This is Viewpoints for Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016

Fake news

Perhaps the editors or an independent fact checker could affix “fake news” or “conspiracy theory” on some of the letters published herein, like the one from Mike Smith in the Nov. 23 Telegraph. Certainly it would be a plus if the writers of such letters, who apparently actually believe what they write, could provide links to their sources, thereby saving the reader the time consuming task of conducting her own fact finding mission.

From my research at www.Snopes.com comes this: “zero evidence has been put forth to support the widely parroted claim that 3 million “illegal aliens” voted in the 2016 presidential election.” So, who was promoting this? Folks like “respected neutral journalists” Alex Jones and Allen West posted these claims on their Facebook pages. Their sources: www.infowars.com and www.100percentfedup.com, both of them far right wing fever swamps. This falls under the category of conspiracy theory.

Then there was the claim that Donald Trump has already begun making America great again because he intervened to save the Ford auto plant in Kentucky. Not so. Ford was never planning to close it. This was debunked back in September during the campaign. NPR, The New York Times, and www.autoblog.com have all had articles debunking Trump’s claim, both in September and since the election. This effort, replete with outright tweeted lies and misrepresentations on the president-elect’s part, is an example of fake news.

There are serious issues here. Fake news was and is a problem. On Nov. 24, The Hill, published an article detailing “the sophisticated Russian propaganda efforts that helped fuel the spread of fake news during the election cycle as reported by the Washington Post.” This has encouraged Trump to proceed with his promises to establish warmer relations with Putin.

As per a Nov. 23 post in McClatchy DC, Trump has spoken with Putin more than with any other world leader and they’ve been figuring out a mutual policy in the Middle East. Who among us believes that Trump will be able to hold his own with KGB trained Putin? Where is the patriotism of those who swallowed whole Trump’s assertions and perhaps aren’t paying attention to, nor alarmed by, the authentic news reports that are charting the path to our foreign policy on January 20?

All rational, informed and genuinely patriotic citizens better start paying attention now. Our free and open democracy is being seriously undermined by a wannabe authoritarian and his new BFF (Best Friends Forever).

Electoral math

Like many of my conservative friends, I’m far from enthusiastic about a Donald Trump presidency, but I’m profoundly thankful Hillary Clinton didn’t prevail. However, the ongoing crusade by liberals to challenge the legitimacy of the election is dampening my sense of optimism. How much longer will we be exposed to daily updates on Hillary’s lead in the popular vote? Why do people who longed for a Clinton victory say it’s time to scrap a time-tested electoral process? Do they even know what they’re demanding when they say the majority should rule?

It should alarm all of us that so many fellow Americans believe the United States is a democracy. Despite the abject failure of our primary and secondary schools to ensure that our children understand the fundamentals of government, we are and always have been a constitutional republic. Like so many others of my generation, I learned this truth in elementary school before I was mature enough to understand it. We started every day by rising and pledging allegiance to the flag and “to the republic for which it stands.”

Everyone should be thankful that we don’t live in a true democracy because a system based solely on majority rule cannot protect the rights of individuals or minorities. A lynch mob is a democracy ruled by a majority of participants with a lone dissenting voter — the poor fellow with the rope around his neck. In our republic, the actions of the legislature should indeed reflect the will of the people but only within the limits prescribed by the Constitution. A truly democratic system would not have recognized African Americans as U.S. citizens in 1866, granted women the right to vote in 1920, or passed a civil rights act in 1964.

In our constitutional republic, all of the states are represented equally in the Senate and proportionally in the House of Representatives. The founders established this form of legislature as part of a system of checks and balances and to guard against the tyranny of an all-powerful central government.

People who favored Clinton have every right to be disappointed and perhaps even depressed, but they should avoid getting caught up in the majority rule movement. Besides, Hillary did not win a majority of the popular vote. With ballots still being counted as of November 23, she had 64,225,863 votes to 62,210,612 for Trump and 7,143,756 for the other candidates. Since 69,354,368 voters chose someone other than Clinton, she won a minority of the total vote. In this election, the majority said they don’t want her in the White House.

It’s never too late

Football games are like elections, both are affected by chance. They don’t always follow projections of whose team will likely advance.

The Yellow Jackets went to Athens, hoping that their Ramblin’ Wreck could keep the Dawgs in their pens, or at least hold them in check. The first quarter was successful, a quick drive gave them the lead, being ahead isn’t stressful, except when your opponents succeed.

The third quarter was a terror, Tech down by seven and six. They had to hope for an error and go to their bag of tricks.

If we could just stop Sony Michel and Nick Chubb, from running out the clock, maybe Eason would make a flub and put his fans in a state of shock. And so it happened on second and eight, a pass that went astray (Aren’t those interceptions great, when they happen to go your way?)

Before you could count to 20, Tech needed six to the end zone and on the clock was time aplenty for the Bees to steal the Dawg’s bone. Coach Johnson called a trick play, but Georgia had it read. Qua Searcy could throw it away or choose to run instead. Seeing a lane he decided to run, at the three he took off with a bound, just the way it should be done to get the needed touchdown.

Football games are like elections, the result is what you fear, the usual response to rejections? “Just you wait until next year.”

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016."