Urge Electoral College to Withhold Support for Trump

To the Editor:

Members of the Electoral College were entrusted by our nation’s founders with the responsibility to determine whether the winner of a Presidential election is fit to fulfill the duties of the position.  Shouldn’t we use the Electoral College as intended, whether or not it has been a rubber stamp in the past, whether or not we think it should be abolished?

Citizens may write to Electors online and ask them to fulfill their Constitutional duty at www.asktheelectors.org. The website directelection.org allows you to send paper letters to Electors. Speak to an Elector if you know one.

A group of seven Electors seek a compromise candidate (www.hamilitonelectors.com). The Hamilton Electors take their name from Alexander Hamilton, one of the key architects of our constitutional system, who in Federalist #68 stated that it was the Electors duty to vote against a person who is a demagogue, unqualified, and under foreign influence. Electors would not be going against the will of the American people if they cast their vote against Donald Trump who lost the national popular vote by over 2.6 million votes.

Non-partisan reasons Mr. Trump is unfit for the Presidency.

1. Free Press. Mr. Trump has been unwilling to hold a news conference since the election, and instead communicates to the public with childish tweets that contain false statements of fact.  His tweets show how easily manipulated he is by those wanting to harm our country and our democracy.  Search realDonaldTrump/tweets

2. Foreign Affairs. Mr. Trump does not consult with non-partisan State Department staff before taking visits and calls from foreign heads of state.  He has said in this past Sunday’s Fox News interview that he does not need to receive the President’s Daily Brief from intelligence officers, and he does not believe U.S. intelligence agencies conclusion that the Russians interfered in the election.  He let off a tweet storm against China after its government filed a formal complaint following his post-election call with the Taiwanese President, a breach of a 40-year old diplomatic understanding between China and the U.S

3. Justice. Mr. Trump does not understand it is not within his power to decide whether or not the Justice Department prosecutes Hilary Clinton. Justice for citizens has nothing whatsoever to do with whether he wants to “hurt” Hilary Clinton, as he suggested in a 60 Minutes family interview following the election.

4. Business. Mr. Trump attacks union leaders and corporations (Boeing) in tweets with false statements of fact.

5.  Conflicts of Interest. Mr. Trump makes no sign of following the advice of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics and prominent attorneys to divest himself of his real estate interests worldwide. He has said his children will run his widespread business empire. His daughter Ivanka Trump meets with foreign heads of state along with her father, and plans to move to Washington DC with her husband to advise Mr. Trump if he becomes President.

I urge readers to urge the Electoral College to withhold support for Mr. Trump.

Alexi Assmus

Ms. Assmus is a Princeton resident.

14 Comments

  1. While this may be appropriate as a “Letter to the Editor,” it is thoroughly inappropriate to publicize political rants. You may agree with the author’s sentiments, but publicizing this is just not journalism. Thank you though, for making the political bias of Planet Princeton crystal clear.

    1. It is a letter to the editor, and all letters to the editor are automatically posted to our social media feeds just like all other posts are. It is an automated system now. The only time stories are not posted to the feed is if there is a technical issue or a story we already posted is edited to include an update.

    2. That’s why they call this the opinion page. This is not a “rant.” It’s a well thought out opinion piece with, you know, facts.

      1. I disagree with your interpretation. Facts are not opinions, so while there are a few facts scattered through the letter, it is largely opinion, given legitimacy by Planet Princeton’s choice to publish.

        Millions read this not realizing it is not a product of the journalistic integrity Ms. Knapp frequently produces.

        1. This is and open access opinion page, and you have a keyboard. Rather than holding the mantle of rebut-er in-chief, please enlighten the world with your unadulterated point of view with your own opinion piece.

          1. Actually, it is not. Differing opinions are stonewalled. I have been trying to reach Krystal for two days, with no response.

            There is no open channel for letters to the editor, which is easy to interpret as bias and censorship.

            1. Two whole days during the holidays over a weekend? Yes, it must be a vast conspiracy against you. Funny to see someone whine about censorship who is complaining about the publication of a letter to the editor. You people on the far right and far left are really the same when it comes down to it in terms of your sense of victimhood, your need for your safe space, and your press bashing.

              1. We’re not talking New York Times here Mr. Anonymous.

                As a challenge to this small, local, 7 day media outlet, which claimed openness, I attempted to submit a letter to the editor. We know each other personally. It is my assumption my requests for information were stonewalled due this very conversation. Perhaps I am wrong, but Planet Princeton has been reporting the entire time, the news knows no holidays or weekends,

                I agree with your point about extremism, in fact that was the subject of the letter.

    3. But Blake, many of your comments are political rants. Some are ad hominem attacks. And some contain obscenities that aren’t necessary in civil discourse. Even worse, in some you comment on others’ misuse of syntax and grammar. (You must be fun on a date.)

      Ms. Knapp is very generous in publishing all of our comments. I don’t think many of mine would find the light of day in an analog, paper world. Space is too precious and I’m not that clever or insightful.

      Look in the mirror.

      1. Thank you Robert, I was unaware of any obscenities, although I do understand that opposing views are often labeled “obscene.”

        I am a lot of fun on dates, at least that ‘s what I have been told. I’m just not into you.

  2. Impressive. The Hamilton reference. Nice touch. (Although the founder of our first conservative party would probably favor much of the Republican platform over the Democrat one.)

    But, have you thought this one through?

    The Trump protesters have signs. They march and block traffic in urban areas of blue states. At worst they destroy commercial property. At best, they inconvenience people – mostly those who voted against Trump.

    In contrast – and this is just a guess – a significant minority of those who voted for Trump probably own the lions’ share of the 300,000,000 firearms out there.

    Mr. Trump won more electoral votes than Mrs. Clinton. Notwithstanding the “fake news” regarding the Russian influence – the DNC wrote those smug emails, not Tolstoy – Trump was Constitutionally elected POTUS.

    If you want to take the election from them, I suspect their response would be: molon labe.

    Your real beef is with the DNC, Mrs. Clinton and yes, Jesus Lincoln, himself.

    After being hammered each election year following 2008, they disregarded the nation’s reasonable concerns. They lied to them about their health care and about who is running things in Iran, after which they bragged about fooling the people with those lies.

    They lied about traitors being heros. About the cause of an Al Qaeda attack. About why a private, insecure server would be used by the second most important job holder in the US government. About a red line being enforced.

    And when the people called them on these things, the Dems called them all racists, sexists, homophobes – deplorables.

  3. As a deplorable I resent this letter which is full of the usual nonsense being spewed by the sore losers on the left. I will quote Obama (worst President ever) “elections have consequences, we won”, get over it and concentrate on finding solutions to the problems the US faces.

    1. And I will quote Trump right back to you- “[John McCain’s] not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” “Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.” Elections certainly do have consequences- those who think the President-elect is unfit to hold office will fight like hell to keep him from doing harm.

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