My last post was too rambling. Let me get right to the point. We have ONE last chance to #StopTrump. That is NOW before the Electoral College takes its final vote December 19. Why? Trump is in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution.

“No Person holding any Office… shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind… from a foreign State.”

It is crystal clear that Trump would be in violation of this Constitutional clause the moment he takes the Oath given his debt to foreign nations and undisclosed business dealings in over 25 foreign countries.  Trump boasts that he “can’t have a conflict of interest” BUT Harvard professors and the former Bush administration ethics attorney claim he will be in violation of the Emoluments Clause IF he takes the Oath of Office.

Therefore, no Elector– not even “Republican loyalists”– can vote for someone whose election is a violation of the Constitution!

Seems to me that the Electors should go with the popular vote and the candidate who has been CLEARED of all wrong-doing! But, that’s for them to wrestle…what they cannot do is elect Trump!

Trump is NOT the “President-Elect.” The election has not been “certified” as some Trump surrogates claim. News organizations should NOT call him “President-Elect.” The Electoral College vote is set for December 19.

Trump claims he will reveal on Dec 15 how he “plans” to “divest” himself of his business holdings. But, we have no idea what he will actually do, and after Dec 19 it will be TOO late.
The Time is NOW to #StopTrump and protect our Constitutional rights.
Tump has also PLEDGED to destroy our First Amendment rights. He’s threatened Free Speech, the media, and especially print newspapers claiming he will “open up” libel laws in the United States so he can sue news organizations. Just as importantly, he has openly threatened our religious freedom with claims of banning Muslims and has openly expressed his desire to make this a “Christian Country again.” America was NEVER a “Christian” country! The original revolt from England had everything to do with FREEDOM to speak, worship in our own way, and to avoid oppression.

The Founding Fathers and framers of the Constitution were careful to protect our “inalienable rights” which include equality for ALL Americans, no restrictions on religious freedom or upon speech. Trump continues to threaten our rights and freedom. His choices for various cabinet and “at will” positions makes it clear he intends to repeal or restrict Civil Rights and social programs. He only seems concerned with protecting Amendment “two”, as he might call it, and doesn’t truly understand even that one.

So if you CARE about your rights and future, you MUST lobby the Electors of your state– particularly Republicans who think they are bound to Trump. They are bound to the Constitution!

Below are more resources and detailed information, but the easiest way to locate members of the Electoral College for your state is to simply contact your Secretary of State’s Office.

• National Secretaries of State info
• More on Electoral College Process  including specific reference to “My State” process
• Video about Petition at Change.org
• Hamilton Electors on Twitter
• A scholarly report on problems with electronic voting machines
• An important article written by “the Atlantic” writer Peter Beinart who argues that the Electoral College was established to PREVENT someone like Trump from taking power: (Beinart also quotes Michael Signer and his book…) worth quoting here, too:

“A demagogue is a tyrant who owes his initial rise to the democratic support of the masses. Huey Long, Hugo Chavez, and Moqtada al-Sadr are all clear examples of this dangerous byproduct of democracy. This compelling narrative (by Michael Signer) weaves stories about some of history’s most notorious figures, including Adolf Hitler, Senator Joe McCarthy, and General Douglas Macarthur, and explains how humanity’s urge for liberty can give rise to dark forces that threaten that very freedom.”

#StopTrump NOW before it’s too late!

Before I get to tweaking, let me say a word about the Twits (that I recently called out online.) Who are they and why do I call them Twits? They SHOUT with capital letters, usually inane, frustrated, meaningless comments or like a recent Texas Twit told me, “close your account.”  They rarely offer any useful comments or info.  I should use Buddhist logic and see these folks as an opportunity to practice patience. In fact, no excuses going forward,  I must do that or actually get off social media if I can’t.  (This is called Grappling, the topic of my next book.)

As for the Electoral College, it’s obsolete and should have been discontinued after the 2000 election fiasco. While I like this Atlantic article by Peter Beinart (whom I’ve seen several times on cable news), the E.C. was actually designed to give white male property owners the final choice for President.

Back then women and slaves were chattel and men who did not own land or chattel were considered “lesser” and not worthy of a say on such lofty matters as who should be President.  As for the “states” argument, in this day and age of instantaneous info and mobility, geography should not determine the Presidency either.  The Electoral system is outdated, offensive and should be eliminated.

That said, research shows Electors are free to vote for whoever they want. Any restrictions placed on them by a state is unconstitutional. Since we still have this antiquated system, this is the time, as Peter argues, to use it to the fullest and in his words:

“prevent an irresponsible demagogue from taking office.”

That’s why I have repeatedly posted #DisqualifyTrump and urged Electors to support the popular vote when your state participates in the “college.” Votes will be tallied on December 19. That is when we will know the “official” 2016 Presidential election outcome (unless recount challenges turn up fraud. More on that below.)

I must say how fascinating that Trump supporters so quickly embraced the complicated Electoral College. You know if Trump had received TWO MILLION votes more than Hillary, but had lost the EC, they would be screaming in ALL CAPS about the RIGGED system.  That brings us to the need for a recount…  a full AUDIT would be even better!

Good for Jill Stein to take the lead and raise millions (overnight) for a recount. It’s not for her campaign. She is doing this so we can resolve the many complaints and questions about irregularities with electronic machines, voter suppression techniques, like provisional ballots and purges (that primarily affected minority groups), and alleged hacking by various groups.

Purging registered voters ahead of the election, by the THOUSANDS, is a particularly “dirty trick” employed by Republican-led states and election officials who then give the voter a provisional ballot that often is never included in the vote totals– especially in the unofficial “election night” totals. This is possible because Republicans have spent the last several years gerrymandering districts to their benefit so they can exert more control at the local level.  They use their power to reduce voting sites in minority areas which resulted in HUGE lines that disenfranchised many who simply had to get back to work and could not wait all day. Terrible and unconstitutional in my opinion.

Finally, electronic voting machines that do not have a paper trail should be carefully audited. These type of machines have been investigated since the 1980s when in my state (New Mexico) election officials were accused of programming the machines prior to elections so that regardless of what choices were made, the votes would go to a certain party. I immediately recognized the machines a couple of days ago, when I saw one (on TV) with its large green “vote” button. An official was pointing to it and saying that machine could not be hacked because it’s not linked to the internet. That’s right.  But they sure could be, and WERE, programmed for desired outcomes in the past and have since been banned in many states. New Mexico is back to paper ballots that are fed into scanners to tabulate the votes. Sadly, I still worry because any electronic data can be hacked or manipulated, and probably has been somewhere in the US. That’s why if there is any suspicion in Wisconsin, Michigan or any state,  especially any state that used those type of machines, we should have a recount and analysis of data and paper ballots with plenty of bipartisan monitoring.

So, yes, let’s have a recount (for states “too close to call” or where irregularities have been found) and Electors, DO THE RIGHT THING! Let’s elect whoever has won the official popular vote.