In Minnesota

I am in Minnesota, I picked up my media credentials, and I am now in my hotel room.

Next stop: St. Paul and the Republican National Convention

I met her accidentally in St. Paul, Minnesota.
And it tore me up every time I heard her drawl, Southern drawl.
Then I heard my dream was back Downstream cavortin' in Davenport,
And I followed you, Big River, when you called.
Johnny Cash, "Big River," 1964.

And it was at the big river, in the land of southern drawls, Natchez, Mississippi to be exact, where I applied for my media credentials for this week's Republican National Convention.

And I'll see that river in a few hours, after thundering my way across Wisconsin to reach the Twin Cities.

I'll also hook up again with Highway 61, the famous road originates in Minnesota.

This week will be the highlight of my blogging career, and I expect that I'll place it highly mong the other achievements in my life.

The Big River is calling. St. Paul is calling.

Technorati tags: RNC elections republicans Minnesota minneapolis GOP politics St. Paul twin cities Mississippi Mississippi River Highway 61

Palin: Corruption fighter, Obama: corruption tolerator

The Barack Obama campaign has the audacity to criticize John McCain's choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency" is how Obama spokesman Bill Burton phrased it. Palin is the Governor of Alaska: Of the four top-of-the-ticket candidates, only Palin has executive experience.

Alaska, corruption wise, is a second-tier state. The top states, the most corrupt ones, include Louisiana, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and of course, Illinois.

Palin has doggedly fought Alaska corruption, even though much of it has emerged from her own party. Barack Obama has not only tolerated graft in his own state, he has fed off of it. His first political sponsor was since-convicted felon Antoin "Tony" Rezko. Obama never denounced John and Todd Stroger, the former supplied votes for Obama, the latter initiated Cook County's "corruption tax."

In 2005, Obama worked up the courage to criticize corruption within the administration of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, but backed off of it an hour later. Obama must have gotten a phone call from the fifth floor of Chicago's City Hall.

The best knock the Cult of Change will be able to use against Palin is "Troopergate." Palin fired (Hey, that's what executives do!) Alaska's public safety commissioner. But there are allegations Palin did that because the commissioner refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law, a state trooper.

The Alaska legislature is investigating the charges, but Palin says, "Hold me accountable."

That's the standard great executives hold themselves to.

Palin recently confronted two powerful Alaska congressmen, Rep. Don Young and recently-indicted Sen. Ted Stevens, asking them why they are the target of federal investigations. Both men are Republicans. Her first victory in her path to becoming governor was defeating incumbent Frank Murkowski in the 2006 Republican Primary. Murkowski has faced charges of corruption.

Has Obama publicly taken the same approach with the governor of his state, Rod Blagojevich? No. "Blago" is a Democrat and is under federal investigation. Obama's friend Tony Rezko was at Blago's side during the early years of his tainted administration.

Palin has fought Alaska corruption. Obama has done nothing to fight Illinois corruption. Nothing.

Monday night, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. declared in a speech at the Democratic National Convention that "Illinois is America."

I live in Illinois, and thankfully, it is not America.

Technorati tags: elections McCain Republican Alaska Obama politics Barack Obama Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Tony Rezko corruption

Ill. Gov. Blagojevich sneaks back to Illinois to close parks, cut jobs

While Illinois Senator Barack Obama was preparing to accept the Democratic nomination for president, the governor of his state, fellow Chicago Democrat Rod Blagojevich sneaked back to Illinois to close some state parks and historical sites, as well as cut some jobs.

He was hoping that people wouldn't notice. I did, and so did the local media.

From the Daily Herald:

The move outraged lawmakers who just a day before watched the governor hug political rival Michael Madigan, the Illinois House speaker, and talk about a new day of working together.

State Rep. Jack Franks, a Woodstock Democrat, said it's obvious Blagojevich was trying to bury the cuts and closings under all the Obama coverage coming from the national convention.

"Every time he astonishes me on how low he can go," Franks said

The cuts include 325 layoffs among four state agencies - natural resources, historic preservation, human services and children and family services. In addition, 11 state parks and 13 historic sites will close.

Click on the above link to see the list of closed sites.

Two sites with strong Abraham Lincoln ties were among the victims of Blajojevich's pen. One of them is the replica log cabin site near Charleston, Illinois. It was the last home of Lincoln's father and stepmother. The old state capitol in Vandalia will will also close. Lincoln began his career in the state legislature there.

Blagojevich, he sure is audacious.

Related posts:

"Closed Today" signs coming to many Illinois Lincoln sites

Unpopular governor will skip Obama rally in Springfield

Technorati tags: Abraham Lincoln history Illinois Blagojevich Democrats Obama politics Barack Obama

McCain's pick: It's Alaska Gov. Palin

John McCain hasn't officially announced it, but his pick for his running mate is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

She's the first woman to appear on the Republican presidential ticket.

I fully support the choice. And not just because she's a woman. Palin has strong conservative credentials and most importantly, she's the only governor to among the four people leading the ticket for the major parties.

Oh, Palin is a marathon runner. She ran Humpy's Marathon in Anchorage in 2005, finishing with a time of 3:59.

Palin is 44 years old.

McCain-Palin: "That's the ticket!"

Technorati tags: elections McCain Republican Alaska Sarah Palin marathon running

Obama's Mt. Olympus speech: "No we can't"

I just got done watching Barack Obama, speaking from Mt. Olympus...make that Denver...where he accepted the Democratic nomination for president.

Once again, the Cult of Change leader was strong on words such as "Hope," but short on specifics--such as how he plans to pay for all his grandiose plans.

Besides that, Obama's speech was disturbing. The stage he spoke from, which the Chicago Tribune called "Barackopolis."

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats DNC Denver Colorado

Stanley Kurtz and Milt Rosenberg follow-up

I missed Barack Obama's tonight's acceptance speech, but I have it on DVR and I'll watch it in the morning after reviewing Wikipedia's entry on ancient Greek architecture.

What concerns me this morning is free speech. Two nights ago, as I wrote yesterday, Milt Rosenberg, a highly respected radio host for WGN-AM Chicago, had the audacity to invite Stanley Kurtz, who writes articles for The National Review and The Weekly Standard to appear on his show. Kurtz was booked so he could discuss what he's found so far while digging through the voluminous records of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

Kurtz hasn't discovered any smoking bombs on Obama, at least yet, but it's clear that the Challenge was more interested in pushing racial identity over actually improving education. What does Candidate Obama have to say about that?

And based on what Kurtz said on the show, it's very clear Obama lied when he dismissed his relationship with unrepentant Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers as "just a guy who lives in my neighborhood."

Rosenberg, who has hosted his Extension 720 show since 1973, was bemused by the e-mail and telephone assaults on him, his show, and his station. He had to repeatedly explain to the Obama-robots that the campaign was asked to have a representative appear with Kurtz. They declined. Some callers, with hints of conspiracy in their voices, remarked on the "coincidence" that Kurtz was on the air on the same night that Obama was officially chosen as the Democratic nominee for president. Rosenberg had to mention, at least twice, that the Obama campaign's national office was just a quarter-mile from the Tribune Tower, where WGN's studios are. "They've got lots of people in there," Rosenberg added.

Finally, Rosenberg told one caller that Ben LeBolt, a top Obama spokesperson, was in Chicago. LeBolt, as I wrote yesterday, responded to the invitation from Rosenberg's producer by first asking who the station manager was, and then hanging up.

In response to the deranged brouhaha, Kurtz asked Rosenberg. "Are they saying I can't go on radio as long as the Democratic convention is on."

"Perhaps something like that, yeah," Rosenberg replied.

"Hilda from Chicago" told Rosenberg that Kurtz "was being dishonest and attempting to play the terrorism card with the audience."

Rosenberg asked Hilda to go into detail about Kurtz' "dishonesty" and she responded, "I'm not going into specifics because you know it already."

Perhaps Hilda didn't know it, because she did not go into specifics--other than reading from campaign talking points emitted from this e-mail message:

In the next few hours, we have a crucial opportunity to fight one of the most cynical and offensive smears ever launched against Barack.

Tonight, WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears. He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers.

Tell WGN that by providing Kurtz with airtime, they are legitimizing baseless attacks from a smear-merchant and lowering the standards of political discourse.

Call into the "Extension 720" show with Milt Rosenberg at (312) 591-XXXX. (I edited the number.)

(Show airs from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. tonight)

Then report back on your call at http://my.barackobama.com/WGNstandards

It's the Obama campaign and their thug-zombies who are "lowering the standards of political discourse." And I have to repeat--the Obama campaign was invited to send a member of their staff to appear on the show. They said no, and instead they chose a more intimidating way to respond.

Listen to the podcast here--it's perhaps the most important radio show you will listen to this year.

Kurtz and Rosenberg were great--and deserve medals for keeping their composure and remaining calm in last night's sea of insanity--a.k.a. Hurricane Barack.

And finally, Barack Obama is on record of opposing the the return of the ludicrously named "Fairness Doctrine" which would limit free speech and would have made Wednesday night's Extensiion 720 show an impossibility. However, Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi favors bringing the Fairness Doctrine back, and a President Obama could flip-flop (He does that, you know) and sign it into law.

First they came for the talk radio hosts, but I said nothing because I was not one. Then they came for the for the cable TV hosts, but I said nothing because I was not one.

Then they came for the bloggers.

This whole disgraceful episode is yet another item Obama will remain silent on.

But one of Obama's constituents, me, is very angry this morning, and he demands an apology.

It's said that living well is the best revenge. Voting for the right candidate--make that The Right Candidate--is too.

There is some good news. A lot of people of now know about Milt Rosenberg, and since WGN-AM is a 50,000 clear-channel giant that at night can be heard almost everywhere between the Rockies and the Appalachians, he'll gain a lot of new listeners.

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Chicago radicals Milt Rosenberg fairness doctrine Free Speech

The Audacity of the Cult of Change

I'm half-way through listening to the podcast from last night's Milt Rosenberg Extension 720 show. Unless the Chicago Cubs have a late night game, Rosenberg broadcasts each nightt at 9pm-11pm Central Time on WGN.

For the Barack Obama campaign, it's a devastating show. His guest was Stanley Kurtz, a writer for the National Review and the Weekly Standard. In the first half of the show, there are now major revelations about Barack Obama and his ties to ex-terrorist Bill Ayers. (See previous post.)

But the e-mail and telephone onslaught against WGN and the show is more bad news that free speech is under attack by the Obama campaign.

Several times during the show Rosenberg said that the Obama campaign was asked to send a representative to counter Kurtz. But what occurred was that Obama spokesperson Ben LeBolt asked Rosenberg's producer who the station manager was, then hung hp.

The podcast is here.

Obama thugs threatening free speech

This has been a troubling week for America. And we could be in for a rough ride if Barack Obama becomes president.

Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, through the American Issues Project, financed the production and airtime buys for a commercial drawing attention to Barack Obama's still ties to unrepentant former Weather Underground terrorist, Bill "Bomber" Ayers.

As I did yesterday, I'm offering an excerpt with an editorial from the National Review Online.

The Obama campaign's rejoinder is three-pronged: The first shot was an Obama response ad, which fails to offer any substantive explanation of why Obama maintains ties to Ayers. Obama’s second move was to launch a heavy-handed effort to pressure television stations into rejecting the ad by promising financial retaliation against the stations and their advertisers — which effort has apparently succeeded in intimidating Fox and CNN. The capper is a desperate call for the Justice Department to muzzle political speech through the prospect of a criminal investigation — a demand that provides a disturbing sneak peak into what life would be like under an Obama Justice Department.

Stanley Kurtz of the same publication has been on the front lines exposing Obama's links to Ayers. Kurtz led the charge in getting the stubborn University of Illinois to release the 140 boxes of records, which are still being examined by reporters, to release the documentation of what went on within the group Obama chaired for a few years. Ayers was a key person in securing the financing--$50 million--for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

Kurtz appeared last night on a populuar Chicago radio show, Milt Rosenberg's Extension 720. I meant to catch at least part of it, but I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before, and Biden's speech put me under.

Rosenberg's show is nightly cerebral exercise-he's been on the air since 1973--and it's the perfect place for Kurtz to discuss Obama and Ayers. I don't know what Rosenberg's politics are, but I've never heard him espouse them on the air.

And that had members of the Cult of Change upset, as the Chicago Tribune's Swamp blog reported Wednesday night:

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign is organizing its supporters tonight to confront Tribune-owned WGN radio in Chicago for having a critic of the Illinois Democrat on its air.

"WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears," Obama's campaign wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers."

Kurtz, a conservative writer, recently wrote an article for the National Review that looked at Obama's ties Ayers, a former 1960s radical.

Okay, if Kurtz is a right-wing hatchet man, then the Obama needs to back that statement up with facts.

More...

"It is absolutely unacceptable that WGN would give a slimy character assassin like Kurtz time for his divisive, destructive ranting on our public airwaves," the note continued. "At the very least, they should offer sane, honest rebuttal to every one of Kurtz's lies."

Kurtz had not appeared on the show yet when that e-mail was sent so what "lies" did they know about?

Once again, why is Obama "friendly" with a man who as recently as 2001 said, "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough." When asked if would do it again, Ayers responded, "I don't want to discount the possibility."

Ayers is talking, and Obama is saying very little about him, but it's believed Ayers and Obama have been friendly since the early 1990s.

The National Review Media Blog has more:

Evidently, much of Obama nation is comprised of obedient and persistent sheep. They jammed all five studio lines for nearly the entire show while firing off dozens of angry emails. Many vowed to kick their grievances up the food chain to station management. After 90 minutes of alleged smear peddling, Milt Rosenberg (a well-respected host whose long-form interview show has aired in Chicago for decades) opened the phone lines, and blind ignorance soon began to crackle across the AM airwaves. The overwhelming message was clear: The interview must be put to an end immediately, and the station management should prevent similar discussions from taking place.

One female caller, when pressed about what precisely she objected to, simply replied, "We just want it to stop!" Another angry caller was asked what "lies" Kurtz had told in any of his reporting on Barack Obama. The thoughtful response? "Everything he said is dishonest." The same caller later refused to get into "specifics." Another gentleman called Kurtz "the most un-American person" he'd ever heard. Several of the callers did not even know Stanley's name, most had obviously never read a sentence of his meticulous research, and more than simply read verbatim from the Obama talking points.

As Rosenberg repeatedly pointed out that Team Obama had been offered the opporunity to take part in the conversation, the agitated masses adopted their argument to suggest it was outrageous to request an interview from the Obama campaign in the thick of the DNC. Delivering the line of the night, Rosenberg countered, "The Obama national headquarters is just down the street from here. They obviously have the time to send out these angry emails, but they can't walk a few blocks to our studios?"

I wish I had heard it. But there is a podcast available. Rosenberg, a psychology professor, has a calm, soothing voice. He doen't rile up his listeners.

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Chicago radicals Milt Rosenberg

John Kass on Obama and "Hopium"

Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass, who was the first add the tag (D-Rezko) after Barack Obama's name, tracked down David Freddoso, author of The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate.

Kass refers to the Obama movement as "Hopium," and he calls Freddoso' best-selling book "the pin of reason to the Obama balloon."

The Cult of Change has spent a lot of time debunking Jerome Corsi's The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality. But they haven't put forth the same effort against Freddoso's entry.

From Kass' column. Free registration may be required for the link.

"It tells us that in contrast with the image that his campaign is spending millions of dollars to put forth, that the idea of Sen. Obama as a reformer, as an agent of positive change, is a great lie," Freddoso told me of his book. "And the veneer of ideological reasonableness about him is misleading because he is reflexively a liberal."

It examines Obama's tacit acceptance of the corrupt politics of Chicago and Illinois, his endorsements of unqualified Democratic machine creatures to secure the machine's blessing, his use of technicalities in state ethics legislation to bury potential conflicts of interest, and his dealings with Tony Rezko, now convicted, and with City Hall-friendly developer Allison Davis.

There's also a chapter on Obama's Ping-Pong fiasco that was originally reported in the Los Angeles Times but ignored by most other media. I won't spoil it. Let's just say it is table tennis, the Chicago Way.

(My note: It's a shameful episode, but business as usual in Illinois.)

The book discusses what many in the national media have stubbornly and willfully declined to consider as they led cheers for Obama: His silence about political sleaze in Illinois, even as he puts on the halo and demands change in Washington. In this silence, Obama offers a profound truth. You can't hear it. But it sure is loud.

Technorati tags: politics Election Democrats Chicago Tony Rezko corruption Obama Chicago illinois

Dukakis flops on Hannity & Colmes when asked to name Obama's accomplishments

An hour ago I watched Michael Dukakis, the Democrats' 1988 nominee on Hannity & Colmes. Sean Hannity asked the former Massachusetts to name Barack Obama's accomplishments. Just as he did in the general election that year, Dukakis flopped. He mumbled something about "the death penalty" and finally settled upon "integrity."

What a joke. Integrity? Obama is a guy who runs around with Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko (until he was jailed), and Emil Jones.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. This bodes poorly for Obama when he accepts the Democratic nomination tomorrow from a mock Greek temple.

Related post:

Obama supporter exposes his idol as an empty suit

Technorati tags: politics Election Democrats Chicago Tony Rezko corruption Obama Bill Ayers Left Wing Extremists Emil Jones Chicago illinois Dukakis

New McCain ad: "Tiny"

Iran may be a smaller country than the United States, or the former Soviet Union, but it is anything but a "tiny" threat.

If the goal is just to destroy, a "tiny" threat can be devastating.

Barack Obama doesn't get it.

Technorati tags: politics news Democrats Obama politics Barack Obama McCain John McCain Republican news iran خبر حقوق بشر محمود فتوى

On this day in 1968: Bill Ayers arrested at Democratic National Convention

With apologies to The Beatles, "It was forty years ago today, Bill Ayers came to Chicago to play."

Bill Ayers' transformation from the privileged son of the CEO of the Chicago area's electric utility--to Weather Underground terrorist, did not occur overnight.

Ayers was arrested by the Chicago Police on August 27, the famous riot (there were others that week) occurred the following night.

Here's what I was doing forty years tomorrow. My late father, Jack, was at the International Amphitheatre on Chicago's Southwest Side covering the proceedings of the Democratic National Convention for the Back Of The Yards Journal. The real story that night of course was on the corner of Balbo and Michigan in front of the Conrad Hilton Hotel. Mayor Richard J. Daley's agressive police had their fill with the protesters--some of whom were throwing plastic bags of feces and urine at the cops--and the boys in the light blue helmets came out swinging with their billy clubs.

I was watching the action on television with my mother and siblings. We kept saying "Is dad there?" Looking back forty years later, what's amazing is how casually we watched it all. Civil unrest and cops beating up rabble-rousers were normal television fare back then.

Bill Ayers would of course go on to bigger and more horrible things.

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Chicago radicals On this day DNC history

National Review on Obama and Ayers: It matters

Disclosure: I have no terrorist, or ex-terrorists friends or associates.

From the editors of the National Review:

Have you ever been a friend or business associate of a terrorist? Not someone who, to your shock and horror, turned out secretly to have bombed government buildings. No, the question is whether you’ve ever befriended an unreconstructed radical whose past was well known to you when you entered his orbit and walked through doors he opened for you. Have you been chummy with an unapologetic terrorist who, years after you'd known and worked closely with him, was still telling the New York Times he regretted only failing to carry out more attacks — and that America still “makes me want to puke”?

Barack Obama has.

An organization called the American Issues Project, backed by Dallas investor Harold Simmons, is running a campaign ad which highlights Obama’s troubling relationship with William Ayers. Ayers is a former member of the Weathermen terrorist organization that bombed the Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol, various police headquarters, and other targets in the early 1970s.

The Obama campaign's rejoinder is three-pronged: The first shot was an Obama response ad, which fails to offer any substantive explanation of why Obama maintains ties to Ayers. Obama's second move was to launch a heavy-handed effort to pressure television stations into rejecting the ad by promising financial retaliation against the stations and their advertisers — which effort has apparently succeeded in intimidating Fox and CNN. The capper is a desperate call for the Justice Department to muzzle political speech through the prospect of a criminal investigation — a demand that provides a disturbing sneak peak into what life would be like under an Obama Justice Department.

I wonder how the Obama campaign feels about this blog? This is frightening.

Related post:

KEEPING THE STORY ALIVE: A COLLECTION OF POSTS ON BILL AYERS AND THE "WEATHER UNDERGROUND"

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Chicago radicals

Delmarie Cobb speaks out on Emil Jones' Uncle Tom slur

Illinois State President Emil Jones, Jr., a mentor for presumptive Democratic Nominee Barack Obama, called Chicago Hillary Clinton delegate Delmarie Cobb an "Uncle Tom." That's what Cobb claims, although Jones denies it.

The Fox News Channel interviewed Cobb this morning.

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Obama Barack Obama Emil Jones cronyism nepotism

Ex-Muhammad Ali manager and alleged Rezko victim dies

The former manager for boxing great Muhammad Ali, Jabir Muhammad, died yesterday afternoon in Chicago at the age of 79. He was the son of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad.

Last year Muhammad was in the news when the Chicago Sun-Times reported Muhammad's claim that since-convicted political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko swindled Muhammad out of his home.

"He embezzled me" is what Muhammad told the newspaper.

Rezko denies the charge. He later sold the home to Dr. Paul S. Ray, one of his business associates who is also the chairman of the urology department at Stroger Hospital, which is better known by its old name, Cook County Hospital. Last summer Ray asked Muhammad to move out. He never did.

In 1984, Rezko went to work for Crucial Concessions, which was then owned by Muhammad. Years later the same company, by then Rezko owned 45 percent of it--owned two Panda Express restaurants at O'Hare Airport. In 2005 the City of Chicago accused Crucial of being a minority "front" business; Crucial got its prime airport locations because it was listed as a minority business--Muhammad owned 55 percent of Crucial. Rather than fight the city's charge, the restaurants closed a few months later.

Once again, Barack Obama was silent about this skulduggery. I bet the late Mr. Muhammad noticed that.

The City of Chicago's investigation of Crucial was widely reported by the local media in March, 2005. Why is this important? Three months later, the Obamas and Rezko's wife closed the real estate deal that allowed the future Democratic first couple to purchase their mansion on Chicago's South Side.

Obama didn't know?

Related posts:

Rezko flashback: Tony the affirmative action swindler

Nation of Islam founder's son on Rezko: "He embezzled me"

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Tony Rezko corruption real estate affirmative action business law legal

America's worst sportswriter leaves the Chicago Sun-Times

The biggest hack in sports writing, Jay Mariotti, has left the Chicago Sun-Times to "pursue other opportunities."

Most people outside of Chicago know Mariotti from his daily appearances on ESPN's "Around The Horn."

This guy is terrible. Mariotti regularly trashes athletes, coaches, and owners, but the coward doesn't have the guts to show up in a players' clubhouse to interview athletes--or to listen, face to face, to jocks' objections to what he writes.

Here's a sampling of the comments (complete with typos) about Mariotti's departure from the Sun-Times article announding his departure:

the painter wrote:
Spiro Agnew referred to the press as the natering nabobs of ngativism. Mariotti was a minfstation of that phrase. I never read him. To bad that it took the Sun-Times 17 yars to ralize it. I hope he was fired.

eric in chicago wrote:
Ironic that just yesterday I wrote about six paragraphs to the Sun-Times asking why they continued to employ an ignorant bigot, after his last piece in Beijing. And today, he's gone. I'm sure I can't take any credit for it, but I'm happy at the result anyway.

gobadgergo wrote:
Hooray! Hooray! What great news! Mariotti is the biggest turd I have ever read or seen, he will be missed by no one. What a waste of time and space having him in the paper everyday.He is the reason why the Tribune has been the paper of choice The next good column he writes will be the first one. Mariotti spelled backwards is worthless. Good riddance Jay, bad luck to you. A chimp writing a column will be a better read than you. You are better not seen or heard from ever again.

csherman1 wrote:
Good riddance. Biggest flip flopper in the history of Chicago journalism. No one knew when to attack when an athlete was down, and no one knew when to jump on a bandwagon better than Jay (see 2005 Sox World Series). The Sun Times will be better without a writer that is never accountable for his stories.

Some of Mariotti's supporters chimed in, but 90 percent of the posters are glad to see him gone.

Related post:

Ozzie Guillen, a lazy columnist, and the "F" word

Ditka on White Sox manager: "I like Ozzie"

Technorati tags: Media Chicago Chicago Sun-Times journalism sports Chicago White Sox white sox ESPN Jay Mariotti

UIC releases Chicago Annenberg Challenge records--Obama nervous?

This morning the University of Illinois-Chicago finally gave access to 140 boxes of documents relating to the Chicago Annenberg Challenge to members of the media. A non-profit that Barack Obama once chaired. Former Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers was instrumental in the creation of the group.

What the reporters are likely to find out--okay, I'm guessing here--is that Obama's ties to the unrepentant terrorist than he has said. In short, he could be caught lying.

Or the journalists might discover some far-Left, out of the mainstream views expressed by Obama. If that is the case, what they uncover could be the most damaging political revelation since the release of the "smoking gun" Watergate tape in 1974 that led to Richard Nixon's resignation a week later.

Clarification: I am not claiming Obama is or has been engaged in anything illegal.

Actually, what's been learned about Obama's ties to Ayers are already more extensive than what he has let on. To him, Ayers is more that "a guy who lives in my neighborhood."

USA Today documents Obama's links to that "guy."

•In 1995, Ayers hosted a brunch for Obama, who was running for the Illinois Senate.

The ad says this meeting launched Obama's political career. Quentin Young, a physician who was there, says it was a typical Hyde Park event and to imply otherwise is "guilt by simultaneously being in the same place."

(My note--but Dr. Young, Ayers is an unrepentant ex-terrorist!)

•In 1997, they were on a juvenile justice panel sponsored by the University of Chicago. They were on a 2002 panel on intellectualism that was co-sponsored by the Chicago Public Library.

•In 1997, the Chicago Tribune published a blurb from Obama about books he was reading. Obama said he was reading Ayers' A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court.

•From 1999-2002, both men were on the board of the Woods Fund, a Chicago foundation that makes grants to arts and civic groups. Obama left the board in 2002; Ayers remains on it.

Laura Washington, chairwoman of the Woods Fund board, says suggestions of close ties are "an attempt to demonize Bill as a way of damaging Barack Obama."

(My note: In addtition to her work as a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, Washington is an editor for In These Times, an extreme-Left publication founded by a former Communist, the late James Weinstein.)

•Ayers gave $200 to Obama's 2001 state Senate campaign.

We'll be hearing a lot about "that guy" in the next few days.

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Chicago radicals

The University of Chicago: A gold mine for the Obamas and their pals--and David Axelrod

"And in my own life, in my own small way, I've tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. That's why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities. Because I believe that each of us — no matter what our age or background or walk of life — each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation."
From Michelle Obama's speech last night at the Democratic National Convention.

Michelle left something. She is on leave from her "public service" job at the University of Chicago--she was making $317,000 a year.

Let's go back to the 1980s:

One college lecture I remember from my days at the University of Illinois, you know, the school that is shepherding the Chicago Annenberg Challenge files--came from English professor and Mark Costello. He said something along the lines of "You know, there are some people--the administrators for sure--who only view this university as a physical plant--buildings, maintenance, and property. I see it as an idea."

But Barack and Michelle Obama see the University of Chicago Medical Center, as a job bank for themselves and their cronies. Certainly not everyone named in last week's Washington Post article got their jobs via the Obamas or their cronies, but you have to wonder about more "Chicago coincidences."

The medical center's chairwoman, Valerie Jarrett, is a close friend and top adviser who travels frequently with Barack Obama. One of Barack's best friends, Eric Whitaker, is executive vice president at the center and is now in charge of the Urban Health Initiative. Hospital board member Kelly R. Welsh is executive vice president at Northern Trust Co., which extended the couple a $1.3 million home mortgage shortly after Barack Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate. Dan Shomon, Barack Obama's former campaign manager, is a university lobbyist. Jarrett, Whitaker, Welsh and Shomon all declined to be interviewed or did not respond to requests.

Shortly after Barack Obama was sworn-in as a US Senator, Michelle got a promotion and a big raise. One of her tasks, according to the Post, was to find ways to cut down on the congestion of the hospital's emergency room. Specifically, have poor patients with no insurance or who were on Medicare or Medicaid, use nearby, but less prestigious hospitals. Michelle needed help to pull this off, but who should she call?

That effort, in time, inspired a broader program the hospital now calls its Urban Health Initiative. To ensure community support, Michelle Obama and others in late 2006 recommended that the hospital hire the firm of David Axelrod, who a few months later became the chief strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

Axelrod's firm recommended an aggressive promotional effort modeled on a political campaign -- appoint a campaign manager, conduct focus groups, target messages to specific constituencies, then recruit religious leaders and other third-party "validators." They, in turn, would write and submit opinion pieces to Chicago publications.

One key recommendation from Axelrod's firm: "Respond quickly to opposition activity."

Does that mean confronting community activists? You know, people like the young Barack Obama?

Obama for his part served as a part-time law professor at the University of Chicago until his election to the US Senate.

Axelrod. He's gotten a free pass from the media, it could be his basset hound looks, or more likely, he's escaped scrutiny because the mainstream media is in the tank for Obama.

Axelrod was once a political reporter for the Chicago Tribune. He quit to manage the Senate campaign of Democrat Paul Simon, who edged out incumbent Republican Charles Percy in 1984.

Even on Illinois standards, it was a dirty campaign--and the dirt mostly came from supporters of the guy who wore the bow tie from downstate Makanda.

Simon died in 2003.

In 1984, Ronald Reagan crushed Democrat Walter Mondale in the presidential race. The Gipper easily won Illinois--which was then a "swing state." Meanwhile Percy, running for his fourth term, was weakened in that year's Republican Primary by a candidate who questioned Percy's conservative credentials. Simon won the general election, but by just 88,000 votes.

How did that happen? Sources familiar with Simon's 1984 run tell me that the campaign spent less than $7 million. But a pro-Israel California businessman, Michael Goland, spent $1.2 million of his own money--a huge amount at that time--on attack ads against Percy.

But you didn't hear much about this story in Illinois. The media back then favored the Democrats--that hasn't changed--and was sympathetic to Axelrod, who of course was a former reporter. Simon was once the owner of a small downstate Illinois newspaper.

Percy, who by the way as Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman achieved far more than the ineffectual Simon did in his 12 years in the Senate, filed suit after his defeat. Percy charged collusion occurred between Goland and Simon. The FEC fined Goland $5,000.

The worst was yet to come for Goland. Two years later Goland got caught illegally financing third party conservative Edward B. Vallen, who was running against incumbent Democratic Senator Alan Cranston. He donated $120,000 to the conservative, but Goland, who was a Cranston supporter, hoped that Vallen would pull votes from the Republican candidate. Cranston won.

Goland's cash was surreptitiously hidden in the guise of 56 individuals.

In 1990, Goland was found guilty of exceeding the federal limit on individual donations--which was then $1,000, he was fined, and served 90 days in jail.

It can be argued that had Paul Simon lost in 1984, and had Goland not dumped cash into his effort to defeat Percy, Axelrod would have crawled back to the Chicago Tribune.

And last week, Obama complained to Axelrod's old employer, complaining of "Karl Rove's old tactics."

Meanwhile, Obama has his own Karl Rove--David Axelrod.

In 1987, Chicago Magazine profiled Axelrod. The article's headline was "Hatchet Man: The Rise of David Axelrod."

He's risen at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He's risen within the Obama campaign.

He's risen against community activists.

Axelrod: A bad idea.

Related posts:

Coincidences and the Las Vegas Rezko arrest warrant

The Daley family, the Ayers family, and the Land of Coincidences

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Obama Barack Obama cronyism nepotism Chicago Illinois Politics history University of Chicago David Axelrod

Obama forgets he is in Kansas City

At the end of Michelle Obama's speech--which she said "Hope" about, oh, 100 times, Barack Obama appeared on a wide-screen television at the Pepsi Center. First he said he was Kansas City (correct), then St. Louis.

One of his daughters, I think Sasha, asked, "What city are you in, daddy?

"Kansas City," he responded.

Will this girl bail Obama out his gaffes during cabinet meetings?

Obama, who earlier this year confused Sioux City and Sioux Falls, and said that there were 57 states, won't impress Missouri voters. Especially those "bitter" ones who say "Missour-uh." It's a good thing the little one didn't ask her father what state he was in--there is a Kansas City, Kansas.

Michelle Obama said, maybe 800 times during tonight's speech, that she loves America. Okay, we get it.

And she said "We stand at the crossroads of history."

So did Jimmy Carter. And he got run over.

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats DNC Denver Colorado Missouri St. Louis Kansas City

McCain campaign responds to Obama's Bill Ayers' ad

Obviously worried that Barack Obama's ties to unrepentant ex-terrorist Bill Ayers will damage his image, the campaign responded with an ad that stated that the admitted Pentagon bomber committed his crimes when the future senator was eight years old.

Obama's explanation of this relationship to Ayers is at best incomplete. Tomorrow, the National Review's Stanley Kurtz will finally get access to 132 boxes of records from the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a 1990s project. Obama was the organization's first chairman, and Ayers, now an education professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, likely worked closely with Obama on this endevor--which achieved little, by the way.

Obama and Ayers both served on the board of The Woods Fund--until 2002. And in 2001, Ayers spoke of his bombing past, "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough."

The final words I'll leave to the John McCain campaign:

The fact that Barack Obama chose to launch his political career at the home (pictured above) of an unrepentant terrorist raises more questions about his judgment than any ad ever could. And the fact that he's launching his own convention by defending his long association with a man who says he didn’t bomb enough U.S. targets tells us more about Barack Obama than any of tonight’s speeches will.

The Obama ad is stupid move. First, the ad that got their camp in a tizzy was not produced by the McCain campaign--it came from an independent group. Secondly, it reminds people about the Cult of Change leader's ties to the former Weather Underground leader.

That picture of Ayers desecrating the flag that Obama wants to lead was taken in 2001, years after Obama's eighth birthday.

Related post:

KEEPING THE STORY ALIVE: A COLLECTION OF POSTS ON BILL AYERS AND THE "WEATHER UNDERGROUND"

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Chicago radicals

Ill. Nat'l Organization of Women chief calls for Emil Jones to resign

Outgoing Illinois State Senate President Emil Jones, Jr. has gotten the Democratic National Convention off to a bad start. As I blogged this morning, Jones called Delmarie Cobb, a Hillary Clinton delegate from Chicago. an Uncle Tom.

Jones, a mentor of Obama, denies it, he claimed he used the term "doubting Thomases."

Although Pat Hickey in the comments section mentioned that Jones, with a gravelly voice, is almost unintelligible, I still believe Cobb.

Also in the non-believer category is the National Organization of Women. The head of Illinois NOW, Bonnie Grabenhofer, is calling for Jones to resign immediately. He won't be taking their advice.

Obama? This afternoon he said he was unfamiliar with his mentor's comments.

And Obama's history with NOW is not without its bumps. Tom Mannis of The Bench reports that Grabenhofer criticized the Cult of Change leader for his "present" votes on abortion while serving with Jones in the State Senate.

UPDATE 8:15pm: Fast moving Tom Mannis of The Bench has designed some smart-looking Emil Jones gear, including hats, shirts, and bumperstickers.

UPDATE August 26: Jones issued a sort-of-apology today. H/T to commenter "Yo."

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Obama Barack Obama Emil Jones cronyism nepotism DNC Denver Colorado Hillary Clinton Hillary National Organization of Women

Indicted mayor of Niles, Illinois quits

The same year Barack Obama was born, Nicholas Blase became mayor of Niles, Illinois--it's town just west of Morton Grove.

There has always been an air of suspicion around Blase, and two years ago, the other shoe finally dropped. Blase was indicted on his 78th birthday for allegedly shaking down restaurant owners. Prosecutors claim that Blase threatened to withhold liquor licences if they didn't purchase insurance from a Wheeling, Illinois firm.

Amidst rumors of a plea deal, Blase resigned today.

Although elections in Niles are non-partisan, Blase is a Democrat; he once served as the Democratic Committeeman for Maine Township.

And finally, the United States Postal Service is frequently, and often justifiably, the target of criticism. One thing it does right is honoring people with postage stamps. No living person can appear on one--and unless the honoree is a former president--the subject of the stamp must be deceased for ten years.

The Village of Niles needs a rule like that. Come to think of it, lots of places do.

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Illinois 2008 Election Democrats corruption Niles Chicago Illinois Politics Cook County

One week from today: Republican National Convention begins

This is the Democrats' big week--their convention is taking place in Denver. Next week the Republican National Convention will be held in at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

That one is more important--because I'll be there. After running only 12 miles next Sunday, I'll hop in my car (after showering) and take Interstate 94 to the Twin Cites.

Yes, I'll be blogging about it.

Technorati tags: RNC elections republicans Minnesota minneapolis GOP politics St. Paul twin cities

Hillary delegate: Obama mentor called me an Uncle Tom

Delmarie Cobb, a Chicago Hillary Clinton delegate, says that Illinois State Senate President Emil Jones, Jr., called her an Uncle Tome yesterday in Denver. Jones, an mentor to Barack Obama, is a Democratic National Convention superdelegate.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Cobb said the confrontation started when she and Jones, who is also African-American, were talking about an earlier conversation they had at the Bud Billiken Parade in Chicago. "One day, you'll be on the right side," Cobb said Jones told her. She told him she was on the right side. She said Jones pointed at his Obama hat and said, "No, this is the right side," she said.

"Then he came up behind me. He said 'Thirty-five thousand people went to Springfield [to support Obama on Saturday],'" she said. "I said, 'Then 35,000 people drank the Kool-Aid.,' He said, 'Barack is a clean-cut guy. He never liked gutter politics, that's why the Clintons did so-and-so. ...' I said, 'I don't want to get into this. So I went over to the elevator, and he said, 'Uncle Tom!' Then he grabbed me and hugged me and started laughing. I said, 'What did you say?' I turned to Freddrenna Lyle, and I said, 'What did he say?' She wouldn't say anything, That's when I said some bad things to him."

Taking a final shot at Jones, Cobb said, "Calling me an 'Uncle Tom' is beyond the pale, especially considering where he is [close] with Mayor Daley and with [Gov.] Blagojevich, I am hardly the Uncle Tom here."

It will be interesting to see if this finally breaks the silence Barack Obama has had on Jones, who announced his retirement last week. Jones just pulled a heist on the voters of his district--anointing his son as his successor. The only people who voted on his were Democratic ward bosses.

Audacity!

Several Illinois Democrats with questionable backgrounds, although not Jones, will be speaking on Obama's behalf at the DNC.

Related posts:

A taste of Chicago in Denver will leave voters with a stomache ache

Emil Jones on Obama

Anger growing in Chicago over Emil Jones' nepotism scheme

The con is on in Obama-land: Emil Jones' son takes dad's place on the ballot

Obama's state legislative record--he got a lot of help

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Obama Barack Obama Emil Jones cronyism nepotism DNC Denver Colorado Hillary Clinton Hillary

Emil Jones on Obama

Machine pol Emil Jones Jr., the outgoing president of the Illinois State Senate, spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times about Barack Obama.

After almost a decade as the body's minority leader, Jones ascended to his current position in 2003. And Obama came calling.

(Obama) came to me and he said, 'You're the Senate president. You have a lot of power,' " Jones recalled.

"I said, 'I do? What kind of power do I have?' He said, 'You have the power to make a United States senator.' 'Oh? I didn't realize that. If I have that kind of power, do you know of anyone I could make a United States senator?' He said, 'Me.' He caught me by surprise. I said, 'Let me think about it.' And we continued to talk, and I told him, 'That sounds good. Let's go for it.' That started the campaign."

What Jones did was slap Obama's name on numerous pieces of legislation so he'd have a record to run on. Jones is not in the US Senate, so he was unable to repeat the favor--which means Obama's message of "Hope," is an empty one--Obama has no significant accomplishments after three years in Washington.

You can say the same thing about his eight years in Springfield.

Jones is leaving office on a sour note. In what is now a tradtion among Chicago Democrats, after winning a primary election--Jones pulled his name off the general election ballot--and placing his son in his place.

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Obama Barack Obama Emil Jones cronyism nepotism

New McCain ad: "Passed Over"

The latest John McCain ad, released at 3:00am this morning, should be very effective in states where Hillary Clinton clobbered Barack Obama--Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. (Yes, I'm aware Obama wasn't on the Michigan ballot--but the state is full "bitter" voters--hunting is a big deal there.) Michigan Democrats should feel very bitter about Obama--his campaign for months worked to keep Michigan delegates off of the Democratic National Convention floor.

Technorati tags: democrats Politics Hillary Clinton Hillary Obama Barack Obama Pennsylvania Michigan McCain John McCain Republican GOP Ohio

Two 18 mile runs in five days

For the second time since Tuesday, I ran 18 miles. Yes, I'm tired. And I have to run into the office for a few hours. More posts tonight.

Flashback: Zell Miller on Joe Biden and acceptance

For months I've been mocking the Barack Obama campaign as the Cult of Change. To me Obama's "change" is warmed-over failed liberal dogma from the 1960s. But after Obama's pick of the full-of-himself Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate, it's hard even for Obama-nuts to argue that Biden's selection represents "change."

Joe Biden is definitely part of the mess in Washington, as other have written today.

But I want to go back five years to Zell Miller's book, A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat.

Miller was then winding down his stint as a Democratic senator from Georgia. Prior to that, he was the Peach State's governor and lieutenant governor. The man from tiny Young Harris was the keynote speaker at the 2004 Republican National Convention. He remains a Democrat, albeit one estranged from the party.

Here's what Miller wrote about Biden:

"Not long after I arrived in the Senate, I was sitting at my beautiful old mahogany desk in the Senate chamber, a desk by the way that has the names Russell, Talmadge, and Nunn carved in it. I was sitting there, probably frowning, when Senator Joe Biden of Delaware spotted me. He's been in the Senate thirty years, and he came over and sat down and said, "I've watched a lot of you former governors come up here and invariably you go through three phases (like a person grieving over a death, I suppose)."

"The first phase is disbelief. You just can't believe how legislation and decisions are made." He was right. I arrived in the Senate in the middle of the appropriations process and I could not believe the feeding frenzy.

"The next phase," he said, "is anger. You stay mad most of the time, and you want to change the system and make it more orderly."

And then, finally, he said the third phase is "acceptance." I have not reached that step. Not even close. I am still angry because of the petty partisanship on both sides of the aisle. Angry that one single senator representing less than one fifth of 1 percent of the American people can stop any president of the United States--even during wartime--from making a crucial appointment to his own team.

Clearly Biden reached the "acceptance phase" many years ago. He's not change anyone can believe in.

John McCain, the man who some say has a temper problem, like Miller, never reached the acceptance phase.

We need more angry people in Washington.

Biden is part of the problem. A big part.

Technorati tags: Democrats Obama politics Barack Obama Biden Delaware books Zell Miller Georgia

Obama introduces Biden as the next PRESIDENT

From a statement by the John McCain campaign:

Barack Obama sounded as though he turned over the top spot on the ticket today to his new mentor, when he introduced Joe Biden as the next president. The reality is that nothing has changed since Joe Biden first made his assessment that Barack Obama is not ready to lead. He wasn't ready then and he isn't ready now.

Related post:

Bad choice: Obama reserves Old State Capitol to show off running mate

Technorati tags: Illinois Democrats Obama politics Barack Obama Biden Delaware Springfield

Thank you Obama, for picking Biden

I told a blogger friend of mine last night that I didn't think that Barack Obama would pick Joe Biden as his running mate. Maybe I spend too much time behind the computer, but I figured that the rumors about Biden being Obama's choice were just a ruse to get the Republican National Committee research arm to focus on the wrong guy.

He has a habit of saying stupdid things, as Politico reminds us:

Biden, who dropped out of the 1988 Democratic primary after he was accused of lifting sections of his stump speech about his humble origins from British Labour party leader Neil Kinnock, more recently took heat in 2006, when he said, "You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent."

This year, he managed to blow up his official announcement he was entering the race when he deemed Obama "the first mainstream African American [candidate] who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Obama's cleanliness has never been an issue.

Two years ago Biden had the foolishness to bring up that Delaware was a slave state, when attempting to show that he could appeal to southern voters:

You don't know my state. My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth-largest black population in the country. My state is anything from a Northeast liberal state.

Biden, along with most Delaware residents, lives in the far-northern end of the state, near Philadelphia.

More recently, Biden took aim at Obama's inexperience:

If the Democrats think we're going to be able to nominate someone who can win without that person being able to table unimpeachable credentials on national security and foreign policy, I think we're making a tragic mistake.

I agree with Joe on that one. Biden has served in the Senate since 1973. How can he be an agent of change?

And his son is a lobbyist.

Thank you, Barack.

Technorati tags: Illinois Democrats Obama politics Barack Obama Biden Delaware

Victory! University of Illinois to release Chicago Annenberg Challenge records

Well, I wonder what happened? Did the University of Illinois feel the heat--and perhaps threats of donors withholding money, and decide to track down the mysterious donor who is said to control access to the records of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge?

Whatever occurred, my alma mater relented and will release all 132 boxes of records from the Chicago Annenberg Challenge on Tuesday.

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge donation of $49 million was the largest private gift ever received by the Chicago Public Schools.

But by the looks of the final report, that money was wasted. Obama was the group's first chairman. Former Weather Underground member Bill "Bomber" Ayers was instrumental in securing the financing for this endevor.

My guess, and I'm not alone in this thought, is that the records will show that not only did Obama and the unrepentant Ayers work closely together on this project, but that Obama flopped in his first big-money venture.

The biggest-money venture on the planet is the United States goverment--which Obama hopes to lead in five months.

Hat tip to Mr. Right.

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Tony Rezko corruption Obama Bill Ayers Chicago illinois university of illinois illini illinois Annenberg education

How to contact me

If you need something cleared up on my blog, the best method to contact me is with e-mail, specifically john.ruberry@sbcglobal.net.

This statement has been on my home page for about a year:

Statements made by commenters on this blog do not necessarily match the views of the web site owner--the comments are unmoderated. Not deleting a post deemed offensive by others does not mean an endorsement of that comment. Report any offensive comments to the above e-mail address.

How clear do I have to make it?

Not to brag, but I have a Blackberry, and unless I'm out of the country, a rarity by the way, I am always easily reached by e-mail. Unless both of my computers break and I lose my handset.

And thanks to the thousands of Marathon Pundit readers who have read my blog, and used the preferred method of discourse.

As for those comments--I do not make anonymous comments on Marathon Pundit. Simply put, I have better things to do.

Obama's friend Bill Ayers

The American Issues Project has a new ad about Barack Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers, one that the Obama campaign will surely call a distraction.

Related post:

KEEPING THE STORY ALIVE: A COLLECTION OF POSTS ON BILL AYERS AND THE "WEATHER UNDERGROUND"

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Chicago radicals

Meeting the challenge of finding out more about the Chicago Annenberg Challenge

Thomas Lifson of the American Thinker once again hits one out of the park regarding Barack Obama and the Chicago Annenberg Challenge cover-up.

Despite the legally questionable embargo of the CAC archives, most of its tax returns and official evaluations of the CAC have already been made public. In the hands of intrepid bloggers such as Steve Diamond, Tom Maguire and Dan Riehl, there is already proof of Obama's extensive involvement with Ayers over the course of his chairmanship, and an emerging picture of Obama's indecisiveness and absence when serious problems needed leadership.

Barack Obama joined the CAC shortly after William Ayers and Anne C. Hallett received news that their letter of November 8, 1994 submitting a grant proposal to The Annenberg Challenge had been approved. They were to get as much as $49 million from Anennberg, plus tens of millions more dollars from other foundations. Obama's involvement predates by months the actual incorporation of the CAC and his appointment as founding chairman of the board. He came on board almlost as soon as the proposal was approved.

How on earth did a relatively unknown associate at a politically-connected but small Chicago law firm come to be entrusted with the heady task of handing out tens of millions of dollars of other people's money?

And when did Ayers, an unrepentant ex-terrorist, and Obama, get to know each other? How closely did they work together? On that last one, an answer can be found in the archived files of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, with the University of Illinois-Chicago, where Ayers is a professor. UIC refuses to release those records, claiming a donor, which it refuses to name, hasn't given permission for that to occur. Or was it much earlier? Michelle Obama was an attorney at Sidley & Austin in the early 1990s. Obama interned there--that's where they met. Ayers' equally unrepentant wife, Bernardine Dorhn, worked there at Sidley & Austin as well--which is one of Chicago's biggest law firms.

Lifson recalls Obama's comments about Ayers in an April debate with Hillary Clinton:

This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English (correction, it's education) in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.

And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense, George (Stephanopoulos). [....]

So this kind of game, in which anybody who I know, regardless of how flimsy the relationship is, is somehow -- somehow their ideas could be attributed to me -- I think the American people are smarter than that. They're not going to suggest somehow that that is reflective of my views, because it obviously isn't."

Ayers, in Obamaspeak, was just "a guy who lives in my neighborhood."

After Hillary Clinton brought up Tony Rezko's name in a January debate, the mainstream media were forced to take notice. That's when we found out his longtime friend and political financier was just "somebody I knew."

That stunned Mark Brown, a Chicago Sun-Times columnist:

My relationship is he was somebody who I knew and had been a supporter for many years," Obama said on CBS in response to Hillary Clinton's "slumlord" attack from earlier this week. "He was somebody who had supported a wide range of candidates all throughout Illinois. Nobody had an inkling that he was involved in any problems."

Somebody who I knew? Wow.

That's such an understatement that it borders on a falsehood.

This is somebody who spotted Obama's raw talent and offered him a job while he was still in law school, somebody who gave him one of his very first campaign donations for his first political race. This is somebody for whom Obama and his law firm performed legal work, not a great deal of it by Obama personally perhaps, but enough to know how the man made his money and that he was one of the major developers of low-income housing in his state legislative district.

But Obama later admitted that he became aware of Rezko's problems even before the bizarre and still-not completely explained real estate deal with Rezko's wife that allowed the Obamas to buy their Kenwood mansion.

There's a pattern here, folks.

Rezko, "Somebody I knew." Ayers, "A guy who lives in my neighborhood."

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Tony Rezko corruption Obama Bill Ayers Chicago illinois university of illinois illini illinois Annenberg education

New McCain ad "Housing," with guest star Tony Rezko

The John McCain campaign unveiled its latest ad today, "Housing." It could be the first of a series. McCain hits the Cult of Change leader on the head over his ties to convicted felon, Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

Speaking of housing, an interesting topic for a sequel could be about another house, Tony Rezko's Wilmette mansion, pictured on the right. On June 27, 2003, Rezko held a lavish fundraiser there for then-state Senator Obama--who intially short of cash as he worked to move up to the US Senate.

From the Chicago Sun-Times last year:

At the time of the party, the state was in the process of foreclosing on a low-income apartment building Rezko's company rehabbed in Obama's state Senate district -- a rehab project on which Obama's law firm worked. Rezko had also abandoned many other low-income apartments, leaving numerous vacant units in need of major repairs.

Rezko was indicted in October 2006 in unrelated fraud schemes.

Between 75 and 80 people attended Rezko's cocktail party, according to (Obama spokesman Bill) Burton, but he said the campaign has no list of the guests.

More than half a dozen people who were there said between 100 and 150 guests were treated to an open bar and food served by Jewell Events Catering, run by renowned Chicago caterer George Jewell. Valets parked cars for the guests, who each were asked to donate at least $1,000.

Rezko paid for the party, despite his foreclosure problems on Chicago's South Side.

Last month Doug Ross put together a storyboard for his idea for a Obama-Rezko commercial.

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Illinois Election Democrats Tony Rezko corruption legal Chicago John McCain McCain Republican slum Cult of Change Wilmette

Unpopular governor will skip Obama rally in Springfield

As I noted a few days ago, a number of Illinois politicians--some with questionable backgrounds--will speak at the Democratic National Convention on behalf of the Cult of Change leader, Barack Obama. One who wasn't asked to speak was Governor Rod Blagojevich, whose deep ties to jailed felon Antoin "Tony" Rezko could lead to the indictment or impeachment of the unpopular Chicagoan.

Probably as an afterthought, "Blago" was invited to Obama's Springfield soiree, in front of the Old State Capitol, where the presumptive Democratic nominee is expected to showcase his running mate. But Blagojevich will be in Obama's part of Chicago, the South Side, where the North Sider will honor a previous commitment to attend the deployment proceedings for 200 troops headed to Iraq.

Funny, why won't Obama be there?

Michael Sneed of the Chicago Sun-Times, who broke the story, has more:

Sneed hears Gov. Blago didn't want to muddy the Obama waters with pesky reporters asking him questions about convicted influence-peddler Tony Rezko, who was this/close to both Blago and Obama, despite Obama's protestations.

Pictured above is Rezko whispering in Blagojevich's ear.

That's not all. Last month, Blagojevich slashed the budget of Illinois' state historical sites--seven months before the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth. So the building Obama and his running mate will speak in front of, which is drenched in Lincoln history, is now open just five days a week, not seven.

Related post:

Bad choice: Obama reserves Old State Capitol to show off running mate

Technorati tags: Abraham Lincoln history Illinois Blagojevich Springfield Democrats Obama politics Barack Obama Chicago Tony Rezko corruption legal impeachment

The con is on in Obama-land: Emil Jones' son takes dad's place on the ballot

For the third time in four years, a prominent Chicago Democrat was replaced--post primary election--by a son of the incumbent. First Congressman Bill Lipinski swindled the voters in 2004, then Todd Stroger was chosen out of 5 million Cook County residents to replace his ailing father in 2006, and now State Senate President Emil Jones, a key mentor to Barack Obama--has conned the voters of his district and anointed his son as his replacement on the fall ballot.

Obama and Jones the Elder are pictured above.

Emil Jones III faces perennial candidate Ray Wardingley, a Southwest Side Chicago Republican. A decent man, but Wardingley used to run for office as Ray "Spanky the Clown" Wardingley. Which reminds me of the XTC song, Dear Madam Barnum. The final line of the chorus is "I resign as clown." But such a thing is not possible--once a clown, always a clown. Look for Emil Jones the Next Generation to coast to victory in this heavily Democratic district.

But primogeniture--son replacing father without an election--is not how democracy is supposed to work. Except in Chicago.

Since Barack Obama is too busy not commenting on the failure of the University of Illinois to release to the public the Chicago Annenberg Challege records--or to call for their immediate release, he won't be able to comment on this development in his hometown.

Remember: Not only did State Senate President Emil Jones create much of Barack Obama's Springfield résumé, Jones remarked about Obama in 2003: "I'm gonna make me a US Senator."

And now he'll make his son a state senator. The con is on.

Related posts:

Anger growing in Chicago over Emil Jones' nepotism scheme

More on Emil Jones' bait-and-switch

UPDATED: Obama mentor Emil Jones to announce retirement today

Obama's state legislative record--he got a lot of help

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Obama Barack Obama Emil Jones cronyism nepotism

Barackbook update: Obama has new friends

As the run-up continues to next week's Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama has some new friends on the spoof-site, Barackbook. These include Valerie Jarrett, who like Barack and Michelle Obama, has ties to the University of Chicago, Code Pink extremist and Obama bundler Jodie Evans, Palestinian radical Ali Abunimah, and an Unnamed Philadelphia Street Organizer.

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics University of Chicago

150 years ago today: First Lincoln-Douglas Debate

On August 21, 1858, the first of the seven Lincoln-Douglas Debates took place in Ottawa, Illinois. It's of course the first stop for the Lincoln & Douglas Reunion Tour, and there will be a festival in Ottawa this weekend to mark the sesquicentennial.

Much of the activity will be centered in a park just outside of downtown Ottawa.

I try to keep contemporary politics out of my history posts, but since the Associated Press chose to bring up Barack Obama in its article about the anniversary, I have no choice but to follow suit.

Now, as another U.S. senator from Illinois admired for his oratorical polish — Barack Obama — shoots for the presidency, Illinois is marking Lincoln's rise to the national stage with a sesquicentennial commemoration of the David-and-Goliath showdowns. The festivities will take Lincoln and Douglas re-enactors to each debate site starting this month, with storytellers, parades, and dancing at period balls.

More...

Slavery was the focus of the debates at Ottawa, Freeport, Jonesboro, Charleston, Galesburg, Quincy and Alton. But underlying that incendiary theme was the ultimate question of democracy's purpose — whether it's about majority rule or right and wrong, said Allen Guelzo of Gettysburg College, author of Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America.

"Americans regard democracy as something more transcendent, something more sacred than just counting noses," Guelzo said. "Americans at base want to know that their politics is about what is right. And if a majority wants to do what is wrong, people just don't roll over."
More..

And nearly 150 years later, a black man would announce his run for presidency in Springfield on the steps of the Capitol where Lincoln once served. Obama's nomination is "breathtakingly stupendous," Guelzo said, considering the slow pace of worldwide change in race relations over the centuries.

I wonder who the professor is voting for?

While I'm pleased someone running for president isn't automatically dismissed as a serious presidential candidate because of race, these Obama-Lincoln comparisons need to stop.

I have to paraphrase it, because I can't find the exact verbiage online, but National Review's print edition said something along these lines: A Lincoln-Obama comparision is absurd. Lincoln's defeat in 1858 was more meaningful than Obama's US Senate victory in 2004. Lincoln lost to Douglas--the leading Democrat of his time. They participated in debates that are still studied today. Obama rolled over Alan Keyes.

Lincoln didn't cloud himself in secrecy as Obama does. And he didn't surround himself with characters such as Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko, and Emil Jones.

As for the upcoming 2008 presidential debates, in format they are much different than the free-wheeling style used by Lincoln and Douglas. However, John McCain challenged Obama to a series of town hall style debates--which Obama at first said he was interested in. But predictably, Obama flip-flopped.

Ottawa is a nice town, and quite accessible. It's just south of Interstate 80.

Related post:

My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: Jonesboro, site of the third Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Technorati tags: Abraham Lincoln history Americana Illinois Stephen A. Douglas debate democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics news John McCain McCain Republican On this day

New Facebook group: University of Illinois: Release the Chicago Annenberg Challenge records now

After months of sitting on the sidelines, I've created my first Facebook group: University of Illinois: Release the Chicago Annenberg Challenge Records Now

Read the below post on why my alma mater should do the right thing.

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Chicago radicals university of illinois illini illinois Annenberg education news John McCain McCain Republican

McCain spokesman asks Obama to tell Univ. of Illinois to release Chicago Annenberg Challenge records

In response to an ad supposedly running in Georgia, John McCain campaign spokesman had this to say:

Barack Obama's ad is ridiculous. Because of John McCain, corruption was exposed and people like Jack Abramoff went to jail.

However, if Barack Obama wants to have a discussion about truly questionable associations, let's start with his relationship with the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, at whose home Obama's political career was reportedly launched. Mr. Ayers was a leader of the Weather Underground, a terrorist group responsible for countless bombings against targets including the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and numerous police stations, courthouses and banks. In recent years, Mr. Ayers has stated, "I don't regret setting bombs … I feel we didn't do enough."

"The question now is, will Barack Obama immediately call on the University of Illinois to release all of the records they are currently withholding to shed further light on Senator Obama’s relationship with this unrepentant terrorist?"

I'm not letting up on this one--it's personal--I'm a University of Illinois alumnus.

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Chicago radicals university of illinois illini illinois Annenberg education Abramoff news John McCain McCain Republican

More bad news for Obama: Rezko sentencing one week before Election Day

Barack Obama is having a bad week. Declining poll numbers, a new Bill Ayers scandal, and now this--his longtime friend and property neighbor (through his wife) Antoin "Tony" Rezko--will be sentenced on October 28. That's just one week before Election Day.

Originally the convicted political fixer was to be sentenced on September 3. But at the request of Rezko's attorneys, they asked for more time to prepare post-trial motions.

Presumably the Obama campaign was not consulted.

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

Release the Chicago Annenberg Challenge files now!

This is a story I'll be keeping a close eye on. Once again, my alma mater, the University of Illinois, is embarrassing itself. Barack Obama was the chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Project from 1995 until 1998--he remained on its board for another three years.

From AP:

The University of Illinois on Tuesday refused to release records relating to Barack Obama's service to a nonprofit group linked to former 1960s radical activist William Ayers.

The university's Chicago campus said the donor of the records that document the work of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge has not yet turned over ownership rights to the material.

The university is "aggressively pursuing" an agreement with the donor, and as soon as an agreement is finalized, the collection will be made accessible to the public, the university said in a one-paragraph statement.

There was no indication when an agreement will be worked out. The university did not identify the donor who it said was concerned that the release not invade personal privacy.

Related posts:

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

KEEPING THE STORY ALIVE: A COLLECTION OF POSTS ON BILL AYERS AND THE "WEATHER UNDERGROUND"

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Left Wing Extremists Chicago radicals university of illinois illini illinois Annenberg education

Anger growing in Chicago over Emil Jones' nepotism scheme

A threshold was cracked on Monday when Barack Obama mentor--State Senate President Emil Jones, announced his retirement and then said he wants his heretofore unheard of son, Emil Jones III, to replace him.

Jones the Elder ran in the Democratic Primary in February and faces perennial candidate Ray Wardingley, who used to run for office in he "Spanky the Clown" outfit.

Had he made his retirement plans known last year, real change could have taken place--a spirited Democratic Primary contest would have taken place.

Machine pol Jones knows that, which is why he's retiring now, and setting it up so his son can take his place on the ballot.

And there is a lot of anger about it in the Chicago area. Rep. Bill Lipinski (D-Chicago) pulled the same stunt four years ago, and Cook County President John Stroger was replaced on the fall ballot two years ago by his incompetent son, Todd "Urkel" Stroger. Obama had the audacity to call this hack, "a good, progressive Democrat."

Five million Cook County residents, including myself, are choking on the stench from Stroger the Younger's corruption tax.

The media is ripping into Jones. Roe Conn spent this first hour of his WLS-AM talk radio show trashing Jones, and then added, "Wait till the national media hears about this!"

In today's Chicago Tribune, John Kass hammers Jones and the Democrats. Free registrtion required for the link. The Trib's Ray Long interviewed Jones, who had this to say about nepotism.

I recall John F. Kennedy, president of the United States, when he became president, he recommended his brother. Right? And his brother was elected," Jones said, in an apparent reference to Sen. Ted Kennedy, who followed his brother as a senator from Massachusetts.

"Mayor Richard M. Daley begot . . . Richard J. Daley," Jones continued, inadvertently reversing the order of the Daley mayors.

But Kennedy and Daley didn't retire after a primary.

Carol Marin's latest Chicago Sun-Times column, "Nepotitis," was moved to the front page.

In an editorial, the Sun-Times sarcastically congratulates Jones for easing his son's path to elected office.

And former Illinois legislator Cal Skinner doesn't think Jones will be leaving the public payroll.

What does the Cult of Change leader, Barack Obama, have to say about this?

As for myself, this is not "Change I can believe in."

Related posts:

More on Emil Jones' bait-and-switch

UPDATED: Obama mentor Emil Jones to announce retirement today

Update on Cook County, America's worst governmental body

Obama's state legislative record--he got a lot of help

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Obama Barack Obama Emil Jones cronyism nepotism Stroger corruption tax

My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: Jonesboro, site of the third Lincoln-Douglas Debate

After leaving Cairo, Illinois--quite shell shocked after seeing the decay and rubble there--my next stop--and final one--of my blog-o-vacation was Jonesboro. My spirits picked up as I drove through Anna, a town of 5,000 in Union County also with an unhappy racial history. Black were not allowed on the streets after sunset for many years--it was a sundown town. Today Anna has few black residents.

Just to the west of Anna--the municipalities are so close together they should be called twin-towns--is Jonesboro, it's population is 1,800. Unlike decaying Cairo, Jonesboro and Anna hum with activity and commerce. The countryside surrounding the villages is quite charming--rolling hills reminiscent of western Tennessee.

Jonesboro, which is farther south than Richmond, Virgina, was the site of the third Lincoln-Douglas Debate. First some history: Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas were political rivals beginning in the 1830s. Although four years younger than Lincoln, Douglas' political advancement was quicker, and by 1858, Democrat Douglas was running for re-election to the US Senate. Lincoln was the standard bearer of the upstart Republican Party and Douglas' opponent that year. As a Whig, Lincoln served one term in the House of Representatives. He was a dove regarding the Mexican War, and was in the political wilderness for a few years because of that stand.

After joint appearances in their hometowns--Lincoln's Springfield and Douglas' Chicago, the candidates agreed to debate in a town in each of the remaining congressional districts in Illinois. This is the sesquicentennial year of the debates, the first was held in the northern Illinois town of Ottawa--on August 21.

Jonesboro was third, its debate was held on September 15.

At the center of Jonesboro, now and probably then, is a circular drive--which is a rarity in Illinois. The circle is called Public Square, and there is a sign there stating "Walk Where Lincoln Walked." To do that, you walk north on Main Street for about a mile to Lincoln Memorial Park--where the debate took place. I was pressed for time, so I drove. In the center of the park is the the town's Lincoln and Douglas monument; it was officially dedicated last month. Tiny Jonesboro is the last of the seven debate cities to place statues marking the historic event.

The statues are life-size. At six feet four inches, Lincoln is tall even by today's standards. Douglas is a foot shorter--his head is that of a taller man.

Jonesboro will celebrate the sesquicentennial during the weekend of September 12-14, when the Lincoln and Douglas Reunion comes to town. It just might be the biggest thing to hit Jonesboro in 150 years.

Except for my summary post, this is the last entry of My Missisippi Manifest Destiny. Click here for my previous post, which has all of my prior observations about my trip to the Magnolia State--along with a few detours.

Related posts:

Thirty hours in Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois
"Closed Today" signs coming to many Illinois Lincoln sites
Abraham Lincoln birthplace site
Abraham Lincoln birthplace site's log cabin
"My earliest recollection is of the Knob Creek place"
I found this bit of history in downtown Chicago today
Book review: Andrew Ferguson's "Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America"
My Mississippi Manifest Destiny--Lincoln and Kentucky
Stephen A. Douglas Tomb in Chicago

Technorati tags: Abraham Lincoln history Americana Illinois travel travel blog Stephen A. Douglas debate photography photos byways

A taste of Chicago in Denver will leave voters with a stomache ache

Keep it up, Democrats. Please continue placing Illinois Dems in a prominent spot as the party rallies around its presumptive nominee, Chicagoan Barack Obama.

The front page of the Chicago Sun-Times announced today that a whole bunch of Chicago area Democrats--some of them with questionable backgrounds--will speak at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

(That's me in the picture, by the way.)

I'll start with my congresscritter, Jan Schakowsky of Evanston. She's even more left-wing than Obama--and she'll be a DNC speaker.

Schakowsky is married to Robert Creamer, one time head of the self-annointed consumer advocacy group, the Illinois Public Action Council. In 2006, Creamer served a five-month sentence after pleading guilty to kiting-checks while leading IPAC. Although not implicated in the scheme, Schakowsky served on the board of the organization while hubby was writing those funny checks.

After his release from a federal prison, Obama was a trainer for Camp Obama.

Creamer regularly writes pro-Obama articles for the Huffington Post.

Three weeks ago, Creamer's wife hosted a Barack Obama rally across the street from Broadway Bank--which is owned by the family of Illinois State Treaurer Alexi Giannoulias--more on him next.

Friend of the blog Tom Mannis of The Bench attended the rally, and reported that Schakowsky told attendees how to handle queries about Tony Rezko--while her ex-con husband roamed the aisles.

More change that I can't believe in.

Giannoulias is speaking too. He met Obama at the elite East Bank Club on Chicago's Near North Side, and apparently the pair used to play informal basketball games.

His family owns the aforementioned Broadway Bank, and while a loan officer there, Giannoulias approved multi-million dollar loans to mobster Michael "Jaws" Giorango, who once ran gambling and call girl rings.

In his first run for statewide office two years ago, Giannoulias was not endorsed by the state party, but Obama's endorsement, along with some Giannoulias family money, put Alexi over the top in the primary.

However, State Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan, who is also the Illinois' Speaker of the House, refused to endorse Giannoulias in the general election, and there was no mention of the "Boy Banker" on the party's web site in 2006.

Giannoulias won anyway.

Last year another embarrassing Broadway Bank loan became public knowledge. Giannoulias signed off on a loan in 2002 to an elderly woman who apparently was mentally incompetent at the time. While testifying in Cook County Circuit Court about the loan, Alexi evaded questions, often answering "I don't recall" or "I just don’t remember."

Presumably, Giannoulias won't be uttering those phrases in Denver.

Three months ago, Las Vegas authorites issued an arrest warrant against since-convicted felon (and longtime Obama friend) Tony Rezko for writing bad checks. Those checks were drawn from the Giannoulias family's Broadway Bank.

I remember something. Obama once said he didn't want to be "the kingmaker." But he's the man who put Alexi into office. The reluctant kingmaker that same year endorsed Tammy Duckworth in her primary battle for the Democratic nomination in Illinois' 6th Congressional District. She won the primary, but lost in the general election. She'll speak too.

So will Chicago congressmen Rahm Emanuel and Jesse Jackson Jr. Like Schakowsky, the pair are believed to be very interested in succeeding Obama if (Heaven forbid!) he wins the presidency.

And what about Obama's State Senate mentor, Emil Jones? He's a superdelagate and he'll presumably be in Denver. So far there are no plans for Jones to speak at the DNC.

Related posts:

Obama, Alexi, and Broadway Bank
Obama's "sweetheart" mortgage: Was the competing lender Broadway Bank?
Liberals laud book by ex-con husband of Rep. Jan Schakowsky
Obama's state treasurer pal needs a memory upgrade
Coincidences and the Las Vegas Rezko arrest warrant
Ex-con and congresswoman's husband Creamer taught at Camp Obama
Rep. Schakowsky: Let your moonbat flag fly
Leftist congresswoman wants to reinstate "Fairness Doctrine"

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats Illinois Politics cronyism Tony Rezko corruption banking Alexi Giannoulias Schakowsky Jan Schakowsky Congress Robert Creamer DNC Denver Colorado Emil Jones

Bad choice: Obama reserves Old State Capitol to show off running mate

From Lynn Sweet's Chicago Sun-Times blog:

The Obama team, in the run-up to the Democratic convention, will showcase the new Obama ticket Saturday in Springfield at the Old State Capitol, where presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) officially kicked off his campaign in February, 2007.

State of Illinois authorities have been asked permission by Obama folks to reserve the historic spot at noon. This does not mean that this is the time and place where Obama announces his running mate; that could happen any time from Wednesday morning on. Obama's time frame is shrinking, so the announcement is coming soon. The new vice presidential contender will jump on the road with Obama to showcase the new partnership. Springfield is a leg on the Obama roots tour.

Well isn't that special? The Old State Capitol is where Abraham Lincoln made his famous "House Divided" speech.

But because of the inept "leadership" of Governor Rod Blagojevich, State Senate President Emil Jones, and House Speaker Michael Madigan--all Democrats--that building is now closed Sunday and Monday. Up until a few weeks ago, the building was open seven days a week. Blagojevich's smoke-and-mirror budgets since he became governor are the reason that Illinois is in this mess. With the exception of selling off the state lottery, there are no more rabbits in Blagojevichs' top hat.

Across the street from the Old State Capitol is Lincoln's old law office. That building is now open just one day a week--and lucky for Obama, that day is Saturday when Obama--with running mate in tow--will appear in Springfield. Like the stately structure, the law office was open seven days a week until recently.

This is rich.

Related posts:

"Closed Today" signs coming to many Illinois Lincoln sites

Thirty hours in Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois

Technorati tags: Abraham Lincoln history Illinois Blagojevich Springfield Democrats Obama politics Barack Obama

More on Emil Jones' bait-and-switch

In the spring of 2004, longtime Chicago Democratic congressman Bill Lipinski easily won his party's primary. Then he decided to retire. Lipinski engineered it so his son, then a University of Tennessee political science professor, would be his replacement on the fall ballot.

On the Republican side, the party of course figured the elder Lipinski would be a shoe-in for re-election, so they did not field a strong candidate.

Lipinski the Younger won that race, and has represented Illinois' 3rd District since then.

Two years later, Cook County Board President John Stroger faced a tough primary challenge from reformer Forrest Claypool. A week before the primary, Stroger suffered a massive stroke and was never seen in public again. Stroger squeaked by and won the primary. In July, Stroger withdrew from the race, and he was replaced by his son, Todd. Republican Tony Peraica put up a spirited challenge in the general election, but particularly in Illinois, 2006 was a bad year for the GOP. Stroger the Younger prevailed, and two years later slapped county residents with the "corruption tax."

In February, State Senate President Emil Jones' name appeared on the Democratic Primary ballot. He easily won. But now Jones is "jonesing" for retirement--and a hefty state pension. And it appears he is "pulling a Lipinski," announcing his retirement so he can handpick his successor. And the person he has in mind is his son, Emil Jones III.

Jones the Elder is one of Barack Obama's mentors--it was Jones who placed the Cult of Change leader's name on a plethora of legislation in Springfield--so Obama would have a record to run on as he campaigned for the US Senate.

The Chicago Sun-Times has more:

"His preference, yes, would be to see his son serve," said Cindy Davidsmeyer, Jones' spokeswoman. "But it's the committeemen's choice."

That's true. But given Chicago's political history, Emil Jones III's candidacy appears a done deal that's stirring up old questions about politicians who retire near election time and then use their clout to pass on their jobs as family heirlooms.

"It isn't a good thing for the community," said state Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago), who has had a chilly relationship with the elder Jones despite him being her state senator. "Just because it's your son doesn't mean he'll do a good job for the 14th senatorial district. I don't think people have an opportunity to express their choice because this person wasn't in a primary."

Emil Jones III, 31, has kept a low profile. He worked for the state between May 1999 and November 2006, when he briefly left the payroll.

Let's repeat Davis' words, "It isn't a good thing for the community."

This is not change I can believe in.

And this is what one-party rule does to the citizens of Cook County and Chicago. Primogeniture, not a healthy democracy. But hey, we've got something no one else has: a corruption tax.

UPDATE 2:30PM CDT: I just heard Rep. Monique Davis, who says that "I do not know Emil Jones III, I wouldn't know him if I saw him." Keep in mind Davis is one of two representatives who make up part of Emil Jones' Senate district. And Jones' son will probably soon be her State Senator.

Audacity!

Related posts:

UPDATED: Obama mentor Emil Jones to announce retirement today

Update on Cook County, America's worst governmental body

Obama's state legislative record--he got a lot of help

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Obama Barack Obama Emil Jones cronyism nepotism Dan Lipinski Stroger University of Tennessee corruption tax

$4 a gallon gasoline still common in Chicago area

According to AAA, the national average for a gallon of gasoline is now $3.75. However, you can still find gas in the Chicago area more than $4 a gallon, as this Marathon station in Glenview lets people know.

The photograph was taken yesterday morning. There are some filling stations with gasoline just under $4.

UPDATE 11:00PM CDT: I drove past the same station this afternoon, regular gas is at $3.99.

Technorati tags: economy business energy gasoline Glenview

Mississippi legislator to reimburse state for his trip to Dem convention

The nerve of some people...

From the Jackson Clarion-Ledger:

A Democratic leader said today he will pay for his trip next week to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver instead of asking Mississippi taxpayers to pick up the tab.

State Rep. Tyrone Ellis issued his statement after Mississippi Republicans sent a news release to media outlets blasting the House of Representatives for approving the expense.

Ellis, a Democrat from Starkville who serves as House Majority Leader, said he will reimburse the state. His statement does not say how much the trip costs. Some estimate it costs thousands of dollars to attend the four-day event.

To my knowledge, no one in Illinois has tried a stunt like this one. Or no one has been caught.

Technorati tags: Election Democrats Politics DNC Mississippi

More trouble in the Ayers for Obama?

Why is access to documents to the Chicago Annenberg Challenge being blocked? Is there something to hide? Maybe.

Does Barack Obama's pal Bill "Bomber" Ayers figure int this story? Yes.

From Stanley Kurtz in the National Review Online:

Although the press has been notably lax about pursuing the matter, the full story of the Obama-Ayers relationship calls the truth of Obama’s account seriously into question. When Obama made his first run for political office, articles in both the Chicago Defender and the Hyde Park Herald featured among his qualifications his position as chairman of the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a foundation where Ayers was a founder and guiding force. Obama assumed the Annenberg board chairmanship only months before his first run for office, and almost certainly received the job at the behest of Bill Ayers. During Obama's time as Annenberg board chairman, Ayers's own education projects received substantial funding. Indeed, during its first year, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge struggled with significant concerns about possible conflicts of interest. With a writ to aid Chicago's public schools, the Annenberg challenge played a deeply political role in Chicago's education wars, and as Annenberg board chairman, Obama clearly aligned himself with Ayers’s radical views on education issues. With Obama heading up the board and Ayers heading up the other key operating body of the Annenberg Challenge, the two would necessarily have had a close working relationship for years (therefore "exchanging ideas on a regular basis"). So when Ayers and Dorhn hosted that kickoff for the first Obama campaign, it was not a random happenstance, but merely further evidence of a close and ongoing political partnership. Of course, all of this clearly contradicts Obama’s dismissal of the significance of his relationship with Ayers.

This much we know from the public record, but a large cache of documents housed in the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), is likely to flesh out the story. That document cache contains the internal files of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. The records in question are extensive, consisting of 132 boxes, containing 947 file folders, a total of about 70 linear feet of material. Not only would these files illuminate the working relationship between Obama and Bill Ayers, they would also provide significant insight into a web of ties linking Obama to various radical organizations, including Obama-approved foundation gifts to political allies. Obama's leadership style and abilities are also sure to be illuminated by the documents in question.

Cover-Up?
Unfortunately, I don’t yet have access to the documents. The Special Collections section of the Richard J. Daley Library agreed to let me read them, but just before I boarded my flight to Chicago, the top library officials mysteriously intervened to bar access. Circumstances strongly suggest the likelihood that Bill Ayers himself may have played a pivotal role in this denial. Ayers has long taught at UIC, where the Chicago Annenberg Challenge offices were housed, rent-free. Ayers likely arranged for the files of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge to be housed in the UIC library, and may well have been consulted during my unsuccessful struggle to gain access to the documents. Let me, then, explain in greater detail what the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) records are, and how I have been blocked from seeing them.

It's a long, but worthwhile read.

This is not the first time my alma mater, the University of Illinois, has caused me to wince, as you'll read in the first related post.

Related posts:

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

KEEPING THE STORY ALIVE: A COLLECTION OF POSTS ON BILL AYERS AND THE "WEATHER UNDERGROUND"

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Left Wing Extremists Chicago radicals university of illinois illini illinois Annenberg education

UPDATED: Obama mentor Emil Jones to announce retirement today

Although Illinois State Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) is on the ballot this fall, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, the man who put Barack Obama's name on a lot of bills as the Cult of Change leader ramped up his 2004 US Senate Campaign, will announce his retirement today.

That's Jones on the left, with Barack Obama. In 2003, Jones told Chicago radio host Cliff Kelley, I'm gonna make me a U.S. Senator.'" He was of couse talking about Obama.

Is Emil Jones "tired," as one anonymous Jones ally told the Sun-Times?

Or are his crony-capitalism ties catching up to to him?

In its story about Jones' exit, the Sun-Times thought to mention a couple of warts on Jones' résumé.

Jones, a former city sewer inspector, endured criticism for taking tens of thousands of dollars in interest-free loans from his campaign fund and for multimillion-dollar, no-bid government contracts steered to a technology firm headed by his stepson, John Sterling.

That company in is Synch-Solutions.

Have some deep-dish pizza while you read this post...it is so Chicago.

NBC 5 Chicago weighs in:

Synch's relationship with City Colleges began in 1999, shortly after the company was incorporated by a self-described recruiting manager, Sterling.

Sterling's company was formed as a Minority Business Enterprise, which is supposed to help disadvantaged businesses gain access to government contracts.

Almost immediately, the company received a $375,000 contract from City Colleges.

There would be more to come, as Jay Stewart of the Better Government Association found out when Unit 5 showed him copies of contracts obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Synch received many no-bid contracts for their work. Interestingly, the headline of the NBC 5 story reads, "Does Family Matter In Getting No-Bid Contracts?" In Illinois it sure does. There's a long tradition of using government--and government contracts--to enrich friends and relatives.

That article is from 2007, at that time Synch-Solutions had received $55 million in City College contracts.

Also last year, the Sun-Times uncovered $700,000 in subcontractor work awarded to Synch-Solutions:

Still, Synch-Solutions' work for the governor's budget office has largely been a secret. The state doesn't track payments its vendors make to subcontractors. So it's almost impossible to know what firms are being hired as subcontractors -- let alone what they're being paid.

"Does it make you suspicious? Yes," said Jay Stewart, executive director of the Better Government Association. "There doesn't appear to be much of a requirement to ensure that the public knows who the subs are. . . . There's just no political will to do it."

The latest revelation about Synch-Solutions is rekindling questions about nepotism for Jones. Besides the firm's government business, Jones' wife, a psychologist, boosted her state human services salary by more than $70,000 through a 2005 promotion. A son, Emil Jones III, got a $57,360-a-year state commerce job in April, despite lacking a college degree.

Synch-Solutions has worked with other public entities in Illinois, including the Chicago Transit Authority, the Chicago Public Schools, Cook County Forest Preserve District, the Illinois Tollway, the state's Central Management Services.

Not bad for a guy who was a recruiting manager nine years ago.

Let's move on to the private sector. Commonwealth Edison is the electric utility for northeastern Illinois. From a 2007 AP article:

The company owned by Senate President Emil Jones' stepson was doing contract work for ComEd's corporate parent at the time Jones blocked a rate freeze for the utility, according to a published report.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported in its Thursday editions that Exelon hired Synch-Solutions -- the firm owned by Jones' stepson John Sterling -- in 2004 to provide "software integration services."

But the utility would not tell the newspaper how much it paid Sterling's management consulting and technology services company or whether it thought the relationship was a conflict of interest for Jones.

Jones' retirement is bad news for Illinois' embattled governor, Chicago Democrat Rod Blagojevich. He's a strong supporter of "Blago," who is almost certainly under federal investigation for his alleged roll in the "pay to play" scandals within state government that netted the corruption convictions of Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

On far less friendly terms with Blagojevich is yet another Chicago Democrat, House Speaker Michael Madigan. His office circulated a fourteen page memo on the possibility of impeaching Blago two months ago. Nothing has come of Madigan's efforts, but with Jones out of the way soon, Madigan's push may move forward.

Jones' retirement is not immediate. He will remain on the November ballot, so he can hand-pick his successor.

And if Jones follows tradition, he'll probably pick a relative. See Todd Stroger.

For more on Stoger the Younger, read the below post.

UPDATE 2:40 CDT: Surprise, surprise. Jones wants some guy named Emil Jones III to succeed him. You can't make this stuff up. Hat tip to Rob with Illinois Reason.

Impeachment talk about Gov. Blagojevich continues

Obama's state legislative record--he got a lot of help

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Tony Rezko corruption legal Blagojevich Obama Barack Obama Emil Jones Commonwealth Edison Exelon cronyism nepotism

Update on Cook County, America's worst governmental body

Last month the Cook County Board of Commissioners, led by the man Barack Obama enthusiastically endorsed in the fall of 2006, Todd Stroger--defecated on the five million residents of Cook and slapped an unneeded 1 percent sales tax on most purchases in the county. Because of that new levy, dubbed the "corruption tax," Chicagoans now pay the nation's highest sales tax--10.25 percent. Suburban Cook residents--that includes me--pay "only" 10 percent.

And look who just got a big raise: The Chicago Sun-Times tells us it's the employees of Cook County. Surprised? You shouldn't be.

At a time when folks are being laid off, losing their homes to foreclosure and paying the highest sales taxes in the country, Cook County employee paychecks are getting fatter.

County workers who were not promoted to higher paying jobs received an average pay increase of about 8 percent between July 2007 and July 2008, an analysis of the county payroll shows.

That's more than triple the 2.5 percent average pay hike workers in Illinois and four surrounding states received between June 2007 and June 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's also more than double the 3.8 percent cost-of-living pay hike top state officials received in July.

While much of county's wage increases were due to union contract negotiations, nonunion workers in mostly white collar jobs saw their pay increase, too.

The raises were approved last year--then the tax increase followed. Some pay hikes were mandated by union contracts, which is crony capitalism (or is it socialism?) at its worst. Cook has been run by the Democrats for decades, public service employee unions are major donors--and sources of campaign volunteers--for the Democrats.

But non-union employees ended up getting pretty much the same raises.

Audacity!

Related posts:

The latest from America's worst governmental body, Cook County
Bid to rescind Cook County corruption tax fails: UPDATED
Hey Obama! Speak out on proposal to impose nation's highest sales tax in your hometown: UDPATED
Revolt at the polls against the Cook County corruption tax called by Democratic reformer
T-Day in Obama's hometown: Highest sales tax of any big city in America
Patronage hiring still thrives in Cook County
Another thing for Obama to be silent on: Cook County summer jobs going to pols' kids
Rita Rezko's contribution to America's worst government, Cook County
Update on America's worst governmental body, Cook County
Palatine wants to secede from Cook County
Something else for Obama to be silent on: Chicago will have the nation's highest sales tax
Say no to higher Cook County taxes
No fat in Cook County budget?
Beavers leaves it to the race card as America's worst governmental body gets worse
Your Cook County tax dollars at work
Stop the proposed Cook County phone tax
"Is anyone watching out for Chicago taxpayers?"
Time for me to shop...outside Cook County?
Marathon Pundit Chicago River dumping follow up
Obama and Chicago's "We Don't Want Nobody Nobody Sent" culture
Cook County sues Cook County
My day as a Cook County juror
Cook County treasurer's office working against taxpayers

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

A lot wrong going on here...

There is so much wrong with this story. Parents of Hispanic speaking students at a Wichita, Kansas Catholic elementary school sued because they didn't like the school's "English only" policy.

If you don't like something about your kids' private school--there is a reasonable reaction--placing your kids in a different educational institution.

Bu the parents of these students chose to sue.

First the good, from the Wichita Eagle:

The Rev. Thomas Leland, St. Anne's pastor, said that English was the "common ground" for all the students and teachers.

"As long as we have a common ground, that is where we have to meet," Leland testified Friday.

Great point.

However, the school messed up big time:

School officials said Adam (Silva), who now attends a public school, had been asked to leave St. Anne after he tried to sit with other Spanish-speaking students at lunch.

Administrators said that defied a rule that required the Hispanic children to sit with white children at lunch, a rule (federal judge J. Thomas) Marten said was only applied to one ethnic group.

Back to the students, and I assume, their parents:

The Spanish-speaking students said they felt harassed and ostracized by being prohibited from speaking a language common in their family and culture.

It's an American school in the United States and English is our de facto common language. It should be the nation's official language. Besides, name one school where kids aren't teased.

And now I move on to spank the Wichita Eagle:

School officials testified that English-speaking students (emphasis mine) at St. Anne's middle school were intimidated by hearing their peers speak in a language they didn't understand.

Why not refer to them "non-Spanish speaking" students? Please toss out your politically-correct style book.

And classes at that school are conducted in which language?

Like the Iran-Iraq war, this is a conflict both sides--and the Eagle as well--deserved to lose.

But for the legal record, the school prevailed in court

Technorati tags: Kansas Wichita politics Spanish language spanish Catholic education

High gasoline prices helping Wal-Mart

It's been a while since I've done a Wal-Mart post, but the time is right tonight.

Wal-Mart's profits rose 17 percent in the second quarter--although same-store sales were up just 4.5 percent. Not bad, considering some retailers are struggling.

Here's a nugget to chew on this weekend, courtesy of Bloomberg:

Wal-Mart benefits from the slowdown as consumers consolidate shopping trips, said Michael Shinnick, a portfolio manager at First Source Bank in South Bend, Indiana, which owns Wal-Mart shares.

"With higher gas prices, the psychology of the consumer has changed so that they're saying, 'Let's not go to four stores here for our errands, let's go to one or maybe two," Shinnick told Bloomberg Television today. "At Wal-Mart, you can get most anything you need."

Let's backtrack a bit: Beginning in 2006 Barack Obama and, hee-hee, John Edwards, essentially went to war against the world's largest corporation and America's largest employer. Edwards went as far as hiring two top activists working for Wake Up Wal-Mart--a United Food & Commercial Workers Union funded group--Chris Kofinis and Paul Blank.

Which leads us to Obama: In his book, The Audacity of Hope, the Cult of Change leader makes three disparaging remarks about the retail king.

If any other firm got more Obama-demerits in that book, I missed it.

At an AFL-CIO presidential candidates forum 15 months ago, Obama told the labor bosses that when it comes to Wal-Mart, "I won't shop there." Can you imagine George W. Bush saying something like that? Or Bill Clinton?

Here's the irony--thanks for sticking around this long--Barack Obama and his Democratic Party have been at best offering baby-steps in the battle against soaring gasoline prices. John McCain and the Republicans--drill here, drill now!--and their "all of the above" plan to battle high energy costs--know what the American people want.

But a company the Democrats don't like--Wal-Mart--is for now benefiting from $4 a gallon gasoline.

As the first three related posts show, there is still more irony--and hyprocrisy--in regards to the Democratic Party and Wal-Mart.

And yes, I'm aware that Wal-Mart has held some meetings with employees explaining the ramifications of the absurdly named "Employee Free Choice Act." This organized labor backed legislation--supported by the Democrats, would replace secret ballot elections where employees can exercise their franchise, with Soviet Union-style "freedom to peek" tallies.

Mrs. Marathon Pundit left the thankfully-defunct country to get away from that way of doing things.

A rambling post? It sure is. But it's Saturday night!

Related posts:

Michelle Obama quits board of big Wal-Mart supplier
Obama picks Wal-Mart defender as his economic policy director
John Edwards wakes up to Wal-Mart nightmare
Chicago's "food deserts" well known to Obama
The good life of working for the UFCW
Union leaders don't share their members pain
Union president spanks Obama
My book report: The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big Box Stores Benefit Consumers, Workers, and the Economy

Technorati tags: Wal-Mart unions labor politics elections retail business Obama barack obama democrats big box UFCW energy gasoline AFL-CIO

McCain's weekly radio address: Georgia and energy

Even before the Russian invasion of Georgia, the Caucusus nation's neighborhood was a dangerous one. In his weekly radion address, John McCain reminds listeners that the vital The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline passes through Georgia. And if the flow from that pipleline was cut off, the result would mean even higher energy prices.

From McCain's address:

Another very serious concern is the effect of this aggression and conflict on the world energy market. For some time now, I have been making the case for a dramatic acceleration of domestic energy production, primarily on economic grounds. With high prices and growing demand for oil and gas, Americans cannot remain dependent upon others for the most vital of commodities. But now we are reminded that energy policy is also a matter of the highest priority for our nation's security.

Some political leaders still speak as if America's domestic economy and our security interests abroad were largely unrelated. But the error in this way of thinking becomes more apparent every year, and especially so in the case of the world's energy supply. One disruption of supply abroad can suddenly raise energy prices, inflicting great harm on our economy and on America workers. And in the term of the next president, skillful handling of such a crisis could be the difference between temporary hardship and far-reaching disaster.

All of this only adds to the urgency of producing more of our own energy, including America's enormous oil reserves that lie offshore. We need to drill here and drill now, so that our energy supplies and the strength of our economy do not depend on the decisions or dictates of foreign powers.

On energy policy, my opponent and his allies in Congress offer only half measures or no measures at all -- as in their shared opposition to offshore drilling. In the long term, most everyone agrees that America must shift toward alternative energies like wind, solar, tide, hydrogen, and bio-fuels. But my opponent's policies fail to meet the challenges of the immediate future. To achieve energy independence, America will need every resource at our disposal, including nuclear power and the use of our abundant coal supplies that lie from Colorado to West Virginia. America has multiple choices in the great test of energy independence and the right answer is "all of the above."

Click here to listen to McCain's speech.

Technorati tags: politics election Democrats Obama Barack Obama economy McCain John McCain Drill here, drill now energy საქართველო Russia Росси́я Путин Georgia

Democrat chairman Howard Dean refers to Republicans as the "white" party

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean made this comment this afternoon on NPR:

If you look at folks of color, even women, they're more successful in the Democratic Party than they are in the white, uh, excuse me, in the Republican Party.

Once again, it's the Democrats, not the Republicans, who keep injecting race into the presidential contest.

This evening former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina--yes she's a woman and John McCain's Victory '08 Chair, issued this statement :

It is disappointing to see Howard Dean trying to use gender and race to divide voters. His comments are insulting, inappropriate and have no place in this election.

Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan had this to say:

Howard Dean's comments on race and gender today are disappointing and wrong. His efforts to divide Americans are an insult to all our nation's citizens and have absolutely no place in the national dialogue.

Technorati tags: politics news John McCain McCain Republican GOP Democrats Howard Dean dnc NPR

New McCain ad: "Taxman"

In a teleconference a few months ago, in response to a question of mine, John McCain responded, "I'm the candidate for lower taxes."

'Nuff said. Oh, but take a look at the ad anyway. And Barack Obama is not the candidate for lower taxes.

Technorati tags: politics news John McCain McCain Republican GOP Democrats Obama Barack Obama taxes

Obama's Obama Nation rebuttal throws "Ayers ball"

I haven't yet blogged about Jerome Corsi's best selling book, The Obama Nation, partly because I haven't read it--yet. I plan to pick up a copy today.

There are some errors within Corsi's text that I'm aware of, but the Barack Obama campaign today issued a forty page rebuttal of the book, and I find it hard to believe that there are that many incorrect items within The Obama Nation.

Jim Geraghty writes The Campaign Spot blog for the National Review, and he is the first writer, but no doubt the last, to rebut the rebuttal:

A lot of the items in the Obama campaign's response to Corsi are items I was noting in my review - sloppy work, asserting "Obama didn't say X in his book," when in fact he did. (For example, Corsi is right that Obama never comes out and calls his father a polygamist in his book, but somewhere around the reference to the fourth or fifth wife a reader will start doubting whether he actually divorced each one.)

And then there's this one:

LIE: "Besides, Obama had to know who Ayers is and what he stands for, especially with Ayers making this splash on 9/11." [p 147]

REALITY: AYERS COMMENTS WERE PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 11; THE INTERVIEW OCCURRED PRIOR TO PUBLICATION

On September 11, 2001, A Story About William Ayers' Memoir Was Published In The New York Times; The Interview Occurred Prior To Publication. "'I don't regret setting bombs,' Bill Ayers said. 'I feel we didn't do enough.’ Mr. Ayers, who spent the 1970's as a fugitive in the Weather Underground, was sitting in the kitchen of his big turn-of-the-19th-century stone house in the Hyde Park district of Chicago." (My note: pictured above.) [New York Times, 9/11/01]

Geraghty goes on to explain that this one "completely misses the point." When I made my first Obama-Ayers post in February, lib trolls tried to reason with me that Obama was just 11 years old when Ayers bombed the Pentagon--how could he know?

At the time Obama didn't know. He was 11 then--so was I. But I knew all about Ayers--and his wife Bernardine Dorhn--by the time I was in high school. It's a safe bet Barry Obama in Hawaii did too. In fact he wrote about those troubled times in The Audacity of Hope:

In my teens, I became fascinated with the Dionysian, up for grabs quality of the era, and through books, films, and music, I soaked in a vision of the sixties very different from the one my mother talked about: images of Huey Newton, the '68 Democratic National Convention, the Saigon airlift, and the Stones at Altamont. If I had no immediate reasons to pursue revolution, I decided nevertheless that in style and attitude, I, too, could be a rebel, unconstrained by the wisdom of the over-thirty crowd.

Judge for yourself. Because if Obama was "fascinated" by the 1968 Democratic Convention, and Huey Newton, my guess is that he knew all about the Weather Underground terror group.

I'd like to add that Obama continued to serve on the board of directors of The Woods Fund with Ayers until 2002. Ayers remains to this day an unrepentant former terrorist.

Related post:

KEEPING THE STORY ALIVE: A COLLECTION OF POSTS ON BILL AYERS AND THE "WEATHER UNDERGROUND"

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Left Wing Extremists Chicago Bernardine Dohrn books radicals

McCain and the Hanoi church riot

He was a maverick--and a leader--even while being incarcerated by the North Vietnamese.

From the Chicago "free registration required" Tribune:

Sen. John McCain, who is known for his reticence and even discomfort invoking faith on the campaign trail, was once dubbed a "Hell's Angel" for rioting against his captors in Vietnam in order to hold Sunday church services.

More...

In an extended interview, McCain talked about how his faith was tested during his
"There were many times I didn't pray for another day and I didn't pray for another hour — I prayed for another minute to keep going," said McCain, who was brought up Episcopalian but now worships at North Phoenix Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist church. "There's no doubt that my faith was strengthened and reinforced and tested, because sometimes you have a tendency to say, 'Why am I here?' "

McCain said his faith in God informs his decisions on issues of public policy. Christian conservatives are skeptical of McCain's commitment to many of the issues they care about, such as abortion and marriage. They have also been disappointed in his embrace of embryonic stem cell research. But McCain said he wrestled with that decision and hopes technology soon renders it obsolete.

Although polling suggests voters view faith as an essential ingredient in a president, McCain has never been a candidate to invoke God or dwell on religion. "In our case, faith is private," said his wife, Cindy, adding that once voters get to know him, "they will know he is a man of faith."

Technorati tags: politics news John McCain McCain Republican Vietnam War Vietnam Việt Nam religion

Report from this afternoon's McCain campaign teleconference

Once again I had the pleasure of listening in on a John McCain campaign teleconference. Unlike the last one, I didn't get to ask a question, but I really enjoy these events.

The subject was Obama's record of higher taxes. Taking part was Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, John Taylor, the Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University, and Doug Holtz-Eakin, McCain 2008 senior policy adviser. The latter is a real workhorse for the campaign, not only is Holz-Eakin a regular in these teleconfernces, just a few minutes after this one ended--he was interviewed by the Fox News Channel's Neil Cavuto.

I've included excerpts from each presenter.

Fiorina spoke first:

I think today's op-ed (My note: here it is) from the Obama campaign is yet another example of the stark difference between the reality of Obama's record and his rhetoric. And it is also an example of Obama's shifting rhetoric over time.

Let me begin with a couple big-picture points. The reality of Barack Obama's record is the following: He has voted to raise taxes 94 times in his short time as a senator. Most recently, he has voted to raise taxes on people making as little as $42,000 a year. And when he voted in favor of that budget resolution, he indicated that he thought it was a great step in getting our priorities back in the right place.

The reality of his record is also that, in his short time in the U.S. Senate, he has asked for almost a billion dollars in earmarks. That equates to roughly a million dollars for every day he has served in office.

And finally, he has proposed almost a trillion dollars in new spending programs -- $863 billion of new spending programs to be precise, spending programs that range everywhere from free mandatory preschool education for every child in America to government-mandated health care. So, the reality of Barack Obama's record is that he is for both higher taxes and much higher spending.

Then Taylor:

This is a global economy we're in. You need to take into account the fact that other countries have lower taxes, and if we don't do the kind of things John McCain is proposing, it's going to hurt the economy, especially if we go in the direction of what Senator Obama is proposing.

Finally, I'd just like to mention on the international trade part, which Carly mentioned, which is so important right now. In the Second Quarter, the only reason we had growth at all was because of strong export performance. So to turn your back on international trade, to question trade agreements at any time is exactly in the wrong direction. It's the most important stimulus we have now, far more important than any new stimulus proposals that are coming out.

Holz-Eakin spoke last:

I think Carly has given a very succinct summary of the character of the record, the continual shifting on the position of taxes. This is not new for this particular area. This is a candidate who said he would take public financing and join John McCain in that effort. This is a candidate who promised to join John McCain in the town halls, face the American people, listen to their concerns, take their questions and debate on the issues and has refused to do so. This is a candidate who ensured his followers that he would filibuster the FISA bill and in the end simply supported it. And this is a candidate who has simply chosen positions of political expediency on the issues that affect jobs, the single most important American concern today, positions of political expediency on NAFTA which affect our trading partners, on taxes, on every aspect of his policies.

Today's op-ed by Austin Goolsbee and Jason Furman (My note: authors of the Wall Street Journal article) is simply not to be taken seriously. It's simply the next iteration of positioning for political purposes and quite frankly it is not surprising that he would not want to reveal the agenda that his record suggests is the accurate agenda. An agenda that John Taylor said is damaging to the American economy and that is an agenda that is unpopular with the American people.

If you recognize Goolsbee's name, it's because he's the man (although he denies it) who visited the Canadian Consulate in Chicago, and told the consul general that the Canadian government shouldn't worry about his boss' anti-NAFTA rants--which were liberally spewed during the run-up to the Ohio Democratic Primary. Hillary Clinton won Ohio.

Goolsbee is a University of Chicago economics professor.

Milton Friedman, why did you leave us?

Technorati tags: news Democrats Obama politics Barack Obama McCain John McCain Republican University of Chicago Austan Goolsbee business taxes

Will Kwame kwit Denver?

I love this story. Detroit's mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, is a Barack Obama supporter and a superdelegate at this month's Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Last week Kilpatrick spent a night in jail for a bail violation; he's been charged with perjury and assault.

The mayor of Michigan's largest city has been told that he can't travel outside of southeastern Michigan, and that he has been ordered to wear an electronic bracelet so authorities can monitor his movements.

Which means, for now, Kilpatrick won't be able to attend the DNC.

The Obama campaign essentially says they don't want the mayor to attend the convention, using one of their favorite words, stating that Kilpatrick's presence would be a "distraction."

Here's another distraction for Obama: The Cult of Change leader's fawning tribute, from last year, to the "Bracelet Mayor."

So I want to first of all acknowledge your great mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, who has been...

(APPLAUSE)

... on the frontlines -- has been on the frontlines doing an outstanding job of gathering together the leadership at every level in Detroit to bring about the kind of renaissance that all of us anticipate for this great city.

And he is a leader not just here in Detroit, not just in Michigan, but all across the country. People look to him. We know that he is going to be doing astounding things for many years to come.

And so I'm grateful to call him a friend and a colleague. And I'm looking forward to a lengthy collaboration in terms of making sure that Detroit does well in the future.

Here is the entire speech.

Look for this statement from Obama soon: "This isn't the Kwame Kilpatrick I knew." Sound familar? It should.

"This isn't the Tony Rezko I knew." That's what Obama said after his longtime friend and fundraiser was found guilty on 16 corruption charges two months ago.

Michigan is in play for the Republicans this fall, for the first time since 1988. Kilpratick's problems will make things easier for the GOP.

Don't kwit now, Kwame.

Technorati tags: Obama Barack Obama Election Democrats Politics Tony Rezko law legal Kwame Kilpatrick Detroit Michigan DNC

My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: Cairo's better side

Last week I blogged about the sad town of Cairo (pronounced KAY-roh), Illinois--and what I wrote for certain will never be linked to by the town's chamber of commerce web site.

But Cairo is not just a rotten borough--although I believe it could end up beconing a ghost town.

Cairo is situated just north of the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Because of its strategic location, it served as an important supply station for Union forces during the Civil War. The peninsula town's population peaked at 15,000 in 1920, it has been declining since then--just 3,600 people call Cairo home now.

Much of Cairo is literally crumbling. Things are a little better on the west side of town, and in this post I'll focus on the better parts of Cairo.

Magnolia Manor, pictured on the upper-left, counts Ulyssess S. Grant as among its overnight guests. the Italianate-style home was built in 1872, and in 1880, the owner of the house held a celebration in Grant's honor. In 1999, a Magnolia Manor tour guide told the Chicago Tribune's Alan Solomon, "A lot of places say 'Grant slept here,' we've got the actual bed." On the upper left is a mansion built in 1865, The Riverlore, built in 1865. The Second Empire style home has had only four owners, the latest of which is the City of Cairo. Like Magnolia Manor, The Riverlore is open to the public.

In Barack Obama's Audacity of Hope, he wrote about a barbecue held in his honor by the Laborers' Union Ed Smith. Obama doesn't identify the location in his book, but I can't see any other place in town that could have handled the crowd other than St. Mary's Park. Last year I blogged about Obama's trip to Cairo, which you can read about here.

The red brick building on the right is the A.B Safford Public Libary.

On the left is the Cairo Customs House. It was constructed in 1872, and like Magnolia Manor, it is listed by the National Register of Historic Places. It's now a musuem. It's architecht was Alfred B. Mullet, who also designed the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, (now known as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building), and St. Louis' Old Post Office.

Obviously Cairo is a town of contrasts. It possesses the jewels pictured here, but it also has the rubble of Commercial Avenue.

Next: My pentulimate post in this series, Jonesboro, site of a Lincoln-Douglas debate.

Previous My Mississippi Manifest Destiny posts:

Metropolis
Lincoln and Kentucky
The Varsity Theatre in Martin, Tennessee
Carl Perkins
Corinth
Coca-Cola museums
Prison laborer in Louisiana
Teddy Bear
Churches
What Mike Espy is up to these days
Mound Bayou, a town founded by freed slaves
Blues Trail
Johnny Cash's boyhood home

Shiloh posts:

Shiloh Part One
Shiloh Part Two
Shiloh Part Three
Shiloh Part Four

Tupelo posts:

$aving$ in Tupelo
Elvis Presley's birthplace
Where Elvis bought his first guitar
The Battle of Tupelo

Natchez Trace posts:

The Natchez Trace Part One
The Natchez Trace Part Two, Indian Mounds
The Natchez Trace Part Three
The Natchez Trace Part Four, Ghost Town
Logging

Natchez posts:

The Father of Waters
Natchez Part One
Natchez Part Two, Forks of the Road
Natchez Part Three

Vicksburg posts:

Vicksburg Battlefield, Part One
Vicksburg Battlefield, Part Two, State Memorials
Vicksburg Battlefield, Part Three, Illinois Memorial
Vicksburg Battlefield, Part Four, The USS Cairo
Vicksburg Battlefield Part Five
Mississippi River at Vicksburg
Memorial Day tribute to our ally Australia
Memorial Day--a time to remember

Leland posts:

Highway 61 Blues Museum
Leland's Blues Murals
Birthplace of Kermit the Frog

Clarksdale posts:

Clarksdale, Home of the Delta Blues
Robert Johnson's Crossroads
Clarksdale's Old Greyhound Station

Cairo posts:

Confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers
Cairo, Illinois--Slum Town

Technorati tags: byways travel travel blog history photography photos Illinois Ohio River Mississippi River architecture culture

McCain: "We are all Georgians"

John McCain is ahead of the curve--even in front of President Bush--in denouncing the Russian invasion of Georgia.

Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, here are the senator's latest thoughts on the crisis:

As Russian tanks and troops moved through the Roki Tunnel and across the internationally recognized border into Georgia, the Russian government stated that it was acting only to protect Ossetians. Yet regime change in Georgia appears to be the true Russian objective.

Two years ago, I traveled to South Ossetia. As soon as we arrived at its self-proclaimed capital -- now occupied by Russian troops -- I saw an enormous billboard that read, "Vladimir Putin, Our President." This was on sovereign Georgian territory.

Russian claims of humanitarian motives were further belied by a bombing campaign that encompassed the whole of Georgia, destroying military bases, apartment buildings and other infrastructure, and leaving innocent civilians wounded and killed. As the Russian Black Sea Fleet began concentrating off of the Georgian coast and Russian troops advanced on one city after another, there could be no doubt about the nature of their aggression.

More...

The Georgian people have suffered before, and they suffer today. We must help them through this tragedy, and they should know that the thoughts, prayers and support of the American people are with them. This small democracy, far away from our shores, is an inspiration to all those who cherish our deepest ideals. As I told President Saakashvili on the day the cease-fire was declared, today we are all Georgians. We mustn't forget it.

I'm a Georgian.

Technorati tags: politics news John McCain McCain საქართველო Russia Росси́я Путин Republican

Onion: Obama's hillbilly half-brother mistakes John Kerry for an outhouse

The humor publication The Onion has an article about "Cooter" Obama, the hillbilly half-brother of presidential candidate Barack Obama.

According to The Onion, Cooter recently punched a swan because it was "one of them mean ones," sneaked into a fundraiser for his half-brother and offered donors moonshine, and made the mistake of thinking John Kerry was an outhouse.

On that last one, Cooter's error is perfectly understandable.

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama politics humor humour John Kerry

McCain advisor used to be a lobbyist for Georgia--so what!

Randy Scheunemann is the John McCain campaign's senior foreign policy adviser. He's a smart guy, I've had the honor of listenting in on a couple of campaign teleconferences, here and here, in which he took part.

Scheunemann used to peform lobbying work for the nation of Georgia. Some misguided souls are making the case that this presents an ethical dilemna for McCain and his foreign policy expert. Sam Dealey of US News & World Report disagrees.

I love a good scandal as much as the next person, but this really fails to raise any ethical questions. For starters, Scheunemann is hardly the first campaign adviser to have worked as a lobbyist. Some represent nonprofits, some represent industries, and, yes, some even represent foreign companies and governments. There's nothing illegal about that.

What's more, McCain's strong response to Russia's invasion of Georgia is consistent with where one would expect him to come down on the issue. As his opponents like to point out, McCain's a hawk; there's no 180-degree turn here.

So what's left? That Scheunemann represented a foreign client whose interests are shared by McCain? Gee, maybe that's why Scheunemann is (and was, well before he took on Georgia) McCain's top foreign-policy adviser—they actually agree!

If anything, this shows that one can be a lobbyist and stay true to one's beliefs. Bully for Scheunemann.

Bully for Dealey.

Technorati tags: politics news John McCain McCain საქართველო US News & World Report

Latest John McCain statement on Georgia crisis

John McCain looked--and sounded--very presidential as he gave a statement in Michigan about Russia's invasion of Georgia, a nation the senator called a "brave democratic ally."

If YouTube is blocked at work, here is what McCain said:

The situation in Georgia remains perilous. I am pleased by President Bush's statement this morning, and I support the various steps he outlined including the dispatch of Secretary Rice to Georgia and Europe, the delivery of humanitarian supplies to Georgia by sea and air, and U.S. insistence on Russian compliance with the terms of the ceasefire, which includes the withdrawal of all of its military forces from Georgia. The President's statement of support for Georgia at this time is of critical importance, not only to the Georgian people but to all countries that are closely monitoring Russian activities and actions.

I welcome President Sarkozy's mediation and that of the European Union. I am concerned that the ceasefire agreement omitted any reference to Georgia's territorial integrity. And, it's clear that Russia is continuing military operations against Georgian targets despite the agreement, including in areas far from South Ossetia. I am deeply disturbed by reports of looting, burning villages, and killings of civilians that are in areas under Russian control. Anyone committing human rights abuses or acts in violation of the laws of war should be held accountable.

At a time of high energy prices and instability in global markets, it's important to understand that events in Georgia -- part of a strategic energy corridor -- affects individual lives far beyond the Caucasus. Because of the fighting, the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline has been shut down at a time when the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is also closed. Those pipelines are critical for transporting oil from sources in the Caspian to points west.

The United States has canceled a planned joint military operation with Russia, but we will now need to review the full range of our relations. With our NATO allies, we must address the future of the alliance's relationship with Russia and with our G7 partners. We should discuss whether it makes sense for Russia to continue its participation in the G8. We'll also need to review Russia's aspiration for membership in the World Trade Organization.

In addition, I urge discussions about an international peacekeeping operation, including canvassing nations for possible contributions to such a force. NATO should also begin anew, the discussions about a membership track for both Georgia and Ukraine. After the events of the past six days, no one should wonder why countries on Russia's periphery so ardently seek the security guarantees that alliance membership represents.

The situation in Georgia remains fluid and dangerous. As soon as possible, my colleagues Senator Lieberman and Senator Graham will be traveling to Georgia. They're both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. I hope that other members of the Armed Services Committee in the Senate and they will go together and receive an assessment of the situation and what we need to do in the future to avoid further escalation and also to protect the independence and freedom of the people of this brave democratic ally, the country of Georgia. Thank you.

Technorati tags: politics news John McCain McCain Russia Росси́я Путин საქართველო

Illinois vote fraud update: Two indicted for phony petition signatures

The latest Illinois vote fraud accusation comes from just north of me--in Lake County.

This morning, two former campaign workers for state Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan) were indicted on forgery and perjury charges. Thirty spurious signatures on a Link ballot petition caught the attention of the Lake County State's Attorney.

This story has an ironic twist. One of Link's opponents in this year's Democratic primary was former North Chicago Mayor Jerry Johnson. He challenged those thirty signatures, but Link in turn challenged some of Johnson's signatures--which led to Johnson getting knocked off the ballot. Link kept his ballot spot and won the primary. Republican Keith Gray will face Link in the general election.

Link is the chairman of the Lake County Democratic Party.

The petition accusations go back to at least last winter, as this YouTube video shows. Speakers at a Waukegan protest alleged that dead people "signed" Link's nominating papers.

Illinois' reputation as the the worst state for vote fraud of late has been getting challenged by Wisconsin. So it should come as no surprise that Lake County's northern border abuts the Badger State, and there are some "cheesehead" tendencies there. One of the protesters in the video is wearing a Green Bay Packers jacket.

Lake, with over 600,000 residents, is Illinois' third most populous county.

Barack Obama, who likes to tout his work as a voting rights attorney, was silent when the 2004 East St. Louis vote fraud scandal played out. He'll be quiet again.

Related posts:

Vote fraud news: Obama, ACORN, and East St. Louis
Hypocrite Obama won't tolerate election theft
GOP official: Illinoisans tried to vote in last month's Ind. Dem primary

Technorati tags: democrats elections Politics law legal vote fraud election fraud crime Illinois Metro East fraud East St. Louis Waukegan Wisconsin Obama Barack Obama

Governor's Day at the Illinois State Fair--Two lists to consider

Today is Governors Day at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. Here are couple of top ten lists for your review. The first comes from DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett, who is exploring running for statewide office in 2010.

Ten questions for Governor Blagojevich on gas prices.

1. When you were a candidate for governor in 2001 and 2002, you twice blasted the Republican Governor and Attorney General for "allowing" gas prices to rise to $1.99-a-gallon. Now that gas is double that price, what's your excuse? (Source: Rick Pearson, Ray Long, "Blagojevich Steps on the Gas; Governor Hopeful Chides GOP Foes on Prices at Pump," Chicago Tribune, June 19, 2001).

2. You claim to be a history buff. Has Illinois ever had a governor who presided over a doubling of gas prices?

3. What, specifically, have you done to try to reduce the price of gas in Illinois the last six years?

4. If your answer is that it’s President George W. Bush’s fault, how do you explain that in 2001 and 2002 you said the state was responsible for high gas prices?

5. If you insist it’s President Bush’s fault, will you now admit that your earlier attacks on Republican officials were an insincere pander to voters.

6. Could it be that high gas prices explain your habit of working from home instead of traveling to your job like millions of Illinoisans?

7. When you were in Congress, why did you vote against Gulf of Mexico drilling? Gulf of Mexico Drilling June 21, 2001, House Amendment 107 to H.R. 2217 (Roll Call # 181)

8. When you were in Congress, why did you vote against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, August 1, 2001, House Amendment 298 to H.R. 4 (Roll Call # 317)

9. When you were in Congress, why did you vote against dozens of reforms designed to increase the supply of domestic oil? Securing America's Future Energy Act August 2, 2001, H.R. 4, Final Passage (Roll Call # 320)

10. Do you now regret that your anti-drilling votes helped Congress block new American sources of oil that could have been online by now and would have helped mitigate your disastrous record of keeping gas prices low as governor?

"Rod Blagojevich deceived Illinoisans when he said he could lower gas prices," Joe Birkett said. "He needs to be held accountable for his blatant demagoguery. When he had a chance in Congress to solve our supply problem, he voted against drilling for American oil and in favor of more foreign dependency."

I'd like to add that Blagojevich, prior to running for governor, was an Illinois state legislator and then a congressman. In Washington, the Chicago Democrat had few accomplishments, then he went on to run for governor even though he had no executive experience. Sound familiar? Illinois is a complete mess right now, even Blagovejich probably agrees with that.

And I'd like to add there are oil deposits in southeastern Illinois. The rig in the picture is in Effingham. Not a whole lot of oil can be found in the there, but every little bit counts. What is "Blago" doing to make sure we extract every drop of Illinois oil?

The second list, according to the press release is supposed to be humorous, but for all I know, the quotes are, or could be, accurate.

Top 10 excuses Democratic leaders will use when Rod tries to get his picture with them on Governor's Day

10. Governor Bill Richardson: "I don't think your hair and my beard can fit into the same shot."

9. U.S. Senator & Presidential Candidate Barack Obama: "Governor, unless you're a Hollywood celebrity, a major campaign donor, or a reporter from People Magazine, I really don't have time for a picture with you."

8. Attorney General Lisa Madigan: "I'm sorry, Governor, but as I am sure you are aware there are numerous "legal" obligations that keep us from being photographed together."

7. State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias: "Governor, I have nothing to fear but the truth -- which is that someone will use this photo in a negative ad against me!"

6. Lt. Governor Pat Quinn: "Governor, as you know, I am a reformer. While it's true I stood by you for 5 years, benefiting from your tainted campaign fund, calling you an honest person, and not speaking out on many of your ethical problems, you are currently at 13% approval ratings and having a photo taken with you now could severely damage my reputation as a reformer. Therefore, I can no longer have my picture made with you. Sorry."

5. Former deputy governor and Congressional candidate Jill Morgenthaler: "Governor, it was an honor to serve in your administration for so many months, but if people found out that I knew you it could be all bad for me out in the 6th Congressional District... You don't think anyone will find out do you?"

4. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin: "Governor, getting our picture taken would really undermine my campaign to avoid associating myself when any of the problems in Springfield. Plus, I'm so busy shirking any real work in Washington, I don't want people to think I'm taking it easy on Governor's Day."

3. Senate President Emil Jones: "Governor, I think our work together has got to come to an end. The people of Illinois can't take much more of this... Nah, I'm just kidding you Governor, get the heck over here and give me a hug."

2. Congressional Candidate Dan Seals: "Governor, I will get my picture taken with you if you promise not to kid me about not having a job. Why couldn't you hook me up like Duckworth and Morgenthaler? If this keeps up, I’m going to have to pay myself out of my campaign again."

1. House Speaker Mike Madigan: #*%@ %#$

The big story in all of this is that Blagojevich is in Springfield. He's the first Illinois governor not to reside in the governor's mansion since Springfield became the capital in 1837.

And if anyone is looking for Blagojevich this afternoon--such as federal marshalls with indictment papers--they'll know where to find him--at the Illinois State Fair.

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago corruption legal Blagojevich Emil Jones dick durbin Joe Birkett energy oil

Feds: Crooked Chicago alderman and gang leader were lovers

The latest news from the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization is quite unpleasant. But isn't it usually that way?

Street gangs have been at the fringe of Chicago politics for decades--and that nasty sore is now quite visible, according to a new allegation reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Former Ald. Arenda Troutman and a gang chieftain were "romantically involved" and worked together on a crooked real estate deal, federal prosecutors allege in a new court filing.

Troutman pleaded guilty last week to shaking down developers in her 20th Ward on the South Side. She was voted out of office last year.

Donnell "Scandalous" Jehan, a Black Disciples "king," was one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives until April when he surrendered. He faces trial on drug charges.

When the FBI searched Troutman's home and office last year, they found photos of her with Jehan. He previously was spotted driving her SUV. And Chicago Police envelopes addressed to her were found in his home, sources said.

Troutman says she only knew "Scandolous" as a businessman.

Al Capone was a South Side Chicago businessman too.

Related post:

Ex-Chicago alderman pleads guilty to bribery and tax charges

Technorati tags: politics Election Democrats Illinois Politics corruption Chicago real estate crime