Listening to the morning news and hearing about the ballot error here in Maryland. In case you haven’t heard, 500,000 mail in ballots were sent out and it turns out they were sent to the wrong people. Once this was noticed 500,000 more were mailed out and the first 500,000 declared invalid. They haven’t been recovered but we are being reassured there is no way they could be counted. Of course there is much debate and finger pointing, accusations being made. President Trump has weighed in on that matter. He says, it’s very serious.

Now my first thought about all of that was, probably a computer foul up. I often get offers to buy my home, I’m on the list but I rent this property, I don’t own it. The computer only knows a name and address. The same thing happens with advertisements for siding, gutters and home improvement companies. You’re talking to the wrong person. Then I heard about the concern that those ballots could get filled out, mailed in and counted giving the opposition an unfair advantage. My thought there was, if I receive a ballot for any candidates that I don’t support, I’m not voting for them. Seems simple enough to me. Mailing me a ballot to vote in the Democratic primary the odds of getting my vote aren’t very good at all. It’s a long shot.

For me all of that is along the same lines as this redistricting hullabaloo. No one is having their vote taken away, they can still cast their ballot for whomever they desire, regardless of what district you live in. Yes I know, it isn’t as simple, as straight forward as that, but the right to vote for the candidate of your choice remains intact. Representation is based on population density. A shifting population requires a shifting of those lines, traditionally every ten years based on the census. All political parties get to hold a primary to determine their candidates and you can vote in those primaries. You can’t stack the deck! That’s what the supreme court has reaffirmed with their latest ruling.

One person, one vote! I’m hearing that a great deal and I agree with that wholeheartedly. I’m also hearing we should just use the popular vote to determine the winner. That’s amusing when you consider what that would actually mean. It’s the whole districting thing. Using the same train of thought, the same data bases and polls the area of the country with the largest population density wins every single time. New York city has a greater population than 38 other states. Only 12 states have a larger population. True, not everyone in New York City will vote for the same person, but they could, should they get to decide what is best for those other 38 states? See the problem with that? Aren’t their votes being taken away in the same way redistricting does? Everyone stills gets to vote though.

The black vote. That’s what we are all hearing about today. Blacks comprise about 13% of the entire population in the United States. Historically, at least in the last one hundred years or so, that population has voted for the Democrats. So much so, the Democrats are counting on that voting block. It wasn’t always that way, the party of Lincoln enjoyed great support for a number of years following his death. But, during the great depression, Franklin Roosevelt (D) presented the “new deal.”

This new deal offered jobs and relief. In the 1960’s the Democratic strategy became one of advancing “civil” rights. It was really, “if you can’t beat them, join them, and had little to do with social justice. It was just a means to secure the black vote and it worked splendidly. The strategy continues to this very day. It is shifting just a bit now, towards “brown” people, LGBTQ+ people and “refugess” with the hope of securing those votes.

It’s the new deal all over again. This time it’s the promise of a redistribution of wealth and property. With this new deal you won’t have to work, you are getting a guaranteed income, free health plans, free education and not only that, reparations for past injustices! The Democrats promise all of that and more. You don’t see that? A picture is worth a thousand words, take a look. Have you ever seen those same folks kneeling for those killed in battle, those that lost their lives as a result of 9/11, for all the babies being aborted? No you haven’t, but they will certainly kneel to get your vote!