proposed amendment to Illinois Constitution on racism

Below the fold is a proposed amendment to the Illinois Constitution to be a first step toward making Illinois a state committed to reducing racism over the long haul.

I believe it would make Illinois the first state to be anti-racism (as opposed to "race neutral" in the constitution). It also explicitly links racism to white supremacy.

The theory is that Illinois would obligate itself to quantify racism & work toward reducing racism over time.

banning firearm ownership outside the militia

If the goal is to get rid of #GunViolence in the United States, and this should be the goal, below is a path that will work.

Remember, the firearms industry makes money on gun violence. Any solution that preserves the firearms industry (#CapitalClass) making money from gun violence is going to be minimally effective.

1. Shutdown all (100% of) sales (and transfer) of firearms in the United States (and to buyers in the Western Hemisphere), except sales (transfers) to the government for eight years.

2. Full registration of firearms with a minimum $50/year registration fee on each firearm.

3. Require all firearms to be registered with state authorities before bringing them into a state.

4. Require states to formalize the rules of their "well regulated militias". How does one join? What rules apply to members? What is the organizational structure that puts the militia under command and control of the democratically elected government? What rules trigger expulsion from the militia? Also, who is in the militia and what rank/office they hold shall be published publicly.

5. Ban firearm ownership/possession by people who are not members of the military, police or the militia.

6. In five years, states that have brought gun violence to ZERO outside of members of the militia shall be authorized to resume private firearms sales within the state, if the state chooses.

7. The federal government shall simultaneously create a program to reduce gun violence by law enforcement. All members of law enforcement who discharge their firearm shall be terminated unless the officer can prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" to a federal oversight board that the shooting was necessary to protect a life in that moment. Law enforcement officers shall be allowed to work without carrying a firearm.

8. A program shall be created for racial, ethnic and religious communities that have a track record of being targeted by law enforcement or domestic terrorism. These communities shall be able to create militias authorized by the federal government for self defense. These militias shall have rules, rosters and command/control, as with the state authorized militias. These militias shall be responsible for disciplining their own members and expelling members who are a danger to themselves or society.

***

This bill is not going to pass immediately. But if it gains five cosponsors in Congress every time there's a mass shooting, the "thoughts & prayers" weasels will come to the table with compromises.

a process for voters picking the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education

Below the fold is a draft process for picking a school board for Chicago Public Schools. The map is to divide Chicago into manageable pieces as part of the process.

Below the fold...

draft Northside DFA mission rewrite

The following is my attempt to draft a new vision/mission/values statement for Northside DFA.

Vision: Northside DFA will have a strong sense of community while building political power that makes the Chicago region more inclusive, progressive and ethical.

Mission: To elect candidates who reflect Northside DFA values and to nurture a sense of community and empowerment at monthly meetings.

Values: [In this section, there would be a list of statements relevant to politics that have strong support from NDFA Voting Members. There would also be a section for strongly held minority beliefs.]

Neither the vision nor the mission quite sums up NDFA as succinctly as the current mission "to elect socially progressive, fiscally responsible and ethically committed Democrats to all levels of government with the overarching goal of making government more progressive."

So, I a favor creating an abbreviated mission statement along the lines of "to elect candidates to public office in way the makes society more inclusive, progressive and ethical".

the case the Democratic Party is incompetent

The Democratic Party loses winnable elections. And when it loses, there's a lack of accountability for people who caused the loss & there's a lack of learning from losses.

Also, the Democratic Party fails to govern itself competently.

The Democratic Party is a mess in so many ways

Part of why the fights about the Democratic Party haven't died down since the 2016 Dem Primary is that the Dem Party is a mess in so many ways.

Below is the outline of the topics I intend to cover. It's too much for one blog entry.

I would like to revisit the wisdom of Dan Cohen. He noted fights about tactics are often sublimated fights about goals.

Much of the fighting within the Dem Party coalition is a fight between people who believe the Clinton-Obama formula of running elections & governing can work and those who disagree.

The outline of the topics I will cover:

Scott Drury makes the pitch to be Dem nominee for Gov of Illinois to 33rd Ward Democrats

Yesterday (Saturday, July 8, 2017) Melissa & I went to see two Democratic Party candidates make their pitches to local Democratic Party organizations in Chicago. At noon, Rep. Scott Drury (campaign, Wikipedia) pitched to 33rd Ward Democrats (Dianne Daleiden of 40th Ward Alliance & Robert Murphy, the Democratic Committeeman of Ward 39, were also there). At 2 PM, MJL & I switched over to Ald. Ameya Pawar (campaign, Wikipedia) speaking at an event that was organized by Ward 45 Independent-Democrats, the Women's Huddle of NW Side, plus Northside DFA*.

The 33rd Ward Democrats event was at Albany Park branch of Chicago Public Library & Ward 45 I-D event was at Filament Theater.

 This blog entry is going to be long and meandering. Chalk it up to me being out of practice. Below the fold there will be: my clumsy synopsis of Drury's pitch.

If you didn't know this about blogs, they are grossly unfair and biased toward the perspective of the author. Newspapers are the same way, but blogs have the decency to admit it.

* Melissa and I are co-chairs of Northside DFA and the Arena's generously list NDFA as a co-sponsor of their events, but I never feel like NDFA does enough to encourage people to attend Ward 45 I-D's events.