Mr. Beat Asked. Here’s Mine.

 Mr. Beat went out on the street and asked people one question: What’s your tribe?

Watch the video — Tribalism, Explained: [VIDEO]

On the sidewalk the answers were America, family, Jayhawks, a fraternity, humanity, Burners, Jewish, hometown, “all the beautiful people around here.”

Then he ranked the bigger lines we actually use to divide “us” from “them”:

10) Lifestyle and fandom
9) Ethnicity
8) Education
7) Wealth
6) Political affiliation
5) Religion
4) Age
3) Skin color
2) Sex and gender

1) Nation

Here’s mine:

• I’m Black as far as skin color or ethnicity.
• Pop culture: especially Star Trek and WWE (pro wrestling).
• Not a huge sports fan, but among other teams I’m a fan of the Cubs and Blackhawks.
• Education: people also identify with where they went to school. In my case Bennett-Shedd, Harlan, and Morehouse College. I do hold a bachelor’s degree.
• Political affiliation: an independent more than anything, with conservative leanings.
• Religion: I consider myself a Christian, if not actively practicing.
• The most important thing is that I’m an American.

This post is expected to be published on Labor Day. I hope everyone has a safe and restful one.

Let's hear it in the comments: What's your Tribe?

Monsieur Z: The Reform That Could Fix The Electoral College

 [VIDEO] We're in an election year and this subject will likely come up depending upon the outcome.

I could see this election being a situation where like in 2016 or 2000 the popular vote winner loses in the Electoral College. How does that happen because the President of the United States isn't elected directly by the people. He (or she) is elected by the Electoral College.

As Monsieur Z explains in most states when we vote for our choice for President in November (or when you early vote) you're actually voting for the slate of electors who will actually vote for the President. Usually these slate of electors are pledged to vote for their party's nominee for President. Whichever candidate wins the popular vote in a given state they win their party's slate of electors.

Of course as Mr. Z explains that practice had evolved overtime. The system was conceived at a time when political parties weren't even a consideration and once they became important then the politicians tried to game the system and get it to benefit them.

So, what to do when the nation as a whole is polarized? Also what about the polarization of different states?

In that second question let's say a state is a lot like Illinois downstate may vote Republican, however, the Chicago area votes heavily Democrat. And the Chicago area has most of the state's population. Meaning odds are the state will vote heavily Democrat for President.

What if to mitigate some of these nuances from state-to-state you redraw the states. You attempt to evenly distribute the regional differences of each state to ensure better representation of these differences. That's the Utahism Mr. Z is discussing?

Regardless this Electoral College is something that we will be discussing as we get closer to Election Day. Are you voting?

Mr. Beat: Why are there only 435 members in the U.S. House of Representatives?

 

[VIDEO] Let's start with this, the number of Representatives in the lower house of Congress is set by statute the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929. Check out this apportionment sheet from visitthecapitol.gov

In the beginning when the nation only had 13 states - 13 colonies, 13 states - the expectation was 1 Representative for every 30,000 citizen. Of course now America is about 300 million people since the constitution was enacted in 1789. 

America's population has grown and the point of this recent video by Mr. Beat is that the number of representatives doesn't represent the vast population of this nation and perhaps we need a lot more than 435 members of the U.S. House of Reps. 

Another part of this argument is that the bureaucracy has grown to the point that many executive agencies have taken on some duties that would normally be taken up by the US Congress - both houses. To increase the number of representatives would probably allow the Congress to function the way it was designed to.

Here's a website called No Cap Fund that advocates for increasing the number of Representives in Congress.

And just for the record the number of US Senators is 100. Two per state, regardless of population while the U.S. House the number of Representatives each state has is determined by population. Which is why some states lose Representatives while other states gain Representatives. If your state drops in population as Illinois had in 2020 that that extra representative gets sent to another state.

I would say states that grow in population which would I would say are such states such as Texas, Florida, Georgia to name a few off the top of my head. They would gain more representatives from those states which have lost population.

Having watch this video or even read up on this subject do you think there needs to be more Representatives in the US Congress?

JJ McCullough on bad US state flags

 

[VIDEO] He goes through the history of state flags and how them came to be. Early in the history of America most states didn't even have flags. The more enduring civil symbols of a state were the seals and McCullough who is a Canadian goes through the history of "seals on a bedsheet".

Most commonly most states seem to have a seal on a dark background. Illinois is no different except that well it's a version of the state seal on a white background. And don't look at that as criticism if the only symbol of a US state is a seal then McCullough says that's OK.

That's not to say some states aren't changing their flags, he doesn't discuss Utah as they have changed their flag. And in 2020 the state of Mississippi changed their state flag as it used to contact the Confederate battle flag. Instead another symbol of the state - the magnolia flower - is used instead.

Mr. Beat: Every impeachment in American history

 

[VIDEO] Mr. Beat - hopefully your favorite ed-u-tuber - takes on this civic/political topic of impeachment. The relevant part of this process you can find in the US Constitution.

As you will see three presidents have been impeached and all have been acquitted. Trump is the only president to have been impeached twice and in the second case he was impeached just as he was leaving office due to his alleged role in inciting the January 6, 2021 insurrection. And one driver of this was to make him ineligible for running again for president in 2024.

In addition to three presidents - Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump. The other federal officials who were impeached were a US Senator, cabinet officials, a US Supreme Court Justice, and federal judges. Some were removed from their office and in some cases were ineligible to hold any federal office.

They noted that usually for impeachment hearings the House would hold investigative committees and then they would have a vote for impeachment. Then a trial in the Senate which would determine whether or not to convict the impeached party. Basically the House is the grand jury and the Senate is the jury.

Now also note that the process is meant to be political, perhaps a mechanism to remove someone who at the very least isn't operating within the bounds of the Constitution. What helps this process is whether or not there were actual criminal charges against the official. In most cases noted in this video there were criminal charges that lead to impeachment.

Time for a new Illinois state flag?

 I had been sitting on this since I first saw this over at Capitol Fax. Is it time for a new state flag?

Has the time come for a new state flag? https://t.co/PqMwPGXsB9

— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) March 3, 2023

Basically the Illinois state flag is really Illinois' state seal with Illinois on the bottom. That version of the flag had been adopted in 1969 thanks to a Vietman serviceman who realized that most Americans don't know the state flag of Illinois. Of course this isn't much different than a number of other states such as Iowa, one of our neighbors.

Here is a site that shows possible new flags for Illinois. Below is our current flag.

Mr. Beat: The electoral college still sucks

 

[VIDEO] Mr. Beat does an updated video to the topic of why he wants to abolish the electoral college. The electoral college is how in this country the President of the United States is formally elected. When we go to the ballot box during an Presidential election who we're actually voting for in most states are a slate of electors who pledge to vote for a particular candidate.

Want to see Mr. Beat's previous video on this topic click here.

Civic symbols

Flag of Chicago, IL

I have to give this blog some type of a hook because I want to inform or entertain. However, I'm a fan of civic or political symbols. 

In the sidebar of this blog is the city of Chicago's flag. You know over a white field there are two sky blue bars and in between those bars are four six-point stars. Do you know what the symbolism of them are?

And there is the city of Chicago seal. You know the symbolism of that?

What symbols does the state of Illinois uses? Have you seen the state's flag? And would you know the state's seal?

And then lets go further the many symbols of the federal gov't. Have you see the Great Seal of the United States? Do you know what the stars and stripes represents? And no we're not going in anyway "SJW" when we talk about the symbols that represents the federal gov't or at the very least our great nation the United States of America.

In the new year I've giving myself a project. Perhaps if you've never thought about these things or even just didn't know, hopefully I can both inform and entertain you all! 

J.J. McCullough: Why the Iowa caucuses matter so much in US elections

 

[VIDEO] I suppose this could go under the tag "Shedd School of Pol. Sci."

This video was first uploaded by J.J. McCullough on YouTube in February 2020. I also want to add at around the same time Mr. Beat who did a video about the Iowa Caucuses also uploaded a video about the Iowa Caucuses. You might have seen that on the blog at that time in February 2020. Mr. Beat also appears in the above video.

McCullough did far more coverage of the Democratic side of the caucuses than the Republican side because President Donald Trump basically had the advantage of the incumbency as he ran unsuccessfully for re-election. Get a load of Joe Biden in early 2020 who would become the 46th POTUS speaking in a school gym presumably campaigning in Iowa.

Anyway this goes a bit further in depth about the Iowa Caucus. McCullough during the course of this 20 min. video actually takes a trip during that period into Iowa to visit various events by Democrat hopefuls as former Vice President Joe Biden or Andrew Yang (who's since left the Democratic Party and formed his own political party). He even speaks with a "delegate-in-waiting" for Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar who discusses the process of becoming a delegate to the Democratic Nat'l Convention.

Just look at this video as a Canadian who's observing a Presidential race and the complexities of that. Each state run their own election especially the primary races which are on different days during the spring. Iowa and New Hampshire kicks of the presidential primaries and then by March other states make their own choices. Usually the Iowa Caucuses, New Hampshire primary are followed by primaries in South Carolina and Nevada. Then in March you get Super Tuesday probably by then those Presidential hopefuls who see they have no opportunity for victory drop out. 

Also Iowa and New Hampshire generally show who in both parties will be the likely nominee. It's not 100% foolproof but it's the general rule of thumb and is why they do get the most attention in a Presidential election year.

At this point we're just about to go on two years before we start this process all over again in 2024. We're more than halfway through the term of President Joe Biden.

Mr. Beat discusses the U.S. Senate filibuster

 

[VIDEO] I admitted not that long ago that I used to watch C-Span and watched sessions of the U.S. Senate and got a somewhat easy grasp of the lingo though not of the rules that govern that given chamber. And then we hear about the filibuster which we see some politicians mostly Democrats as of late want to eliminate that as a tactic to stop any bill/legislation in their tracks.

Mr. Beat view the filibuster rule as a way the U.S. Senate isn'tt able to get much work done which is to pass laws/legislation at least in tandem with the U.S. House of Representatives. Whom I don't believe have the filibuster and of course have their own rules that govern that chamber.

So here's your education on the filibuster, and without having ever served in the Senate - yes I'm old enough to do so being over 30 and I also have to win an election to do so - I can't say I have a real opinion on the filibuster. Perhaps I'm not big and just changing rules or procedures for no good reason beyond it makes political sense. I could believe that the minority in the Senate should have their own means to have their voice heard and killing a filibuster could hurt that.

Anyway since the filibuster has been in the political news as of late - and with the added race issue being its use in attempting to kill civil rights legislation - I hope you learn something new with this.

Lt. Governor of Illinois

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton

The woman you see above is Lt. Governor of Illinois Juliana Stratton. She was formerly a member of the Illinois House of Representatives representing Chicago's near south side when she had been tapped by then gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker as his running mate in the 2018 Democrat primary. Well she with Pritzker are at the top of state gov't in Illinois. She's the first Black woman to become Lt. Governor.

This great post provided by the Illinois state house caucus blog gives us a historic run down of this office. The Lt. Governor succeeds the governor in office upon death, resignation or impeachment. The most recent time this has occurred is with former Gov. Pat Quinn who succeeded to the office of Governor upon the impeachment and removal of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Before the 1970 state constitution was written the Lt. Governor like the Vice President of the United States would also preside over the upper house of the legislature. So per the federal constitution the Vice President is the presiding officer of the U.S. Senate, and before 1970 the Lt. Governor presides over the Illinois Senate.

Since the 1970 constitution was enacted a Senate President is elected amongst the membership of the Illinois Senate to be presiding officer in the state's upper legislative house. So what does that leave the Lt. Governor to do? Well it's listed on the Lt. Gov's state webpage:

In this role, her portfolio includes leading the Justice, Equity and Opportunity Initiative, and chairing the Illinois Council on Women and Girls, the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council, the Military Economic Development Council and the Illinois River Coordinating Council. Lieutenant Governor Stratton currently serves on the Executive Committee of the National Lieutenant Governors Association as the Treasurer.

Basically aside from that portfolio you can make of this office what you will if you get elected. Stratton is one of 48 people to have been elected Lt. Governor. Most recently the first woman to hold the office of Lt. Governor - Corinne Wood - has passed away.

If you want to see what Lt. Gov. Stratton is doing feel free to follow her on Twitter or IG

Springfield project

 Allow me to start with this video from WTVP a PBS affiliate for Peoria/Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. It shows the old state capitol which according to this vid has connections to two future presidents. It's not a very difficult guess for one of them. Also bear in mind the old state capitol of Illinois is connected with the 44th POTUS Barack Obama who announced his candidacy for the Presidency there in 2007. 

"Springfield" project postponed...

IL State Capitol - Daniel X. O'Neil

I've been wanting to do a project for this blog. No real angle to it other than to document that one time I set foot in Springfield, Illinois - the state capital. One thing I wanted to do was to check out the Illinois General Assembly in action and see both chambers the House of Representatives and the Senate in session.

Well the coronovirus outbreak has slowed down my plans temporarily. I learned that a young lady who was studying abroad in Italy - which is heavily affected by the coronavirus outbreak - came back home with the virus. She took an Amtrak train from Chicago to her home in St. Louis and that became a big thing.

Now that I've learned that there are 105 cases of this infection in Illinois as of Monday. Since schools in this state have been shut down and now dine-in restaurants and public gatherings of over 50 people have now been canceled I'm seeing how serious this pandemic has been. Our normal lives have been disrupted by this.

With this being said once we're in the clear of this virus I hope that I can truly restart my plans to visit Springfield and hopefully when the General Assembly is in session. Hopefully I can document for your enjoyment on this blog and on YouTube through The Sixth Ward our state's legislators in action.

Hopefully when I'm ready to do it I won't put it off and only think about it when that time comes. Plans will be made and it's going to happen. Time will tell.

Be safe all! 

#Chicagoist TV exclusive: Elderly Alderman #Ward09 #ElectCleopatra #Aldertrack #twill

[VIDEO] At this point, this video is really old news though I will share it again anyway.

Chance the Rapper is the owner of the late blog Chicagoist (operations shut down by the Ricketts family that also owned DNA Info) and this video is something of a shot across the bow. While this vid is a humorous take on Chicago politics or more specifically on Chicago's city council there is a more serious purpose to it.

As you see in the man-on-the-street portions of this 15 min video, you find out that not many people know what their alderman does. Unfortunately this isn't entirely uncommon a lot of people don't understand different aspects of the political system of this nation. And the worst part is that city government is the closest layer of government to the people.

All the same you see Chance in character as Champ Bennett the reporter on the street for Chicagoist who also speaks with 51st Ward Alderman Al Duhrman (see what they did there?) who himself is played by comedian Hannibal Buress. Duhrman I would imagine is the general stereotype people may have of a Chicago alderman - and mostly those who live outside of the city who's been observing Chicago politics.

Pay attention to those candidates running for Alderman in this one. One of those candidates is from the 9th ward named Cleopatra Watson. Most of those candidates are discussing the various barriers to entry for an upstart candidate to even start the process of running for office in Chicago.

What do you think of Chance's most recent presentation?

C-Span Student Cam 2015

[VIDEO]I'm a believer in such activities such as this. It's important that we can interest our young people in civics and having students do documentary projects on our government and public policy is as good a way as any. And consider the prizes although the competition will more benefit a school and it's teachers and students than the student themselves.

The image you see below is the theme of the 2015 competition. Want more information go to: http://www.studentcam.org/

Also, I promise to advertise this much earlier than I see to have been able to whenever I bring this competition up.

I've added some government links in the sidebar

US Capitol - Washington, DC via sierragt2k/flickr

When I was an 8th grader at Bennett School years and years and years ago I took Public Law 194 which is basically a requirement before passing beyond elementary school. What's required is a passing grade on an examination on both the US and Illinois Constitutions.

When I went to Harold Washington College & Morehouse College years ago it was taught that a constitutions is a written framework as to how a government is expected to operate.

In the 7th grade under a teacher - Mr. Albrecht - he gave us a little taste of what we'd learn when we pass into the 8th grade. However, I must admit that it didn't click until it was time to take this test and our 8th grade teacher drilled us on what we should know so that we passed the test.

In a way, I'm glad he did although he shall remain nameless for the moment. Still if it wasn't for that period of time perhaps politics would never have been my interest!

As a result lately one task for this blog was to compile some government links to the sidebar here. Hopefully a young person in school right now can use these links to gain an understanding of our system of government. I try to keep them basic because over at my other blog - The Sixth Ward - there are more links than you shall know what to do with.

All the same, yeah the links are to the many governments which are critical and under whom we live. Yeah we live in the City of Chicago and the city operates many departments that will directly affect many of us - especially the Chicago Public Schools for example. In addition to that we do live in the United States of America and the State of Illinois.

In addition to that, if you haven't taken a test yet on not only the US Constitution or Illinois Constitution there are links to those documents to be provided here. What this means is that you won't have to merely depend on the materials that your respective teachers will give you. Hopefully they will appreciate the effort you're taking to understand the material you might find yourself tested on.

Here's hoping that you will find yourself as interested in politics as I was at 14-years-old. Hopefully many of you will become our future leaders!

BTW, an example of the test 8th Graders took back in the 1950s posted here in January 2011 . Do you think you could've passed that test?

ALSO, you may be interested in who represents you both in Washington as a Representative or Senator or in Springfield as your state legislators.

1954 8th Grade Civics Test

I posted this on another blog almost three years ago but figure it'll be relevant here as well. In the 8th Grade my class had to take an exam for not only the US Constitution but the Illinois Constitution as well. My scores were 106 for the federal constitution and 98 for the state. My then 8th Grade teacher really drilled us on this back then.

I found an example of a 1950s Civics Test this morning. Almost looks like the test I took back in the 8th grade many moons ago. I don't know what the Preamble to the Constitution was worth, but when I took the constitution exam I had to memorize and recite the Preamble for extra-credit and with practice I was able to do it flawlessly.

Anyway, this test was used to illustrate the difference in the school system of today vs. the school system of the 1950s. Look at this description...

What more proof do we need that our children are being deliberately dumbed down than this standard 1954 civics test on the U.S. Constitution on which Kenny Hignite received a 98 1/2, Excellent, indeed!

I have no way of knowing what the schools teach in the classroom these days. Especially as it comes to learning the Constitution. I would be disappointed that our schools doesn't give tests like this anymore.