By Carl Weinschenk
The exchange is a warning that it’s easy to slide from one form of government to another. Franklin was saying that eternal vigilance is necessary.
That question characterized the uncertainty and angst of the past decade or so. A definitive response that would have pleased Franklin was given in the 2026 midterms: Americans wants to keep its republic.
My predominant emotion was relief, even more than happiness or pride. Indeed, there were two overlapping versions of relief: On one level, it not having to live though a crushing defeat in which Trump consolidated power. On the other it was not having to consider the deeper issues underlying the failure of America. In short, if things had gone differently Tuesday (and the weeks before), we would have been done. It was a scary near-death experience.
There are three issues that I consider to be very important and upon which the site may focus going forward.
The Montana Plan
No, not Tony Montana. His plan would have involved coke and a machine gun. The intense drama of Tuesday night overshadowed the approval of voters in Montana of an initiative (Initiative 194 or “the Montana Plan”) that would strike a blow against the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which opened the door to unlimited corporate spending on elections. The initiative was approved by more than 65% of voters.
From the CNBC writeup of the results:
The Montana Plan hinges on a legal distinction: Corporations may have constitutional rights, but their powers come from the states.
Under Initiative 194, Montana would strip corporations, trade associations, labor unions and nonprofits, including those headquartered elsewhere, of the legal power to spend money influencing elections in the state.
If successful, spectacles such as Elon Musk spending a half-billion dollars to influence elections would be a thing of the past.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC)
The second issue I expect will gain steam is the hollowing out of the Electoral College. For many years, The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) has pushed a clever plan to neutralize the EC without passing a Constitutional Amendment. The workaround is simple: States and the District of Columbia would pledge to award all their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote.
It’s closer than many people may think. Currently, the compact is written into state law in 18 states with a cumulative 222 EVs. It will be triggered when the total equals 270 EVs, which is the majority of those awarded. It seems likely that this will be an issue.
According to Truthout:
Democrats have won new trifecta governments in Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Democrats in Arizona are also claiming to have won a trifecta. In total, those five states, which have not yet passed the compact, make up 61 electoral votes. Even without Arizona, the 50 electoral votes the other four states have are more than enough to implement the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
Efforts to implement the Montana Plan and the NPVIC will be the subject of a tremendous amount of litigation and almost certainly will end up before the Supreme Court. These changes, therefore, at best will be implemented far in the future and at worst won’t become the law of the land at all. It’s best to look at last Tuesday as a major step forward in what is a long journey for both.
Data Centers
The third issue that the site will keep a focus on is data centers. For one thing, I’m an old telecom and IT journalist so I know something about it. More importantly, the issues are varied and all extraordinarily important. They touch on national security, use of resources and the physical safety of everybody on earth. That last one is a biggie.
There will be other issues as well, of course. A great deal of thanks to everyone who has visited the site during the past year or so. It doesn’t get a tremendous amount of traffic, but folks who do come tend to spend a decent amount of time poking around. I will keep it going for a while and gradually make changes. There is no need to rush.
I don’t really hear from folks who visit this site, which is worrisome. But Google Analytics says that you are out there. Please let me know!
* A full account is here.