To my way of thinking, this is a wasted effort of time and energy.
Trump is going to sit in the Oval Office, whether put there by the
Electoral College or by confirmation from a Republican controlled
Congress.
The time for action will be when his appointments come up for
confirmation. If blocking some of them fails, then the next place for
action is when they begin dismantling the various agencies they have
been placed in charge for the purpose of privatizing most government
functions.
Carl Jarvis
On 12/14/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Electoral College Revolt Growing Into 'Powerful Show of Force'
Published on
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
by
Common Dreams
Electoral College Revolt Growing Into 'Powerful Show of Force'
Lawrence Lessig says 20 Republican electors are considering a vote against
Trump on December 19
by
Deirdre Fulton, staff writer
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is among several groups putting
"major resources into the Electoral College protests." (Photo: Fibonacci
Blue/flickr/cc)
With the Electoral College vote less than a week away, Harvard University
constitutional law professor Lawrence Lessig says 20 Republican members are
considering voting against Donald Trump-more than half the number needed to
potentially block the real estate mogul's election.
The 538 delegates to the Electoral College will gather at state capitols on
Monday, December 19 to cast their votes for president. Ahead of that day,
Lessig's Electors Trust group "has been offering pro bono legal counsel to
Republican presidential electors considering ditching Trump and has been
acting as a clearinghouse for electors to privately communicate their
intentions," Politico explains. Lessig further outlined his arguments for
doing so in an op-ed posted Tuesday at Medium.
He said Tuesday: "Obviously, whether an elector ultimately votes his or her
conscience will depend in part upon whether there are enough doing the
same.
We now believe there are more than half the number needed to change the
result seriously considering making that vote."
That claim "contradict[s] the assertions of Republican National Committee
sources who report that a GOP whip operation intended to ensure Republican
electors remain loyal to Trump found only one elector-Chris Suprun of
Texas-would defy Trump," Politico pointed out.
But that could be because, as Salon reports, "Trump's campaign is
pressuring
Republican electors into voting for them under 'threats of political
reprisal.'"
Citing an anonymous member of the Electoral College, the website writes:
"We have gotten reports from multiple people," the elector said, "that the
Donald Trump campaign is putting pressure on Republican electors to vote
for
him based on...future political outcomes based on whether they vote for
Donald Trump or not."
The elector emphasized that these reports had come straight from the
Republican electors themselves, with the threats steering clear of violence
but instead focusing on "career pressure."
"It's all political, basically," the elector said. "If Trump becomes the
president, he's going to be able to put pressure on the state parties and
they won't be involved anymore."
Furthermore, The Hill notes, "even if the rogue electors achieve their
aims,
they would only succeed in sending the election to a Republican-majority
House, which would almost certainly certify Trump's victory."
Still, Margaret Hartmann wrote at New York magazine on Wednesday, "denying
Trump the presidency isn't the movement's only goal."
"Denying Trump his 306 electoral votes could be important symbolically,"
she
argued, "as it would undercut Trump's claim that he secured a mandate and
serve as a show of strength from his opponents."
She pointed to a letter sent last week from the Progressive Change Campaign
Committee (PCCC) to its members, which explained why the group "has decided
to put major resources into the Electoral College protests scheduled on
Dec.
19."
"[W]e're going to make these protests a powerful show of force," the letter
read. "News coverage of these protests will increase public awareness of
the
fact that Trump lost the popular vote by 2.5 million votes-helping to blunt
his claim of a 'mandate' and harden the spine of Democrats to fight."
The PCCC continued:
We go into this with sober expectations. Barring an extraordinary event,
the
Electoral College will likely elect Donald Trump as president. However, we
can achieve two concrete things with these protests even if Trump wins the
vote.
First, by generating media attention for the idea that Electors should
support the popular vote winner, we can make it a source of mockery when
Trump claims a "mandate" for an authoritarian, anti-worker, right-wing
agenda. And when establishment Republicans in Congress claim a "mandate" to
ram trillions of dollars of corporate giveaways through Congress.
Second, these events will force the media to report that Trump's razor-thin
victories in battleground states were made possible in part by massive
voter
suppression. 2016 was the first general election without the full
protection
of the Voting Rights Act. Over 800 polling places were closed. Early voting
was cut. Restrictive voter ID laws were in effect. Hundreds of thousands of
voters-disproportionately people of color-were purged from the voter rolls.
"Denying Trump 270 electoral votes...would be jarring," Hartmann wrote at
New York. "At the very least it would spark a more serious and sustained
effort to clarify whether the Electoral College exists to rubber-stamp the
election outcome or give Americans one last chance to keep an unfit
candidate from assuming the presidency."
Meanwhile, Politico reports that more than 50 Democratic electors are now
asking for an intelligence briefing on claims Russia interfered with the
U.S. elections.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License
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Electoral College Revolt Growing Into 'Powerful Show of Force'
Published on
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
by
Common Dreams
Electoral College Revolt Growing Into 'Powerful Show of Force'
Lawrence Lessig says 20 Republican electors are considering a vote against
Trump on December 19
by
Deirdre Fulton, staff writer
. 50 Comments
.
. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is among several groups
putting "major resources into the Electoral College protests." (Photo:
Fibonacci Blue/flickr/cc)
. With the Electoral College vote less than a week away, Harvard
University constitutional law professor Lawrence Lessig says 20 Republican
members are considering voting against Donald Trump-more than half the
number needed to potentially block the real estate mogul's election.
. The 538 delegates to the Electoral College will gather at state
capitols on Monday, December 19 to cast their votes for president. Ahead of
that day, Lessig's Electors Trust group "has been offering pro bono legal
counsel to Republican presidential electors considering ditching Trump and
has been acting as a clearinghouse for electors to privately communicate
their intentions," Politico explains. Lessig further outlined his arguments
for doing so in an op-ed posted Tuesday at Medium.
. He said Tuesday: "Obviously, whether an elector ultimately votes his
or her conscience will depend in part upon whether there are enough doing
the same. We now believe there are more than half the number needed to
change the result seriously considering making that vote."
. That claim "contradict[s] the assertions of Republican National
Committee sources who report that a GOP whip operation intended to ensure
Republican electors remain loyal to Trump found only one elector-Chris
Suprun of Texas-would defy Trump," Politico pointed out.
But that could be because, as Salon reports, "Trump's campaign is
pressuring
Republican electors into voting for them under 'threats of political
reprisal.'"
Citing an anonymous member of the Electoral College, the website writes:
"We have gotten reports from multiple people," the elector said, "that the
Donald Trump campaign is putting pressure on Republican electors to vote
for
him based on...future political outcomes based on whether they vote for
Donald Trump or not."
The elector emphasized that these reports had come straight from the
Republican electors themselves, with the threats steering clear of violence
but instead focusing on "career pressure."
"It's all political, basically," the elector said. "If Trump becomes the
president, he's going to be able to put pressure on the state parties and
they won't be involved anymore."
Furthermore, The Hill notes, "even if the rogue electors achieve their
aims,
they would only succeed in sending the election to a Republican-majority
House, which would almost certainly certify Trump's victory."
Still, Margaret Hartmann wrote at New York magazine on Wednesday, "denying
Trump the presidency isn't the movement's only goal."
"Denying Trump his 306 electoral votes could be important symbolically,"
she
argued, "as it would undercut Trump's claim that he secured a mandate and
serve as a show of strength from his opponents."
She pointed to a letter sent last week from the Progressive Change Campaign
Committee (PCCC) to its members, which explained why the group "has decided
to put major resources into the Electoral College protests scheduled on
Dec.
19."
"[W]e're going to make these protests a powerful show of force," the letter
read. "News coverage of these protests will increase public awareness of
the
fact that Trump lost the popular vote by 2.5 million votes-helping to blunt
his claim of a 'mandate' and harden the spine of Democrats to fight."
The PCCC continued:
We go into this with sober expectations. Barring an extraordinary event,
the
Electoral College will likely elect Donald Trump as president. However, we
can achieve two concrete things with these protests even if Trump wins the
vote.
First, by generating media attention for the idea that Electors should
support the popular vote winner, we can make it a source of mockery when
Trump claims a "mandate" for an authoritarian, anti-worker, right-wing
agenda. And when establishment Republicans in Congress claim a "mandate" to
ram trillions of dollars of corporate giveaways through Congress.
Second, these events will force the media to report that Trump's razor-thin
victories in battleground states were made possible in part by massive
voter
suppression. 2016 was the first general election without the full
protection
of the Voting Rights Act. Over 800 polling places were closed. Early voting
was cut. Restrictive voter ID laws were in effect. Hundreds of thousands of
voters-disproportionately people of color-were purged from the voter rolls.
"Denying Trump 270 electoral votes...would be jarring," Hartmann wrote at
New York. "At the very least it would spark a more serious and sustained
effort to clarify whether the Electoral College exists to rubber-stamp the
election outcome or give Americans one last chance to keep an unfit
candidate from assuming the presidency."
Meanwhile, Politico reports that more than 50 Democratic electors are now
asking for an intelligence briefing on claims Russia interfered with the
U.S. elections.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License