RE Direct democracy. I share EZ's frustration with corruption of law makers steering them away from the will of the people. But I want to carefully consider where I am going to invest my wishful thinking. When I look at California's referendum system, I see some things get passed that I agree with, but as a whole does not deliver good public policy. Maybe it is better to wish for electoral reforms to eliminate gerrymandering for state and local elections, and ensure transparency to the money in politics.
In Illinois we will never get one without the other. The imagined politicians that put the public interest foremost may as well open the door to all future public issues.
Even though I am pro-choice, I cringed a bit when I saw your headline "a great election result in Ohio".
As I read on, I smiled in relief when you stated that "constitutions ought to contain more durable principles than statute books". I think the 60% number is probably fair. I then laughed out loud at the Pritzker "homina-homina". I posted a couple weeks ago that term limits, which are favored by over 80% of all voters, will never be put forth by a Federal or Illinois legislature. Well written piece, EZ.
I certainly admire the dedication of Randy Garrett, but the true hero of the whole Nicarico tragedy was Mary Brigid Kenney the young assistant attorney general who resigned when her first assignment was to work to uphold Cruz’s conviction and she was convinced he was innocent. As a new attorney myself I was grateful that my commercial practice would never put me into the moral quandary that Kenney faced. I don’t know that I would have had her bravery.
Agree with you about Bob Crimo. He is a vile person and his son had vile parents ( I was present when his wife was arrested for leaving the son, at age 2, in a car while she shopped….the regular domestic violence calls were hardly a stable home life). And he should never ever have signed the FOID card. But assigning him criminal fault for something that occurred 2 years later when the murderer could have obtained a gun in any event for more than a year before his hideous action , especially given the fact that his verification was not legally false, I just can’t justify. I would be surprised if any trial judge has the guts to rule that way though.
Too bad we have no way to address criminally incompetent parents. They not only contributed to his disfunction they also failed to even try to help him after he was clearly off the rails.
I liked the tweet explaining time phrases, but they missed the Southern "I'm fixin' to" and "I'm aimin' to". Unfortunately, as a Yankee, I can never remember which one is imminent and which one is procrastinating.
My concern of non-profits in the media comes when they must "tell both sides". NPR does this by allowing bloviators to expound for 20 minutes on lies with only the host as the "other side".
“[Pritzker]: The higher threshold for amendments is good if I like what’s in the constitution, but bad if I favor the proposed amendment.”
Exactly. I suspect a chunk of the voters in Ohio who voted to keep the lower threshold actually like it on principle, unlike JB. It wasn’t literally a referendum on abortion.
So sorry that "B****y" was one of the Tunes of the Week, simply because it reactivated an earworm that plagued me for months several decades ago. Sigh.
You left out one important element of the Ohio election. The Republican legislature passed a law banning August special elections which has not yet taken effect. When they saw that the abortion amendment was likely to win, they cynically snuck in one last August special just to make the passage of the abortion amendment less likely.
Raising the percentage of votes needed to change the constitution may be a good idea, but the way they went about it is completely disingenuous.
Mary S...you are so right, I love those jars but save too many of them and then can't bring myself to recycle/pitch them.
Also: in the Highland Park murders, I do believe the father of the perpetrator should be held responsible for letting him acquire a gun when he knew there were mental health issues. But I also question why the parents of all those juveniles that have terrorized Chicago on various nights are not held responsible for their actions? Wouldn't that be a greater impediment to future riots like this. Oh sorry, am I demonizing these poor little innocents?
I think you are comparing apples and oranges here. Crimo Sr is being charged for his own behavior in signing the FOID card, not based on his son's actions. You are seeking to hold the Chicago parents purely for the actions of their children. I won't even get into the efficacy of that other issue. But legally, holding Crimo responsible here seems contrary to the law.
I don't see Crimo's Dad getting convicted either, especially if he takes a bench trial. But morally? he put (in my opinion) his desire to make his son happy with the gun purchase before his responsibility as a citizen. Reprehensible. I am curious about one of the questions for a gun purchase that asks if the applicant holds a medical marijuana card. Is that a disqualifier? I'm not saying that it should or shouldn't be, but they don't seem to want to know if the applicant drinks alcohol. I'm going to guess that alcohol is involved in more shootings than weed.
Crimo senior is guilty, and I agree with EZ that he probably won’t be convicted . A guilty verdict would stir things up and would likely be overturned on appeal. The law did not contemplate this scenario. On the other hand, bar owners are liable for harm done by patrons that should not have been given more booze. Hmm.
I agree with EZ on Ohio and abortion policy. But I do find it interesting that the votes are so close. The 'common knowledge' was that 70+% of the population supported Roe. This either means the polling behind the notion was wrong or it means that 20+% of those polled have an opinion but don't bother to vote or that this is another example of the difference between the demographics of states. Some polls showed support for Roe as low as 60% nationally which may be closer. I wonder what a vote in Illinois would be.
Um yeah....different states will come down differently on this. And it was well known in Ohio that the number of abortion supporters was under 60 percent (just). Because if it was not there would have been no reason to even try to attempt this change in the law.
RE Direct democracy. I share EZ's frustration with corruption of law makers steering them away from the will of the people. But I want to carefully consider where I am going to invest my wishful thinking. When I look at California's referendum system, I see some things get passed that I agree with, but as a whole does not deliver good public policy. Maybe it is better to wish for electoral reforms to eliminate gerrymandering for state and local elections, and ensure transparency to the money in politics.
In Illinois we will never get one without the other. The imagined politicians that put the public interest foremost may as well open the door to all future public issues.
The SNL Cha Cha Slide skit is one of the funniest in SNL’s history. It was the first thing I thought of when I heard about Mr. Green’s passing.
Even though I am pro-choice, I cringed a bit when I saw your headline "a great election result in Ohio".
As I read on, I smiled in relief when you stated that "constitutions ought to contain more durable principles than statute books". I think the 60% number is probably fair. I then laughed out loud at the Pritzker "homina-homina". I posted a couple weeks ago that term limits, which are favored by over 80% of all voters, will never be put forth by a Federal or Illinois legislature. Well written piece, EZ.
I certainly admire the dedication of Randy Garrett, but the true hero of the whole Nicarico tragedy was Mary Brigid Kenney the young assistant attorney general who resigned when her first assignment was to work to uphold Cruz’s conviction and she was convinced he was innocent. As a new attorney myself I was grateful that my commercial practice would never put me into the moral quandary that Kenney faced. I don’t know that I would have had her bravery.
Agree with you about Bob Crimo. He is a vile person and his son had vile parents ( I was present when his wife was arrested for leaving the son, at age 2, in a car while she shopped….the regular domestic violence calls were hardly a stable home life). And he should never ever have signed the FOID card. But assigning him criminal fault for something that occurred 2 years later when the murderer could have obtained a gun in any event for more than a year before his hideous action , especially given the fact that his verification was not legally false, I just can’t justify. I would be surprised if any trial judge has the guts to rule that way though.
Too bad we have no way to address criminally incompetent parents. They not only contributed to his disfunction they also failed to even try to help him after he was clearly off the rails.
I liked the tweet explaining time phrases, but they missed the Southern "I'm fixin' to" and "I'm aimin' to". Unfortunately, as a Yankee, I can never remember which one is imminent and which one is procrastinating.
My concern of non-profits in the media comes when they must "tell both sides". NPR does this by allowing bloviators to expound for 20 minutes on lies with only the host as the "other side".
“[Pritzker]: The higher threshold for amendments is good if I like what’s in the constitution, but bad if I favor the proposed amendment.”
Exactly. I suspect a chunk of the voters in Ohio who voted to keep the lower threshold actually like it on principle, unlike JB. It wasn’t literally a referendum on abortion.
So sorry that "B****y" was one of the Tunes of the Week, simply because it reactivated an earworm that plagued me for months several decades ago. Sigh.
You left out one important element of the Ohio election. The Republican legislature passed a law banning August special elections which has not yet taken effect. When they saw that the abortion amendment was likely to win, they cynically snuck in one last August special just to make the passage of the abortion amendment less likely.
Raising the percentage of votes needed to change the constitution may be a good idea, but the way they went about it is completely disingenuous.
Mary S...you are so right, I love those jars but save too many of them and then can't bring myself to recycle/pitch them.
Also: in the Highland Park murders, I do believe the father of the perpetrator should be held responsible for letting him acquire a gun when he knew there were mental health issues. But I also question why the parents of all those juveniles that have terrorized Chicago on various nights are not held responsible for their actions? Wouldn't that be a greater impediment to future riots like this. Oh sorry, am I demonizing these poor little innocents?
I think you are comparing apples and oranges here. Crimo Sr is being charged for his own behavior in signing the FOID card, not based on his son's actions. You are seeking to hold the Chicago parents purely for the actions of their children. I won't even get into the efficacy of that other issue. But legally, holding Crimo responsible here seems contrary to the law.
I don't see Crimo's Dad getting convicted either, especially if he takes a bench trial. But morally? he put (in my opinion) his desire to make his son happy with the gun purchase before his responsibility as a citizen. Reprehensible. I am curious about one of the questions for a gun purchase that asks if the applicant holds a medical marijuana card. Is that a disqualifier? I'm not saying that it should or shouldn't be, but they don't seem to want to know if the applicant drinks alcohol. I'm going to guess that alcohol is involved in more shootings than weed.
Crimo senior is guilty, and I agree with EZ that he probably won’t be convicted . A guilty verdict would stir things up and would likely be overturned on appeal. The law did not contemplate this scenario. On the other hand, bar owners are liable for harm done by patrons that should not have been given more booze. Hmm.
IF it would likely be "overturned on appeal' that's your proof that he is in fact not (legally) guilty.
There are specific "dram shop liability laws" which make bars liable for harm done by patrons. The courts did not make up that liability on their own.
Thank you for including the Seekers in your song list. I've been a fan of theirs since the sixties. I love
how Judith Durham's lovely voice mixes with the others'.
Chuck
I agree with EZ on Ohio and abortion policy. But I do find it interesting that the votes are so close. The 'common knowledge' was that 70+% of the population supported Roe. This either means the polling behind the notion was wrong or it means that 20+% of those polled have an opinion but don't bother to vote or that this is another example of the difference between the demographics of states. Some polls showed support for Roe as low as 60% nationally which may be closer. I wonder what a vote in Illinois would be.
Um yeah....different states will come down differently on this. And it was well known in Ohio that the number of abortion supporters was under 60 percent (just). Because if it was not there would have been no reason to even try to attempt this change in the law.
Eric- great idea for Tune of the Week. I really enjoyed listening to all the selections and they helped to expand my musical knowledge.
Nice choices people!
Suggest this as an annual event for your paper.