Mississippi calling....

And now for my next trip, I'm hopping in my car and driving to Mississippi. As I noted yesterday, I'll be blogging on my Treo. And keeping an ear out for news on the Tony Rezko trial.

Rezko closing arguments today

The trial of accused political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko is almost over. Closing arguments begin this morning.

If you're looking for a summary of the trial, the Chicago Sun-Times has a pretty good run-down what occurred over the last two months.

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Tony Rezko corruption legal

New blog: PR for Laughs

Very good friend of the blog Tom Ciesielka has set up his own blog, PR for Laughs. Tom's been working in public relations for about twenty years, so he'll have plenty of material.

Technorati tags: public relations pr blogging blog humor humour

My Mississippi Manifest Destiny (and the March to the Beach)

Daddy's gone south on the Natchez Trace
If he can't show the money
Then he don't show his face
Mark Knopfler, Daddy's Gone to Knoxville, 2002.

Early tomorrow morning I leave for the follow-up to My Kansas Kronkikes--My Mississippi Manifest Destiny, and with a tip to the hat to the protagonist's goal in Mr. Bean's Holiday--getting to the beach. Most likely at Ocean Springs.

But there is some political news to get to first. On Tuesday there will be a special election in Mississippi's 1st Congressional District. Republican Greg Davis is matched against Travis Childers (what a Southern name!). It's a reliably safe Republican seat--or one would think. But two prior 2008 special elections, Illinois' 14th and Louisiana's 6th, both were captured by Democrats in Republican "safe" districts. However, the GOP candidates in those races were weak--both were two-time losers in their attempts to win US Senate seats.

Here's my travel plan. Depending how early I rouse myself from bed tomorrow morning, I plan make the Shiloh Battlefield--that's in Tennessee, and then head into Missisippi to Corinth, and visit that battlefield. And then to the Natchez Trace and beyond.

That will likely include--weather, time, road conditions and the like may effect my itenary--the following locations.

Tupelo
Oxford
Philadelphia
The McCain family's ancestral home, Teoc.
Highway 61, the Blues Highway.
Jackson
Vicksburg Battlefield
Ocean Springs and the beach.

Any suggestions? Levois of It's My Mind suggested Mound Bayou. I'm not taking my laptop, as I don't want to lug too much stuff around, or--horrors--see something valuable dissappear. I will be Treo blogging, something I haven't done since my Kansas trip. I'll have two cameras, a GPS device, and a voice recorder, lest anyone want to be interviewed by some guy from Morton Grove, Illinois.

Outside of a Mississippi tourist brochure, Marlo Carter Kirkpatrick's Mississippi Off the Beaten Path, I don't have much else to go on when I get to the Magnolia State.

Related post:

Marathon Pundit's My Kansas Kronikles

Technorati tags: Kansas travel byways Mississippi Americana Democrats John McCain McCain Republican

Hamas trauma for Obama

Last month Ahmed Yousef, who is the chief advisor to the prime minister of the terrorist group Hamas, told WABC Radio, "We like Mr. Obama and we hope he will win the election." He was asked why. "He has a vision to change America."

Now comes news that Rob Malley, now a former Middle East policy adviser to the Barack Obama campaign, has been meeting with Hamas.

Last month Obama told a Jewish group that he would never meet with Hamas.

Obama repudiated the Hamas endorsement, but a pattern persists--unsavory characters keep popping up around the senator.

Related post:

Obama's problems with the Jewish vote could mean good news for McCain

Technorati tags: Israel מדינת Jimmy Carter politics news Hamas terrorism Palestine خبر سياسی زنان Democrats Obama politics Barack Obama

Happy Mother's Day

To all of you mothers out there. Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Archbishop to Obama veep candidate Sebelius: Stop taking Communion

For several months Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, whose father was governor of political bell weather state Ohio, has been among the top tier of potential running mate candidates for Barack Obama. The Democratic National Committee is grooming her for bigger and better things--Sebelius gave the rebuttal to President Bush's final state of the union address.

In fact just yesterday, the Washington Posts' Chris Cillizza just yesterday put her on the top of his list of Obama veepsters. David Finkelstein of the Times of London has her at number four.

But a Papal bullet may may prove fatal to her chances. The last thing the junior senator from Illinois needs is a religion controversy involving his running mate. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas says Sebelius should not accept the sacrament of Communion--until she renounces, publicly, her support of abortion rights.

Rudy Giuliani has faced a similar situation with the Roman Catholic Church for years, but he took Communion just last week at Pope Benedict's mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral last month--which did not escape the notice of New York's Cardinal Edward Egan.

Sebelius' problems with the Church don't end there. She has accepted campaign contributions from Dr. George Tiller of Wichita, perhaps the nation's most notorious late-term abortionist; his nickname is "Tiller the Baby Killer."

Sebelius' son, John, caused embarrassment to the governor and her husband (a magistrate judge) earlier this year when it was revealed that he not only created a prison-themed board game, "Don't Drop The Soap," but the contact address regarding the game was listed as the governor's mansion in Topeka.

A spokesman said in January that the governor and judge "are very proud of their son John's creativity and talent."

Well, maybe they aren't embarrassed.

Jill Stanek, who blogs regularly about pro-life issues, has her take here.

Related post:

UPDATED: Gov. Sebelius' son's "Don't Drop the Soap" prison board game

Technorati tags: Kansas Democrats news Wichita Sebelius prison Obama politics Barack Obama Catholic religion

Bush national guard smear revisited

Cal Skinner of the McHenry County Blog sent this story my way.

From a Federal Elections Commission press release released earlier today:

In MUR 5542, the Commission found that Texans for Truth (TFT) violated the Act by failing to register with the Commission as a political committee, by failing to disclose its contributions and expenditures and by knowingly accepting contributions from individuals in amounts exceeding $5,000. TFT registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a tax-exempt political organization in August of 2004. From September 13 through October 20, 2004, TFT spent $303,000 for television ads alleging that President Bush evaded National Guard service while in Alabama. The FEC reached its conclusion because the group told potential donors that their funds would be targeted to the defeat of a specific federal candidate. All proceeds from these solicitations are, therefore, contributions under the Act. If a group receives contributions in excess of $1,000 and its major purpose is influencing federal elections, it is required to register with the FEC and abide by the restrictions of the Act. The Commission also found that the group’s statements and activities demonstrated that its major purpose was to defeat George W. Bush. In a conciliation agreement, TFT agreed to pay a $5,000 civil penalty and register as a political committee and file reports with the FEC covering its 2004 activities.

The first media mention of Texans for Truth I found was a USA Today article from September 7, 2004. The next day, the infamous 60 Minutes Wednesday segment with the forged "Rathergate" memos aired on CBS.

The Kerry/Edwards campaign knew of these "documents" beforehand.

I wonder what drove Texans for Truth to run their commercials?

Meanwhile, the producer of that 60 Minutes Wednesday segment, Mary Mapes, just can't let it pass. I'm sure Huffington Post is glad to have her though.

Technorati tags: Democratspolitics Bush John Kerry republican Rathergate CBS FEC Mary Mapes

Glenn & Helen Show podcast with Fred Thompson

The latest Glenn & Helen Show podcast has a distinguished guest--former Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson. Judicial appointments are a key concern for the former Tennessee senator, which is why he's campaigning hard for John McCain. He didn't quite put it in these words, but he made is clear that he wants the next president to choose judges who interpret the law, not legislate from the bench.

Thompson is asked if he's interested in becoming McCain's attorney general. Click here to listen, or download the podcast on the iTunes web site, to find out the answer.

And it's free.

The Glenn & Helen Show consists of Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit and his wife, Dr. Helen Smith, both Tennesseans. As for Dr. Smith, she has an excerpt from the fabulous David Harsanyi of the Denver Post on the type of Supreme Court justices Barack Obama would appoint.

Archives of the Glenn & Helen Show are here. One show is quite special, about the Daring Book for Girls, Little Marathon Pundit's favorite book. In fact, she likes it so much, she won't let me read it.

Technorati tags: republican politics election Fred Thompson Tennessee John McCain McCain Republican GOP Barack Obama Obama iPod itunes podcast blog books

Ask Barack Obama a question

Tired of the mainstream media not asking, with a few exceptions, not asking Barack Obama tough questions? Or his staying away from people--such as Bill O'Reilly and much of the Chicago media who know what to ask the junior senator of my state?

Then head to the Republican National Committee site, CanWeAsk.com.

My question was based on the below post:

Something else for Obama to be silent on: Chicago will have the nation's highest sales tax

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats Illinois Politics Cook County

Where I run

I show plenty of photos of the North Branch of the Chicago River, wildlife, and flowers in the forest preserves I run in, but this is what I typically see--an asphalt path in the woods.

That's how Linne Woods in Morton Grove looked a couple of hours ago.

Technorati tags: Illinois photography photos Morton Grove nature river

Rahm Emanuel: Obama is our presumptive nominee

One of the few prominent Illinois politicians not to hop on the Barack Obama bandwagon is Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago), the architect of the Democrats' 2006 Congressional takeover.

Emanuel is a Clintonista through and through, but he's also a realist. And he's just the type of guy who might be summonsed to corner Hillary Rodham Clinton and tell her "to do the right thing" for the party.

From Huffington Post:

"At this point, Barack is the presumptive nominee," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel during the New Yorker's magazine conference. "Hillary can't win but something could happen that could effect that Barack could lose the nomination."

Emanuel wouldn't go so far as to say that Clinton should drop out. "Next question!" he declared when asked. But his voice does carry political sway. The congressman has been staunchly non-committal throughout the primary process. And his ties to the Clinton administration and connections to fellow Chicago pol Obama make him one of the key figures who could help facilitate an end to the nomination battle.

Clearly, party unity was on Emanuel's mind.

"What Hillary does in the next month is important," he said. "If she spends her time contrasting with Senator McCain, drawing distinctions that help the Democratic Party, that's productive. If it's done in another way, that's not productive."

In a side note, one of the stories I've been covering on this blog is the military scholarships scandal at the University of Illinois. Rep. Emanuel, along with fellow Democrat Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, has been very helpful in standing up for the Illinois veterans shafted in this case.

Related post:

Marathon Pundit exclusive: Van der Hooning wins five of six counts in case against Univ. of Illinois

Technorati tags: illinois university of illinois Military college education MBA armed forces Pat Quinn Rahm Emanuel democrats elections Hillary Clinton Hillary Election politics

Join Illiniois for McCain Google Group today

Here I go again...time for me to once again ask readers living in Illinois to stand up and let your voice be heard.

So I'm asking Illinois McCain supporters to join the Illinois for McCain Google Group. It's free!

Technorati tags: politics Election John McCain McCain Republican GOP Illinois Politics Illinois

Obama's problems with the Jewish vote could mean good news for McCain

The likely Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, pledges to negotiate with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who just yesterday called Israel "a stinking corpse." For twenty years he sat in the pews of Reverend Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ, Wright has accused the United States of sponsoring state sponsored terrorism against the Palestians. Never mind that Palestinian terror groups regularly fire missiles into Israel, and have no shame in sending suicide bombers to kill ordinary citizens. After some prodding from Tim Russert in a March Democratic debate, Obama denounced and repudiated racist and anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, but Obama gives the leader of the sci-fi religion undeserved respect by referring to him as "Minister Farrakhan."

Much has been made by bloggers, including this one, about Obama's ties to unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers. The pair served on the board of The Woods Fund, which in 2001 gave $40,000 to the Arab American Action Network, or AAAN, co-founded by anti-Israel activist and Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi.

In 2000, Khalidi, then a University of Chicago professor, held a fundraiser at his home for Obama's unsuccessful run for Congress.

Former national security advisor for Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, an early Barack Obama supporter, advises the Obama campaign on foreign policy matters. He's a harsh critic, like his former boss, of Israel.

Which leads us to Carter. Asked by a reporter about Carters shameful meeting with Hamas terrorists, Obama, who was having breakfast at the time, snapped back, "Why can't I just eat my waffle?" Given a second chance to respond, the great orator followed up with "Just let me eat my waffle."

Where is the controversy about Obama's temper?

The American Thinker's Richard Baehr is among the many political analysts taking note of Obama's problems with Jewish voters--and the opportunity it gives John McCain this fall.

McCain could break the modern day GOP high water mark of 39% set by Ronald Reagan against Jimmy Carter in 1980, which was before Carter's venomous attitude towards the Jewish state was so evident. A shift of that magnitude could make a difference in Pennsylvania, a state Kerry won by only 2.5% in 2004, and in which Obama was soundly beaten by Clinton in the recent primary. There are over 200,000 Jewish voters in Pennsylvania.

None of this is surprising. Jews who care about Israel have many reasons to have concerns about Barack Obama, pretty much all of which have been laid out in the American Thinker in a series of exhaustively researched articles by Ed Lasky. Of course, some Jews do not care about Israel very much, and those Jews can find a comfortable home in the Democratic Party, where support for Israel is far lower than among Republicans overall in every national survey that has been taken comparing the parties on this issue.

In any case, with Obama a risk on Israel and untested in matters of national security and foreign policy, and with the Republicans offering John McCain, a long time strong supporter of the US-Israel relationship and a man, whose entire career provides a definition of the words "tested" and "experienced," it is no wonder that those Jews who choose this year to finally vote Republican will have a lot more company than they might have in the past.

The Jewish vote, which has been a loyal cog in the Democratic Party's "big tent" for decades, is in play. The post-1968 shift to the Left by the Democrats, and its stubborn pro-abortion stance, saw the Catholic vote, a reliable source of votes for the party since the 1830s, drift towards the GOP.

Cross-posted on McCain Now

Technorati tags: Israel מדינת Jewish Jews Jimmy Carter politics news Hamas terrorism سوريا حركة حماس Palestine فلسطين farsi iran Persian خبر سياسی زنان Democrats John McCain McCain Republican GOP Bill Ayers Rashid Khalidi

Bankruptcy may be Rezko's next battle

Democratic political insider Antoin "Tony" Rezko is undoubtedly having a tense week--save for the closing arguments, his trial is over, and a jury of twelve men and women will decide his fate--guilty or innocent. The waiting game must be painful for him.

In addition to another trial, that one regards his sale of his pizza business, Rezko has another worry--a neighbor with whom Rezko has done business with is trying to force the accused political fixer into bankruptcy.

From the Chicago Tribune, free registration may be required:

A Wilmette businessman who testified last week against political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko at his federal corruption trial sought Thursday to force Rezko's bankruptcy over his failure to repay more than $18 million.

The court filing is expecting to result in other Rezko creditors calling for the appointment of a trustee who would have the authority to liquidate Rezko's assets.

Rezko has the right to challenge the bankruptcy, but such fights can be costly and difficult to win for someone with huge debts. Rezko's attorneys couldn't be reached for comment. Rezko has been in talks with a Chicago bankruptcy firm in the past, according to records and interviews, but he has not sought relief from creditors in the bankruptcy court.

Attempting to force Rezko's financial hand Thursday was Semir Sirazi, his neighbor, who said in the filing that he and two of his corporations are owed $18 million.

Up above is how Rezko's mansion, which hosted a crucial Barack Obama fundraiser in 2003, looked last week. In 2006 the Chicago Sun-Times reported that LaSalle Bank, which was acquired by the Bank of America last year, moved to foreclose on that North Shore jewel.

And Rezko's money troubles don't end there.

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Tony Rezko corruption legal wilmette real estate Chicago

Weather Underground's "Smash Monogamy" Campaign

We've all heard that former Weather Underground members Bill Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, are unrepentant ex-terrorists.

Are they unrepentant about smashing monogamy?

From the late, great, Moonbat Central blog in 2005:

According to the 1989 book Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts About the '60s by Peter Collier and David Horowitz, Weatherman trainees underwent grueling rituals of self-abasement and abuse in which their dignity, individuality and even sexual identity was brutally extinguished. On pages 84-87, Collier and Horowitz write;

"[The Weather Underground] initiated a 'smash monogamy' campaign to destroy bourgeois sexual hang-ups: Once monogamy was smashed, couples who in some cases had been together for years were harangued until they admitted their 'political errors' and split apart. "The next logical step was group sex. One of the last taboos was homosexuality, and the Weather command forced itself toward experimentation in this direction, instructing male and female cadres to 'make it' with members of the same sex."

Collier and Horowitz report that, for many aspiring Weathermen, "this was one taboo that was hard to break." Good heavens. Can you imagine?

Eeww! The post goes on to explain that Ayers and Dohrn "reportedly pioneered the program."

The Moonbat Central link comments on F-Troop Indian and fired University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill's ties the the terror group. In 1987 Churchill made the claim that to the Denver Post that he trained members of the Weather Underground on how to make bombs. However, Dohrn and Ayers dismissed that claim in this 2007 YouTube video recorded by Grant Crowell.

Churchill claims to have taken part in the Weather Underground's Days of Rage in Chicago in 1969. In this mp3 file, courtesy of Pirate Ballerina, Churchill appears to take delight during a question-and-anwser session that then-City of Chicago Assistant Corporation Counsel Richard Elrod broke his neck, leaving him a paraplegic, during those riots.

The former professor tells his audience:

They couldn't figure out to do with (Elrod)...said what's the most useless position in Chicago...said sheriff...sheriff doesn't do anything, so the Democratic Party ran Richard Elrod for sheriff, we put the guy who broke his neck up as the opposing candidate and got 12,000 votes.

(I'm not so sure on that last bit, and the man who was charged in the Elrod attack, Brian Flanagan, denies the accusation to this day, and was acquitted of all charges regarding the incident one year later.)

Although Ayers and Dohrn don't remember Ward Churchill during their glory days in the Weather Underground, they know of him now. Both academics signed an online petition opposing the firing of Ward Churchill from the University of Colorado.

I don't know if there's a "Smash Mongogamy" petition out there.

Related posts:

The Weather Underground and Ward Churchill-UPDATED!

Some more about the Weather Underground

DePaul student's Denver radio interview follow up: A rat is smelled, and does Ward have a Weather Underground link?

Technorati tags: Chicago illinois college education news Ward Churchill left wing extremists Colorado radicals history Bill Ayers Bernardine Dohrn terrorism Weather Underground Family values books David Horowitz

9th Annual Annie Ryan Fun Run on May 18

Former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan and his wife Marie are hosting the 9th Annual Annie Ryan Run; it will take place on Sunday, May 18 in Elmhurst. Annie was the youngest of the couple's six children, she died of a brain tumor in 1997.

I participated in the event a few years ago. The distance is 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), and there is a one-mile fun run for kids. I'll be out of town so I'll have to miss this year's event.

Proceeds from the race will benefit the Midwest Children's Brain Tumor Center at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

Click here to register or to learn more.

I'm proud to use my 5000th post to promote this event.

Technorati tags: running run Chicago illinois Jim Ryan Elmhurst

Go to Now! New Hampshire now

New Hampshire is expected to be a battleground state, once again, in the general election this fall. In 2000, George W. Bush edged Al Gore to win the state's four electoral votes. Four years later, John Kerry narrowly won the Granite State.

It's a state to keep an eye on, and there is new site keeping an eye on the state: Now! New Hampshire.

The online publication landed an exclusive interview with Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), who is running for re-election this year.

Fair and balanced? You decide. Sununu's Democratic opponent, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, is interviewed as well.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Republican New Hampshire Sununu Shaheen politics

Obama crosses the Rhine

Back in the '80s I worked with an older German man who was a teenager when World War II ended. One day I got up the nerve to ask him--two of his brother died in the conflict--"When did you know your side had lost the war?"

He politely responded, "When the Americans crossed the Rhine."

Of course there was plenty of fighting and dying in the two months before General Alfred Jodl signed the unconditional surrender papers, ironically on May 7, at General Dwight Eisenhower's headquarters, but the end of the war was clearly in sight--even to German teenagers--once the Remagen Bridge had been crossed.

Yesterday, after Obama's big win in North Carolina and near-miss in Indiana, it's clear the troops of the Cult of Change have crossed the Rhine. There still might be some of squabbling left: a few more primaries, a battle over the Florida and Michigan delegations, and a tug of war over uncommitted superdelagates, but barring a major disaster within the Obama camp--It's safe to proclaim that John McCain will be squaring off against Barack Obama in November.

Okay, I'm a McCain supporter, but I'm very confident of the Arizonan's chances not only to win, but win by a lot.

And Hillary Clinton will have her eyes on 2012.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Hillary Clinton Hillary Election politics McCain John McCain Republican GOP World War II germany Deutschland

The Palmetto Scoop turns one year old

South Carolina's Palmetto Scoop is celebrating its first anniversary. I guess it's a compliment, as no one wants to appear too old, but I thought they were around longer.

Happy birthday!

Technorati tags: politics South Carolina blog blogging

And then there is Rezko...

Hugh Hewitt pointed out last night that there is reason for Hillary Rodham Clinton to stick around a while longer--it's the man whose wife used to who the lot for sale next to Barack Obama's home.

But don't look for Hillary to bail, at least not until the final primaries are held and the Tony Rezko trial verdict in. (Final arguments begin Monday.) If Rezko walks, the chance of another devastating revelation about Obama goes down.

But if Rezko is convicted and is facing a long stretch in jail, won't he have to think long and hard about naming names in order to limit his years in federal prison? Clearly Rezko and Obama are close. That's a huge potential nightmare for the Dems, and Team Hillary won't be shy about underscoring the dangers of an unfolding scandal consuming Chicago politics.

Then there's the slowly spreading impact of Michelle Obama. The more voters hear her rhetoric, the less they are going to want her husband in the White House.

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Chicago Tony Rezko