Editor, Times-Union: During the 2016 elections, Trump supporters were chanting, "Jail her" and "Hillary for Prison." But after the election, Donald Trump said that she had suffered enough and would not pursue charges. And how did the Clintonites repay Trump for his generosity? Riots and protests. They yelled, "Not my President!" (Yes, he is. Trump won fair and square.) They yelled, "Uphold the Constitution!" (Yes, we did. The Electoral College chooses the president.) The liberals flip-flopped on the Electoral College like a beached trout — against it before they were for it, and against it again. But what about the Hamilton electors? Federalist 68? The peaceful transfer of power, anyone? Safeguard against unqualified demagogues? I guess the Clintonites are too busy packing up to move to Canada or Jupiter as they leave the rest of us at the mercy of a man they liken to Hitler. While the liberals now want to abolish the Electoral College either by constitutional amendment or the National Popular Vote Act, let's ask ourselves: Do we really want a president who needs to win only nine or 10 of the most populous states to win the election? This effectively would leave out 40 states and lead to even more division in the country (Ignore the mob. “Long Live the Electoral College,” David Harsanyi reason.com). Keeping the Electoral College would stop a new civil war and prevent Calexit. Some of the benefits of the Electoral College are unintentional but very important. For example, the Electoral College and the Constitution helped create our two-party system, staggered elections, and system of checks and balances. People may complain that diffused power is slow and cumbersome. But remember that the fast and effective governments are dictatorships because they have no opposition. We don't have one huge election for all parties and all candidates at once. Instead, we have 51 elections, which reduces the temptation to tamper with the vote (“The Electoral College is Genius” by Sean J. Rosenthal, intellectualtakeout.org). William M. Kelly Winona Lake
