't actually held at a Dairy Queen, it was held at Floore's Country Store in Helotes TX, but that’s not important). A lot of the people that attended it came with their own political agendas (i.e., lobbyists and organizations) and were not Helotes, TX residents (my home town).  I think that was unfortunate. On one hand because the space they took up actual Helotes residents could have had, and on the other hand because political action groups and lobbyists already have enough access to office holders.

I think Congressman Hurd intended the DC2DQ event to be for regular folk to come and attend so he can fill us in on what he's doing: what is happening in Washington DC, what we haven't heard about from the media, and to answer honest questions from the people that live in the area he's representing.  To be accurate, the congressman did not just hold the DC2DQ in my home town, he held them throughout the 23^rd US congressional district which he represents … he held a lot of them over the course of a week (twice a day).  His district also happens to be the largest geographical district in the country and includes much of the US/Mexico border.

In typical fashion my wife and I arrived early for the event. At first I thought we might be a little too early, but after just a few minutes I was glad we were.   That’s because I’d attended the first DC2DQ meeting, at the real Dairy Queen in Helotes, TX. I knew a good number of the people in the crowd.  Did I mention Helotes, TX is my home town?  I have relatives here.  The first thing I noticed at this year’s DC2DQ is that I did not recognize a single face.  Why is that you ask? … because many of the early birds were special interest groups.  I sat there and eavesdropped as they prepared and schemed as to how they would get the congressman to call on them. It kind of ticked me off.  

It ticked me off because the people from those special interest groups took up time and space that regular folk could have had with their congressman, which is why he held the meeting in the first place.  People are entitled to their opinions, and should feel free to voice them in our country, but hording in on a meeting …. well that isn’t cool.   It’s not cool to do it in Helotes, TX or anywhere else.

I’m not going to bring up the topics of discussion in this blog, because I’m still thinking that over, but I’ll leave you with this: The more we ask of government, the more government will demand (not ask) from us.

There you have it.

Eddie

PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

Some people haven’t come to terms with his term …. in office, that is.  I can understand Democrats having trouble believing that he is the President of the United States and I can even understand how some political independents would still be in disbelief.  It’s somewhat natural for them not accept it.  I’ll admit that I never fully accepted Barack Obama as President.  After all, he did not stand for anything I supported in any way - as I’m sure Donald Trump doesn’t represent those that opposed him. Truthfully I didn’t care much for Donald Trump myself until after he won election.

What doesn’t make sense to me is why so many Republicans, conservatives, TEA Partiers, etc., still haven’t come around to him.   All of them, including Donald Trump, have been singing the same tune. Unless I’m wrong,  they all want to protect and defend the United States from radical Islam, end Obamacare, secure the border, balance the budget, simplify taxes, and so on and so forth.  

The American voters have given Republicans what they asked for: control of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Presidency. Not only have they been given control in Washington DC, they’ve been given control in most of the state capitals (they’ve had the states for a while now).  But they haven’t decided to come together for the good of the nation.  It seems they may rather have had Hillary Clinton win the election instead of their own Republican Party candidate. Sounds absurd doesn’t it?

You might remember that some Republicans were hoping for a “Convention Miracle” in which Donald Trump would not, could not, secure the party nomination.  The truth is, a Convention Miracle wouldn’t have satisfied them because they hated Ted Cruz, too (maybe even more than they hated Trump).  The point I’m making is this, there are a lot of political leaders we used to trust (when I say we, I mean you and me, Jane & Joe Average America) that do not trust us.

What has President Trump done wrong? If you listen closely you’ll hear this: nothing.  That’s because he hasn’t done anything wrong at all. Other than win our votes. That’s it.  Is he trying to keep the country safe? Yes, he is.  Has he been working to secure the border? Yes, he has. Has he been trying to do everything all candidates have promised to do year after year? Yes, he has. Are they helping?  I’ll let you answer that. 

Now that we have a President that is willing to work hard at getting things done, wouldn’t it be nice if we had Republican leaders working just as hard and taking their jobs just as seriously as he is? Republicans have every tool that they’ve wanted us to give them; it’s time for them to come together and keep the promises they’ve made to us…before they lose their “Trump” card.

There you have it,

Eddie

THEN AND NOW

When I was growing up there was a group of people that thought they knew it all.  They had it together, they got it.   Remember the hippies of the 1960’s and ‘70’s?  They were mostly young city kids.  They came from all over the country and they covered the spectrum of the US population.  Of course, they were not all kids but mostly kids and the young at heart.   

I grew up in ’60s and ’70s … I was a kid then.  It was an era of great sadness, struggle, and victory.  It was a time of change.  It was a time of marches, set-ins, slogans, and chants: make love, not war … turn on, tune in, drop out.  These always come to mind when I think about those days.  Did I mention the riots? Yes, it was also a time of riots.

It was a time of revolution in the US. There was the drug revolution, the sexual revolution, the feminist revolution, and a few more. The drug revolution gave us a new culture - the drug culture. Hippies played a tremendous role in that, especially the college hippies (after all they were the smartest, most put together of all the hippies). They were the “activist of activists” in a time of activism ... or at least they thought they were.

I’m not going into a history of the ’60 and ’70.  That would take too much of your time.  I’ll just say that history has shown that much of the activism of the era hasn’t helped make this country better off or happier (with the exception of African-American civil rights).

Hippies are still around today.  We don’t call them hippies anymore, but they’re still hippies and they still come from the same old places as they did before.  They still believe that they have it together and that they get it. Well, they didn’t back them, and they don’t get it now.  They’re still pushing the same old anti-American, anti-family messages they always have.  There’s nothing new about them other than their faces.

They’re chanting again, creating silly slogans again, rioting again, and dreaming up even more cultural destruction … it’s what they do.  Some of them will grow out of it, just like they did in the 1980’s and ‘90’s (I hope).  As for me, when I came of age I was so removed from their way of thinking that I’ve never taken them seriously.  And I believe there’s a next generation coming up that sees the foolishness of this current crop of hippies as well.

It is has been said “the more things change, the more they stay the same”, that’s how I see where our country is today.  I wish it weren’t so.  I pray it weren’t so.

 There you have it,

Eddie

DEMOCRACY

Yes, my friends we do not live in a democracy.   What?!   I can hear it already.   There goes Eddie again.

We live in a representative republic.  You may have to do some study and research to understand exactly what that is, because I’m not going to go into the details, but that is how the United States was intended to be governed.

If we had a simple democracy, then we’d be ruled by 50% plus 1 … or in other words “majority rule”.  By and large, that’s how our “democracy” works. Most of our elections work in this way.  Not so much when laws are passed in Congress, or when the constitution is changed.  Sometimes there has to be a “super majority” (more research for you to do).

The more I learn about the framers of the constitution and how well thought out the document is, the more impressed I am with them. It is the longest lasting document of its kind on earth.  Why is that? Because it works! … that’s why!  And it will continue to work as long as we elect “representatives” that honor and respect it.  I happen to believe that all of our elected officials (including the President of the United Stated) are first and foremost “representatives” of “We the People of the United States of America”.  I also believe the same is true about unelected judges (but I’m not going to talk about them right now) and other holders of high office.

We should be glad and feel blessed that we do not live in a true democracy where we might be subject to rule of a “simple majority”.  Have you ever seen a mob?  It isn’t pretty.  The framers knew that.  They studied history, knew human nature, and had seen firsthand the terrible results of what an all too powerful government is capable of. 

Today we are living in a land where we choose our leaders.  Some people don’t agree.  They say we do not.  Simply because they don’t understand the wisdom of the how the most powerful elected official in the country comes into office.  The Electoral College is the how the states elect the President.  That’s right I said “the states”.  Not the people, or the majority, or this party or that party, it is decided by the states. The states choose their electors and they have their own rules that vary from one to the other … that’s their right. The electors usually vote along with the popular vote of the state they reside in. As far as I’m aware, the states electors have always voted along with the will of the people of their states.

Why do we have this system? … to protect the week from the strong. It is as simple as that.  Don’t get philosophical on me, this is politics. The framers built in a way to keep us from having a 50% plus 1 debacle. Take a look at a “red state-Republican”, “blue state-Democrat” map broken down by counties from the 2016 election (or any of the past elections) and you’ll see that there’s a lot more red than blue in this country. If you were to look at the actual number of votes, you’d find that they aren’t that far apart. 

Out of a population of around 300 million, roughly 130 million votes were cast in 2016. Of those, there was only a difference of about 3 million votes.  That’s a very evenly divided population … or so it seems.  Many people are complaining that the winner of the popular vote should have won the election since we are a “democracy”.  This is true if math were the only thing that matters … that is also where the framers wisdom shines through and their understanding of our republic is dim.

Have you looked at the maps yet?  You should.  Sheer numbers would not fairly represent the nation in the White House and the Founding Fathers knew that.  The process has been changed over time but has never been (and never should be) left to a purely popular vote.  Otherwise we would be left to the will of the people from concentrated areas with similar ambitions, thoughts and ideas, wishes and beliefs, prejudices, political leanings, and economic conditions dictating to the rest of country who the President will be.  That would lead to disaster.

To become President of these United States requires winning the states through the Electoral College. The Electoral College provides the larger states a greater number of votes than the smaller states (each state receives the same number of electors as they have members in Congress - 2 for each Senator and however many Representatives they have).  The system is fair in that it forces candidates to win each state at the polls.  Winning the most states will normally bring in the most Electoral College votes and the Presidency.

I support the system, but that doesn’t not mean I’m not open to altering it.  I don’t think the Presidency should ever be left to a popular vote, but I wouldn’t be opposed to eliminating the Electoral College.  I’ve been thinking about the framers of the constitution’s original intent.  I believe that winning the states was the key.  Here is my compromise: let the person that wins the most states by popular vote win.  Each state would count as one. No more magic 270.  The candidate that wins the majority of votes in a state wins the state. The candidate with the most state victories (not the most popular votes) wins the White House. What do you think about that?

There you have it,
Eddie