The majesty of our country’s still-young journey into the freedom of democratic rule (small d), was fractured but not shattered in the Jan. 6 storming of our Capitol.
But the ignoble supporters of the past President — “Where is f….. Pelosi?” “Hang Mike Pence!” — who had been electorally but not popularly voted into office for a first term, are largely left unchanged; their hearts are the same.
Such is the addiction of personality cultism — it’s sad but true.
So the time is past due for their legal/political tender, the Electoral College (whose contrived genesis is there to be viewed in our history’s archives) — for its archaic leftover to be thrown away, destroying its slavery-borne seed forever.
It’s what gives the white supremacist mindset its ongoing and tenuous political fuel — the peg where it hangs its acronym-heavy hat — and its only hope for continuing advantage against a changing, more creative and life-enhancing multi-racial society.
Two of this state’s finest past political voices presciently tried to eliminate the Electoral College in a bi-partisan attempt decades ago — Sens. Edmund Muskie with Margaret Chase-Smith — but their noble effort failed.
How lovely it would be if Maine’s current national representatives, all of them decent men and women, lit this flame of hope and equality for everyone, toward a popular vote, by and for the people.
The Electoral College is the front man, the political lifeblood, for white supremacy. Not until this residue from slavery’s legacy is abolished will we make lasting strides toward a true democracy.
Paul Baribault, Lewiston
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