Electoral Tie? Space Shuttle's Final Flight

This week, I am going to stay away from criminal cases. Knowledge of their status is important, but shouldn't dominate any discussion. Why? For positivity's sake. On a blog like this, it is inevitable that some things go unnoticed. Whenever possible, we should always look first to our positives, noting the negatives when the knowledge of them becomes necessary.

A milestone in America's space age took place this week. The Space Shuttle Discovery made its final flight atop one of NASA's specially fitted 747 airplanes to the Smithsonian in Chantilly, Virginia. Discovery is the first of the three retired space shuttles to arrive it its permanent home. With the retirement of the space shuttles, NASA is encouraging private businesses to take up the space race. One of the leaders, SpaceX, has been scheduled to make the first private flight to the International Space Station later this year. If all goes well, SpaceX will make 15 missions to the ISS through 2015. This will potentially end our temporary reliance on the Russian Space Agency to reach the station. In the spirit of private space travel, Virgin Galactic has also announced the building of Spaceport Abu Dhabi. The goal is to provide flight service via Low Earth Orbit between New Mexico (Spaceport America is already under construction) and Abu Dhabi. Flight time? One hour.

Space Shuttle Enterprise and Space Shuttle Discovery meet outside the Smithsonian in Chantilly, VA.
Photo Credit: Associated Press

Space Shuttles aren't the only things coming nose to nose. With the 2012 Presidential Election essentially narrowed to two candidates (apologies Mr. Gingrich), predictions seem never to be in short supply. This week however, something a bit more unusual has come up: the possibility of a tie in the electoral college. As usual, we are told this election is "the most important in our country's history." It is normal to see presidents elected by narrow margins (remember the Bush/Gore election year), but a perfect tie has only occurred once. In 1800, a tie of 73-73 resulted in Thomas Jefferson's election over Aaron Burr. Today, a tie would turn up as 269-269.

Predictions aside, what happens if the November election turns up a tie? There is, in fact, a plan. In the case of a tie, the House of Representatives will elect the President. Each state delegation is awarded one vote. The Senate will elect the Vice President. (Note: Beyond a simple tie, this plan is called into action if no candidate wins a majority of electoral votes, or 270) Granted, we give political parties no value here. In the real world of government, parties obviously determine many things. Thanks to parties, each of the two houses of the United States Congress are often "controlled" by a party. The interesting part is that each house is often controlled by a different party. Where does that leave us in the case of a tie? Potentially, this presents a scenario for a bipartisan executive branch. Or, a President and Vice President of different parties. A truly intriguing thought... I'd like to think that two men who were forced to set aside their political party in order to work together would be tremendously positive for the country. What is the likelihood of this actually happening? Such things are very difficult to predict. If you feel the urge to see exactly what it takes to create a tie, head over to http://www.270towin.com/

If you are interested in the upcoming NATO summit, or would just like to see some cool pictures of helicopters, check out the post from earlier this week.

Please forgive the somewhat late post. This is semi-weekly however!

Have a great week!
David