Bad blogger

I've been trying to update my template to provide a link to the Red Cross, but for whatever reason, it's not working. I'm on vacation and don't want to deal with this, so here is the link.

Update: Working now.

mmmmm... Taffy

Duquoin State Fair time... More fun

Keep digging

The Daily Egyptian hoax story just gets worse by the minute. I've been in and out of southern Illinois for the past several days and have watched the story develop behind the scenes.

Craziness.

The Southern's Meta Minton has the best take so far.

Up until now, the reporters covering this story have seemed almost sympathetic to the DE reporter, Michael Brenner, who was allegedly duped into believing the story of a little girl and her soldier father.

But Minton caught something that my brother Devin also noticed the other day.

In the spring of 2003, Brenner wrote a story for the Daily Egyptian detailing an emotional separation between Kodee and the man he said he believed was her father, "Dan Kennings."

The story the Daily Egyptian published reads as if Brenner was on the scene of the emotional parting between father and daughter at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Following is an excerpt from Brenner's Daily Egyptian story:

"In an attempt to delay his departure, Kodee swiped his helmet and refused to let go, saying he could not leave without his helmet.

"Still in tears, Kennings took his helmet back from his 8-year-old daughter, but he still could not convince her he had to go. She refused to let go of his arms, and pleaded with her father.

"'Please don't leave,'­ Kodee begged. 'I'­ll be good if you stay. I won't get in trouble.'"

During the Friday interview, Brenner defended the style of writing he had used in the story.

"It was the style going around the newsroom at the time," Brenner said.

Brenner is just a kid, but somebody who admitted to deliberately filing a phony story and then had the gall to defend his lie shouldn't be getting a free pass - and probably shouldn't be a reporter, either.

Too much fun.

Having a wonderful time in Memphis. .. Glad I'm here.......

Breaking news...

Sen. Rick Winkel has announced he's leaving the Senate for personal reaons.

Rep. Bill Black just told me he's interested in the spot.

This is a Tier One district and will be heavily targeted.

Maybe I should hire Giangreco

I go on vacation and a guest column gets more press than my own stuff. LOL.

Under the headline "Bring It On," Democratic consultant Pete Giangreco wrote a guest column that appeared Monday in the political newsletter Capitol Fax, arguing that Gov. Blagojevich has done a better job on taxes, crime, education and a host of other issues than Edgar, who was governor from 1991 to 1999. [...]

Giangreco is on Blagojevich's political payroll, but wrote that he was acting as "a political observer and a Democrat, not as a campaign spokesman."

In an interview, Giangreco insisted the column was not an official campaign salvo.

An Edgar spokesman declined to address Giangreco's charges, but said supporters plan to respond in their own guest column in Capitol Fax next week.

"It is clear that the Blagojevich campaign is doing anything and everything in their power to keep Jim Edgar out of the governor's race," said Edgar spokesman Eric Robinson.

I figured Pete's very aggressive column would attract attention. But maybe I should make him a regular contributor.

Just kidding.

Back to vacation I go. Seriously, I am trying to relax. Actually, I've been at home. Impossible to completely relax here. Leaving this afternoon.

We interrupt this vacation for a special announcement

Today's Capitol Fax guest column by Blagojevich campaign spokesman Pete Giangreco will be rebutted next week by Jim Edgar's folks.

OK, back to the relaxation for me.

Vacation time

I'll be back in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, comments are turned off, but the news feeds are all active and will update automatically while I'm away.

Adios.

Friday White Sox blogging

Mike Debonis of Slate pretty much nails it.

Despite their current four-game losing streak, Chicago's Sox still have the best record in the American League by far. They're a lock for the playoffs, and they have a real shot at making the World Series for the first time since 1959. But if they do win it all, there won't be hundreds of books and special-edition DVDs that exhaustively document the final moments of anguish and misery on Chicago's South Side. When the sports world's most mundane epic losing streak ends, it will go quietly.

The White Sox, who last won the World Series in 1917, haven't lost in heartbreaking ways like the Red Sox always did. They don't lose despairingly often like the Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns. These Sox just lose, that's it. The team's futility has no romance, glamour, or meaning. And when they lose, they still can't win—the White Sox aren't even the losingest losers in the Second City. [...]

It's not that White Sox fans don't complain about losing. We complain all the time, but we complain about being bad. We complain about bad players, bad coaching, and bad management. Lurk around a Sox Internet board and you'll find the usual pessimism, second-guessing, personnel demands, and Cubs hatred. You'll have a hard time finding any woe-is-us moaning, though.

The comforting thing about rooting for the White Sox is that you don't have to swim in your own filth. There's little talk of "suffering"—or, even worse, a curse. The White Sox have the strongest case for curse cause-and-effect of any pro sports team. For chrissakes, this is the franchise that threw the 1919 World Series and never won it again. Surely that offends hardball deities more than selling your best player or evicting a stinky billy goat.

Read the whole thing. Perfect pitch.

And think positive. Everyone has a few bad days. A win tonight will turn this frown upside down.

Go Sox.

Vanessa's State Fair tent reviews

This was written by my daughter, Vanessa, for today's Capitol Fax. I'm posting it here so her friends can see it.

This year, my dad asked me to do tent reviews. I went from political tent to political tent looking for what's interesting and what needs changed. To be honest, I was doing my dad's dirty work because he has caught so much grief about his tent reviews in the past. I am afraid that some of this might get pretty ugly, but no offense intended.

The Democratic tent was my first stop, and my first impression was not the greatest. The first thing I noticed was how barren it seemed. It was not very decorative and the staff seemed the same. Plain.

There was, of course, a bit of information on each Democrat representing Illinois. But that was about it. No extra information, no colorful posters, nothing that would attract more visitors.

I was interviewed Wednesday afternoon by Mike Wilson, a Springfield talk radio host, and I clearly stated my dismay with the Democrats' tent. The very next next day I returned to find that it had changed for the better. There were more family oriented posters and more tables and chairs to fill in the vacant spots that had made the tent so bland. And the staff were more hospitable towards the patrons of the fair. Much better, but still not great.

Let's walk into Attorney General Lisa Madigan's tent shall we? This tent was very informative and very eye catching with bright colors. Clearly, a lot of work was done. Great job on the visuals! But the huge poster of SEX OFFENDERS right when I walked in was a little disturbing. And they even had a computer so you could look up sex offenders in your area. How comforting.

Next was Secretary of State Jesse White's tent. The environment was friendly. When I first walked in I was drawn to the bright colors and the information. It couldn't have been more informative. Speaking of colors, a person could definitely tell the staff from anyone else. Their bright yellow shirts made the place look like a Banana Republic store.

Comptroller Dan Hynes' tent had a jar of pennies and if you guessed the correct number of pennies, you won. Exactly what you won was not clear. The tent was neat and attractive. Information was brief and to the point.

I just have a brief summary of the governor's tent. Lots of cute colorful children's activities, some entertainment, but none of the staff were smiling. Come on, he can't be THAT bad.

I have to applaud the Republican tent this year. I have never seen this much enthusiasm about a job before. Everyone was very friendly. The tent had lots of information, such as the history of the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln. It was actually interesting. They've taken "Republican" to another level this year.

I had a bit of trouble tracking down Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka's tent. I asked around and was misled several times until luck finally brought me to the tent buried in an alley. The floral arrangements were a nice touch and the information was scattered around the little cases holding money and other items.

I met some great people in both the Democratic and Republican parties, and had lots of fun. See you next year!

Question of the day

It's Friday, so we'll do something a little offbeat again. This was suggested by a reader last week.

Let's say you own a sandwich shop. Devise sandwiches named after some of the top politicians in Illinois. Make sure to tell us what's on the sandwiches.

As seen in the Capitol Fax

Dick Durbin's poll numbers are here.

Four-month tracking, which appears to show little to no impact from his controversial remarks about Guantanamo back in June is here (fixed link).

All 100 Senators are here.

Insight on KJ

Rick Pearson and Christi Parsons provide some good insight into all the hoo-ha over Bob Kjellander.

Oberweis has been an early proponent of ousting Kjellander, in large part because of his chief political patron. Oberweis is being backed by conservative activist Jack Roeser, who has had a long-running feud with Kjellander.

Another contender for governor, state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger of Elgin, has long called for Kjellander to step down--again due to Roeser. In 2004, Roeser supported Rauschenberger in a failed attempt to defeat Kjellander for national committeeman.

In other words, much of this controversy has been deliberately manufactured.

Fair director profiled

I had a chance to chat with State Fair Manager Amy Bliefnick this week, and she seems to have a good head on her shoulders. The Fair looks great, I like the new ideas, and Bliefnick has loads of energy. Bliefnick is from Decatur, and the local paper provides us with an interview

Every day, Bliefnick can be seen riding around the fairgrounds in a golf cart greeting people or talking on her BlackBerry device.

"I have all this so I can work 24 hours," joked the 48-year-old Bliefnick on Tuesday, as the BlackBerry remained perched on her ear. Another cell phone was hooked to her denim skirt and a lapel microphone (connected to a battery-operated radio) was clipped to the collar of the black fringed cowboy shirt she wore. [...]

When it came to choosing a state fair manager, Chuck Hartke, director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture said there was no other choice but Bliefnick.

"It was just a given because of her bubbly personality. She is forceful in her decision making and who can say no to her," Hartke said. "I'm very pleased that she is our state fair manager this year, and she's doing a fantastic job."

If you haven't been to the Fair yet, I highly advise you to get yourself over there now.

Relief?

We've been bombarded by spam comments lately. The infestation progressed to the point where I was e-mailing Blogger every day threatening to leave next week if they didn't DO SOMETHING.

Last night, I received an e-mail saying they were working on a solution, and a few hours later it was completed. You now have to go through a word verification step before you can submit comments. Hopefully, that will stop some of the spambots, although I hear the nefarious bot masters are getting pretty good at breaking through those barriers as well.

I'm going on vacation soon and I'll be shutting off comments when I do, so if the word verification doesn't stop them, maybe several days of being completely blocked out will do the trick.

I apologize to everyone who has had to deal with the spam. The Blog Posse and I have deleted most of them within minutes, but a few have stayed up longer. Hopefully, the spam will end. If not, I'm moving to another platform, most likely WordPress, which has a lot of spectacular features. I don't want to move, but it may be the best option in the long run. I'll think about all of this while I'm away.

Keep your fingers crossed.

KJ swarmed by the media. Oberweis used part of his speech to demand Kjellander's resignation.

Rep. Roger Eddy enjoys a respite from the speeches.

Rockford stud, Aaron Chambers.

Question of the day

The guv says we shouldn't repeal or roll back the sales tax on gasoline. Instead, he wants the federal government to release stocks from the strategic petroleum reserve. Barack Obama says that's a bad idea. Sen. Steve Rauschenberger said the tax should be capped at $1.70 a gallon.

What do you think should be done, if anything? Should this even be a state issue?

Facts in disupte

The police officer who stopped Sen. James Meeks and was accused of racial profiling has a different story to tell.

A Calumet District police sergeant accused of racial profiling by the Rev. James Meeks has told investigators he drew his gun and used profanity because he was intimidated when Meeks and a pair of bodyguards who pulled up in a tail car got out of their cars at the same time.

"He had two men behind him, another one in front of him and a fourth [driver] in the car," said a high-ranking police official familiar with the sergeant's version of events. "He was frightened. I would have done exactly the same thing." [...]

According to Meeks, a white police sergeant curbed the car carrying the minister and his family at 116th and Kensington. Meeks claims that when he got out of the car to talk, the sergeant addressed him with profanity and stuck a gun in his face.

The sergeant tells a different story, according to sources. He has told police brass that he pulled over the car carrying Meeks, his wife and son after the minister's driver pulled around the squad car and went through a stop sign.

Meeks, along with a pair of bodyguards who pulled up in a tail car, got out of their vehicles and the bodyguards went "behind the squad car," the sergeant has said. The sergeant drew his weapon and issued a profanity-laced directive to all three men to return to their vehicles.

But the politically charged nature of the accusations and a mayor who is desperate to retain good ties to the African-American community and Meeks has made this a difficult case for the investigators. Meeks is out of town on vacation (I tried to reach him earlier this week) but when he comes back I'd like to hear a response from him about the officer's story.

State Fair Governor's Day pics

Lee Milner took some photos yesterday and offered to share a few with us.









Sorry about no Fair blogging yesterday. Was busy. I'll try do some today.

100 percent agreement

I don't know which editor wrote this editorial, but I'm in total agreement.

We wouldn't advise Edgar on whether or not to run. That's a personal decision.

But we will say this: Hustle it up. Make a decision now.

Edgar will harm his party if he draws this process out for several months and decides, as he has on a couple of other occasions, to stay retired from politics.

But, wait, there's more:

But Edgar wouldn't have a free ride, either. This is going to be an election about who will break the sleazy pay-to-play politics of Illinois. If Edgar runs, he will have to answer questions about Management Services of Illinois Inc., a big campaign contributor that was convicted of bilking the state out of $12.9 million on a welfare reform contract. Edgar wasn't implicated in the fraud, but more than a year after he left office, court records showed that several of his top aides had been named as unindicted co-conspirators in the case.

A little zinger never hurt.

Nice job.

Old news

Capitol Fax subscribers already know this.

U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood will not run for governor, and instead will announce plans today to seek re-election to Congress, the Peoria Republican said Wednesday.

More trouble for BK

House Republican Leader Tom Cross wants Bob Kjellander to step down.

Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross on Tuesday said the state's embattled GOP national committeeman, Robert Kjellander, should step down because his personal business interests have made their party a punching bag for Democrats.

Cross (R-Oswego) is the highest-ranking GOP elected official to call for Kjellander's resignation.

Actually, Republicans have been doing most of the criticizing, but the Cross statement can't be ignored.

Meanwhile, the Tribune's John Kass thinks that Jim Edgar's longtime friendship with Kjellander ought to be an issue. Edgar and Kjellander's wife are building a horse barn together.

Question of the day

Some governors, including Florida's Jeb Bush have sharply criticized the NCAA for its decision to bar "offensive" American Indian mascots from post-season tournaments and prohibit universities with the mascots from hosting any tournaments.

This week, the University of Illinois' board chairman added his voice to the criticism.

The University of Illinois is criticizing the NCAA for “inflammatory rhetoric” in its recent decision to sanction universities that use American Indian nicknames and mascots for their sports teams.

The NCAA’s use of the words “hostile” and “abusive” to characterize some of those, including Illinois’ Illini and Chief Illiniwek, was particularly disappointing, UI board chairman Lawrence C. Eppley wrote in a letter Monday to USA Today.

The question is, should Governor Blagojevich be expected to voice his opinion one way or another? So far, he hasn't said a word. What about the other candidates?

Let's try to stick to the question at hand and not get into a hostile debate over the chief. Thanks.

As seen in the Capitol Fax

Here is SurveyUSA's Illinois poll on President Bush's approval ratings.

The tracker is here, and ratings for all 50 states are here.

State Fair stuff

A full list of events for Governor's Day can be found here. I'll most likely be here after the official Democratic stuff ends, watching the ponies.

Illinois DemNet and DFI have events planned, with speakers.

The main Dem Party festivities begin after noon on the director's lawn, with food and drinks and then speeches and rah-rah stuff around 2 pm.

And don't forget Velvet Revolver at 8pm.

I'll likely do some live blogging from the Fair today and tomorrow, depending on my mood.

Pesky worms

Yet another good reason to switch.

JCAR approves pharmacy emergency rule

From a press release.

Legislators serving on the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) today voted to make permanent Governor Rod R Blagojevich’s emergency rule that ensures pharmacies in Illinois fill women’s prescriptions for contraceptives without delay or hassle. The rule requires licensed pharmacies that dispense FDA-approved contraceptives to fill all birth control prescriptions in the same timely manner they would other prescriptions. [...]

Gov. Blagojevich submitted an emergency rule on April 1, 2005 clarifying the responsibilities of licensed retail pharmacies to fill prescriptions for all FDA approved contraceptives if the drug store dispenses birth control medications. That rule remained in effect in an emergency capacity until today, when JCAR voted to allow the Governor’s rule to become permanent. [...]

The rule clearly defines the responsibilities of licensed retail pharmacies in Illinois to fill all FDA approved birth control prescriptions if the drugs are in stock and a legal prescription has been presented. If the drugs requested are not in stock, the pharmacy must do one of the following: provide a medically acceptable alternative drug, or, at the request of the patient, order the drug from their supplier, transfer the prescription to a different drug store or return the prescription to the patient.

Lemonade

Those high gas prices are good for the state budget.

The Illinois Department of Revenue says the state has seen an estimated $65 million increase in sales tax revenue because of high gas prices.

Revenue Department spokeswoman Geraldine Conrad says Illinois took in $345 million in sales tax on gasoline during the first nine months of the fiscal year that ended June 30th.

Motorists in Illinois pay a 6.25 percent sales tax on the pump price of gas. The state gets 5 percent and the remaining 1.25 percent goes to local governments.

The governor claims to be looking for a way to ease the crunch on consumers, but so far he's just saying he's looking, not that he's found something yet.

Question of the day

Yesterday afternoon's post about the Democracy for Illinois people planning to offer suggestions to the Democratic Party of Illinois about its website set off a huge online catfight that, as of early this morning, had already attracted 90 comments.

Very few of those comments actually talked about the party's website, however, and what could be done to improve it.

So, check out DPI's site and then suggest ways of making it better in comments.

Mayor CM-B? Not likely

The Sun-Times has a strange story about former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun's brother calling the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police asking about the timing of its mayoral endorsements.

An FOP official said Monday that Joe Braun, the former senator's brother, placed the call and told FOP officials in no uncertain terms that his sister would be a candidate for mayor.

But CM-B herself says no way.

"You just threw me for a loop. I'm surprised at that information. . . . I did not ask him to do anything in that regard," she said. [...]

"I'm a businesswoman now and I have no current intention of running for any political office," insisted Moseley Braun, who turns 58 on Tuesday. [...]

"I'm in the private sector. It puts me in an awkward position -- and almost an inappropriate one -- to get into this punditry about local events," she said.

Shout-out

I've been wondering who in the Middle East has been reading this blog (my web tracking software shows users by time zones). It turns out that it's my old buddy Jerry Clarke, who is stationed in Iraq and just wrote to say that he's been checking the blog every day to stay up on Illinois politics.

Good luck, Jerry! Stay safe. And come home soon.

Blog stuff

IL Pundit is back, and has a sharp new format. (Oops. Wrong address. Fixed now. Sorry.)

Downstate Pundit has moved, and also has a great new format.

The Tribune's Dave Wischnowsky has a new blog.

Guv opposes relaxing security requirements

From the Sun-Times:

Proposed changes in airport screening that would allow passengers to carry on razor blades, small knives and scissors are "wrongheaded," Gov. Blagojevich said Sunday. [...]

Staff recommendations drafted Aug. 5 also would allow ice picks and bows and arrows on flights. Only those passengers who set off metal detectors or look suspicious would have to remove their shoes. And screeners would be given the option to not pat down passengers wearing tight-fitting clothes.

Bows and arrows? I can see exempting nail clippers, but bows and arrows? What the heck?

When Blagojevich was a congressman, he worked against a post-9/11 plan to federalize the passenger screener system because SEIU represented several of the private screener employees. SEIU then gave the candidate almost a million dollars and hundreds of volunteers. The guv's hands aren't all that clean on this subject, but I can see why he'd be upset that bows and arrows would be allowed in carry-on luggage.

Beaubien won't challenge Bean

From the Daily Herald

Republicans in the 8th Congressional District lost another potential high-profile candidate when state Rep. Mark Beaubien decided not to vie for the right to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington. [...]

Before Beaubien, state Sen. Pam Althoff of McHenry, state Rep. Paul Froehlich of Schaumburg and Cook County Republican Chairman Gary Skoien of Inverness, among others, all decided not to try to challenge Bean.

So far, Barrington Hills investment banker David McSweeney, Mundelein businesswoman Teresa Bartels and Wauconda ex-military attorney Aaron Lincoln have filed federal paperwork to start Republican congressional campaigns.

Wauconda attorney Kathy Salvi also is a likely candidate, said her husband, former state Rep. Al Salvi. State Rep. Bob Churchill of Lake Villa has said he’ll announce his decision around Labor Day and Gurnee conservative activist Ken Arnold also is considering a run.

By the way, I hear that the Daily Herald poobahs may be thinking about a revamp to the website that could include a separate page for all political news. That would certainly be a positive development for people like me. We wouldn't have to scan every one of the DH's innumerable sections to find a decent nugget.

Petitioning the party

Democracy for Illinois plans to use its State Fair gathering to deliver letters of advice to the Democratic Party of Illinois.

DPI is not exactly netroots friendly. Its website is pretty much a joke, but the thing that bothers Internet savvy Dems the most is that the party provides no online opportunities to get involved in anything.

The party's philosophy is definitely based on the old "We don't want nobody nobody sent," Chicago machine attitude. The top Dems I've talked to view the Internets as a disraction, but they are mulling over a strategy. At the moment, however, it's all top-down thinking, and Democracy for Illinois wants to flip that around.

The group has posted a list (scroll down) of what other state parties are doing to tap into the netroots. It's worth a read.

If the group is comfortable with it, I'll agree to post some of their members' suggestions here.

Stay tuned.

Question of the day

Let's call this the suggestion box (idea stolen from KaneBlog).

What advice would you give to a Republican candidate against Gov. Rod Blagojevich? Be as complete as you can.

Wilhelm responds

David Wilhelm responds to the Sun-Times coverage of his dealings with the teachers' pension fund.

Unfortunately, several key facts may be lost amid the innuendo. Unlike the parties who are actually at the center of this investigation, Hopewell hired no consultants or placement agents and paid no fees to anyone to secure any of our investments. We have not been accused of any wrongdoing of any kind and have not been contacted by anyone in the U.S. Attorney’s office about anything whatsoever.

All I did was make personal financial sacrifices (such as taking a second mortgage on my house to finance our development), build a great team of experienced investors with a great track record and successfully launch a fund to bring desperately needed venture capital to Illinois.

He then makes several detailed rebuttals to the article. Worth a read if you're at all interested.

Kelly out

Hiram wonders why the news about Speaker Madigan and Senate President Jones taking over as co-chairs of the governor's campaign committee was issued on a Friday. Others have asked the same question here.

Perhaps I read too much into the timing of this "support" from Madigan - but if I were announcing something momentous and I had a choice, it wouldn't be on Friday during height of summer vacations. Of course, I could have this backwards. It might be that this was when Rod's campaign wanted the announcement made - which would also be interesting.

I think the Tribune may have the explanation:

The two powerful Chicago lawmakers will replace the campaign fund's current chairman, Blagojevich's controversial chief fundraiser, friend and adviser Christopher Kelly.

The campaign said Kelly, a roofing contractor, will continue to assist in fundraising and will focus on his own business.

In June, a Cook County grand jury working with Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan subpoenaed Kelly over allegations of campaign contributions traded for positions on state boards.

Those allegations were originally made by Blagojevich's father-in-law, Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), but were recanted after Kelly threatened to sue Mell.

Kelly has denied any such swaps took place.

Buried on a Friday

At 4:50 this afternoon, the governor released a list of a kabillion bill actions, both approvals and vetos. Luckily for me, I don't have to write again until Monday. I pity the reporters who have to now phone their spouses to inform them that the guv has majorly screwed their evening plans.

That's life, I guess. If you want to see the list, click here (text file).

Fritchey fires it up

Here.

Breaking news (Updated)

House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President Emil Jones have agreed to co-chair Governor Rod Blagojevich's campaign committee. From a press release:

The state’s two top legislative leaders, Illinois Senate President Emil Jones and House Speaker Michael Madigan, have agreed to co-chair Friends of Blagojevich, Governor Rod Blagojevich’s political committee.

Together with the leadership of President Jones and Speaker Madigan, Governor Blagojevich has made real progress for Illinois, providing health care to 324,000 workers and children who had none before, rewarding the work of 450,000 Illinoisans by raising the minimum wage, and investing in our schools without raising sales or income taxes.

In addition to the announcements of Jones and Madigan, Brian Daly will also return to Friends of Blagojevich in a senior staff role. A former U.S. Marine, Daly leaves the Governor’s office where he served as Deputy Chief of Staff to return to the committee where he was Deputy Campaign Manager in the 2002 primary and general elections.

Jones and Madigan will take the lead in forming a campaign committee should the Governor decide to seek reelection. Daly will run the day-to-day operations of the committee. Outgoing Chair Christopher Kelly will continue to assist the committee with fundraising.

“The Governor is delighted to have President Jones and Speaker Madigan on board for a possible second effort,” said Pete Giangreco, a consultant to Friends of Blagojevich. The Governor is not expected to make a decision on reelection until after the fall veto session.

(Removed the link to the file since I was able to put the text here.)

UPDATE: AP runs a brief:

Two key Democrats have agreed to help Governor Rod Blagojevich's (bluh-GOY'-uh-vitchz) campaign committee.

Illinois Senate President Emil Jones and House Speaker Michael Madigan will serve as co-chairs of the committee.

Both men have had their differences with Blagojevich. Their high-profile support of his campaign should send a clear signal of unity to anyone thinking of challenging Blagojevich in the primary.

Happy birthday, Vanessa!

Vanessa is my daughter. She'll be contributing a column for the Capitol Fax next week about the State Fair.

Question of the day

What currently living Illinois politician is the most likely candidate to have a statue erected in his or her honor in or around the Statehouse?

Guv defends Wilhelm (Updated)

Governor Blagojevich is starting to talk like Mayor Daley.

Gov. Blagojevich defended his former campaign chief David Wilhelm on Thursday, saying he could not stop Wilhelm, a private citizen, from handling a $10 million investment from the state Teachers Retirement System soon after leading Blagojevich to victory.

"It's a free country," Blagojevich said. "David Wilhelm doesn't work for me. He was an unpaid supporter and adviser to my campaign. He's free to pursue his own business interests if he does it honestly."

Asked if he should have encouraged his campaign chief not to try to make money from the state for a while after helping Blagojevich win on a "no business-as-usual in Springfield" platform, the governor said, "He's a grown man. I can't tell him what he can or can't do. . . . It would be nice if he became a priest. I can't make him become a priest."

He must be taking speaking lessons from hizzoner. I wonder if his voice got all high and squeaky when he was talking.

Meanwhile, the Tribune reported that the guv bashed the Republicans for his own appointment of Stu Levine to to two state boards.

Blagojevich noted that while he reappointed Levine to the board, the longtime Republican campaign donor was a supporter of his general election opponent, Jim Ryan. Blagojevich also reappointed Levine to the Health Facilities Planning Board, where prosecutors allege Levine participated in similar kickback schemes. And while Cari is a Democrat, he also supported Jim Ryan, Blagojevich said.

"I don't want to sound partisan here but these guys are Republicans for the most part and they were supporting my opponent when I ran ... This alleged criminal conspiracy began long before I was elected in 2002," the governor said.

But both Cari and Levine did help Blagojevich after he won election.

State campaign finance records show that Levine paid $1,900 for Blagojevich campaign staffers and supporters to fly to New York for a fundraiser in October 2003. Those records also show that Healthpoint, the New York investment firm that Cari represented before the teacher pension board, paid $3,500 for meals at a Blagojevich fundraiser in New York the next day.

UPDATE: Wilhelm is moving back to Ohio, but he's "not going anywhere."

David Wilhelm, a Democratic powerhouse whose name has surfaced as part of a federal probe here, is selling his Chicago house and plans to move back to his home state of Ohio.

Mr. Wilhelm Friday confirmed that his new primary residence will be just outside of Columbus. He said he is moving to help care for his elderly parents and a sister who was badly injured in a car accident, but will commute to Chicago weekly. While in Chicago he will stay in a condominium his family owns in the South Loop.

Mr. Wilhem denied that his move is connected in any way to a reported federal probe of how a venture capital fund he operates received millions of dollars in investments from the Illinois Teachers Retirement System (TRS), a large state pension fund.

“I’ve had a lot of family challenges. I want to step up and sort of rally my extended family” in Ohio, he said. “I’ll be here every week if anyone wants to find me. I’m not going anywhere.”

Latino population continues to rise

From CBS-2:

New census numbers show a booming population in the Chicago area fueled mostly by one ethnic group.

Between 2000 and 2004, the number of people in the seven-county area increased by 258,000. Nearly 217,000, or 80 percent, were Hispanics. [...]

Latinos are still only about 12.5 percent of the total state population, but more than a quarter of Chicago residents. All minorities combined are 34 percent in the state.

And the Tribune:

Hispanics' four-fifths share of the population growth since 2000 represents an accelerating trend from their two-thirds share between 1990 and 2000 in the seven-county area: Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kane, Will and Kendall Counties.

Non-Hispanic whites remain the majority in the metropolitan area, but they are rapidly losing ground to minorities in a region that now has an estimated 8.4 million people, up from 8.1 million in 2000.

The last census in 2000 showed non-Hispanic whites accounted for 58 percent of the population in those counties. Just four years later, that percentage had dropped to 55.8. Blacks account for 18.5 percent, Asians 5.3 percent and Hispanics 19.3 percent.

The Trib also had this graph:

NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION As a percent of the 7-county Chicago area

1990: 65.6%

2000: 58%

2004: 55.8%

The Trib added this story today:

Yet the percentage of Hispanic children who lack health insurance is still more than twice that of black children and more than three times the percentage of white children, according to the report.

Parade report

Jim Leach was at the State Fair parade yesterday and tells us what happened, at least from where he was standing:

• Gov. Blagojevich: no boos, but no cheers or applause either. Just an awkward silence.
• Sen. Dick Durbin: enthusiastic applause. Don't north-enders read Drudge or watch O'Reilly to know about Durbin's military-hating, anti-American ways?
• Attorney General Lisa Madigan: applause, slightly less enthusiastic than Durbin's.
• State Senator Larry Bomke: a smattering of applause
• Rep. and Lt. Gov.-hopeful Raymond Poe: back to Blagojevich-style silence, although in fairness to Poe, he was way back in the parade, and I'm sure people were exhausted from suppresing their boos for the governor.

Post your own reports in comments.

Brad Cole named to GOP state central committee

Downstate Pundit has the scoop:

A county chairman has confirmed that Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole is replacing Steve McGlynn as the 12th Congressional State Central Committeeman.

The chairman reports that it was by a unanimous vote, which would have to mean that St. Clair County Chairman Mike McGlynn must have withdrawn from the process as he controlled nearly 40% of the vote.

DP also has a brief interview with Cole at his site.

Road money

From the Rockford Register-Star:

According to a spreadsheet provided to the Register Star by the nonpartisan Metropolitan Planning Council, Illinois must raise $864 million in the next four years to provide the 20 percent match for highway projects, and bus and rail transit funding. For new commuter rail projects the state must provide a 50 percent match, or $2 billion. That's a total of $2.8 billion, the Chicago-based council says.

That's a lot more money than the state currently has, or will have, without some bigtime tax hikes. Notice that Rauschenberger, Topinka, Gidwitz and others have so far not taken the no tax hike pledge. They likely already know what the public is about to find out.

What a nice thing to say

Thanks, Charlie.

Also, while I'm making nice with the Leader, take a look at Proft's take on the idiots from Kansas.

Statement from Lt. Governor Pat Quinn

Just received this from Quinn's office regarding the threat to disrupt this Saturday's military funeral in East Peoria.

"On behalf of Illinois' 13 million citizens, we honor the life of Gunnery Sgt. Terry Ball and we mourn his loss. His memorial service on Saturday is a profoundly sad day for everyone in the Land of Lincoln and anyone who would dishonor his memory is truly despicable. May God rest the immortal soul of Gunnery Sgt. Terry Ball."

Quinn plans to attend the service. (He quietly attends all of these services.)

UPDATE: I checked with the Lt. Gov's office this morning and was assured that they contact the families in advance to see if it would be appropriate for Quinn to attend any services. He has been invited to speak at times, other times he's been a silent face in the crowd.

An important lesson

We could end up writing this same story right here in Illinois next year.

It is well established in politics that being seen as a sure loser can have its advantages. Or at least, that rule seems to be in play in Germany these days, as the country's presumed sure loser, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, facing elections a bit more than five weeks from now, is suddenly no longer being decreed a sure loser at all.

And, of course, that means that the presumed sure winner, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, Angela Merkel, has been faltering. The Sept. 18 national election, seen until a couple of weeks ago as a cakewalk to power for Mrs. Merkel, is, Der Speigel proclaimed this week, "suddenly wide open again." [...]

Other gestures that have cost Mrs. Merkel support include her announcement early on that she would favor a 2 percent increase in Germany's 16 percent value-added tax on all purchases. On its own, the idea is aimed at bringing down Germany's uncompetitive labor costs, and in a speech at the American Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday night, Mrs. Merkel offered many more measures aimed at gaining the same result.

But, as the pollster Mr. Hilmer said, "The C.D.U. has always been the party of no tax increases, and the first thing they do is announce an increase in the V.A.T." It was an honest gesture by Mrs. Merkel, political commentators have argued, and she deserves credit for being up front about what will she will do if she does become chancellor. But for the moment, it didn't wash.

Merkel is still the frontrunner, but I imagine some of you might want to compare her campaign so far to Judy Baar Topinka's prospective candidacy. There is a big difference, however. Merkel is dull and boring. JBT is anything but.

Happy birthday, Dad!

Question of the day

The State Fair begins today. What's your favorite Fair memory?

UPDATE: Looks like it may rain on the parade.

Longo sues Blagojevich

Dominick Longo will file suit against Gov. Rod Blagojevich today, claiming defamation.

Blagojevich once allegedly claimed that he would make Longo a "rich man," but dropped him like a hot potato when Longo and his Coalition for Better Government became a regular staple of news reports.

I was given a draft of the suit last night. You can download it here.

Where's the money?

From the Rockford Register-Star:

Even as President Bush visited Illinois and approved a massive transportation program Wednesday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich acknowledged that road construction here could be delayed unless the state finds more cash to cover its share.

Blagojevich has maintained that Illinois won't forfeit federal money by failing to produce matching funds for construction products. But as the GOP president signed a $286.4 billion transportation package Wednesday during a stop in Montgomery, the governor indicated the state must find some more money to protect its take. [...]

Vanover said the state does not anticipate trouble paying its share of projects associated with base federal funding, which is expected to be roughly $1.2 billion a year for Illinois. However, he said, the equation may be "tricky" when it comes to special projects included in the federal plan.

"There are several hundred of these special earmarks, and that is what we are in the process of going through right now," he said. [...]

James Reilly, chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees Chicago-area transit agencies, estimates that the state will need to kick in up to $500 million a year to avoid losing federal support just for transit projects.

One reason the capital bill was rejected is because the governor refused to indentify a specific revenue stream. He just wanted to borrow money with no real idea how to pay it back. He's skimmed so much from the Road Fund that paying for the state's share of these projects will be impossible without new revenues. But he's the anti-tax governor (at least anti-general tax hikes), so don't expect anything before the election.

After the election will be a different story, however.

Governor changes mind, again

Governor Blagojevich initially supported legislation that would give Illinois communities the right to ban smoking in restaurants, bars and other public spaces.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, he said he was having second thoughts. The guv said he was worried about the impact on business.

Yesterday, when President Bush was in Illinois and the media was otherwise preoccupied, the governor signed the bill.

Tellingly, Blagojevich didn't even issue a press release touting the signature. He simply included the legislation in a long list of bills under the heading "Governor takes bill action."

"Ultimately he felt that local government should make these types of decisions, and this bill allows them to do that," spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said Wednesday.

Idiots to picket East Peoria Marine's funeral

Fred Phelps' band of insane anti-gay "Christians" is planning to picket the East Peoria funeral services this Saturday of Gunnery Sgt. Terry W. Ball.

Phelps, as I told you earlier this week, travels the country to protest at funerals of soldiers and Marines killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. He and the Westboro Baptist Church claim that God is killing the soldiers because America is too tolerant of "fags."

You can read the group's incendiary flier here (pdf file). Be warned, however. It's vile stuff.

This is the sort of thing Sgt. Ball's family can expect:



From the Peoria Journal-Star:

Ball and his unit were driving along a road they often patrolled on June 12 when he spotted something unusual. After he got out of the vehicle, he approached the suspicous-looking object and told his unit to stand back, Sharon Ball said.

"He saw something in the road that didn't look right, and when he walked up to see what it was they detonated it," she said.

Military officials told relatives that Ball's actions prevented others in his unit from being wounded, Sharon Ball said.

"Because he held his men back and walked up there, someone told his wife he had saved his unit's life," she said.

Gunnery Sgt. Ball was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.

(Hat tip to both Marathon Pundit and a subscriber, who included this link, which has a little more info and some ideas for action).

UPDATE: I put this in comments, but I think it needs to be moved up here because the debate is going a bit haywire.

As Archpundit points out, Phelps had longtime ties to the Democratic Party (Al Gore) before he went off his nut.

This isn't a Right v. Left thing. This is extreme hate, which recognizes no conventional political boundaries and defies all reason.

Hairspray report

Publius Maximus, one of the leaders of the all but defunct Will County Hairspray blog, just sent this account of the president's visit to Oswego, Illinois:

1. No one applauded when the President introduced Dick Durbin

2. Nearly every northern Illinois congressman paid a visit. Jerry Weller is currently sizing banana hats in Guatemala, and was unavilable for a picture with the President on Will County's biggest political issue this year.

3. Denny Hassert's people failed to tell the President that Will County is faster growing than Kane or Kendall. Denny has no Will County in his district.

4. Gubernatorial candidates: LaHood, Topinka, Gidwitz, Birkett, Oberweis, and Brady.

5. No shows: Mark Kirk

6. Melissa Bean nearly killed the other Congressionals in order to get in the frame as Bush signed the transportation bill.

7. Very little Obamarama. He was all white shirt and no tie.

Not in the top ten

A new report shows that lobbyists spent almost a billion dollars lobbying statehouses throughout the nation.

Corporations, labor unions, professional associations and state agencies spent more than $953 million to lobby in the state capitols in 2004, according to an August 10 report from the non profit Center for Public Integrity (CPI).

For once, though, Illinois wasn't in the top ten.

There are more than 38,000 individual lobbyists in the state capitols -- five for every state legislator -- advocating for everything from business tax breaks and tort reform to aid for the poor and tougher requirements for lobbyists. [...]

In Texas for example, the state's 1,460 registered lobbyists earned nearly $160 million dollars last year, 74 times the amount they spent on perks for legislators.

That's about 15 percent of all money spent on all lobbying in the nation, and about half of the total amount spent on lobbyist compensation for the top ten states. Those Texans have a sweet deal going for them down there.

UPDATE: I wasn't thinking clearly enough this afternoon. We may not be in the top ten because Illinois doesn't require reporting of lobbyist compensation. Thanks to a commenter for setting me straight.

Question of the day

White Sox, Cubs or Cardinals?

The Fair approacheth

It won't be long now.

Visitors to this year’s Illinois State Fair won’t have to work quite as hard to find entertainment — not with daily parades, more prominent stages and a new section devoted to animal acts.

Concert prices have been cut. Spongebob Squarepants and other characters will wander the fairgrounds to amuse children. Visitors also will receive a guide to the day’s entertainment when they enter, another attempt to make the fair’s attractions easier to find.

“One of the things we’re really trying to do is bring more of the energy out to the people,” said the fair’s new director, Amy Bliefnick. “In the past we’ve done an outstanding job of entertainment, but the problem is we’ve put it inside tents. What we want to do is bring the entertainment out to the street.” [...]

Bliefnick said she has long felt the fair does not do enough to let people know about all the entertainment options. So this year, she’s trying to take the entertainment to the visitors.

Every day at 4 p.m., a parade will wind through the fairgrounds, complete with clowns, the Clydesdales and antique tractors.

Magicians, jugglers and musical acts will perform at stages along the streets, and costumed characters will wander the grounds to pose for pictures with children.

New entertainment stages are being added, notably a rootfop venue for blues and jazz. The hours have been extended at an air-conditioned tent devoted to Illinois wines so tasting can continue until 9 p.m.

A prominent area that had been devoted to agricultural displays has been transformed into a “Welcome to the Jungle” section focusing on animal acts, including chimpanzees, dogs, elephants and alligators.

The only time I've missed the State Fair in the past 15 years was when I was in Kosovo. My secret dream job is to one day be the fair's director. Yeah, that'll happen.

Intrigue

Karl Rove, Bob Kjellander and the Carlyle Group - one of the most politically connected companies in the world - are all combining for a bit of Patrick Fitzgerald intrigue:

Federal prosecutors investigating corruption at a state pension fund have subpoenaed records concerning $4.5 million in fees a Washington-based investment firm is paying the new treasurer of the Republican National Committee, government sources confirmed Tuesday.

The subpoena calls for documents related to the fund, the Carlyle Group and Robert Kjellander, said sources familiar with the investigation who spoke only on condition of anonymity, saying prosecutors want details of the probe kept secret.

Kjellander, a Springfield-based lobbyist who headed President Bush's re-election campaign in three states, was named the RNC's treasurer over the weekend.

Illinois Teachers Retirement System officials expressed concern about the amount of finders fees Carlyle offered Kjellander for helping to land business with the pension fund - $3.1 million paid and $1.4 million due.

Read the whole thing. Kjellander was appointed the party's national treasurer with Rove's support. The two are old friends, which is why I mentioned him in the lede. Rove, of course, is not accused of wrongdoing. Neither is Kjellander or Carlyle.

Promises, but no money

The Daily Herald ran an important story yesterday that just about everyone missed, probably because it was "disappeared" way deep in the paper's notoriously confusing and disfunctional website.

More than four years ago, state officials told Darlene Marcusson a $50,000 check would be in the mail.

But the money, needed to help pay for a transitional living center in St. Charles, never arrived. It has been locked up by politics in Springfield. At this point, Marcusson, executive director of Lazarus House, has all but given up on ever seeing it.

Unfortunately for her, those who built the center needed to be paid. Marcusson considered mortgaging her home to cover the $50,000 the state was supposed to provide. Instead, a local bank stepped in. But now Lazarus House owes the bank $50,000 plus interest. [...]

Dozens of communities, organizations and groups in the suburbs never received their state money either, forcing them to cancel projects or scramble to cover costs. Those waiting for cash range from a suburban shelter trying to help domestic violence victims to another trying to help homeless Vietnam veterans to an Easter Seals center in DuPage County.

However, when Blagojevich needed to sway lawmakers to support his state budget this spring, he found more than $21 million for Democratic lawmakers’ pet projects, signing off on $200,000 for a festival celebrating house music, the electronic dance genre first popularized in Chicago clubs in the 1980s.

A companion piece lists four groups awaiting funds:

Last year, Gov. Rod Blagojevich touted a $100,000 grant for a domestic violence shelter in Rolling Meadows.

The governor was so impressed by the cause that he later gave the community an award for its efforts.

But the shelter, run by Women in Need Growing Stronger, is turning people away because an additional $675,000 in promised state funding is in limbo. That delay forced the group to dip into its operating budget to help pay for construction. As a result, it no longer has enough money to fully staff the new shelter.

“So, the bottom line is, instead of serving 45 women and children, we’re serving about 20 and turning people away,” said Rebecca Darr, executive director. “The staff, obviously, is very frustrated because they have to turn people away and it’s very difficult when you have a woman who’s trying to flee an abusive situation and you have to say, ‘I’m sorry we don’t have any room for you.’”

Local lawmakers who thought they’d secured the money are also upset.

“They gave them a hometown award and bragged about them and everything and then didn’t fund the damn thing. It’s ridiculous,” said state Sen. Wendell Jones, a Palatine Republican.

The DH's web team really should get its act together so we don't miss stories like this any longer.

More on the labor split

The Sun-Times has a little more on the AFL-CIO split and its impact on politics:

While some have labeled the recent defections of unions at the AFL-CIO a major blow to organized labor, it will take a few years to determine if the departures are a setback or step forward in labor's political and organizing influence. [...]

Illinois AFL-CIO Political Director Bill Looby doesn't believe labor's political activity will be hurt by the split.

"I don't think there's going to be a big impact on electing worker-friendly candidates because I think the unions that have disaffiliated will have common goals . . . and typically want to elect the same people," he said. "We aren't going to allow our lobbying apparatus to suffer."

But candidates will have to work harder to land support, said Robert Bruno, associate professor of labor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"They will have to make multiple calls," he said. "There's no longer a monolithic labor organization that you can take confidence in as speaking for all of organized labor."

No mention, however, of the impact on local labor umbrella groups, such as the Chicago Federation of Labor.

Trib talks to Slim Jim

Another day, another Jim Edgar interview. This one by the Chicago Tribune.

Not a lot of new stuff in it, however. Edgar's in no real rush. Ray LaHood is sounding more and more like an ex-candidate. Etc., etc.

There was one nugget of newness, however.

Some leading Republicans, including members of the state GOP finance committee, have committed to raise $5 million for Edgar if he enters the race. Edgar was told of the offer, GOP sources said.

There used to be the "magic million" - money that top Republicans (particularly Jim Thompson) would promise potential candidates if they ran. That magic money never showed. Apparently, inflation has kicked in.

I don't know...

They may have to pare this down a bit.

UPDATE: Best comment yet:

Why don't Tom Cross' folks start a fashion blog? They could call it "Crossdresser".

Labor groups to picket Bean

From a press release:

A large contingency of working men and women representing various unions of the Chicago Federation of Labor (CFL), AFL-CIO, including the United Steelworkers of America and UNITE HERE, will gather at noon on August
10, 2005, in front of U.S. Representative Melissa Bean's Schaumburg, Illinois district office. These workers and their union leaders will publicly criticize her recent vote to approve the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), citing it as "a betrayal of working families."

U.S. Representative Melissa Bean was the sole Democratic House assent in Illinois that brought a narrow victory for the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The legislation, pushed forward by the Bush Administration, passed by a two-vote margin, 217-215 on July 28, 2005.

Despite a strong grassroots campaign by the AFL-CIO, CAFTA has become yet another flawed trade deal that will sell out America's jobs and do nothing to lift Central American and Dominican workers out of poverty. [...]

"Our union members and working families helped promote and elect Melissa Bean into office in 2004," said CFL President Dennis Gannon. "They are extremely disappointed and betrayed by this CAFTA vote and will definitely hold her accountable during the next election campaign."

Not sure if this hurts a lot in her district, which probably doesn't have a gigantic number of union members and a Republican opponent will likely be for CAFTA as well, but it is an interesting development.

UPDATE: Pat in comments makes a key point, that unions help a lot with get out the vote efforts, so this could hurt Bean in the general.

LaHood delays entry, thinks Edgar is in

From the Sun-Times:

U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood said Monday he is delaying his decision on whether to run for governor after talking to former GOP Gov. Jim Edgar, whom the Peoria Republican believes could enter the race.

"I think he might run," LaHood said. "I am sort of in a political limbo at the moment." [...]

As for LaHood, he had signaled that he would be making up his mind this month whether he would run for governor or seek another term in Congress. But on Monday LaHood said he spoke with Edgar last week, and the former governor told him "I think you should just hold off" before making any decisions.

The former governor said he was "thinking about" running again but did not plan on making any decisions until mid-September, LaHood said.

"There is plenty of time," LaHood said Edgar told him.

LaHood also said from discussions he is having with constituents, "the majority of people in my district want me to stay where I'm at."

UPDATE: Somebody just pointed out to me that Edgar told the Pantagraph, "Everybody needs to go ahead and do what they want to do." Apparently, "everybody" means "everybody but Ray Lahood."

Campaigning on the state dime?

Legislators do targeted mailings all the time, but governors almost never do. Gov. Blagojevich is not like other governors, however.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich spent nearly $10,000 in taxpayer funds to send a letter touting his health-care record for the poor to nearly a quarter of a million people who are receiving state-subsidized medical benefits.

The letter, printed on governor's office stationery, prompted Republican critics to accuse the first-term Democrat of using a state mailing list of benefit recipients to promote his prospective re-election campaign. [...]

Ottenhoff disputed the criticism that the letter was a political tool to help Blagojevich, calling such a rationale a "very cynical view of the role of government." She said letters were sent to 236,800 recipients at a cost of $9,500.

Ottenhoff said the letter was aimed at informing KidCare and FamilyCare enrollees about "new options" for health care available to them, although the only such reference in the missive was Blagojevich noting that recipients can visit "the doctor, the eye doctor, the dentist, the hospital, the pharmacy ..."

She also said the letter was aimed at encouraging current enrollees to encourage others to sign up for the program.

This is very unusual, but not unprecedented. The guv sent a note to doctors requesting feedback on medmal insurance reform earlier this year.

AIM Fight

I saw this a couple of weeks ago and meant to blog about it, but forgot.

It's called AIM Fight. The idea is to pit your AOL screen name against someone else's.

Your score is the sum of the current number of people online who have you listed as a buddy, out to three degrees. This means the score is constantly changing, and the winner of the battle will constantly change with it.

It's kinda fun... for those of us losers who still have AOL (member since 1993).

Disgusting and perverse

I make my living off of the 1st Amendment. I revere it as a holy writ. In my younger days, I even went to a few protests. And I am no fan of violence.

But it is my opinion that the biggest, scruffiest toughs from this group (many of whom are my friends) ought to team up with some of the meaner members of this group to make sure the nutballs from this group never get anywhere near an Illinois soldier's funeral.

Todd Vandermyde, a veteran himself, lobbies for both ABATE and the NRA, so he wouldn't have a lot of trouble getting things organized.

The members of Westboro Baptist Church demonstrated at the funeral of 22-year-old Spc. Adam Harding last week in Portage, Ind. The group claims God is killing American soldiers because of America's tolerance of homosexuality.

"Not only am I happy about it, the Bible says you are supposed to wash your feet in the blood of the wicked," said Jonathan Phelps, a spokesman for the group. [...]

The group in question is based in Topeka, Kan., and they showed up with approximately 10 people at Harding's funeral. The group continually taunted police and prosecutors, who were watching from the sidelines.

I only bring this up because a Chicago alderman and other Illinois veterans held a press conference yesterday to denounce this absolutely insane behavior.

I usually don't write about stuff like this or get this harsh, but my blood has been boiling ever since I read the story Monday afternoon. I wrote this post last night, then waited to calm down, but I just read the story again and I'm still completely outraged.

One of these idiots held up a sign that read, "Thank God for dead soldiers." Another read, "God sent the IEDs." Sick. Just sick.

I should make it clear that I'm in no way advocating violence of any sort. But families ought to have the right to hold a burial ceremony without this sort of disgusting distraction. Something needs to be done.



According to other reports, the group is heading to Ohio next.

UPDATE: If you're in the Springfield area, tune to 970 AM at a little after 3 today. Mike Wilson will interview the leader of this disgusting group. WMAY doesn't have Internet simulcast, but Wilson said he will record the interview and podcast it later. I'll link to it when it's up.

UPDATE 2: I've been busy with other things, but it turns out that this despicable mob has picketed a funeral in southern Illinois. The group's leader didn't show up, but 12 of his followers did. Go here (pdf file) to see the disgusting flier the cretins handed out at the funeral of Army Specialist Brian M. Romines.

Question of the day

First, read this story...

Illinois politicians are scurrying to distance themselves from a series of corruption indictments leveled by federal prosecutors.

Just as politicians dumped campaign contributions from troubled companies like Enron and WorldCom, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, and Republican state Sens. Steve Rauschenberger of Elgin and Bill Brady of Bloomington are making plans to return contributions from millionaire businessman Stuart Levine and three others named in the charges.

Which is better, in your opinion, returning tainted money to a contributor or donating it to charity?

Scratching backs

Chuck Sweeny says that former Rockford labor honcho Jeff Polsean is running as a Democrat for Winnebago County Clerk.

Why should you care about that? According to Sweeny, Polsean and Republican Sen. Dave Syverson are very close pals.

Syverson might not officially endorse Polsean, but he will not oppose him, either. And that sends the word to Syverson's fellow Republicans that the party should not mount a serious challenge for the county clerk's job, provided the Democratic nominee is Polsean.

If this scenario plays out, the return favor would be that Democrats lay off making a serious challenge to Syverson's re-election in the 34th District, which is more Democratic than it used to be.

Result: Democrats get a county office. Syverson gets to stay in office.

If the unions are in on the deal, then Chuck is probably right. But the final decision will be made in Emil Jones' office, not Polsean's.

Hamlet in the Rockies

I don't know if he wants to keep us in suspense or play us for chumps. Either way, he's still getting ink.

Former Gov. Jim Edgar has a message to Republicans wondering if he'll make a comeback in the 2006 governor's race:

Wait a few weeks. [...]

"From a personal point of view, this is not something I was looking at," Edgar said. "I've got folks coming to me and, out of courtesy, I said I would consider it but that I wasn't going to rush into making a decision.

"I told them when I got back at the end of the summer, I'd think about it," said Edgar. "Anything can happen until December. I would think if I was going to get into it, I would make a decision before December."

In the meantime, Edgar said, "Everybody needs to go ahead and do what they want to do."

For entertainment purposes, I'll take Rod Blagojevich any day. He's good for business.

But whatever you want to say about Edgar - and you and I can both say plenty - he was a grownup. And grownup leadership is something we've been sorely lacking in this state for a very long time.

Has it really been ten years?

Hyde backs Gidwitz

Republican governor hopeful Ron Gidwitz has just posted this endorsement letter from retiring Congressman Henry Hyde on his website.

For these reasons and many more Ron Gidwitz has my endorsement and full support in next year’s election. As a longtime community leader, education advocate, and successful businessman, Ron Gidwitz has a proven track record of a reformer – someone who can make things better.

Whereas Ron and I share opposition to partial birth abortion and support parental notification, there are abortion issues we differ on. But I know Ron to be someone who listens and considers every side of an issue and he has promised me an audience on any particular abortion legislation that may come along.

Perhaps most importantly, he does not have political aspirations that go beyond serving the people of Illinois. We are fortunate to have a man with his honesty and integrity willing to serve the people of Illinois - not advance his political career.

Hyde has been chairman of Gidwitz's campaign, so this wasn't unexpected. Gidwitz has also helped Hyde raise money in the past and the two are close.

But it's still an "Odd Couple" moment, considering how liberal Gidwitz is.

(Hat tip: OneMan.)

Good stuff

Charlie Johnston has a very good column today and is definitely worth a read.

He starts with a report on a recent Republican gubernatorial candidates' forum in Skokie and notes that former state Sen. Pat O'Malley was there.

Former State Sen. Pat O’Malley was smooth and on message. I like the guy but still don’t see what his niche is in this group. I tried to think afterwards what he has to offer that someone else in the field does not offer with the same or more credibility.

Interesting. What's he doing on the stump?

Johnston then comes squarely down on the side of Cook County Republican Chairman Gary Skoien.

Certainly his confrontation with Mayor Daley has ignited enthusiasm among rank-and-file Republicans in the city in a way I have never seen before. And in case you don’t know, Skoien’s response to his firing is to kick up the bounty to $100,000 from $10,000. [...]

The Gary Skoien episode has taken us to a very interesting moment in the party; a moment when we are separating the sheep from the goats. The enthusiasm among rank-and-file Republicans has shot up because we have a leader who is willing to take it to the Democrats and when he is kicked, kick back all the harder. It inspires people.

Read the whole thing.

Rick Pearson at the Tribune has a much different take:

To be sure, harsh criticism of the scandal-tarred Daley administration, beset by federal investigations into patronage and cronyism, is valid. But Skoien's publicity stunt provides a reminder of the continued fringe-level status of a Chicago Republican disorganization best known for putting up Ray "Spanky the Clown" Wardingly for mayor against Daley a decade ago.

The only way criticism carries residual political currency is when its messenger has the credibility to stand and deliver. On that score, the Cook County Republican organization can't be found on radar.

Ouch.

Question of the day

The governor's people have said that he will sign the medical malpractice bill, even though he essentially opposes the concept.

Do you think he should sign the bill? Why or why not?

Oy

From an American Bar Association press release:

Just over half of adult Americans (55 percent) can correctly identify the three branches of government, fewer than half can identify the meaning of the concept of separation of powers (45 percent) or that one role of the judiciary in the federal government is to determine how existing law applies to the facts of a case (48 percent). And just over one-third (36 percent) cannot correctly identify the principle of checks and balances. [...]

The survey, commissioned by the ABA and conducted by Harris Interactive(r), revealed that 82 percent of adult Americans feel the concept of separation of powers is important, with 61 percent feeling it is "very important." Among the 45 percent who correctly identified the meaning of the concept as "Congress, the President and the Federal Courts each have different responsibilities," 88 percent thought it was important.

The entire survey can be found in pdf form here.

As seen in the Capitol Fax

Here is that somewhat weird SurveyUSA poll I told you about today.

I'd be interested to see what you think about the results of the gay marriage and abortion questions. Make sure you look at the national results as well.

The Tony & Bob Show

Every time I turn around, it seems, "Papa" Tony Rezko or Bob Kjellander is in the news again - and not in a good way.

From Sunday's Sun-Times:

A Glenview businessman who federal investigators believe received a $250,000 kickback in a state teacher pension scheme has had past business dealings with gubernatorial fund-raiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the Chicago Sun-Times has found.

From Sunday's Tribune:

A top national Republican official criticized for collecting hefty payments as a consultant in Illinois has received $3.1 million in fees from an investment firm that does business with the state teacher pension board.

Robert Kjellander, who on Friday was named treasurer of the Republican National Committee, is a longtime friend of President Bush's political strategist Karl Rove. He is also one of the state's premier lobbyists and collected the fees as part of his representation of The Carlyle Group, whose board of directors once included the first President Bush.

Rezko, you will recall, once lobbied with Kjellander and the two men have had other business ties as well.

Hoffman profiled

The Post-Dispatch profiles Rep. Jay Hoffman. A few highlights:

Though Hoffman doesn't yet have a re-election opponent, Metro East Republicans are whispering that the eight-term incumbent is vulnerable because of his loyalty to a Chicago-based governor who is slipping in popularity, especially downstate.

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, said, "It's a known fact on both sides of the aisle that he's the governor's point-man. If you're not gaining any ground with the governor, you talk to Jay. [...]

"I'm (Blagojevich's) advocate in the Illinois Legislature ... I've helped him (on numerous issues), and I'm not apologizing for any of that," Hoffman said. "Having said that, has it been difficult sometimes? Yeah, it's been difficult ... I mean, you get up every morning, and ... there are a lot of slings and arrows out there." [...]

"As a person, it's hard not to like Jay ... (but) his popularity hasn't been helped by being viewed as the governor's floor leader in the House," said David Dring, spokesman for House Republican Leader Tom Cross. "As disdain for Blagojevich increases, Jay's popularity is probably hurt." [...]

At times, Hoffman seems to be the only legislator defending Blagojevich, whose detractors have included fellow Chicago Democrats such as House Speaker Michael Madigan. Often, conflicts have arisen as a result of Blagojevich's habit of taking public shots at fellow politicians, even allies.

"One of the greatest strengths (Blagojevich) has is, he doesn't pull punches. He says what he feels. When you're one-on-one talking to him, you appreciate that," Hoffman said. "But sometimes when you're talking to reporters, and you just say what's on your mind, it doesn't always come out as well."

Read the whole thing. Very good stuff.

I agree with Dring that it's easy to like Hoffman, and without a doubt he has one of the toughest jobs at the Statehouse, but he handles it well and with exceptionally good humor.

The Blagojevich administration is known for its insular behavior and its humorless attitude, but Hoffman, with his slightly manic yet easy-going manner, has managed to smooth over many a problem for this governor.

It's not an overstatement to say that Hoffman is one of the best things that Rod Blagojevich has going for him today.

Rauschenberger said he didn't attack Chicago

From the Sun-Times:

Earlier in the week, he traveled the state launching his campaign. In its coverage of his Springfield stop, the Bloomington Pantagraph reported that "Rauschenberger, a former furniture salesman, also called Chicago and its millions of voters the 'great wasteland to the north.' "

On Friday, Rauschenberger insisted he was talking about "the political process in Chicago, where there seems to be a very high tolerance and a consistency of dealing with a one-party system that doesn't care in many cases about the interests of the rest of the state." [...]

Blagojevich's political consultant, Pete Giangreco, scoffed at Rauschenberger's explanation, arguing the GOP challenger says different things depending on what part of the state he is in.

"He didn't attack the political culture in Chicago," Giangreco said. "He attacked Chicago.

"And as far as party rule, we had one-party rule with the Republicans for 26 years [in Springfield], and it left us with deficits that Steve Rauschenberger voted for and people without health care."

I think somebody ought to release the entire transcript. What Steve is essentially doing here is attacking Bloomington Pantagraph Statehouse bureau chief Kurt Erickson's reporting. Both Rauschenberger and Erickson can't be right.

Rauschenberger also said he was a much better potential governor than Jim Edgar.

Topinka and others have been urging Edgar to run, arguing he would be the party's strongest candidate, but Rauschenberger was critical.

"That shows a lot of conviction on the part of Judy about how she feels about wanting to be governor herself," Rauschenberger said. "I think I'm better prepared to be governor of the state of Illinois today than Jim Edgar is."

Topinka political consultant Dave Loveday called Rauschenberger's remarks "unbelievable."

UPDATE: Doug Finke has the full quote:

""I don't think there's a problem with the budget process," Rauschenberger declared. "If there's a problem, it's a problem with (lawmakers). If you want a better budget process, we've got to start electing better people to come to Springfield, particularly from that great wasteland in the north, the city of Chicago."

Frankly, I think this could be interpreted either way, so I think we ought to take SR at his word that he wasn't bashing Chicago and move on. At least that's what I'm going to do. Whatever you may think, it's most probable that he won't be making cracks this again any time soon.

Friday White Sox Blogging

Tadahito Iguchi is clutch personified.

He may not have the best batting average, or the highest number of stolen bases, or even much of a command of the English language, but he has been my favorite player for most of the year.

He finds a way to get on base when the team needs it. Then he steals. Then he scores. He's a blast to watch.

I even like the way his name sounds as it rolls out of my mouth. Try it. Tadahito Iguchi. Yeah.

Turns out, he's one of Ozzie Guillen's favorite players, too. Guillen said Iguchi was his MVP. Iguchi is Ozzie-ball, baby.

"This kid is underrated because he's playing with a couple of pretty good ballplayers," Guillen said. " I think one of the biggest reasons why we are where we are is because of him. I think he plays real solid baseball, clutch hitting, moving the guy over for the team. He's a great team player."

Clutchsan. Now that's a nickname. Mr. Clutch in Japanese. At least I think that's right. Whatever. It sounds good. But not as good as 70 wins.

Go Sox.

Question of the day

Kind of a lighthearted question today, suggested by a longtime reader.

If the Blagojevich years were to become a movie, who would play the governor?

Feel free to suggest actors and actresses for some of the other big players as well.

National stuff

I try to avoid national stuff, but this New Republic story is fascinating.

As a service to readers, and in an effort to demystify the anonymous source phenomenon, I asked 15 of the finest Bush White House reporters to help assemble a guide to the secret society of sources close to the White House. Despite the swelling ranks of scttwh, interviews revealed that there is indeed a core membership that might be called the Usual Suspects: a cadre of lobbyists, congressmen, ex-officials, and other hangers-on who seem to be programmed into every cell phone on the White House beat.

For reporters, they represent Washington's shadow White House, a place filled with slightly more accessible sources armed with dramatically less knowledge.

Absolutely engrossing. Make sure you read the whole thing.

Bush wants an extension

This was making the rounds yesterday, and was a hot topic in the comments here, but I thought I'd put up a story and give you a chance to debate it without distraction.

President George Bush pulled U.S. Rep. John Shimkus into the Oval Office on Friday to ask the Southern Illinois congressman to reconsider his stance on term limits.

Shimkus, R-Collinsville, is currently serving his fifth term as the U.S. Representative of Illinois District 19. When Shimkus first made a run for the office in 1996, he pledged he would only serve six terms. This means under current timeline, 2006 would be Shimkus' last election cycle - possibly ending his reign in 2008.

However, Bush thinks that might be too soon for Shimkus to bow out. [...]

Also attending the meeting with the president was Karen Shimkus, the wife of the congressman. Tomaszewski said Shimkus must first discuss the option with his family and then get feedback from his constituents.

So, what do you think? Will he do it? Should he?

Patronage battle heats up

The mayor says he doesn't care, Shakman says the judge's comments are overblown, but the aldermen are clearly freaking out.

If a federal judge wants to give his handpicked monitor the extraordinary power to sign off on every job the city fills, "so be it," Mayor Daley said Wednesday, but an attorney representing Michael Shakman said he doesn't believe it'll come to that.

"I would consider it sort of an off-handed comment by the judge to illustrate that he was giving her the power to do the job. He was, in no way, endorsing that. It gets more attention than it deserves," said Shakman's attorney Roger Fross. [...]

"It's a damn shame that it's come to this -- that people who work in government and should know what the city needs best in terms of personnel are essentially, it appears, being taken right out of the equation. ... It's just a shame now that a federal court is making the decision that they want to run the city of Chicago," said Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th), the mayor's unofficial City Council floor leader.

These guys never learn.

More on the corruption front here:

A federal judge has ordered Mayor Richard M. Daley to give a sworn, pretrial interview to lawyers in a lawsuit filed by Daley's cousin, who the mayor fired last year after the cousin was tied to the city's scandal-plagued Hired Truck program.

Mark Gyrion, a former superintendent of garages for the city's Water Management Department, filed a lawsuit after he was sacked claiming wrongful termination and defamation.

In denying the mayor's bid to be excused from the interview, U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucko conceded that an order for the mayor to sit for a deposition was unusual. [...]

``In this case, however, I cannot determine from the record ... that he has no relevant information; indeed the opposite appears to be the case,'' she wrote.

I think this is a major first. A bona fide member of the Bridgeport Daley clan putting the big boss on the hot seat.

The Elgin monkey

No, I'm not talking about Rauschenberger. This is not that sort of blog. But what's the deal with the monkey?

The elusive Elgin monkey was seen again Thursday — and apparently is on the move.

A woman reported seeing the mysterious primate at 5:30 a.m. on Vernon Drive in the Country Knoll subdivision near Provena St. Joseph Hospital.

Elgin police searched the area but did not find the animal.

The sighting was the fourth reported to police this week. [...]

Elgin police ask anyone who has seen a primate on the loose or has information about a sighting to call (847) 289-2500 or (847) 289-2529.

Must.Restrain.Self.From.Making.Stupid.Monkey.Jokes.

UPDATE: What's with all the whining from the Rauschenberger fans? I specifically said that this was not a dig at the bearded one. I just found this story funny and offbeat. You guys are too much.

Labor pulls award, looks for opponent

Melissa Bean is in hot water with her local labor unions.

Suburban Chicago Congresswoman Melissa Bean is no longer `Person of the Year' material. At least not to organized labor representing part of the Democrat's Eighth Congressional District.

The 20,000 member Northeastern Illinois Federation of Labor had planned to honor the congresswoman with the award next month. But its executive council says it is dropping the plan because she recently voted in favor of a free-trade pact.

The Central American Free Trade Agreement passed the House last month by a two-vote margin. President Bush has since signed it.

Bean was the only Illinois Democrat to vote for it.

UPDATE: A newer version of the AP story has this line:

Union representatives also said they would try to find a Democratic primary opponent for Bean.

Waiting... (UPDATED)

Still waiting on the result of Paul Vallas' Cook County court hearing to determine whether he is declared an Illinois resident and, therefore, eligible to vote. Check back often.

UPDATE: This afternoon, the judge granted Attorney General Lisa Madigan's motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that it was not "ripe" for review. In other words, since Vallas has yet to declare any candidacy, circulate petitions, etc. then there was no need for a decision.

So far, Vallas has been coy about his plans, but he may make some sort of announcement soon.

More in tomorrow's Fax.

UPDATE 2: From a reporter at the scene:

Afterward, Dean Vallas {Paul's brother] all but pulled the plug on running for governor, even though his attorney, Burt Odelson, insisted Vallas still could, but would simply have to go through the front door and the SBE objection process.

UPDATE 3: Just talked to Dean Vallas. The plug has, indeed, been pulled. Details in tomorrow's Capitol Fax.

Question of the day

Other than Melissa Bean, are there any other potentially hot congressional races we should be keeping our eyes on? Why? Specifics, please.

Missed this one

Hiram give us the background:

DuPage County Board Chair Robert Schillerstrom has become a stealth candidate, raising $977,686 in the first six months of 2005 - second in the Illinois GOP only to gubernatorial hopeful Ron Gidwitz, according to the Naperville Sun.

While Schillerstrom showed signs earlier of not entering the governor's race, one of those signs, not raising money, is no longer operative. With DuPage State's Attorney Joe Birkett not really running for governor, it might be tempting to recalculate the gubernatorial odds with Schillerstrom [...]

While it's hard to imagine him taking on Lisa Madigan in a stiff challenge for the Attorney General slot in 2006, he presumably could clear the GOP field to try. Ditto the Comptroller's Office with Dan Hynes and the Secretary of State's Office with Jesse White, who is running for re-election in 2006. If gubernatorial hopeful Judy Baar Topinka vacates her Treasurer's Office there's likely to be a lot of people vying for it - and Schillerstrom tends not to like a crowd, but money buys you a first class seat. It could be that this is really 2010 money, which opens a number of possibilities, but doesn't explain why Bob's raising the money now.

What do you think Schillerstrom is up to?