Ballots are mailing out this week. I think I can already hear the rustling of this newspaper being turned to something else because that old duffer, Moeller, is going to bore us again with another tirade about the foolish method by which we make decisions that guide our futures.
I refer, of course, to the way we continue to ignore the crazy way we allow so many states to have more impact in national elections.
When our forefathers tried to form our Union, those leaders from the southern colonies refused to form a “United States” because they knew they would always be outvoted by the more populous northern colonies.
So, the Senate was suggested, giving each state, no matter what their population, an even playground. And they compounded the influence of a minority by throwing in an Electoral College to boot. And so, the south decided to join our union — until it didn’t work to their advantage over the decades and the Civil War resulted.
We follow a procedure that once made sense — in a time when horses carried election results to a central location where they then proceeded to ready a cowhide bag that would then be taken to a central area with a larger voting population to be tabulated.
We’ve pretty much reached the tech era where the transportation of completed ballots is done almost instantly and, let’s face it, the results hardly depart out of state, except online.
The communication between our states is instant as are the messages they wish to share.
The difference in our perspectives will always be present and recognized.
Recently, some right wing citizens have displayed a disbelief in the results — and usually anger.
The truth which should be observed is that our needs and beliefs are, often, much the same and have been, so far, for close to 100 years.
So, now, with topics such as abortion, for instance, why should one state dictate what those who live in an adjoining state decides?
By now, we all should have reached the opinion, in my imagination, that the knowledge that the different ways to determine a winner or loser in an election is still not a standard one.
We’ve already been through two presidential elections that have not gone to the winner of the most national votes, just because of the way the votes are counted in some states.
Those who agree with that way of vote tabulation — that only the votes going to their selected political party or individual should be counted — are wrong and childish.
I don’t quite know how to fit this next comment into this tirade, but as I leaned back in my chair, pondering my next comment, I heard someone in the next room use the phrase “plans that are devious.”
Might this refer to the reasoning of the Southern states? We, citizens of the United States of America, don’t need a separate way to count our votes.
We live in the same country.
Excuse me while I try to climb down off my horse.
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Bill Moeller is a former entertainer, mayor, bookstore owner, city council member, paratrooper and pilot living in Centralia. He can be reached at bookmaven321@comcast.net.
