The Right to Vote: An Exercise in Demagoguery

The President of the United States is elected in an institution known as the Electoral College:

 the number of electors assigned to each state are equal to the number of senators and representatives the state sends to Congress (proportional representation).
 
 
Electoral College Result: 1976 thru 1996
 

STATE	Carter 76	Reagan 80’	Reagan 84’	Bush 88’	Bush 92	Clinton 96
Alabama	9	9	9	9	9	0
Arkansas	6	6	6	7	6	6
Florida	17	17	21	21	25	25
Georgia	12	0	12	12	13	13
Louisiana	10	10	10	10	9	9
Mississippi	7	7	7	7	7	0
N.Carolina	13	13	13	13	14	0
S.Carolina	8	8	8	8	8	0
Texas	26	26	29	29	32	0
Tennessee	12	12	12	12	11	11
Virginia	12	12	12	12	13	0

When I look at the historical voting pattern of what was the Confederate States, I'm reminded of the old southern colloquialism:

 " Ya'll go ahead an vote,..so we can get on with the election!

 [ Demagogue: a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power.]

Update on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 01:02PM by [JL Harris]

Focus on the facts:

• !976: James E. Carter _ former Governor of Georgia: Vice President_ Walter F. Mondale, Senator from Minnesota.
• 1980: Ronald Reagan _ former Governor of California: Vice President_ George Herbert Walker Bush, Representative from Texas.
• 1984: Same as 1980.
• 1988: George Herbert Walker Bush, Representative from Texas: Vice President_ Dan Quayle, Senator from Indiana.
• 1992: William J. Clinton_ former Governor of Arkansas: Vice President_ Albert Gore, Senator from Tennessee.
• 1996: Same as 1992.

Is there a pattern?

You tell me. 

Pillars of Strength

In May of 2005, we gathered to pay tribute to Brother Will & Mother. In this particular photo, pictured to the rear of them, from left to right, are Rev. James Loynes_ patriarch of the Loynes clan; Pastor James Harris Jr._ titular head of the Harris clan, and his wife Carolyn, and daughter Jaime.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Numerican Nation knows well it's culture, tradition, and heritage:

Speaking, relatively straight forward, the fundamental question isn't who do I think I am? The question is who do you think you are?

Remembering, of course, that my life and yours, is not driven by "consensus opinion': Although, "massur jac" might disagree; and has institutionalized his version of the facts, as if such is so.

Chapter 1 _ If You Must Whisper

This is a photo of my Uncle Johnnie Harris, as well as his business establishment located along John G. Richards road, taken in March of 1959:

To facilitate an understanding of the development of the Numerican Nation, I shared with you the "relevant inside story" of his youth in chapter one.

 Within the broader context of things, keep in mind the facts:

• "Quid pro quos" were not unusual during the first half of the Twentieth Century, and
• the lands bordering the Catawba, as well as the Wateree, were generally perceived as Native American soil.

Basically the "quid pro quo" enabled us to live in relative peace, irrepective of who occupied the State-house, and/or the make-up of the local constabulary.

Update on Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 08:47AM by [JL Harris]

From a chronology perspective, Uncle Johnnie lived from 1928 to 1972: He was raised by Mr. Fort in Liberty Hill.

Highway 97 was named after John G. Richards, elected Governor in 1926, and also lived in Liberty Hill until his death in 1941:

See Chapter 24: Liberty Hill, in Kirkland & Kennedy's Historic Camden(vol.2) for farther insights on the area.

Summary data (free) on the life of former Governor John Gardiner Richards Jr. can be found by "googling the name" on the Internet.

As I said in the introduction to Numerican Nation, a Self Portrait, I'm only attempting to develop an unencumbered portrait of the family;  framed within the historical context of "time and space".

Ambassadors-at-large

Fast forward: the children did, in fact, grow-up in a "kinder and gentler America". They learned to speak multiple languages, and traveled to places that we only dreamed of.

And yes, we did supplement their education; by home-schooling them on matters relating to American History, Culture, Religions of the World, and Life Management.

Pictures & Memories

The legacy of Dr. King resides not in testimonials and monuments; but in the eyes of those for whom he died.

So it was with great pride that we joined the Numerican Nation, in petitioning the Federals, for a day of recognition in his honor.

January 15, 1980 we traveled to Washington D.C. to support the movement to make Dr. King's birthday a national holiday:

In my youth, I was taught that Dr. King was a "trouble-making heretic, apt to get everybody killed; and that Strom Thurmond was the colored people's friend".

Nothing could have been farther from the truth.

Alice, my younger sister, was born in the sixties; she was a freshman at Central Connecticut State at the time.

[1980 was an Election Year; the Republican Party was voted back into office; and, Strom Thurmond was selected President Pro Tempore of the U. S. Senate (third in line  for the presidency).]

Brad and Courtney are the little ones' in the snow-suits; Patty is wearing the maroon leather jacket.

Stevie Wonder composed the music for the occasion; the Happy Birthday song, which the children still hum today.