In the 1970s, President Jimmy Carter supposedly worried that Americans were suffering from collective malaise, the French word for an underlying feeling of discomfort, uneasiness.

I had lunch this past week with two civic leaders in their handsome small city in central Illinois. Both had moved to their present town for family reasons, after careers in other states. They are both concerned about the averageness of their local high school.

The dance of democracy continues in 2021 with the once-a-decade ritual of drawing new state legislative and congressional district lines in Illinois and across the nation. In two-thirds of the states, including Illinois, the legislators themselves draw the lines.

Written in quill pen (not literally; it was 1965), my master’s thesis was about “Leaderless Politics: The Illinois Republican Party.” Not much has changed.

The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University asked me to do some noodling about the future of Illinois. I have mentioned this to several friends.

Politically, Illinois House Speaker and state Democratic Party Chairman Mike Madigan is a dead man walking. The recent ComEd admissions of a decade of bribery killed him.

The recent passing of Illinois Republican Governor Jim Thompson (1977-1990) begs the question: Can the Illinois Republican Party ever again capture the governor’s office?

I am hearing a worried buzz about our republic not holding together, something I have never in my long life encountered before.

As one who scribbles largely about things Illinois, I feel almost obligated to observe on the bombshell (certainly for the small fraternity that follows Illinois politics) news that utility ComEd has agreed to pay a $200 million fine for bribery of Illinois officials.