BACK 2 SCHOOL
We sometimes get a chuckle at how people blame a president, a governor, a mayor, a county leader, or some other head of the nation’s executive branches of government for failing to take action on this or that. But sometimes we get a major headache after realizing that perhaps most people either failed high school civics or never took the course.
Let’s recap, shall we? There are three branches of government–executive, legislative, and judicial. Imagine your family, shall we? It’s family reunion time. The President (Family Reunion Host) is charismatic, well-liked, rocks the cool apron, makes the best BBQ, comes up with the reunion theme, makes menu decisions, and overrides (vetoes) which aunty makes the potato salad and mac and cheese. On every Zoom planning call, the President/Host fires everybody up with speeches and old stories about back in the day. Since they are in the host city–they speculate about what the family can do and see when they come to the host city. The President is always sharing pictures (photo ops) they had with different celebrities, including the time they marched with Dr. Martin Luther King. If an emergency goes down, they are the ones to solve it—with just a few words, the Host can fire up the family into an army of advocates to handle the family business.
Now Congress is like all of them rowdy and sometimes ghetto cousins that you love in your family. These first, second, and third cousins/first removed, form the reunion committee, and represent every seed and side on the family tree. They set the rules (fees or taxes), they come up with what colors to where, they design the T-shirts, they decide all of the activities of the reunion and when and where the big picnic will be held and who is buying all of the meat. They argue all day and night and rarely seem to get anything done. The one with the best job or college degree or is the oldest may be elected as their leader (or speaker) –which makes the younger, dumber ones mad and jealous—and it shows. When this Congress gets together their meetings either turn into knock-down, drag-out fights, or they turn into a party, where the cousins play spades, drink Hennessy, give each other kudos, and try to out-dance each other. When regular family members become agitated because they don’t know what’s going on, the Congress (host committee) goes off on them and then picks up the phone (press conference) and calls different relatives to remind everybody in the family who did what to whom and when. If these rowdy cousins don’t get it together—there won’t be a reunion, which is fine by them–because the regular relatives are ungrateful and always complaining.
If the rowdy, disagreeable cousins (Congress) threaten to cancel the reunion, or excessively raise union dues or make any other drastic move that the entire family disagrees with—the family (citizens) will blame the President. The host then turns around and blames the cousins for not getting stuff done or making unilateral decisions without asking (polling) the entire family first. The cousins turn around and blame the regular family for not being willing to pay more in reunion dues. Now these two are arguing and the regular family divides into groups to either side with the President or the Congress. Now it seems like the bluff of canceling the whole thing is a real thing.
Now the Supreme Court is the last branch–and all judges in America represent the third leg in all local, state, and federal governments. They don’t make the laws (Congress does) they interpret and then uphold them. In our family reunion example, the Supremes are made up of Big Mama, Mee Maw, Big Daddy, Pop-Pop, Uncle Pete, and Aunty Ree, and three more wise family members with good sense. They have that role until they die. The Court are the elders in the family who sit around under the shade tree, sipping lemonade and watching all the mess going down but say very little. The Supremes want the family to figure it out before they have to stand up on their bad knees or interrupt their stories and get involved. Only the biggest and most controversial problems go to them–and it is they who make the final decisions–including whether or not raisins go in the potato salad. The Supremes are the keepers of all of the family history and recipes. They know the family tree inside and out (U.S. Constitution). These judicial experts interpret and set the final law of the land. In the family, it is they who say how things ultimately go down in the family: “Hell nah you can’t sue Cousin Linda for cheating at Bid Whiz!? Forty-five years ago, your great-granddaddy cheated her great-granddaddy, and you also cheated her three years ago and under family rules, if you sue, Cousin Linda can sue you for unpaid pennies your side did to hers. So, since cheating is de facto with all of you all, your claim and your sister’s amicus curiae is null and void!?” Their word is final, and you can’t do nothing about it–and like it or not–they are a Supreme and the best you can do is hope one of them dies and is replaced with somebody from your immediate family.
-Ima-
STILL NOT GETTING IT?
Okay, let’s see civics this way. While it’s cool, funny, and responsible to go after the mayor, the governor, and the county board president for how things go down in their respective bodies—most times protestors are trying to hold the wrong branch accountable. The law or how stuff runs is set down by the legislative branches of government–no matter who is leading the executive side: The Chicago City Council, the Illinois General Assembly, the Cook County Board, and the United States Congress are those in charge. Each one also has a leader who is elected by them to run their agenda. Citizens sometimes fail to identify them (as a body) when they are mad about migrants, taxes, homeless people, crimes, schools, and other problems. Most of the time we blame the smiling, grinning person elected to the executive branch. In local government sometimes the mayor can break a tie on some proposed law or referendum—but in most cases, the power to authorize and approve or deny those things comes from the Council. If he or she is passionate about their pet project, sometimes they can use their powers to enforce stuff anyway—but then they run a serious risk. The people they appoint (the police chief, the fire chief, the head of housing, the head of this or that)—can be held accountable, stymied, or banished to endless committee hearings by the second branch if that happens. And yes, the mayor (in this scenario) is a member of the Council, too, but he or she is mostly there to ensure that his/her agenda is being served. And yes, a mayor has executive powers beyond the reach of a Council—but then that’s where the local courts kick in. But we’ll get to that later.
So, Chatterbox students, even if you get a mayor or governor and whatnot who will “do the right thing,” their will cannot be done unless the second branch says so, in most cases. If neither side can agree or if both sides tick off the taxpayers enough, somebody can sue and ask the third leg of government to step in and say who is right or wrong—as well as what they can do about it. And BTW, a “taxpayer” is anyone who pays a tax—including a sales tax. So, when you let your 10-year-old go to the store to buy a bag of Flamin’ Hots, they pay a tax on that–hence, they too, are one.
-Ima-
SAY WHAT?
Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it. ~ Laurence J. Peter
-Ima-
CHATTERBOX STORY TIME
In a dilapidated, West Side warehouse, the aging storekeeper faced declining profits. When a respectful young apprentice sought work, the shop owner saw potential. He paid the young man less but worked him tirelessly. The warehouse transformed business thrived. Jealous coworkers sowed discord, accusing the apprentice of things he had not done. The storekeeper, swayed by their whispers, unjustly fired the youth. The apprentice’s plea for a fair hearing fell on deaf ears. The warehouse crumbled, and trust vanished, the other coworkers secretly laughed behind the shop owner’s back, for they hated him and resented the praise he had heaped upon their younger colleague. Betrayal corrodes even the strongest foundations.
-Ima-
STOCK UP ON TOILET PAPER
It sure looks like the “October Surprise” that happens before every major election is going to be World War III. Now that Iran has fired drones at Israel who had previously fired drones at them, while also being in a war with Palestinians, it looks like the Middle East is about to get down to business. If that happens NATO and troops all over might be inclined to pick sides and you know what that means. So just in case this is the thing that might halt U.S. elections, where some people are predicting Donald Trump may return to power, you all better stock up on toilet paper, bottled water, and cans of Campbell soup.
-Ima-
OLD WORDS
““In America, you get as much justice as you can afford.” ~ Orenthal J. Simpson
-Ima-
GOODBYE, WHITE BRONCO
White folks and others can finally rest now that OJ Simpson has died from a surprise case of cancer. These people are all over Beyonce’s internet and the television gloating, high-fiving, and cheering about the former pro football player’s death. Some of these people look so silly and small-minded. The OJ Haters have also used this opportunity to remind African Americans of all stripes how much they hate us, and that the criminal justice system is a diabolical backdoor trap to put poor people and minorities back into slavery. Watch and see don’t every dime Simpson left to his kids be confiscated and handed over to the families of people the court of law said he DID NOT kill.
-Ima-
