Kudos to Nadler

Yesterday, upon initial release of the Mueller Report, Representative Jerry Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, vowed to make the complete contents of the report available to the American public.

At the same time, Nadler promised that no one in the Trump Administration would be allowed to claim executive privilege in order to hide or escape the consequences of misconduct while in office.

It's Official - Sort Of

The report of the Mueller investigation into the Trump campaign and administration has been forwarded to Attorney General Barr.  What's your bet - how soon will those of us in the bleachers get to see any of it?

Still Doing Away With the Electoral College

With Colorado having joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact recently, 181 votes in the Electoral College are now governed by the winner of the popular vote in these states:

1. California
2. Connecticut
3. Delaware (soon to vote on the legislation involved)
4. District of Columbia
5. Hawaii
6. Illinois
7. Maryland
8. Massachusetts
9. New Jersey
10. New York
11. New Mexico (their senate approved the legislation earlier this week)
12. Rhode Island
13. Vermont
14. Washington

 Should Delaware and New Mexico sign up, the total votes available would be 189, with Delaware contributing three, and New Mexico five.  Should even a few more from the list below do the same, we'd be home free and without the Electoral College.

In the days to come, I'll offer scenarios by means of which the President would be elected by the people.  Here's the first such combo:

As of March 20, 2019:

These States	Offer This Many Electoral Votes
California	55
Connecticut	7
Delaware	3
DC	3
Hawaii	4
Illinois	20
Maryland	10
Massachusetts	11
New Jersey	14
New York	29
New Mexico	5
Rhode Island	4
Vermont	3
Washington	12
Total Electoral Votes Available	189

If we were to add the states below to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, we’d have eliminated the Electoral College.

Electoral Votes Available Per Above	189
Florida	29
Maine	4
Minnesota	10
Ohio	18
Pennsylvania	20
Votes Now Available	270

We’ll present more possibilities in the days to follow.  Admittedly, some of those may be wishful thinking; it’s unlikely, for instance, that still-somewhat-red Texas’ 38 electoral votes can be won in this way.  But it’s always worth thinking creatively.

Doing Away With the Electoral College

That could prove to be one of The Donald's worst nightmares, perhaps even surpassing the details of the Mueller report.

Despite his ongoing claims of victory in both categories, Mr. Trump lost the popular vote by more than 2 million, and only succeeded in the Electoral College by a miniscule margin.  As is invariably the case, however, Trump's statements are unfounded in fact, and instead based upon what he feels will most benefit him.   At one time, Trump called the electoral college a disaster for democracy.  But more recently, perhaps because of the 2018 elections and the margin by which Democrats dominated them, Trump said this.

The brilliance of the Electoral College is that you must go to many States to win, Trump said in a tweet.  With the Popular Vote, you go to just the large States - the Cities would end up running the Country.

You might want to give that more thought, Donald.  There's this group called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.  It's an agreement that would go into effect if laws pass in enough states to represent an electoral majority.  That is, enough states must join the compact for the coalition to offer at least 270 electoral votes.

Colorado recently signed up, bringing the Compact's total available electoral votes to 181.  Now, Delaware is considering similar legislation.  Should that  pass, the vote-count would advance at least a bit - to 184.

It's almost certain that it will be easier to get from 184 to 270 via the Compact than it would be to muster the votes - a total of 67 of the 50 states in the Union - needed to amend the Constitution in order to do away with the Electoral College.

These sites

• Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
• Finding Your Rep by means of your County or Home Address

will help you identify your PA state representative, and, by doing that, allow you to urge that Rep to support Pennsylvania's joining the Compact.

Be Afraid

Polls taken during the past couple of years suggest that nine percent or more of all Americans find neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideas acceptable.

One reason to be afraid - 9% of the American public is about 30 million people.  Here's how Donny Deutsch framed the resulting question.

I believe whether he's going to be impeached, whether they're disqualifying him for running for office, even if he gets elected out, he will tell his people to take to the streets. 

Deutsch has known Trump for 20 years.

Center Field

Given the horrific events in New Zealand last week, and Donald Trump's innate inability to recognize the danger inherent in hateful words, this post may at first seem equally insensitive.  But there are times when one needs an antonym for tragedy.

For me, today, that means reminding myself that there are only 10 days left until the start of the 2019 Major League Baseball season.  Serendipity actualized!

To understand, take a look at the lyrics of John Fogarty's Center Field.

Black Is White, And Day Is NIght

Donald Trump has about as much chance of telling the truth, or presenting information accurately. as I do of being drafted into the NBA (I'm 5 ' 2 " ) .  The text of his veto message to Congress demonstrates this..