An opinion was written by Dr. Spencer, a top law professor at W&M, and found in the Virginia Gazette on October 25th, 2020. This opinion seems to indicate an explanation, or shall I say, an indication he is for mob rule or the removal thereof the electoral College in deciding our Presential elections. I wrote the man and sent an email to the President of W&M, my local county board of supervisor John McGlennon, and Dr. Spencer asking for clarification and a rebuttal. I have yet to receive a response.
Dr. Spencer,
You wrote, "You have a system in which the will of the people has become disconnected from electoral outcomes." "If that was not enough, there are ongoing efforts to frustrate citizens' ability to have their vote count." You go onto creating an opinion. In your statement of Shelby County vs. Holder, "we as a nation have created obstacles to voter registration, engaging in purging voters rolls on "dubious grounds" and then summarizing your opinion with "making it more difficult to vote other than on election day." Shelby vs. Holder was deliberated and voted on by the Supreme Court with a 5-4 vote to strike down section 4(b) as the data was over 40 years old. Research shows that preclearance led to increases in minority congressional representation and increases in minority turnout. References provided: Your premise is wrong or at least challenged with reasonable discourse.
You wrote: "When there are structural or partisan barriers to electing a government that reflects the popular vote." In federalist paper #68 written by Alexander Hamilton, "Nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle should be opposed to cabal, intrigue, and corruption. These most deadly adversaries of republican government might naturally have been expected to make their approaches from more than one avenue, but chiefly from the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils. How could they better gratify this than by raising a creature of their own to the chief magistracy of the Union? But the convention has guarded against all danger of this sort, with the most provident and judicious attention. They have not made the President's appointment to depend on any preexisting bodies of men, who might be tampered with beforehand to prostitute their votes. Still, they have referred it in the first instance to an immediate act of the people of America, to be exerted in the choice of persons for the temporary and sole purpose of making the appointment. And they have excluded from eligibility to this trust, all those who from situation might be suspected of too great devotion to the President in office." In my opinion, and assessing your published opinion, you mean to be a deadly adversary to the Republic? What more of a reason to use an electoral college to elect the POTUS, knowing Joe Biden or his family has taken money from Russia, Ukraine, and China in return for favors administered during Joe Biden's term as Vice President.
I have read your opinion many times, and still, I have to ask, are you for removing the Electoral College and, thus, through popular vote, contend to resort to "rule by the mob or ochlocracy?" Ancient Greek political thinkers regarded ochlocracy as one of the three "bad" forms of government tyranny, oligarchy, and ochlocracy instead of the three "good" forms of government monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. They distinguished "good" and "bad" according to whether the government form would act in the interest of the whole community ("good") or (bad) in the exclusive interests of a group or individual at the expense of justice. I contend this is why our founding fathers created a republic. To say we should live by popular vote will deliver more discrimination to minorities. The only change will be "who is the minority." That sir can be anyone and at any time. Let the witch hunts begin.
Quoting Martin Luther King: "give us the ballot; MLK referred to (black people) in this context. "We will no longer have to worry about the federal government giving us our basic rights." "Give us the ballot, and we will transform salient misdeeds of the bloodthirsty mobs into the calculated good deeds of orderly citizens." I find this to be in rather bad taste to be truthful. For example, black lives matter terrorists along with Antifa mobs are, in fact, bloodthirsty. Killers of men, burning of our cities and certainly not orderly citizens, would you not agree? Do you really think MLK would have condoned such BLM and Antifa violence under any circumstances? No is the answer. We will not fry our police officers like bacon, yet you and the Democrats do not condemn such words, do you?
When you write, "it is up to us to use it." Are you referring to only black people, or are you referring to all United States citizens who have the right to vote? It seems you are referring only to black people, and that, sir, is a typical elitist view from those who stand behind locked doors and tall walls. Does my vote not count? It seems to me (when quoting MLK), and like most black people, you are still living in the past. You cannot possibly move forward if your eyes are diverted to the past with hate and rage. The civil rights war has been won, and I, for one, am glad.
I have often asked John McGlennon with no response, so maybe you will muster up a response where my county board of supervisor fails to respond to his constituents. Failing to respond to your constituents' questions is a failure in our government, so yes, I know all too well about the failure of representation. What federal and state laws discriminate against black people today?
The fact is black people are the most protected class of people in America today, and you still complain. Always looking for someone to blame when the blame is staring you (black society) in the mirror. I reference your reading pleasure Dr. Walter William’s book "Race and Economics."
Furthermore, I offer a reference to an opinion written on July 31st, 2020, to provide support for my argument.
What concerns me most is you are teaching what you preach in your classes at W&M. If this opinion that you wrote dictates what you conduct, then sir, you are a threat to the Republic. That sir makes you a traitor in my eyes, whereby I look forward, and you look backward.
Reed Johnson
Reference: Ang, Desmond (2019). "Do 40-Year-Old Facts Still Matter? Long-Run Effects of Federal Oversight under the Voting Rights Act". American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. 11 (3): 1–53. doi:10.1257/app.20170572. ISSN 1945-7782
Reference: Schuit, Sophie; Rogowski, Jon C. (2017). "Race, Representation, and the Voting Rights Act". American Journal of Political Science. 61 (3): 513–526. doi:10.1111/ajps.12284. ISSN 1540-5907.
Reference: https://triblive.com/opinion/walter-williams-is-racism-responsible-for-todays-black- problems/
