I am thankful we live in a democracy. Our voices count. I implore all Americans to join together and send a message to your lawmakers that Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s chief political strategist, is well known to voice views that are not consistent with our country’s values. He is racist, anti-woman, and anti-Semitic. He should have no place in our government and specifically, his appointment in Trump’s administration is terrifying. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian or a member of the Green party, let’s join together to prevent him from damaging our country.
Our legislators should publicly denounce this appointment loudly, firmly and immediately.
Rita Rossi-Foulkes , Riverside
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Delusional voters
The Americans who voted for Trump and put their hope in him for better times should stand cautioned. They are delusional. Trump’s lies and contradictions puffed by empty promises and hot air; his attitudes defied common decency. He defies common sense. Trouble is, his supporters are too much in denial, too blinded by wishful thinking to realize the hurt, suffering, and misery they’ve unleashed. The irony of this catastrophe will unfold during the next four years.
We all, those who brought it on and those who opposed him, will feel the pain, endure it, watch it happen, but hopefully we’ll fight for our rights and oppose it at its every infraction against our communal wellbeing.
Let’s hope we Americans can join together, learn from experience, and demand the common good be served: living wages, health care, education, social and racial justice, equitable distribution of wealth, a sound viable infrastructure, incorruptible government, fair taxes, a free press, and especially an unsullied presidency. No oligarchy, no war profiteers.
This is to be longed for, prayed for, hoped for, demanded. Community without hatred. We should settle for no less!
Marion J. Reis, Wheaton
Abolish the Electoral College
Hillary Clinton had more votes than Donald Trump — and lost! In what other country in the world that holds free elections would Donald Trump have won?
There are other examples of this, e.g., George W. Bush beating Al Gore with fewer popular votes. This is due to the Electoral College, where a candidate can win a state by a small margin and yet get all of its electoral votes! In Illinois, Clinton won by over 600,000 votes, but most of those 800,000 plus votes didn’t count, because she could have won by a lot smaller margin and have gotten the same electoral votes.
This is a national election, and regardless of which state a voter lives in, each vote should count as ONE vote! Believe it or not votes in the smaller, more numerous states count more than votes in a large state because every state has two senators and some may have only one representative in Congress. Thus a large state like California with a population of 39,497,345 has 53 representatives and two enators for 55 Electoral votes. Compare this to a smaller state like South Dakota with a population of 6,630,634 with one representative and two senators having three electoral votes. Thus California has 45.73 times the population of South Dakota, but only 17.66 times the number of electoral votes!
So here the candidate with more electoral votes won over the candidate with more popular votes! Using the same logic, the Cleveland Indians should have won the World Series, not the Cubs! This even though they lost the final “popular” score 8 to 7.
I know that to change the law and abolish the Electoral College would take tho-thirds of the Senate. So the smaller states, each with two senators, would never vote to do this. Could a national referendum to do this be called? The Electoral College may have been good 200-plus years ago, but it is wrong today and should be abolished. Then whoever gets the most votes nationwide would win.
Martin Muller Skokie, Illinois