Christopher Hitchens (4/6) on Voting, Gun Control, and the Electoral College (1996)

April 5, 1996 http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.... Watch the full program: http://thefilmarchived.blogspot.com/2010/08/christopher-hitchens-and-byron-yo...

The issue of firearms has, at times, taken a high-profile position in United States culture and politics. Michael Bouchard, Assistant Director/Field Operations of ATF, estimates that 5,000 gun shows take place each year in the United States. Incidents of gun violence in 'gun-free' school zones have ignited debate involving gun politics in the United States.

Support for gun control in America has been steadily dropping. Currently, the American public strongly opposes attempts to ban gun ownership, and is divided on attempts to limit gun ownership. A 2008 Gallup poll revealed that 28% of the population supported a total ban on handguns — the lowest level since the poll was first taken in 1959 (when support for a total ban was 60% of the population). This same poll revealed that 49% of Americans in 2008 preferred more restrictive gun laws, compared to 78% when the question was first asked in the 1990 version of the poll. A 2009 CNN poll found even lower levels of support for gun laws: in this poll, only 39% favored more restrictive laws. The poll indicates that the drop in support (compared to 2001 polls) came from self-identified Independents, with levels of opposition among Democrats and Republicans remaining consistent.

There is a sharp divide between gun-rights proponents and gun-control proponents. This leads to intense political debate over the effectiveness of firearm regulation.

On the whole, Democrats are far more likely to support "stricter" gun control than are Republicans. According to a 2010 Harris Interactive survey, a 70% to 7% majority of Democrats favors "stricter" rather than "less strict" gun control, whereas Republicans are split 22% "stricter" to 42% "less strict" with 27% of Republicans and 14% of Democrats opting for "neither."

The division of beliefs may be attributable to the fact that Republicans are more likely to own guns, according to General Social Surveys conducted during the last 35 years. The graphs, below, show that gun ownership has generally declined; however, Republicans — especially men — are far more likely to own "guns or revolvers."

The Electoral College consists of the popularly elected representatives (electors) who formally elect the President and Vice President of the United States. Since 1964, there have been 538 electors in each presidential election. Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution specifies how many electors each state is entitled to have and that each state's legislature decides how its electors are to be chosen. U.S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College. The Electoral College is an example of an indirect election.

The election for President and Vice President is not a direct election by United States citizens. Citizens vote for electors, representing a state, who are the authorized constitutional participants in a presidential election. In early U.S. history, some state laws delegated the choice of electors to the state legislature. Electors are free to vote for anyone eligible to be President, but in practice pledge to vote for specific candidates and voters cast ballots for favored presidential and vice presidential candidates by voting for correspondingly pledged electors.

The Twelfth Amendment provides for each elector to cast one vote for President and one vote for Vice President. It also specifies how a President and Vice President are elected. The Twenty-third Amendment specifies how many electors the District of Columbia is entitled to have.

Critics argue the Electoral College is inherently undemocratic and gives certain swing states disproportionate influence in selecting the President and Vice President. Proponents argue that the Electoral College is an important and distinguishing feature of federalism in the United States and protects the rights of smaller states. Numerous constitutional amendments have been introduced in the Congress seeking to alter the Electoral College or replace it with a direct popular vote; however, no proposal has ever passed the Congress.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Christopher
• Hitchens
• elections
• electoral
• college
• ballots
• voting
• states
• third
• party
• new
• york
• democratic
• process
• gun
• control
• opponents
• koran
• virgin
• mary
• islam
• arms
• foreign
• policy
• bill
• clinton
• bob
• dole
• ronald
• reagan
• united
• republic
• constitution
• byron
• president
• delegates
• economic
• news
• analysis
• documentary
• conspiracy
• ufo
• economy
• health
• aviation
• discussion
• medicine
• video log
• politics
• environment
• hot topics
• vlog
• commentary
• protests
• religion
• educational
• government
• talking
• interview

[FaganRoberts]

Hitchens supports the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep & bear arms.

[Nemesis000000]

Lol... the days before e-mail.. were those faxes?

[standinstann]

This video is evidence of a crime. Byron York, just before taping this show, went to Skywalker ranch, ripped George Lucas's vocal chords out and replaced them with his. I don't believe there's a statute of limitations on this, so if anyone knows of his whereabouts contact the FBI

[Moionfire]

lol @ hand written letter. Now they just show emails.

[redryan20000]

@FaganRoberts you mean to keep bear arms?

[TheGreatDeciever55]

@Nemesis000000 might as well be stone tablets...

[hugoegbert79]

I thought Hitchens might be a gun supporter, being such a constitutionalist.

[SmelOdies]

I keep waiting, during these clips, for Captain Janks to call in and say "Baba Booie!" to Hitchens and ask him about Howard Stern's penis, but it never happens. I thought caller at 5:50 might be it, but no.