Today

Today

Today is Sept 22 and is the autumnal equinox. So we got as much nighty night as we did day time. I hope you had plenty of sleep. Or rather got a lot done, because day light is going away. The old “man works from sun to sun” is catching up with us.

Today was also the anniversary, of the 1776 execution of Nathan Hale. I hope you know who he was. “I regret that....” Look it up if you don’t know.

You will be glad you did.

Have a good day.

The Electoral College

Electoral College

The direct election of the President was a cause that I supported in the past. Then I heard a high school student explain the genius of the founding fathers’ paradigm for government. To review, the Constitution specifies a tripartite system of government that contains both separation and division of powers. There are three separate divisions, and three distinct methods for choosing the participants. We have a Legislative branch elected by the general population. The House and Senate share, though to a different degree, the distinction of being chosen by the individual voters.

Second the Judicial branch is appointed by the Executive and approved by the Legislative. Notice the intertwining of elections processes without overlapping. Finally, the President and ultimately the Executive is chosen by the States through the electoral college. Thus we also have a check and balance system to ultimately control all three branches.

A popularly elected President, or one chosen by apportioned electoral votes reduces him to a one-man congress or prime minister of the population only without the “no confidence” circuit breaker. (See below.)

The legislature is apportioned roughly by the division of interests in the individual states. Even the Senate can be “split” if a particular state has evenly divided interests. (Note that parties have usurped the role of interests, but in most cases, they are responsive to their “base” and quickly come into line when they stray.)

The States choose the President on the basis of their specific needs and convictions. So to be elected, the President must appeal to a majority of the States. The “division” of our society that is represented is the individual States. In this manner individuals, the government itself, and the states are all equally represented and involved in the checks and balances. One branch does not overwhelm the other two.

These electoral votes are traditionally voted by State on a winner take all basis. Each State submits its choice for President and they are tallied at the Electoral College to determine the next President.

Apportioning votes is as silly as having the Supreme Court Justices vote a percentage. Take, for instance, a situation where one Justice voted 30% in favor of a position and 70% against and two others voted 51% for and 49% against. This would have been a 2 to 1 decision in favor of the side. But if the percentages are summed, it is a 132 to 168 decision against.

The Supreme Court presents a decision based on the majority. The Senate, often with advice from their House colleagues, confirms the Judiciary. Likewise, the states have a united voice in the final decision for the executive.

Actually reporting the accumulated total votes for the President is both worthless and misleading. It has contributed to the popular myth that the people elect the President. It is as useless as reporting the total number of votes cast for the Republican and Democratic members of the House of Representatives. We do not know, nor care how many total votes the parties received. The count of the representatives is what is important.

So the Constitution has crafted a marvelous division and separation of powers. It is not an whimsical fantasy of the founding fathers. It is a functional, utilitarian, and extremely successful model for governance that has not been improved upon for over 2 centuries. And no other form of government has even approached the success and stability that this structure has afforded to the United States of America.

The real genius of this Constitutional system is the President. He (or she) is elected by the States. The States have proportional strength so representation is roughly apportioned, but not exclusively, on size of their population. Compare this to a prime minister who merely represents the majority of the legislative branch. He is not independent nor able to restrain the legislative body. We need only observe Canada, Great Britain, and even Israel to see the drawbacks and impotence built into this system. The no confidence vote effectively reduces him or her to a pawn of the legislative branch.
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Dividing electoral votes proportionally is merely a thinly veiled attempt to make an end run around the concept of State selection of the Executive.  If proportionality is so sacred, why not make the Congressmen and Senators vote for issues on a proportional basis predicated on their percentage backing in their electoral district?

The check and balance system is complete and functional. We only tend to “muck things up” when we arbitrarily change one aspect without considering the whole entity. This is called “systems analysis.”  No one in his right mind would install 24 inch wheels on the back of his car to make it go fast and 13 inch wheels on the front to save money because they are cheaper. (Unless you are building a drag racer, which is not too functional on Briley Parkway.)

Changes in one part of the car affect other aspects and must be carefully, and thoughtfully  considered. The Founding Fathers crafted an impressive edifice for governing our country. Let’s be very careful of tipping it in any direction.

Learning from Football

Learning from Football

This weekend several teams made egregious mistakes that either cost them the game or nearly did. One mistake that should be pounded into the head of every quarterback, especially toward the end of the game is, “Do not lose field goal position.”

LSU was trailing by two and was in field goal range. The QB “scrambled” out of trouble, but did not get rid of the football. He retreated farther and then broke the second cardinal rule for passers. “Don’t force it when you are off balance. Always throw to the outside of the receiver. And cross field passes are always problematic.” Kind of a long rule, but has critical components.

He attempted a pass from one side of the field to the other. Not only did he miss his target, it went directly to the defensive player, who intercepted it and promptly dropped to the ground.

(Note: Several years ago Nebraska was ahead of Texas A & M at the end of the game. A&M was threatening, but the Huskers intercepted a pass in the end zone. Ball game.., Except the player tried to run it out, was hit, fumbled, and A&M recovered for a touchdown, winning the game.)

The LSU QB broke just about every end of game rule that you can imagine. My son and I were discussing some of the other mistakes. He commented that on the irony of guys who have watched over 50 years of football and seen just about everything but are unable to play the game. We have to suffer the guys who have not seen or thought of these thing–yet–are out there losing games. How sad. Sigh.

The Tennessee QB did that at the end of the first half against Appalachian State, also losing an almost sure three points. The game ended in a tie, and only a propitious bounce gave Tennessee the win. But the rest of their schedule may not be so accommodating. Maybe. See below.

Who does the offensive end block on field goals and extra points? Often two guys will line up “over the end” and he cannot block both. On Friday night, we watched a high school game and the end started to go after the outside guy, realized that the inside guy was going too, swung back, missed him, and watched the kick get blocked.

Always take the guy with the shortest route if you have two and cannot get them both. Make the guy go the “long way around.” This kid learned the hard way. The kick was blocked, the game ended in a tie, and they lost in overtime–on another blocked kick. Maybe he has learned now.

Where was the coach? I bet he and the boys watch a few kicks over the week end.

Shall we look at Houston and Oklahoma? I thought every coach in the country would warn his teams against letting down on field goal misses. Alabama lost a chance at the National Championship a couple of years ago by not covering a missed attempt. Oklahoma did the same on Saturday. The guy was about 2" from the end line. It was a 109 yard and 34 inch return.

More coaches are watching film, and showing them to players. Let the games go on. They are, at the least, interesting.