How’s everyone’s weekend going? Thanks for spending a portion of it with the Six.
I don’t know if it’s a recent phenomenon or not, but the election cycle in America appears to be endless.
Presidential, senatorial, state legislature, school boards…there’s always a vote to be cast, spring or fall, every year.
Election punditing and predictions make for good television. It’s easy for producers to frame elections as binary sports contest, which ends with a winner and loser.
This coming week it’s Decision Day for Chicago voters. A Tuesday mayoral election will decide whether current mayor Lori Lightfoot will get to an April run off or if the city will have a new chief executive.
What’s interesting about this particular election is how the incumbent is wildly unpopular, yet enthusiasm for a replacement is not significantly high.
A February poll revealed how 60% of voters disapprove of the job Lightfoot has done and how 70% think the city is on the wrong track. It’s reasonable to conclude she will not make the run off. Recent polling shows two candidates––Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson––in favorable position to emerge and face off on April 4.
Vallas, who has unsuccessfully ran for numerous political offices across the state, is positioning himself as a “reform” candidate that will balance the budget, take on the teacher’s union and clean up the city’s crime problem. Johnson is the current Cook County Commissioner with strong CTU support.
There appears to be a growing belief that a vote for Johnson will push the city into further oblivion, and more distressing, how maybe that’s what the city needs before actual change can take place. Vallas’s wishy-washiness on certain issues makes right-leaning voters nervous that he can deliver on promises. The former head of Chicago Public Schools angered conservatives with recent comments denouncing a Monday visit to Illinois by Florida Governor and presumed-presidential candidate Ron DeSantis.
Four years ago, Lightfoot was a clear “change” choice as Chicagoans wanted something different from eight years of Rahm Emanuel. They were wrong as Lightfoot has been a disaster, running the city as combative identitarian rather than on the “visionary leader” messaging she campaigned on. Aside from an empty resume of accomplishments, she’s unlikable, picking fights with everyone and never accepting responsibility (don’t necessarily fault her for that…she’s an Illinois politician after all). After Tuesday, Lightfoot will probably be a lame duck until the new mayor officially takes office in May.
Polling days before the election show voters are unsure this time around. The dilemma: go with the devil they know (Lightfoot/Johnson) or the “change” candidate (Vallas)?
After Tuesday, there won’t be time to catch breaths.
April is right around the corner and another round of elections.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
1. More School Funding Doesn’t Get Results.
We are about a month or so out from district school board elections. Several Chicagoland districts are pushing referendums with board candidates borrowing political talking points about “investment” and “infrastructure.” But what are residents getting for their higher taxes? In Illinois, it’s not better schools. This is a damning piece via Wirepoints stating how, “Illinois’ per student spending grew nearly 70 percent between 2007 and 2019, the most in the nation” and yet, with all that extra funding, Illinois test scores lag behind states that spend far less per student. What happens to all the money? More complex but “a part of the answer in Illinois is that too much money goes to pensions and administrative bloat.” The assistant to the assistant of the assistant superintendent. There’s a lot of those in Illinois public education.
2. Bad Use of ChatGPT By Private University.
I’ve only recently learned about the AI tool ChatGPT. Heard about it on some podcasts, and can see some useful applications (augment Google searches, virtual assistant tasks, good IPA paring suggestions with Mexican food, etc.) But if in charge of a university’s communications? I’d be a bit more restrained with AI usage than the jamokes at Vanderbilt University. In the wake of the school shooting at Michigan State, the school felt the need to send out a campus wide email with DEI-focused messaging around gun violence. That email was crafted by ChatGPT technology and included the word inclusive (7 times), community (5 times), safe (3 times). They probably would have gotten away with it if they hadn’t forgotten to erase the “ChatGPT” tag at bottom of the email. Vandy students are pissed off and we are again reminded of how dumb people who run college campuses really are.
3. 50-plus Year Murder Case Solved With Cigarette Butt.
From the cold case files––a murder in Burlington, Vermont from 1971 has finally been solved. The killer has been dead for a very long time so he has evaded justice, but authorities know now who he was due to a cigarette butt left at the scene of the crime. And as is becoming more and more common in these cases, DNA databases like Ancestry and 23andMe were the key that unlocked the unsolved crime. In this particular investigation, “A combination of genetic genealogy, DNA testing and a recent interview with DeRoos' former wife allowed authorities to identify him as the suspect,” according to this article from NBC News.
4. Why Aren’t Teenagers Driving Anymore?
Since the automobile became ubiquitous in American culture, teenagers have shared the same dream. Turning 16 years of age and getting a driver’s license represented freedom. Didn’t matter the make and model of the vehicle (in my case, an ‘81 Cimarron) but the obtainment of parental separation. Have car, will travel (if a Gen X like me, no cell phones meant almost complete sovereignty). But the desire to get a driver’s license and the developmental milestone it represents doesn’t hold the same value with today’s generation of teens. According to this Washington Post story, only 60% of 18-year-olds have licenses now vs 80% in the early 1980s. One parent in the article says about her son, “he spends a lot of time playing video games. That’s where his community is. So he doesn’t really need to go anywhere to hang out with people.” For Gen Z’ers, cruisin’ the mall parking lot and Tasty Freeze ain’t as appealing as it used to be apparently.
5. Ranking the Best Films of Steven Spielberg.
Reading pop culture listicle articles is a favorite internet time waster for this writer (I killed about 2-3 minutes this week on “where now are the stars of ‘Growing Pains,’” an 80s sitcom that once featured a young actor named Leonardo DiCaprio) but I try and be more selective for the Six. American filmgoers are five decades into our relationship with Steven Spielberg. He’s a rare talent in that he directs films that have massive commercial appeal and for the most part, are liked by critics. This list put together by culture writer Steven Hyden ranks all 34 Spielberg’s films, dating back to his first release in 1971. The ranking exercise––like all good ranking exercises––is less about where each film is placed than it is about saying things about each of the films and writing a compelling, overarching deconstruction and analysis of Spielberg. Hyden delivers as he provides all kinds of fun insights, both about Spielberg and his films and about the culture at large.
6. Kids Flex at Basketball Game, Internet Goes Crazy.
Sermonizing over the behavior of young people is an older generation’s favorite pastime. Sports is one of the few outlets where kids see instant results and are comfortable with joyous expressions, which for the most part, should be judgment-free from grouchy adults. Someone recently posted video of a flexing and trash talking third grade travel basketball team. The behavior of these kids mirrors what they see online and what they see are athletes-as-posers. I don’t personally have a problem with the flexing if not directed at a specific opponent. If phone cameras/social media were around in the 80’s, what would boomer parents have said on Twitter about breakdancing after a made three-point shot or a post-free throw moonwalk? I don’t know but there’s a middle ground between outrage against and endorsement for. Did I just propose a centrist solution? My apologies. I’ll try not to do that again!
Thanks for reading everybody and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Have a suggestion for The Sunday Six? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com.