Saw this on Huffington post

[Plane]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/obama-wins-iowa-why-ever_b_79663.html


help4mac (See profile | I'm a fan of help4mac)
Iowa means nothing. Long Island has more than double the voters. Two-bit western states have too much power and little to no collective intelligence. Small States domination of the US Senate is as big a reason as any for a lot of our stupid policies.

Reply | posted 05:44 am on 01/05/2008



[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

This is an example of the Urban attitude  , objectionable in that it considers the "flyover " part of this country of no account.

Would the urbans like to seceed?

The United Citys of Urbainia might be a terriffic country, lets let them go.

[fatman]

Actually, the problem that I have is the disproportion of a handful of states determining (in actuality, if not in theory) the candidates.  I'd like to see a national primary, all the states on the same day, but I don't think it will ever happen.  I think that it is important that rural and less populated states get their say, which is why I'm not in favor of removing the electoral college.

[Xavier_Onassis]

The states without people get LOTS more say because they each have two senators.
The Electoral College is undemocratic and a national embarrasment to a country that claims to be a democracy.

Why not just give 200 representatives to Nye County, Nevada, for the real estate, bovine, ovine and equine vote?

This is a totally spurious argument. The people should run the nation in a democracy, and the more people want something to happen, the more likely their government should oblige their wishes. Cattle, sheep and horses and acreage do not deserve extra power in a democracy.

I didn't observe a great clamoring for Electoral College fans for Howard Dean as president. He was, of course, from one of the very least populous states.

[fatman]

The people should run the nation in a democracy,

Cattle, sheep and horses and acreage do not deserve extra power in a democracy

We don't live in a Democracy.  We live in a Republic.  For many years state houses elected the Senators.  It is amenable for you for an urban mass to impose their lifestyle and beliefs on a sparse rural population, simply because there are more people in urban locales?  That's what the electoral college comes down to, a balance between rural and urban.  The people in a rural setting control more physical resources and agriculture and should not be subjected to the often ignorant attitudes of city dwellers.

[Lanya]

Yes...I really would not like someone on either coast to decide their waste should all be buried in "the West" so they don't have to worry about it.  Bad enough that's where they send the pedophile priests and the mafiosi in the Witness Protection Program.
Because they are more populous does not mean they should have a greater say.  I know there are problems with this and we've suffered for the last 7 years with a really bad president largely because of it.  But maybe people have learned. I hope.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I am rather sick of hearing this "we don't live in a democracy, we live in a republic" crap. All a republic is, is a state not governed by a heriditary monarch. Of course this is a democracy, and I see no reason why every vote of every citizen rural, urban or whatever, should not be exactly equal.

There are probably no places that are perfect for burying nuclear waste, but rural Nevada is very close to the least imperfect. Perhaps no Yucca Mountain, but anywhere along  that highway that runs from Vegas up through Elko would seem to present littel danger to anyone. There are no people in that area, and nothing would cause anyone to move there, since there is no water and the mines have all played out.

I suppose the Pribilhoff Islands would also be a pretty useful place ], but with global warming and all, perhaps they will be more useful than central Nevada.

[fatman]

All a republic is, is a state not governed by a heriditary monarch.

Bull.  A republic is a state governed by Representatives elected by the people to represent on their behalf.  A Democracy in its purest form is simply mob rule.  I hate to think of what kind of fuckery could be started if we simply had a national vote on every issue, the initiative process here in WA is bad enough, I'd hate to think of what it could do nationally.

I am rather sick of hearing this "we don't live in a democracy, we live in a republic" crap.

It's not crap.  If you're still confused about the differences, you could look it up on wikipedia.

Of course this is a democracy, and I see no reason why every vote of every citizen rural, urban or whatever, should not be exactly equal.

So the four people who live in an unpopulated forest of 20 square miles should be subjected to the whim of the 30,000 people who live in one square mile in the city?  Again I say bull.  The electoral college is part of the check and balance system, to keep the urbanites from overreaching simply on the basis of population.

[The_Professor]

The states without people get LOTS more say because they each have two senators.
The Electoral College is undemocratic and a national embarrasment to a country that claims to be a democracy.

Why not just give 200 representatives to Nye County, Nevada, for the real estate, bovine, ovine and equine vote?

This is a totally spurious argument. The people should run the nation in a democracy, and the more people want something to happen, the more likely their government should oblige their wishes. Cattle, sheep and horses and acreage do not deserve extra power in a democracy.

I didn't observe a great clamoring for Electoral College fans for Howard Dean as president. He was, of course, from one of the very least populous states.

Duh, we live in a representative democracy, deliberately. Not a pure democracy. I like it that way.

[Plane]

Acreage cannot speak , but it needs to be spoken for.

Urbanites are understandably ignorant of rural issues , but they necessarily out vote rural dwellers.

When this is unchecked the results can ruin a lot of land and quite a few peoples lives.