Since this week's election results shook up most of our curricula, I'd like to do some catch-up in next week's class concerning topics and study questions from previous weeks. This means there is no new Zinn reading for this week, but I would like you to play catch-up if you are behind on the readings/questions and to review your notes from previous sessions.
Additionally, I would like you to follow news developments and analysis concerning the election results this coming week and to contemplate the following question:
We've been hearing from people from all over the political spectrum that "the US has never been more divided." What are the various factors that have contributed to this political climate?
Notes and clarifications from class:
1. The President appoints members of the executive branch such as members of his/her cabinet and ambassadors. He/she nominates members of the Supreme Court to be voted on by Congress. The Speaker of the House is a member of the House of Representatives in the Congress (legislative branch) who is voted on by the other representatives of the party that controls the House. He/she is often a seasoned member of the House.
2. The Vietnam War spans in history books from 1954-1975, beginning with the defeat of the French colonial powers by North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) in 1954 (negotiations in the Geneva Agreements that year grant Laos and Cambodia independence and Vietnam is divided at the 17th parallel). 1955 is a crucial year in that South Vietnam becomes a republic and is the US's ally in the Vietnam War. The War escaltes and anti-war protest is particularly strong from the period towards the end of the 60s with to the beginning of the 70s, with 1969 being a crucial year. We will look in depth at Vietnam in January.
3. Concerning the control algorithms have on our media intake, this might interest you: https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/can-facebook-trending-fight-off-fake-news?utm_term=.lyd1WPAxb#.sp4426Em7
4. You might also be interested in this Freakonomics podcast "How much does the president really matter?" in light of the questions on checks and balances today: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/freakonomics-radio-how-much-does-the-president-really-matter/
5. With the electoral college, a candidate can win a mere 23% of the popular vote and still be the president-elect. Check out the NPR article for details: http://www.npr.org/2016/11/02/500112248/how-to-win-the-presidency-with-27-percent-of-the-popular-vote
6. Check out the electoral maps here: http://www.270towin.com/historical-presidential-elections/
and the interactive maps here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/elections/how-trump-pushed-the-election-map-to-the-right.html
7. Very interesting infographic from the Wall Street Journal (published in March 2016!) suggesting that Trump could win the election by succeeding in Rust Belt (states centered around the Great Lakes region incl. Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, but also parts of Wisconsin and Illinois) https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NA-CJ325A_BLUEC_9U_20160306171820.jpg
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