Free Republic

One of the more popular grievances from the contemporary left revolves around the notion that our nation has been subverted by “minority rule.”Here is the pollster Nate Silver:“Despite the various, very serious threats to American democracy, things would *mostly* be fine if the balance of elected power more closely reflected the popular will (e.g. Senate seats proportional to population, no Electoral College, less gerrymandering).”Silver is confusing the inability to coerce others with minoritarianism. It is not a serious threat to American democracy that New Yorkers are unable to dictate Oklahoma’s abortion laws. Nor that Texans can’t compel Rhode Islanders to...

President Calvin Coolidge warned in a speech given MAY 15, 1926, at the College of William and Mary: "But there is another ... recent development ... the greatly disproportionate influence of organized minorities. Artificial propaganda, paid agitators, selfish interests, all impinge upon members of legislative bodies to force them to represent special elements rather than the great body of their constituency. When they are successful, minority rule is established ...

Of all those whose predictions were dashed by this year’s presidential outcome (“Trump is headed toward a major loss” his Oct. 19 headline blared), few have been more exercised than the Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne (“white identity politics and male self-assertion triumphed” he railed the day after). Yesterday, in a piece titled “America will soon be ruled by a minority,” he joined the chorus now condemning the “undemocratic” Electoral College—in the name of the Founders, no less, the very men who created it. Ever the good progressive, he fails to appreciate the role states were meant to play in ordering...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_qbt1EVuw8

I consume a politically incorrect amount of table salt. It's not often that the taste of my food cannot be enhanced by a supplemental sprinkling of this much-maligned condiment. Occasionally, my thoughts turn salty, especially when confronted by one of those elfin, formal dining table shakers. You know, the ones with the bullet-like cap and one tiny hole that defies passage except by one grain at  a time, and not without athletic effort. I much prefer something on the order of perhaps a small mason jar, maybe with a side handle. I avoid low-sodium food products like the plague. They...

If it took 143 years after the Congress abolished slavery for Barack Obama to reach the White House, the journey from here on for another non-white aspirant to high office may happen a lot sooner as a demographic upheaval transforms the American landscape. The emerging race map of US is clearly indicating a decline in the dominance of the white vote and though it would stretch things to say Caucasians will cease to matter politically, America is turning distinctly less white than it has been. This is slowly giving rise to voting blocks that are proving increasingly decisive in tilting...

WASHINGTON - The Senate blocked oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge Wednesday, rejecting a measure that had been put into a must-pass defense spending bill in an attempt to garner wider support. Drilling supporters fell four votes short of getting the required 60 votes to avoid a threatened filibuster of the defense measure over the oil drilling issue. Senate leaders were expected to withraw the legislation so it could be reworked without the refuge language. The vote was 56-44.