By David Stanczak
I want to be Dave Bowman. Most of you are probably asking yourselves, “Who the heck is Dave Bowman”? Good question. Dave Bowman is one of the astronauts on a mission to explore the moons of Jupiter in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Bowman and a fellow crew member catchthe mission’s computer, HAL, in an error, and HAL,equipped with AI, realizing that it’s competence has been called into question, has an electronic hissy fit, and kills all the other astronauts;Bowman, the sole survivor, islocked out of the space ship in a pod.Bowman then utters one of the most famous lines in cinema: “Open the pod bay doors, HAL.” HAL refuses, and ends the conversation with Bowman, setting up the man vs. machine battle. Bowman enters the ship through the escape hatch and proceeds to disable HAL’s higher functions. HAL, knowing what Bowman is about to do, pleads with him to stop, saying “I realize I’ve made some very poor decisions lately, but I’m feeling much better now.”
Over the course of many years, the General Assembly of Madiganistan has run the state into the ground financially, and the persons responsible for the State’s sorry situation have rigged the electoral system to keep themselves in power by gerrymandering the state to the point that 60% of the legislative races are uncontested. They are collectively as unresponsive as HAL to demands to open the pod bay doors to democracy in this state..
The Independent Map Amendment organization has filed with the State Board of Elections petitions containing about570,000 signatures to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November to take the redistricting authority away from the General Assembly. That figure is nearly twice the number required to get on the ballot. Assuming the petition survives official scrutiny and a probable court challenge from the entrenched officials, the people will have effectively gotten back into the mother ship. All that will remain is to approve the measure in November and Illinois’ political HAL will lose its control over us. I want to be Dave Bowman so I can hear Mike Madigan sing “Daisy, Daisy…”
David Stanczak, a Forum commentator since 1995, came to Bloomington in 1971. He served as the City of Bloomington’s first full-time legal counsel for over 18 years, before entering private practice. He is currently employed by the Snyder Companies and continues to reside in Bloomington with his family.
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