The Good Citizen Podcast

Episode 13 – A Redemption Carol

** Rating caveat, this episode only: adult situations / language ***

With all apologies to Charles Dickens, in this episode, we abandon reality for our very own Seasonal Scrooge Satire. We know how Ebenezer Scrooge was scared into being a good citizen and a good man. What would it take to redeem, or at least change our Citizen in Chief into doing the right thing?

While there are factual references in this episode, we will forego listing them because this one is pure fantasy, so why confuse ourselves with facts?

Special episode credits:

* Holiday music from A-M Classical

* Sound effects obtained from ZapSplat

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Episode 12 – Let’s take a Quiz!

Back in Episode 1, I cited the “Politically Challenged” video made in 2014 by a student political interest group at Texas Tech University. The group ran around campus asking the other college students questions about our country, like “Who won the Civil War? Who is our VP? Who did we gain our independence from?” The wrong answers were hysterical.

The thing is… Those college kids weren’t taught Civics in school. . There are plenty of things about citizenship not all of us know. So here’s a quiz to test your aptitude — different from the typical Civics quiz.

Answers are at the end of this post.

* Who is allowed to vote in America?

* a. Anyone over 18 who lives in the United States

* b. Only natural born citizens over 18

* c. All citizens and permanent residents over 18

* d. All citizens over 18, except for ex-cons in certain states

* How do you register to vote?

* a. Through the federal government

* b. Through your political party

* c. Through your state

* d. Through your city or town

* I moved. Am I still registered?

* a. True

* b. False

* How can I tell if I’m registered?

* a. Show up to the polls for the next election and find out.

* b. Check online

* c. Call your US Congress Representative

* d. Check with your state or local elections office

* How do I know what county I live in?

* a. Google “what county am I in”

* b. Google your zip code

* c. Paper maps

* I live in Guam. Can I vote?

* a. True

* b. False

* Do I have to register to vote?

* a. Yes

* b. No

* c. Maybe

* How often are there elections in the US.

* a. Every 4 years

* b. Every 2 years

* c. Every year

* Which of the following are included in the three branches of the Federal government?

* a. House of Representatives

* b. The Cabinet

* c. Senate

* d. US Supreme Court

* e. Department of Justice

* f. Federal District Courts

* In the succession, if something happens to the President and Vice President and they can no longer serve, who is next in line for the Presidency?

* a. Secretary of State

* b. Speaker of the House

* c. Secretary of Defense

* d. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

* e. Attorney General

* The Bill of Rights includes which of the following:

* a. Trial by jury

* b. Prohibition of slavery

* c. Women’s suffrage

* d. Right of Congress to tax incomes

* Which Amendment defines the process for impeaching a president?

* a. 5th

* b. 15th

* c. 25th

* d. none of the above

* What is the term of a Supreme Court justice?

* a. 6 years

* b. 10 years

* c. 20 years

* d. However long they want it.

* The term “dead presidents” is often used as a slang term for US paper currency. Is that accurate?

* a. Yes

* b. No

* How many US Senators are there?

* a. 50

* b. 64

* c. 100

* d. 258

* How many voting representatives are in the House?

* a. 50

* b. 435

* c. 538

* d. 602

* Which of the following states have only one Congressional District, and therefore only one rep in the House?

* a. Alaska

* b. Vermont

* c. Delaware

* d. North Dakota

* e. South Dakota

* f. Wyoming

* g. Montana

* h. Idaho

* i. Rhode Island

* j. Hawaii

* k.

Episode 11 – Out of the Jaws of Victory – Racism, Part 2

Back in Episode 4, we looked at the elephant in our country, Racism, and I called it Part 1. It was, typical of me and this podcast, a broad vertical history of racism from our earliest American Colonial history.

In this second look at racism, we’ll look at the aftermath of the Civil War,  the mythology of the Old South, and how the Union lost the war after the war was won.

References:

* Juneteenth.com – History of Juneteenth

* US Constitution – Ratification of Constitutional Amendments

* FindLaw – Thirteenth Amendment annotations

* Wikipedia – Thirteenth Amendment

* ABC News – Mississippi Officially Abolishes Slavery, Ratifies the 13th Amendment

* Fox News – Mississippi fixes oversight, formally ratifies 13th Amendment on slavery

* The Spokesman-Review – Mississippi Votes to Abolish Slavery

* Wikipedia – Confederate States of America

* Weber State University – Statistics on Slavery

* The Civil War Home Page – 1860 Census Results

* National Park Service – Industry and Economy during the Civil War

* Economic History Association – The Economics of the Civil War

* History Collection – Thousands of Southerners Fled the U.S. after the Civil War 

* Harpers Magazine – How Walter Scott Started the American Civil War

* The New York Times – The Author of the Civil War

* Prezi – Social Classes in the Old South

* JSTOR – Who Joined the Confederate Army? Soldiers, Civilians, and Communities in Mississippi

* American Battlefield Trust – The Reasons for Secession

* U.S.

Episode 10 The Bill of Rights

Guarantees of personal liberties were not in the original US Constitution. They were added as the first amendments to the document by the 1st Congress a year and a half later.

References:

* Bill of Rights Institute – The Bill of Rights 1791

* Constitution Society – George Mason’s Master Draft Bill of Rights, 1787

* Wikipedia – US Bill of Rights

* Wikipedia – Magna Carta

* Wikipedia – 1st US Congress

* Wikipedia – Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776

* University of Missouri, Kansas City, School of Law – The Bill of Rights: Its History and Significance

* Wikipedia – Timeline of drafting and ratification of the US Constitution

* National Archives – Congress Creates the Bill of Rights

* National Constitution Center – Five items Congress deleted from Madison’s original Bill of Rights

* Wikipedia – Congressional Apportionment Amendment

* World Justice Project – Rule of Law Index 2018-19, US ranking

 

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Episode 9 – American Identity

What does it mean to be an American?

In America, everyone except the indigenous people of this continent came from somewhere else within the last several hundred years. Our country is called a melting pot and that’s an apt metaphor if you think of a smelter where you melt and mix metals.

References:

* Wikipedia – Melting Pot

* Image – Earl Biss, Bringing the Children Home from Star School

* Wikipedia – Immigration to the US

* YouTube – 3 minute history of the Unification of Italy

* OurDocuments.gov – Washington’s Farewell Address

* Wikipedia – Amerigo Vespucci

* Literary Hub – Review of Washinton’s Farewell by John Avalon

* Quora – Difference between Patriotism and Nationalism

* Wikipedia – “America the Beautiful”

* Wikipedia –  “This is My Country”

* Wikipedia – “The Star Spangled Banner”

* You Tube – “The Anacreon Song”

 

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Episode 8 – Suffrage and Women’s Rights

It’s March and Women’s History Month, so it’s a good time to think about women’s citizenship. We link citizenship strongly with voting, and it hasn’t been quite 100 years since women have had the right to vote in America.

References:

* Library of Congress – Elections, the American Way

* KQED Public TV – U.S. Voting Rights Timeline

* Time magazine – Suffragettes

* What’s Cooking America – Election Day Cake History

* Constitution Center – Centuries of Citizenship

* Wikipedia – Women’s Suffrage

* National Park Service – Women’s Rights National Park, Seneca Falls, NY

* Smithsonian Postal Museum – Mail-order Brides

* New Scientist – Origins of Sexism

* National Archives – Women and Naturalization

* Huffington Post – How Women Became Citizens

* Britannica – The Enlightenment

* Time magazine – How Christian Used the Bible to Justify Slavery

* JAMA – Reducing Maternal Mortality in the US

* University of Texas – 1848 Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions – Seneca Falls

* Awesome Stories – Suffragists: Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement

* National Women’s History Museum – 19th Amendment

* Wikipedia – Timeline of women’s suffrage

* ERA – History of the Equal Rights Amendment

* U.S. Constitution On-Line – Ratification of Constitutional Amendments

* Wikipedia – Equal Rights Amendment

* WHSV-TV – Bid to revived ERA in Virginia fails by 1 vote

* Daily Press – ERA appears dead in Virginia for 2019

* NY Times – What is the ERA and why are we talking about it now?

Episode 7 – Political Parties

They may seem the bane of our existence, with all the rancor and partisan stonewalling going on in Washington and in the country right now. In this episode we take a look at how parties started in the U.S. and how they have changed through history.

References:

* Wikipedia – Party divisions of US Congresses

* The New Yorker – The Rise of McPolitics

* The Guardian – American politics is tribal

* Open Secrets.org – Top Organization Contributors

* Wikisource – Washington’s Farewell Address

* Scholastic – The Origins and Functions of Political Parties

* The Atlantic – America is Living James Madison’s Nightmare

* Wikipedia – 1st US Congress

* George Washington University – First Federal Congress

* Wikipedia – Anti-Administration Party

* Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias – Anti- Administration Party (US)

* Geni – Thomas Jefferson I (genealogy)

* National Review – Madison and Hamilton, Founders and Enemies

* UVA – Andrew Jackson

* Wikipedia – 1824 US Presidential election

* 270 to  Win – 1824 Presidential election

* Britannica – US Presidential election of 1824

* Lumen Learning – A New Political Style: From John Quincy Adams to Andrew Jackson

* Wikipedia – Whig Party

* Britannica – Whig Party

* North Carolina State University – A Nation Divided: The Political Climate of 1850s America

* Wikipedia – Republican Party (US)

* Wikipedia – 1856 US Presidential Election

* Wikipedia – History of the US Republican Party

* The Chronicle – When and (to an extent) why did the parties switch places?

* Wikipedia –

Episode 6 – Rule of Law

Rule of Law is the principle that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced; the principle of government by law.

In this episode, we trace human and American history, from a time when kings were divine to when the Law is King. We look at where the United States is ranked as a country governed by the Rule of Law, where we fall short, and what we can do about it.

References:

* NYT – Trump’s Travel Ban Is Upheld by Supreme Court

* JUSTIA US Supreme Court Center – Trump v. Hawaii, 585 (decision)

* Wikipedia – Rule of Law

* Harvard Business Review – How Hardwired is Human Behavior?

* Khan Academy – Paleolithic Societies

* Britannica – James I 

* Wikipedia

* James I

* Divine right of kings

* Charles I

* BBC – James I 

* University of Wisconsin Madison – Age of James I course material (Professor J.P. Sommerville)

* ABA – Part I, What is the Rule of Law

* Encyclopedia.com – Proprietary Colonies

* Land of the Brave – 13 Colonies

* Royal Colonies

* World Justice Project – Rule of Law Index 2017-18

* C.S. Monitor – Undeclared Wars

* Time – US Doesn’t Declare War Anymore

* Wikipedia – Declaration of War

* Wikipedia – Fred Korematsu

* Wikipedia – John L. DeWitt

* Politico – FDR orders Japanese-Americas to be Interned in camps, Feb 19, 1942

* Densho Encyclopedia – John DeWitt

* HistoryNet – Fear Itself: The General Who Panicked the West Coast

* United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

* Huff Post –

Episode 5

E Pluribus Unum — that’s the motto of the United States. What it means in Latin is “out of many, one” and it comes from the idea that we are separate states united under one country. That was an idea codified in the US Constitution.

If you didn’t take Civics in school, you may never have read the Constitution. I haven’t, not all the way through. And it’s a short read, about 16 pages, just under 4400 words. You can get it for your Kindle for less than a buck and a nice little hardcover for under 10, that includes all the amendments. And it’s also online for flippin’ free, the whole thing. You think I could find the time.

If you poll the American public, how many of us think the Constitution was written in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson and starts out, “When in the course of human events…”?

The Constitution, the foundation of our country’s rule of law, is a big subject. For this episode, we’ll look at how the Constitution came to be and what’s in it.

References for this episode:

* Full text of the United StatesConstitution

* Lumen Learning – The Constitutional Convention

* Wikipedia – Seven Years War

* Wikipedia – French and Indian War

* Wikipedia – First Continental Congress

* Wikipedia – Second Continental Congress

* Wikipedia – British North America

* Wikipedia – Articles of Confederation

* Wikipedia – Framers of the Constitution

*  Britannica – Iroquois Confederacy

* You Tube – cartoon on the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy

* Daily Beast article – How an Iroquois Chief Helped Write the US Constitution

* Politfact article – Viral Meme US Constitution

* US Congressional resolution acknowledging the Iroquois influence

* Indian Country Media Network – Myths debunked

* Wikipedia – Delegates to the Continental Congress

* Wikipedia – Founding Fathers of the US

* Wikipedia – Independence Hall, Philadelphia

* Humboldt State – Colonial History

* Wikipedia – Shay’s Rebellion

* Wikipedia – James Madison

* Wikipedia –

I’ve been traveling for work, so am a little behind on my plan to publish a new episode each month. So, I’m posting this short cast on how I came to start this podcast.

Reference for this bonus episode:

* Washington Post article of May 24, 2018 – John Avlon moves to CNN full time. At the time of recording this episode, Avlon was still both the editor-in-chief of the Daily Beast and an analyst on CNN.

* John Avlon’s 2017 book, Washington’s Farewell, the Founding Father’s Warning to Future Generations. Link to the book on Amazon located on the “What I’m Reading” page.

 

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