In a familiar folk tale Chicken Little says, “The sky is falling, the sky is falling.”
More than an acorn is falling. Are you paying attention? I am not a scholar of the law. I taught in public schools, with the emphasis on public but can understand the following:
The Constitution was written by a group of elite white men who really didn’t believe all men are created equal. One group of people were considered only three fifths of a person, another group were not given the right to vote based on gender. Only white men 21 years and older who owned property voted.
Over the years amendments have made the Constitution fairer, but not truly democratic. Popular vote does not elect our president. The Electoral College does. Five elections have not been won by the popular vote. Each state has two senators even though California has over 40 million people and five states have fewer than 1 million. Doesn’t sound like fair representation to me.
Washington, D.C., the territory of Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico have representation in Congress but are not eligible to vote on any bills. The people of Puerto Rico have voted overwhelmingly to be a state.
Constitutional originalists believe that the Constitution is fixed and should be interpreted based on original understanding, which to someone like me living in the 21st century seems absurd. Textualists understand the Constitution as a living document that should evolve in response to contemporary circumstances.
That brings us to how the judicial system is being used to control our lives. Decisions are not being made based on the will of the majority of the population.
Over the years the Federalist Society under the influence of Leonard Leo has shaped the judicial system. ProPublica has published an extensive article on this subject.
Become informed and base your voting on facts not fiction.
Our democracy is depending on informed voters not being hindered to vote.
