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Explaining the Electoral College to a Student

 This is an interaction between ChatGPT and myself. It's quick and dirty, better stuff will be forthcoming! Me: Explain the Electoral College to me as it pertains to electing the President as if I were in Elementary School. ChatGPT: Sure! Imagine your school is having a big vote to decide on a class president, but instead of counting every single vote from every student, the teachers from each classroom get to vote based on what their students want. Each classroom has a different number of students, just like each state has a different number of people. Bigger classrooms (or states) get more votes, and smaller ones get fewer votes. These special votes are called electoral votes . When students vote for their favorite class president, their teacher collects all the votes from that classroom and then decides who to give the classroom’s electoral votes to. Most of the time, the teacher gives all the votes to the student who got the most votes in that classroom, just like most...
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ChatGPT in 2028!

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  First a little bit of background. The following question has been floating around in my head for a while. I had read articles by various pundits and thinkers over the years about the idea of an AI controlled government. Following this last Presidential election, the gears in my head began to spin again, especially in light of how much progress has been done in AI. So, I finally bit the bullet, logged into my computer, logged into the app and asked, the following: If a LLM (such as yourself) or another AI platform were elected President of the U.S., what kind of an administration would it run? Format the response for a blog post. What If an AI Was Elected President of the U.S.? Imagine waking up one day to discover that an AI—like the one you’re reading now—has just been elected President of the United States. It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, right? But with technology moving so fast, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility. So, what wou...
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The Wisdom of Three: Understanding the Framers’ Vision for the U.S. Government

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 Full disclosure: this post was created with the help of an AI text generator. Claims made were fact-checked to ensure accuracy. Oh, hell! I was in a hurry and whipped this up to keep the momentum going on my blog! When the framers of the U.S. Constitution gathered in Philadelphia in 1787, they were tasked with a monumental challenge: creating a government strong enough to unify the fledgling United States yet restrained enough to prevent tyranny. Their solution? The establishment of three separate but equal branches of government—legislative, executive, and judicial. This structure, enshrined in the Constitution, reflected their commitment to the principle of checks and balances, ensuring no single entity could dominate the nation. The Legislative Branch: The Power to Make Laws Article I of the Constitution establishes the legislative branch, placing Congress at the heart of governance. “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States...
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The US Constitution Answers the Question Who’s In Charge Here?

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  We read last time about the importance of learning the US Constitution. It’s a theme that will repeat going forward. I have been using the original text of the US Constitution as it has been downloaded from Project Gutenberg ( https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5/pg5-images.html ). Revisiting the last post we have: Article 1 Section 1.   All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Here again, our first order of business is to confer all legislative powers to Congress, defining that body as both a Senate and a House of Representatives. Going further into the next section we read: Section 2.   The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature. No ...
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Why You Should Study the U.S. Constitution

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  Hello, readers! At this time in November, we have just elected what I believe will have been the most problematic administrations of our nation’s history. Of course, I’m not particularly happy with the outcome of the elections. I did a little bit of campaigning for Kamala Harris and some of the Democratic candidates in a few of the “blue wall” states. While I was doing this I spoke with a number of people about the issues of the day. I found to my horror that many of the people in this nation held a lot of strange beliefs that could only be attributed to a lack of good information as to how things work in this country. To address this, I have decided to change the tone and content of my output, starting here, I will begin concentrating my efforts on reviewing basic constitutional principles. The U.S. Constitution is more than an old document tucked away in the National Archives. It is the bedrock of our democracy, shaping the government’s structure and guaranteeing the righ...
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It’s not Okay! Countering White Supremacy

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  It’s not Okay! Countering White Supremacy By Frank Austad According to CNN, quoting the compiled information from Antidefamation League it appears that the “OK” symbol is not as innocuous as it would seem anymore, as it has since become has now become a hate trope adopted by the far right. The finger-and-thumb OK sign is universally known for meaning everything is all right or approval of something. But the ADL says while not everyone means it to be hateful, the sign has been co-opted by the alt-right. (2019). CNN says that the ADL says, "… the symbol was first created as a hoax or meme among alt-right groups, who wanted other people and the media to get upset about it and thus look foolish condemning an innocuous symbol. Why the ‘OK?’ sign? The general idea is that the looped and extended fingers resemble the letters W and P, standing for ‘white power.’” (2019). Today's media is full of other signaling to watch out for. Donald Trump had an advertisement from Mike ...
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What Is an Autocrat?

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  What is an Autocrat? Frank Austad Webster's dictionary defines an Autocrat as an “…absolute ruler, especially a monarch who holds and exercises the powers of government as by inherent right, not subject to restrictions.” You may find this last phrase troubling when viewed in the light of our former president and current political opponent to Kamala Harris. The term can be ascribed to Donald Trump, who likes to describe people who oppose him politically as “… the enemy within …” vowing to arrest and jail those who disagreed with him, to the extent of sending the U.S. military or the National Guard to disperse crowds of protesters. Donald Trump has often been labeled a potential autocrat due to several behaviors and actions that raise concerns about his commitment to democratic principles. These are some of the key factors that contribute to this perception: 1. Disregard for the Rule of Law Longtime Republican Politician and recent Harris–Walz supporter, Liz Cheney said...
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