Illinois corruption update: Gov. Blagojevich honored to get his 'ass kicked'

The voters of Illinois are a pretty crazy lot--just take a look at all of the goofs who have been elected here, such as Governor Rod Blagojevich. The Chicago Democrat, who is under federal investigation for his role in the Antoin "Tony" Rezko "pay-to-play" scandals, believes that his abysmal approval ratings in Illinois--just 13 percent--are because he is a fighter for the people.

The people are not impressed.

Here is what "Blago," who bragged a few years ago that only he had the "testicular virility" to run Illinois, told reporters yesterday:

All of those things (My note: his meager accomplishments) happened because we had to push and prod and fight through the system to get it done for people, and if I get bloodied up in the process, and there are some times when people are just not generally approving, I feel honored to get my ass kicked for the people.

Hmm..."ass kicked," and "testicular virility." The brain of the Illinois governor must be between his stomach and his knees.

It's becoming clear that Blago is considering running for a third term in 2010.

But the smart money is that a US marshall will serve him his indictment papers before then.

And if Blago does run for reelection, look for his ass to get kicked.

Technorati tags: Illinois Blagojevich Democrats politics Chicago Tony Rezko corruption

Rev. Wright returns to the airwaves

When the extent of Reverend Jeremiah Wright's radical views became public this spring, it came close to sinking Barack Obama's quest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Courtesy of the National Republican Trust PAC, not the McCain-Palin campaign, look who is back.

I just saw Dick Morris on The O'Reilly Factor, and he said that the group has purchased $6 million in commercials to run the below ad this weekend.



I suppose the Barack Obama campaign will go ballistic--again--or at a minimum, they'll call the ad by their favorite word, "a distraction," but remember this: for twenty years, Obama sat in the pews of the Trinity United Church of Christ.

Remember, the Reverend Wright said "Not God bless America, but God d*mn America."

Twenty years.

H/T to Midnight Blue.

Technorati tags: religion Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats Jeremiah Wright AIDS race

Ditka stumps for Sarah Palin

Mike Ditka, the Coach of America, is on board with the McCain-Palin ticket. The Aliquippa, Pennsylania native introduced Sarah Palin at a rally in Latrobe.

The Hall of Fame tight end and legendary former Chicago Bears coach said this about the Alaska governor:

Sarah Palin epitomizes all the good things, all the good values, of this country.

Bear down, McCain-Palin! And listen to "Da Coach!"

UPDATE 8:00pm CDT: Courtesy of the Fox News Embeds blog, here are more of Ditka's comments:

"I'm not here because I'm a Republican, which I am, and I'm not here because I'm a conservative, which I am. I’m here because I am an American. It's time in this country you put party lines on the backburner and you put your country first." Ditka said, "When I was growing up, it was back in 1963. Then John Kennedy became president-he made a statement: 'ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.' Now, it seems to be just the opposite. This is the land of opportunity. It's not a land of handouts. If you're willing to work, you can find a job. I want to say how proud I am because I think Sarah Palin epitomizes all the good things, all the good values, of this country. She's a wife, she's a mother, she's a hockey mom, she’s a part-time coach. She was a great leader and is a great leader in the state of Alaska, and she will make a great vice president of the United States, Sarah Palin."

Hat tip to Backyard Conservative.

Related post:

Ditka on White Sox manager: "I like Ozzie"

Technorati tags: Ditka sports NFL Chicago Bears news pennsylvania Republican Palin McCain John McCain

Illinois corruption update: Niles mayor pleads guilty to extortion

Blogging from a Starbucks in Niles, Illinois.

Corruption in the nation's most crooked state comes in all shapes and sizes. Yesterday it was a big one was indicted--longtime RINO political insider William Cellini. Today it's a smaller fish--Niles Mayor Nicholas Blase. Almost all municipal elections are non-partisan, but make no mistake, Blase is a Democrat.

Term limits for politicians is not a hot-button item for me, but in the case of Niles, it's a good idea. Until he resigned this summer, Blase has been mayor for 47 years. Let me put this in perspective. Until he quit, he had been Niles' mayor longer than Barack Obama had been alive.

AP has some more on Blase:

The longtime former mayor of north suburban Niles pleaded guilty Friday to taking more than $420,000 from an insurance agency in a kickback scheme.

Nicholas Blase, 80, appeared before U.S. District Judge Wayne R. Andersen and admitted steering customers to an insurance agency owned by his friend Ralph Weiner and in return getting 25 percent of the commissions the agency received from them.

More...

He pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud involving the kickback scheme which began in 1974 and continued through 2006. He also pleaded guilty to failing to report the money he received as kickbacks on his 2005 federal income tax return.

Blase said he paid the $421,450 he received into a company he controlled.

Another scourge on the public is Rep John Murtha (D-PA), who has been a member of Congress for 34 years. But there is a good chance voters may "term-limit" him next week. Go for it Pennsylvania.

Related post:

Vote McCain: Because you don't turn America over to a Cook County hack

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

Happy Halloween

It's Halloween again, and have a very happy--and safe one.

Be careful, whether you are trick or treating or not.

And if you're driving--slow down!

Technorati tags: halloween photos photography

Obama, Khalidi, and another Obama coincidence

More than any other major party candidate who has ever sought the office of the presidency, Barack Obama has some very questionable associations. The Los Angeles Times has a video of Obama--which it refuses to release--of the Democratic nominee offering a tribute to Rashid Khalidi.

Pajamas Media digs deeper:

Well, the original Times report gives us only the sketchiest account. But now we have a video of a complete Khalidi lecture from June 2007. It is quite an eye-opener.

Viewers curious about the views of the man whom in 2003 Obama gave a "warm embrace" (physically or verbally?) should skip to the fifty-minute mark on the video tape. You see, Khalidi tells us, the U.S. is repeating the same error of the Cold War in pursuing its war against Islamic terrorists. According to Khalidi it is the same "blind, foolish, reductionism." And the U.S. policy is designed according to Khalidi to "get Palestinians to destroy one another." And on it goes.

His view of Israel? It is worse than "apartheid." Continue to the end of the tape when he is asked about the massive Israeli media conspiracy headed by none other than Mortimer Zuckerman. He doesn't quite buy into that, but his description of American Jews who control the money and votes to manipulate Congress sounds an awful lot like Mearsheimer and Walt’s “The Israeli Lobby.” Or General Tony McPeak for that matter.

So it would be very interesting to see precisely what Khalidi said in Obama's presence four years earlier. Was the rhetoric above the sort of language which preceded the warm words of praise from Barack Obama? The specifics matter, the context is crucial.

Fox News Channel caught up with Khalidi, and like Bill Ayers, Bernardidne Dohrn, the sellers of the Obama mansion, the Columbia professor won't talk to the media.

Another Obama coincidence.

Related post:

Obama and Khalidi and a videotape the LA Times refuses to release

Technorati tags: Israel Barack Obama politics Democrats Obama news מדינת Rashid Khalidi LA Times

What Obama wants to take away: Prosperity

A friend of the blog sent me this article from yesterday's Wall Street Journal:

An Obama presidency would lead America towards a European "social market economy." The political planets are aligned to make this achievable. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, prominent Democrats, European leaders in France and Germany and more U.S. newspaper articles than one can count have said that the crisis proves the need to permanently tame the American "free-market" model. P.O.W. Alan Greenspan is broadcasting confessions. The question is: Are the American people of a mind to throw in the towel on the system that got them here?

This would be a historic shift, one post-Vietnam Democrats have been trying to achieve since their failed fight with Ronald Reagan's "Cowboy Capitalism."

Of course Cowboy Capitalism built the country. More than any previous nation in history, the United States made its way forward on a 200-year wave of upwardly mobile, profit-seeking merchants, tradesmen, craftsmen and workers. They blew out of New England and New York, rolled across the wildernesses of the Central States, pushed across a tough Western frontier and banged into San Francisco and Los Angeles, leaving in their path city after city of vast wealth.

The U.S. emerged a superpower, and the tool of that ascent was simple -- the pursuit of economic growth. Now China, India and Brazil, embracing high-growth Cowboy Capitalism, are doing what we did, only their cities are bigger.

The e-mail didn't come with a link, and I was unable to find it on the Journal site.

UPDATE 9:35pm CST: That friend of the blog sent the link.
Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics news economy

Former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald on Obama and Rezko

Former Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL) spoke for almost a half hour during a McCain-Palin conference call this afternoon that I had the honor to listen in on.

A lot of scoundrels get elected to public office in Illinois, but one of the votes I'm proud of is when I voted for him in 1998. Before entering politics, Fitzgerald worked in the banking field, and he smells a rat in regards to the still-not explained property deals between the Obamas and Rita Rezko, wife of convicted felon Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

As is his wont, Barack Obama has cloaked his purchase of his Hyde Park mansion in secrecy. For instance--and only a banker could quickly seize on this detail--why hasn't Obama released his HUD 1 document?

Here's what a HUD 1 is:

As a point of reference, closing costs are costs associated with the loan closing, while settlement charges are the whole enchilada--everything. In addition to closing costs, there's pre-paid interest, escrow reserves for taxes and insurance, and the down payment (if the loan is a for a home purchase). Closing costs and settlement charges are estimated on the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and finalized on the HUD-1 document at the closing.

Mainstream media outlets have dismissed the questions about the Rezko-Obama deal by using Obama's explanation of the second transaction--in which the Obamas purchased a 10 foot wide strip of the Rezko lot to enlarge their side yard.

That of course gave the impression, one that I believe is the was the plan, that Tony Rezko, through his wife, bought the lot to help the Obamas purchase a home that they couldn't afford. Obama called his 2005 purchase of the Georgian mansion "a stretch."

Then over time, again this is my opinion, the Obams would buy 10 foot strips from Ms. Rezko.

But Fitzgerald the banker is more interested in the initial purchase. In the teleconference, he said:

There needs to be clarification about whether there was coordination in the stage in which the Obamas got the house under contract around the same time the Rezkos, or possibly an agent of the Rezkos, got the yard under contract.

The Obamas and Rita Rezko closed their deals on the same day. What happened before that?

And who was--this comes from me, not Fitzgerald--the competing lender for the Obamas' mortgage?

Related posts:

Obama's "sweetheart" mortgage: Was the competing lender Broadway Bank?

Former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald on Obama's "bi-partisanship"

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats McCain John McCain Republican corruption Peter fitzgerald real estate mortgages banking

Report: Rahm Emanuel (D-Tomczak) approached by Obama to be his chief of staff

John McCain is apparently right. Barack Obama is "measuring the drapes" before Election Day. Associated Press is reporting tonight that Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) has been approached by the Obama campaign to serve as his White House chief of staff.

Emanuel represents a district centered around Chicago's Northwest Side. He had small shoes to fill when he succeeded Rod Blagojevich--who moved on the governor--and federal investigations.

Emanuel served in the Clinton administration, and he was known as "that Clinton guy" in 2002. It looked like he would lose to popular state legislator Nancy Kaczak when some goof, albeit a prominent one, said that Emaunuel once served in the Israeli Defense Forces and held dual American-Israeli citizenship. Neither were true.

That obnoxious gaffe wounded Kaczak, but it probably would not have been a fatal blow. Enter Mayor Richard M. Daley, who dispatched his head of the Chicago water department to send a bunch of patronage workers to the Northwest Side to put "that Clinton guy" over the top. Chicago Tribune columnist refers to the congressman as Rahm Emanuel (D-Tomczak). Emanuel raised money for Daley, a lot of it, for Daley in his first run for mayor in 1989, and Emanuel in turn came to Daley's defense as dozens of city workers faced bribery charges as a result of the US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's Hired Truck investigations.

It's the Chicago Way.

Part of Fitzgerald's catch was Don Tomczak. He's in prison now, and won't be part of an Obama administration. Unless Tomczak's prison makes drapes.

UPDATE Oct 31 8:15pm CDT: Anne Leary of Backyard Conservative notes on her blog that Rep. Emanuel is one of the meanest partisans within the Democratic Party.

Technorati tags: illinois Rahm Emanuel democrats elections Election politics Obama Barack Obama Illinois Politics cronyism corruption

"Rezko scandals" latest indictment victim: Bill Cellini

The "Tony Rezko scandals" continue to add casualties. This afternoon the US Attorney's Office for Northern Illinois, led by Patrick "Fitzmas" Fitzgerald, announced the indictment of long time Springfield power broker, and nominal Republican, William Cellini.

AP has more:

Political insider William F. Cellini Sr. was indicted Thursday on charges of conspiring with convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko to shake down an investment firm for campaign contributions to a public official believed to be Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Cellini, 73, for decades a major behind-the-scenes Republican player in Illinois politics, was accused of taking part in an extortion plot to raise money for an unnamed "Public Official A," which is how Blagojevich had been identified in Rezko's indictment and trial.

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero did not immediately comment on Cellini's indictment. The Democratic governor has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Testimony at Rezko's trial alleged Cellini had spoken with admitted political fixer Stuart Levine about a plan to squeeze real estate investment firm Capri Capital for a major campaign contribution for Blagojevich, or a cash payoff.

Cellini's involvement in state goverment goes back to the 1960s. For most of that time, a Republican was living in the governor's mansion. When the current governor, Rod Blagojevich (who won't live in Springfield) became the first Democratic governor in a generation, Cellini acted as if nothing happened--it was business as usual for Cellini--who has enriched himself in his dealings with the state.

Cellini's indictment seems to make the indictment of Blagojevich almost a certainty.

Rich Miller has a lot more on The Capitol Fax Blog.

Read the indictment here.

An author's perspective on Cellini, in the words of Andrew Ferguson, from his book Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America:

Within a decade Cellini had built a fortune by "turning state government into a cottage industry," as one Chicago newspaper put it. He started a construction firm that specialized in government subsidized housing for senior citizens and office buildings that could be leased back to the state.

More...

When the state legalized gambling on riverboats, it sold him the first license--an $85,000 investment that led to a company later valued at $500 million.

Cellini was an investor in the star-crossed, state subsidized Abraham Lincoln Hotel. Alexi Giannoulis--scroll down one post for more on him--foreclosed on the inn earlier this year.

Cellini's wife Julie was the driving force in the creation of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Musuem. By all accounts she is the nicest of people. One of the museum's permanent exhibits, at least for now, is Ask Mr. Lincoln, presented by Julie and Bill Cellini.

Related posts:

Charged with shoplifting, Lincoln prez library head on leave
Tony Rezko's bi-partisan reach (and Abraham Lincoln)
Book review: Andrew Ferguson's "Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America"
UPDATED: Ill. corruption watch: The gov's wife and Bill Cellini
Illinois to foreclose on Abraham Lincoln Hotel
Thirty hours in Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois
Vote "Yes" for Illinois "Con-Con"

Technorati tags: democrats Barack Obama Obama Politics Illinois politics Tony Rezko Springfield Illinois Abraham Lincoln graft Republican GOP George Ryan Patrick Fitzgerald Alexi Giannoulias

Obama's Chicago skeletons: Rezko and Broadway Bank

The mainstream media is not doing its job in reporting on the many suspicious relationships Barack Obama has developed during his rise to power on Chicago's South Side. The MSM needs to be supplanted, but that's another argument for another time.

Abraham H. Miller of Pajamas Media is doing his job.

Chicago blogs are chirping away about Tony Rezko's meetings with the federal prosecutor. Tony is singing like a songbird. You'd think that the electronic media would be more interested in what Tony might be saying than in how much it cost Sarah Palin to fly her children to state events, something every other Alaskan governor seems to have done.

Tony, you will remember, was Barack Obama’s financial mentor, the guy who subsidized the purchase of Obama's Hyde Park mansion, and the guy who created the "pay for play" hospital construction scheme that was the end result of legislation Obama sponsored in the Illinois legislature.

Tony was overdrawn $450,000 at a Chicago bank with alleged ties to organized crime. You'd think CNN might send Anderson Cooper to Chicago to investigate why the bank doesn't have the same kind of check verification technology you encounter at your local supermarket.

And here is another hint for Anderson's story: What Illinois senator, currently seeking higher office, kept his senatorial campaign funds there and why? Rest assured, it wasn't because he enjoyed the rush-hour commute across town from his Hyde Park mansion to make deposits.

Chicago blogs are chirping away...Where is the rest of the media? Even Chicago newspapers are getting amnesia over Rezko. Two weeks ago the Chicago Tribune, the paper that broke the still-unexplained real estate deal between convicted felon Tony Rezko and Obama, did not even mention Obama's jailbird buddy as it endorsed The One for president.

The bank Miller mentioned is Broadway Bank, owned by the family of Illinois State Treausurer Alexi Giannoulias, whom Obama endorsed over the party slated candidate two years ago. Let me make this clear--there is no way "The Boy Banker" would've won the primary had it not been for Obama's endorsement. No way. Obama also appeared in a television commercial touting Alexi. After Alexi's win, it was revealed that he approved two multi-million dollar loans to mobster Michael "Jaws" Giorango.

Over $10 million was loaned by Broadway Bank to reputed "new mafiya" businessmen Lev and Boris Stratievsky.

And what about Broadway Bank? Are the other mob loans we don't know about?

Where is the MSM? I guess they're too busy looking into Joe the Plumber's trade licence.

Related posts:

Obama's "sweetheart" mortgage: Was the competing lender Broadway Bank?

Obama, Alexi, and Broadway Bank

Judicial Watch files complaints against Obama over mansion mortgage

Coincidences and the Las Vegas Rezko arrest warrant

Obama's state treasurer pal needs a memory upgrade

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats Illinois Politics cronyism Tony Rezko corruption mortgages banking Alexi Giannoulias real estate

Obama's infomercial has bad info

I've never purchased anything promoted on an informercial, and after watching Billy Mays Barack Obama sell his bill of second-hand goods, I won't be changing my purchasing pattern.

Here are just a couple of fibs Associated Press found amongst the rubble:

THE SPIN: "I've offered spending cuts above and beyond their cost."

THE FACTS: Independent analysts say both Obama and Republican John McCain would deepen the deficit. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Obama's policy proposals would add a net $428 billion to the deficit over four years - and that analysis accepts the savings he claims from spending cuts. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, whose other findings have been quoted approvingly by the Obama campaign, says, "Both John McCain and Barack Obama have proposed tax plans that would substantially increase the national debt over the next 10 years." The analysis goes on to say, "Neither candidate's plan would significantly increase economic growth unless offset by spending cuts or tax increases that the campaigns have not specified."
---

THE SPIN: "Here's what I'll do. Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year. Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the U.S. over the next two years and eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Help homeowners who are making a good faith effort to pay their mortgages, by freezing foreclosures for 90 days. And just like after 9/11, we'll provide low-cost loans to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their doors open. "

THE FACTS: His proposals - the tax cuts, the low-cost loans, the $15 billion a year he promises for alternative energy, and more - cost money, and the country could be facing a record $1 trillion deficit next year. Indeed, Obama recently acknowledged - although not in his commercial - that "the next president will have to scale back his agenda and some of his proposals."

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics news economy television

An Obama presidency: Four years of darkness

Pat Toomey of National Review Online paints an unhappy picture, a dark one, of an Obama presidency.

And it might be literally dark--since Obama's energy policies will please only the environmentalists.

Read and weep.

But there is a better way. Vote McCain-Palin in five days.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics news economy McCain Republican environment

Congrats to the World Series Champion Phillies

Twenty-five years is a long time for a city with a team in each of the four major sports to go without a championship. But the wait is over. The Philadelphia Phillies became the first team from the City of Brotherly Love to take home a crown since the 76ers seized the NBA championship in 1983.

The Phils won Game 5 tonight over the Tampa Bay Rays, winning the series four games to one.

Tonight's game was a continuation of Monday's contest--a game suspended by rain.

Pinch hitter Geoff Jenkins began Game 5--Wednesday's version--in the bottom of the sixth inning--with a double. Right fielder Jayson Werth drove him in with a single, putting the Phillies ahead 3-2. That didn't last long, his right field counterpart on the Rays, Rocco Baldelli, hit a solo homer in the top of the seventh.

But in the bottom of the seventh, the Phils--this time it was left fielder Pat Burrell--again led off with a double. He was replaced by pinch runner Eric Bruntlett, who ended up being the winning run when Philadelphia third baseman Pedro Feliz knocked him home with a single.

The final score was Phillies 4--Rays 3.

Reliever J.C. Romero was the winning pitcher for the Phillies, he was 2-0 for the series. On the losing end for Tampa Bay was fellow reliever J.P. Howell, he was 0-2 in this year's Fall Classic.

Widely acknowledged as the Houston Astros' goat in the 2005 World Series against the Chicago White Sox--Brad Lidge lost two games as the South Siders swept the Astros. But Lidge picked up his second World Series save last night. As well as some redemption for himself.

As for the fans--the 45,000 towel waving fans loved every minute of it. But there haven't been very many opportunities for Phillies fans to celeberate. Since the first World Series was played in 1903, the Phils have only appeared in it five times. Wednesday's triumph was only their second Fall Classic win.

For much of their existence, the Phillies have been a terrible team. As for the Rays, for their entire ten-year tenure in Major League Baseball, they've been awful. Except this year.

Congratuations Phillies!

Technorati tags: baseball mlb sports Chicago White Sox Tampa Bay Rays World Series Phillies philadelphia Obama Barack Obama

An antidote for Obama's half-hour commercial

This post is here for those of you who watched Barack Obama's "Hopium" commercial, his half-hour of airtime purchased on America's broadcast netorks.



H/T to Midnight Blue.

Technorati tags: democrats Politics democrats Barack Obama Obama

Video: Obama meets rogue leaders, without preconditions

Barack Obama has said several times that he'd meet with Iranian leader--and anti-Semite--Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "without preconditions."

Here's a humorous--maybe no, on the otherhand--of what an Obama presidency could bring us.



Election Day is six days away.

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

(Postponed) Thursday: Marathon Pundit returns to Patriot Games Radio

Thursday night, I will be Boston Patriot's guest on her BlogTalkRadio Show.

BP had me on for all two hours of her show last Monday. I tried, but I couldn't cover all of the tentacles of Barack Obama and his questionable associations here in Illinois.

For intance, we never got around to discussing Alexi "The Boy Banker" Giannouilias.

UPDATE 9:15 AM: Boston Patriot tells me that she needs to interview some "down the ticket" candidates from around the country.

We'll reschedule.

My return appearance will be here at 7:00pm Eastern, 6:00pm Central. There will be a call-in number. The phone lines were blazing that night. Join in Thursday.

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Illinois Election Democrats Chicago radio Blogtalk Radio Illinois Politics

Vote McCain: Because you don't turn America over to a Cook County hack

This graphic, bumpersticker size, comes not from the McCain-Palin campaign, but Bruno Behrend's Extreme Wisdom blog.



What's wrong with Cook County?

Read more:

Hey Obama! Speak out on proposal to impose nation's highest sales tax in your hometown: UDPATED
Rita Rezko's contribution to America's worst government, Cook County
The latest from America's worst governmental body, Cook County
Bid to rescind Cook County corruption tax fails: UPDATED
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
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 cronyism McCain Republican John McCain

Obama and Khalidi and a videotape the LA Times refuses to release

Fact: The Los Angeles Times possesses a videotape of a 2003 in which Barack Obama praises radical professor Rashid Khalidi, a former spokesman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization. (Khalidi denies this.) The event was a going away party for Khalidi, Obama's friends Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn was at the bash.

Ayers and Obama served on the board of The Woods Fund, and gave the Arab American Action Network $40,000, a group headed by Khalidi's wife.

The LA Times refuses to release the tape.



Khalidi supports suicide bombers:

During documented speeches and public events, Khalidi has called Israel an "apartheid system in creation" and a destructive "racist" state.

He has multiple times expressed support for Palestinian terror, calling suicide bombings response to "Israeli aggression." He dedicated his 1986 book, "Under Siege," to "those who gave their lives ... in defense of the cause of Palestine and independence of Lebanon." Critics assailed the book as excusing Palestinian terrorism.

The Times claims that its reporters promised the source of the tape it would not release it to the public. Maybe. Or is the Times, a very liberal paper, trying to protect Obama?

Two days ago the Audit Bureau of Circulations released a report on newspaper circulation. Overall, 4.6 percent fewer newsapers were sold compared one year ago.

The circuation of the Times was down 5.2 percent. The Chicago Tribune, owned by the same parent organization, saw its newspaper sales decline 7.8 percent.

Gee, I wonder why readers are running away from newspapers?

Newsbusters has a good thought:

Just a thought here, folks, but perhaps everybody is appealing for that Khalidi video in the wrong place. The Los Angeles Times staff won't easily release that video because of their obvious bias. However, the person who actually owns the LA Times is Sam Zell. I don't know Zell's politics but I do know he definitely doesn't want to lose readers. An appeal should be made for that video directly to Sam Zell. If Zell orders the Times to post that video on its website, the hits to that newspaper would reach an all-time high. If they don't then the Times will continue to bleed readers. Sam Zell: that is the person to contact. The e-mail addy I posted earlier didn't work. However I did fax him successfully at the L.A. Times. The fax # is: 213-237-3535. I sent it for free from a free fax site: FAX ZERO.

So did I.

Related post:

Chicago Tribune's Obama endorsement: It's about keeping subscribers

Technorati tags: Israel Barack Obama politics Democrats Obama news מדינת Rashid Khalidi media bias LA Times Chicago Tribune

Spread the wealth around, take the day off from work on Election Day

Barack Obama, the potential "redistributor in chief," wants his supporters to skip work on Election Day.

That's an appropriate position for Obama. His supporters can organize, while the rest of the America makes a contribution to the economy.

Spread the wealth.

Technorati tags: democrats Politics democrats Barack Obama Obama Obama economy

Vote fraud comes home to Illinois

The headline is a bit misleading, rampant vote fraud in America was probably perfected by the Tammany Hall organization in New York City in the middle of the 19th century. But in the next century, vote fraud, centered around but not limited to Chicago Democrats, found its home base.

But with all of the focus on ACORN related voter registration fraud, I was wondering when Illinois would get its turn to show its vote fraud prowess during Election 2008.

ACORN, as far as I can tell, is not involved, but the Illinois Republican Party smells a rat just north of me in Lake County.

A lawsuit seeking additional protections against voter fraud in Tuesday’s general election is being filed today in Lake County Circuit Court, according to the Republican Party of Illinois.

The move comes in response to a large number of voter registration irregularities discovered in Eastern Lake County that are being investigated as potential fraud.

Republican Party Spokesman Lance Trover said the lawsuit will seek to have suspect registrations specially coded, and will ask for a judge’s order that first-time registered voters be required to show a photo identification at polling places or vote provisionally if no such identification is available.

The move comes in response to an announcement by County Clerk Willard Helander earlier this month that her office had received more than 1,000 "compromised" voter registration forms, including some listing non-existent addresses, dead people and even pets.

The Lake County State's Attorney's Office and the Lake County Sheriff's Office have confirmed the initiation of a joint investigation into the issue. Officials indicated that more than 800 of the forms were turned into the clerk's office by a Chicago resident claiming to represent several local community organizations, including Citizens Action/Illinois, which partnered with the YWCA of Lake County for a voter registration drive.

Citizens Action/Illinois calls itself a progressive, grass-roots group. Just like, you know, that other group. Barack Obama is, to say the least, a heavy favorite to win his home state. However, there is a competitive Congressional race between Republican incumbent Mark Kirk and Democrat Dan Seals, and these possibly fictitious registrants, including a goldfish from Buffalo Grove.

Forget the "possibly" on that last one.

Related posts:

Illinois vote fraud update: Two indicted for phony petition signatures
Vote fraud news: Obama, ACORN, and East St. Louis
Hypocrite Obama won't tolerate election theft
East St. Louis vote fraud update
E. St. Louis hires two ex-cons with vote buying convictions
East St. Louis vote fraudster found guilty of improper asbestos removal
Convicted vote thief joined by top local Dems at his pre-prison going away party
East St. Louis blues

Technorati tags: law legal crime Illinois elections Politics vote fraud election fraud

Keeping Lake Michigan safe for democracy

That's your humble correspondent guarding the Lake Michigan shore last Sunday--there were rumors that Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dorhn had chartered a flotilla and were planning an assault on the site of the former Fort Sheridan in Highwood, Illinois.

On a serious note, Fort Sheridan closed in 1993. Since then, the many of the base's historic buildings have been converted into luxury homes. The Lake County Forest Preserve district owns much of the rest of the once-bustling post, including the spot I'm standing on in the picture.

Related posts:

Fort Sheridan, Illinois

Fort Sheridan mansion

A lesser known Muslim who served in the US Army

Technorati tags: history military Chicago North Shore architecture Fort Sheridan army

Obama: "I chose my (extremist) friends carefully"

Hey, the below quote comes from Barack Obama himself. It comes from his first book, Dreams From My Father.

To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists.

What's a structural feminist?

Here it in Obama's own voice:



Contrarians will reply "Aren't all professors Marxist?" Today, many are, but hard-left extremists hadn't yet taken over college campuses when Obama was a college student. Perhaps the universities he attended had subverted, but I doubt it. I was an undergrad the same time Obama was, and at college I graduated from, the University of Illinois, there were plenty of New Deal liberals still teaching class. Tenure of course means lifetime employment.

So young Obama probably had to work a bit to find Commie profs.

More from Fox News' Bill Sammon:

After graduating from Columbia in 1983, Obama spent a year working for a consulting firm and then went to work for what he described as "a Ralph Nader offshoot" in Harlem.

"In search of some inspiration, I went to hear Kwame Toure, formerly Stokely Carmichael of Black Panther fame, speak at Columbia," Obama wrote in "Dreams," which he published in 1995. "At the entrance to the auditorium, two women, one black, one Asian, were selling Marxist literature."

Obama supporters point out that plenty of Americans flirt with radical ideologies in college, only to join the political mainstream later in life. But Obama, who made a point of noting how "carefully" he chose his friends in college, also chose to launch his political career in the Chicago living room of Ayers, a domestic terrorist who in 2002 proclaimed: "I am a Marxist."

Also present at that meeting was Ayers' wife, fellow terrorist Bernardine Dohrn, who once gave a speech extolling socialism, communism and "Marxism-Leninism."

That's the Ayers/Dohrn cell on the right.

Although not a Marxist, for twenty years Obama attended the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church. Many of Wright's sermons can easily be classified as "anti-American."

Seven days to Election Day.

Hat tip to Gateway Pundit for the YouTube clip.

Technorati tags: Politics Bill Ayers democrats Barack Obama Obama books Bernardine Dohrn Jeremiah Wright

Sugar Maples in Niles

I thought I'd show some more Sugar Maples, this time in Bunker Hill Woods in Niles, just a half-mile north of the Chicago city limits.

In the background, you can see the North Branch of the Chicago River.

Technorati tags: Chicago River rivers Chicago Illinois photography photos Niles trees fall colors autumn nature

Vote "Yes" for Illinois "Con-Con"

One of the articles of the 1970 Illinois Constitution is that every twenty years voters have the chance to call for a constitutional convention.

Marathon Pundit enthusiastically calls for a "Yes" vote to straighten out the nation's most corrupt state.

Three of our last seven elected governors have "moved on" to federal prison. Our current governor, Rod Blagojevich, is under federal investigation, and it's believed the feds already have enough evidence to indict him.

Our Congressional districts are gerrymandered messes. So are many of our state legislative districts, and even Chicago wards.

Friends of the blog John Bambenek and Bruno Behrend have put a lot of work into seeing a majority of Illinoisans vote "Yes" for a constitutional convention.

And they produced this fabulous video, with a reworking of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."

Here are the first two lines of the song:

Well there's potholes in the streets, and our children can't compete (in schools)

Here's what I'd like to see in a new Illinois constitution:

Computer generated congressional and legislative districts.

A unicameral state legislature.

Strict anti-nepotism laws directed at elected officials.

A recall provision for all state wide officers.

Abolishment of township government in Cook, Lake, DuPage, and St. Clair counties.

On that last one, township government is a patronage rathole. Everything that township government does, and its not a lot, can quickly be absorbed by municipal, county, or state goverments.

Let's take back the state!

UPDATE 5:30pm: Somehow I left out a mention of the pro-Con-Con site, it's called "Yes for Illinois."

Technorati tags: Illinois Blagojevich politics Chicago corruption legal Illinois Politics con-conmusic The Who

New McCain-Palin ad: "Compare"

John McCaiin is running for president. Barack Obama, as McCain has quipped, is running for "redistributor-in-chief."

Election Day is one week away.

We are all Joe the Plumber



Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics news economy McCain Republican

Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, friend of Barack, headed to jail today

Last year, Barack Obama had this to say about former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in an address to the Detroit Economic Club:

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.

Video available here.

Here's what Kilpatrick is up to today:

Kilpatrick is to go before Wayne Circuit Judge David Groner at 2 p.m., where the now-convicted felon will begin paying the penalty he agreed to last month when he pleaded guilty to two counts of obstructing justice by perjuring himself at last year's police whistle-blower trial.

It is expected that after the sentencing, Kilpatrick will immediately head to jail, where he'll exchange his monogrammed shirts and big-knot tie for a standard-issue green jumpsuit. And the man who once charged lavish hotel rooms on a city credit card will begin bunking in a place that costs the county $115 a night.

Kilpatrick's cell is tucked away in a corner of the second floor, past the medical section where other inmates visit and down a long corridor with a few missing ceiling tiles overhead.

His cell is formed of concrete blocks, a heavy steel door and painted a light cream. It's all he'll see for up to 23 hours a day through the holidays and his youngest son's birthday. With good time, he should emerge in early February.

In other "Friends of Barack" news, Antoin "Tony" Rezko, Obama's buddy for almost twenty years, was also scheduled to receive his sentence today. But Rezko is now singing to the feds about Illinois' "pay to play" scandal--his date of doom in front of the judge has been postponed indefinitely. He must have a lot to talk about.

UPDATE 6:00PM CDT: Kwame got his sentence, 120 days in jail, and no time off for good behavior.

Technorati tags: Obama Barack Obama Election Democrats Politics law Kwame Kilpatrick Detroit Michigan crime Rezko

Obama-Biden campaign shuts off another TV station

Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase, "The medium is the message."

The Obama-Biden campaign wants to control both.

A second television station, CBS 3 Philadelphia, had the audacity to ask Joe Biden tough questions.



The reporter not only brought up Barack Obama's socialistic "spread the wealth around" philosophies, but Biden's ethical lapses involving his son, Hunter.

After the interview, well sort of interview, since Biden didn't answer all of the questions offered (just as with WFTV's Barbara West), the Obama-Biden campaign cut off CBS 3 from future interview opportunities.

This is frightening.

Seven days to Election Day.

H/T to Phildalphia's Midnight Blue.

Related posts:

Bernie Goldberg on the sad state of our pro-Obama media

Obama campaign cuts off Florida TV station from future interviews--it had the audacity to ask Biden tough questions

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics news Biden Philadelphia pennsylvania

North Branch of the Chicago River in October

Today was the coldest day in months in the Chicago area. While I was running today, I even saw a few snow flakes. I also saw some Green Ash trees--now yellow--hanging over the North Branch of the Chicago River in Niles.

Technorati tags: Chicago River rivers Chicago Illinois photography photos Niles trees fall colors autumn nature

Sen. Ted Stevens guilty on seven counts

I called for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) to resign as soon as he was indicted. Well, the jerk decided to tough it out. But he was found guilty on seven corruption counts this afternoon. Now Alaska voters have the messy job of voting for a Democrat--something that doesn't happen very often in the Last Frontier--or vote for a future jailbird.

What a mess.

Technorati tags: Ted Stevens Alaska corruption legal crime

Bernie Goldberg on the sad state of our pro-Obama media

Author and former CBS reporter Bernie Goldberg was interviewed this morning on Fox & Friends by Steve Doocy, and Goldberg commented that the best question directed at Barack Obama and Joe Biden during the general election campaign have not come from the national mainstream media, but from Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, Joe the Plumber, and Barbara West, who works for a Florida TV station.

We live in sad times.



Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics news media bias Biden

McCain campaign's statement on Obama's support of wealth redistribution

From a McCain-Palin campaign press release:

The American people continue to learn more about Barack Obama. Now we know that the slogans 'change you can believe in' and 'change we need' are code words for Barack Obama's ultimate goal: 'redistributive change.' In a previously uncovered interview from September 6, 2001, Barack Obama expressed his regret that the Supreme Court hadn't been more 'radical' and described as a 'tragedy' the Court's refusal to take up 'the issues of redistribution of wealth.' No wonder he wants to appoint judges that legislate from the bench – as insurance in case a unified Democratic government under his control fails to meet his basic goal: taking money away from people who work for it and giving it to people who Barack Obama believes deserve it. Europeans call it socialism, Americans call it welfare, and Barack Obama calls it change." -- McCain-Palin Senior Policy Adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin

Here's a transcript of Obama's comments:

"You know if you look at the victories and the failures of the Civil Rights movement and its litigation strategy in the Court, I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed peoples so that I would now have the right to vote, I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order as long as I could pay for it I would be okay. But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn't that radical, it didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution, at least as its been interpreted and the Warren Court interpreted it in the same way that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties says what the states can’t do to you, says what the federal government can't do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf and that hasn’t shifted. And one of the I think the tragedies of the Civil Rights movement was because the Civil Rights movement became so court focused I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change and in some ways we still suffer from that." – Barack Obama, September 6, 2001.

Here's the really frightening part of what Obama said:

And to that extent as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn't that radical, it didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution.

Well thank God the Warren Court didn't break free from those restraints. Obama has said he views the US Constitution as a "living consitution," meaning that it can be reinterpreted on the whim of activist judges who want to legistlate from the bench-activist judges such as the ones a President Barack Obama would appoint to serve.

Election day is eight days from now.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics news McCain John McCain Republican

150 years ago today: Theodore Roosevelt born

Here's an anniversary that is being overlooked by many. One of America's greatest presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, was born on this day in New York City in 1858. It's the TR sesquicentennial.

Up on top is Roosevelt's cabin, his home while he was a rancher in North Dakota's Badlands. In front is Little Marathon Pundit and your humble blogger. The two-story unit, dubbed by TR as the Maltese Cross Cabin, is in Medora, on the grounds of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Roosevelt moved to what was then Dakota Territory in 1884 after suffering a double tragedy-the deaths of his mother and his first wife--on the same day, both of natural causes.

Roosevelt commented that he could never become president had he not ranched in North Dakota.

John McCain, when he's asked who is heroes are, always lists TR as one of them.

The Chicago Tribune's Swamp Blog has a tribute to Roosevelt.

Happy Birthday, Teddy!

Technorati tags: travel history North Dakota Theodore Roosevelt John McCain McCain New York on this day Republicans

Resolved: Obama favors redistribution of wealth

Then-State Senator Barack Obama was on very friendly territory when he spoke to WBEZ-FM, Chicago's NPR affiliate in 2001 when he spoke of the "tragedy" that redistribution of wealth wasn't pursued by the Earl Warren-led Supreme Court in regards to the civil rights movement.



And as we know, just two weeks ago, he told the newly famous "Joe the Plumber" that he wanted to "spread the wealth around."

And who would spread it around under an Obama administration? The federal government.

What's mine is mine, what's yours is mine.

Obama must have been feeling pretty comfortable in the WBEZ studios that day with his fellow leftists--he let his true beliefs slip out.

Let me add some perspective: Last year I listened to one of Obama's terrorist pals, Bernardine Dohrn, take part in an interview on the WBEZ program "848," where she talked about children's rights.

The reporter never talked brought up her terrorist past.

Related post:

Bernardine Dohrn watch

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics news economy Joe the Plumber Bernardine Dohrn NPR WBEZ

Video: Tony Rezko and Barack Obama

Much of the media, especially the conservative leaning sources, has been focusing on Barack Obama's friendship with Bill Ayers, an unrepentant terrorist. As bad as that is, Obama's ties to slumlord and convicted felon Antoin "Tony" Rezko were much closer. The pair even spoke daily for a while.

The Republican National Committee released a video over the weekend that explains Obama's relationship with Rezko.



Here's some irony: While "Obamapalooza" is taking place on election night in Chicago's Grant Park, just one mile away, Rezko will be spending the night, as he has every night since January, at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

I wonder if Obama's enablers in the mainstram media will sense the irony?

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Obama Barack Obama Rezko crime

Red Maple in Harms Woods

If you are on the North Branch of the Chicago River Cycling Path in the next few days in Harms Woods, then you'll see this striking Red Maple.

The fall colors are reaching their peak now.

Technorati tags: Chicago illinois trees fall colors autumn nature photography photos Skokie

Marilyn Katz: Another radical in Obama's circle

I was thinking about Pittsburgh today. I watched the New York Giants defeat the Steelers--they wore hideous "alternative" uniforms--and after the game ended, I came across a fabulous post on Pat Hickey's ...With Both Hands blog. The pride of Chicago's South Side found an article on the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about Marilyn Katz, a former leader of the radical group, Students for a Democrat Society.

SDS was a misnamed group, most of its leaders didn't bother going to class. Kind of like those "students" who held our embassy workers hostage in Tehran for 444 days. Unrepentant terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn were SDS members, they went on to form the even more radical Weather Underground.

As John Kass wrote a few weeks ago in his Chicago Tribune column, Katz is the go-to apologist for Ayers and his Weather Underground terrorists. But Katz was a black cat who crossed decent society in the 1960s.

Today, many of them claim that SDS was a "peaceful organization." Take Marilyn Katz, who oversaw SDS security during the 1968 Chicago riots.

During the "Chicago Seven" trials, a police officer testified that on one chaotic night in Lincoln Park, Ms. Katz briefed a group of protesters on a new addition to their arsenal of anarchy -- guerrilla nails.

"She had two types," the officer recounted. "One was a cluster of nails that were sharpened at both ends and fastened in the center. It looked like they were welded or soldered. She said these were good for throwing or putting underneath tires. She showed another set that was the same type of nails, sharpened, but they were put through a Styrofoam cylinder. There was a weight put through the middle, another nail, held together with something that looked like liquid solder."

Perhaps Katz will grace a future Obama regime as she now does that of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, providing her public relations skills to a number of city departments, including police.

Katz serves on Barack Obama's national finance committee. Like Ayers and Dohrn, Katz has "no regrets" about her radical activities during the 1960s.

Election Day is nine days from now.

Related posts:

Chicago's Tribune's John Kass: Giving more air to the Ayers story

SDS' 1968 Tragical History Tour (With Bill Ayers' Maoist pal, Mike Klonsky.)

Technorati tags: 60s sds Chicago radicals history Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats Politics Marilyn Katz Bernardine Dohrn

Chicago preparing for election night riots

Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun-Times writes about Chicago's preparation for election night rioting and manages to use the word "riot" just once.

Oh, sure, there will be major traffic problems in downtown Chicago on election night because of Barack Obama's decision to use Grant Park to issue what I hope will be his concession speech.

But win or lose, Chicago is preparing for trouble.

Off-duty Chicago firefighters and paramedics have been ordered to take all of their gear home with them to speed deployment in the event of an emergency at Barack Obama's giant election night rally in Grant Park.

The order begins next Wednesday and continues until Nov. 6 -- two days after the election.

Firefighters have been ordered to take home gear that includes protective clothing known as bunker gear, gloves, face mask, helmet, boots and breathing apparatus tank.

Firefighters in Chicago work 24 hour shifts, followed by two days off. Paramedics work the same hours, followed by three days off.
More...

Chicago Police are also preparing for the possibility of having to control unruly crowds after the polls close Nov. 4. Gang and tactical teams were trained in crowd control this spring and would be called in to quell any problems, along with the Targeted Response Unit and the newly created Mobile Strike Force.

Specialialized units of the Chicago Police carry their riot gear in their squad cars.

The Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn, an Obama supporter, doesn't think "Obamapalooza" in Grant Park is a good idea.

But the more I think about it, the more it sounds like a potential massive minor disaster -- overflow crowds of people, all sharing the same desire to witness history, many forced to stand for hours beyond the fences in the cold, crowded periphery without many amenities; understandably oppressive security measures, transportation woes and traffic tie-ups galore, with the whole thing tied into an event whose schedule is dependent on the whims of the news.

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Obama Barack Obama crime Chicago Tribune Chicago Sun-Times

Wal-Mart America's most generous company, B of A second

In 2006 and 2007, Wal-Mart bashing was the rage among Democrats, including Barack Obama.

The Dems' anger has cooled off. Adding extinguishing fuel to the fire is Forbes' Magazine's listing of America's most generous companies.

The No. 1 most generous company overall, Wal-Mart Stores, gave away $301 million in 2007, including total cash donations from the company foundation, and excluding free product and service offerings, otherwise called "in-kind" donations. That amounts to 1.3% of the company's 2006 operating income.

Beneficiaries of Wal-Mart's goodwill include the Children's Miracle Network, America's Second Harvest, the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, the United Way of America and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Second was the Bank of America, owner the Chicago Marathon, which I ran two Sundays ago.

Related post:

Scenes from the 2008 Chicago Marathon--from a participant

Technorati tags: Wal-Mart Business retail politics Chicago Marathon charity philanthropy Bank of America

Charged with shoplifting, Lincoln prez library head on leave

A story like this can only come out of Illinois. With great fanfare, and great taxpayer funded expense, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum opened in Springfield in 2005.

One of Lincoln's best-known monikers is "Honest Abe."

But the museum's director, Richard E. Beard, appears to be less than honest; he was arrested for shoplifting in August. He allegedly took a liking to a DVD box set of the television show "House" at a Target store that he didn't pay for. In Lincoln's time, they called that shoplifting. Earlier this week, Beard, who makes $150,000 a year, was placed on paid-administrative leave.

Springfield has a low cost of living. Forget "House," in Illinois' state capital you can buy a nice house for $150,000.

Beard has two previous Springfield shoplifting arrests on his curriculum vitae. Last year he was caught stealing neckties from a Macy's, as well as a "Seinfeld" DVD box set from the same Target where he arrested in August.

Although I'm not a lawyer, or a mental health professional, I have some advice for Beard. Plead insanity. Say the spirit of Governor George H. Ryan, who is now imprisoned in Indiana, has possessed him. The Kankakee Republican laid the cornerstone of Honest Abe's library in 2002.

And when the museum opened three years later, his successor, Democrat Rod Blagojevich, spoke at the official dedication.

Blagojevich is now under federal investigation for his role in Illinois' "pay to play" scandals.

What would Lincoln think?

Related posts:

Thirty hours in Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois
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
My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: Jonesboro, site of the third Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Technorati tags: Abraham Lincoln history Illinois Blagojevich Springfield Democrats crime shoplifting George Ryan Republicans

Obama campaign cuts off Florida TV station from future interviews--it had the audacity to ask Biden tough questions

Barbara West, a reporter for WFTV in Orlando, finally asks gives the people what they want: tough questioning of a one of the two men at the top of the Democratic ticket.



She hits Joe Biden on ACORN, "spreading the wealth," and even asks Biden "What do you say to the people who are concerned that Barack Obama will want to turn America into a socialist country much like Sweden."

It's the best five minutes of television I've seen this year. And Biden gets in one of his famous lies. He falsely states that the Barack Obama did not pay ACORN to register voters, when in fact he did.

In another reminder of how childish the Obama-Biden campaign is regarding media who won't fawn over them, WFTV has been cut off from future contacts with the campaign.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Biden so disliked West's line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate's wife.

"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.

McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was "a result of her husband's experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West."

Most Congressional Democrats favor a return to the ludicrously misnamed "Fairness Doctrine," which will stifle free speech on our airwaves.

Let West know what a good job she is doing by e-mailing her at barbara.west@wftv.com.

H/T to The Radio Patriot for the address.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics Biden news Florida Sweden sverige

Deranged Gov. Blagojevich thinks he can get reelected

Illinois' Democratic governor, Rod Blagojevich, believes if he was up for reelection this year, he'd win.

I suppose "Blago" thinks that whales swim in Lake Michigan.

Blago's ties to convicted felon Antoin "Tony" Rezko are at the root of his troubles.

CBS 2 Chicago has more:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is blaming the nation's financial meltdown for his dismal standing among Illinois voters.

Blagojevich is getting angry, saying voters are blaming all politicians. He thinks his legal troubles have nothing to do with it.

CBS 2's Mike Parker reports those troubles with the federal government seem to get more complex by the day. The latest wrinkle has the U.S. Attorney going after financial records of Blagojevich pal and lobbyist John Wyma. Then there's the interest by the feds into the real estate dealings between the governor's wife, Patti, and those seeking state contracts.

The governor was barraged by reporters about all those things Friday when talked about his 13 percent approval rating.

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

Oh no, not that '70s show

As I've remarked before, Jimmy Carter, Malaise Man, was the worst president in my lifetime. Let's see, we had the "misery index," the Iran debacle which were still feeling the effects of, the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan...what else?

The National Review's Mark Moyar suffered through that time too:

A newcomer to national politics, he claimed to transcend partisan labels. He moved to the center during the campaign, at a time when the Democrats held large congressional majorities. In a troubled economy, he told voters he would keep taxes down for most Americans, limit spending, and balance the budget, all while implementing ambitious social programs. He planned to cut military spending to free money for other purposes, but assured moderates and conservatives that when it came to America’s enemies, he would be tougher than the Republicans. The media, droves of moderates, and some conservatives believed him, having pegged him as a man of character.

His name was Jimmy Carter, the year was 1976, and he won. His presidency helps us predict the likely results of an Obama victory in 2008.

What did the majority of 1976 get in return for its votes? Carter’s campaign vow to avoid increasing payroll taxes went out the window: He and Congress raised Social Security taxes through the roof. They also slapped large new taxes on oil and gas. Meanwhile, Carter canceled his plan for a tax refund to Americans earning under $30,000. Casting aside more campaign pledges, Carter and Congress increased annual federal spending from $403 billion to $579 billion and grew the national debt from $709 billion to $914 billion. Tens of billions of dollars went to new jobs programs, urban aid, and mushrooming entitlements, and Carter’s promise to stop Democratic pork-barrel spending was abandoned.

Carter and the Democratic Congress generated 18 percent inflation and economic stagnation at the same time. Unemployment rose. Americans came to regret the votes they had cast — Carter’s approval rating sank to 21 percent in 1980, the lowest in the history of polling.

Carter was a peanut farmer before entering politics. Did you know peanut allergies have been rising?

Could it Carter's fault.

Prove to me it isn't.

Election day is eleven days away.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics news Jimmy Carter

New York Times "junk"

It's official. The New York Times is "junk." No, I'm not talking about the content of the Old Gray Lady. It's credit rating is junk.

Don't believe me? Read on.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Thursday lowered The New York Times Co.'s corporate credit rating to junk bond status, citing weak prospects for advertising revenues.

The agency said it cut the company's rating from "BBB-" -- its lowest investment grade -- to "BB-."

S&P said it downgraded the rating because it believes that a "likely" economic recession in the United States would worsen ad revenues for at least a year.

A recession would prolong, possibly until 2010, the time it would take for ad the revenues to reach "more manageable rates of decline," S&P said.

The news comes on the same day the Times endorsed Barack Obama for president.
For the past year, cable news cellar-dweller MSNBC has been in a partnership with the Times, covering the 2008 election. NBC runs MSNBC. The former is owned by General Electric, which reported lower earnings in the third quarter of this year.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics news economy New York Times business

Turning the tide thanks to Joe the Plumber

Things were going fine leading up to Barack Obama's coronation in January, until he walked into Joe the Plumber's neighborhood.

Funny, Obama has never backed off his comment that he supports income redistribution.

So the logical move for him is to attack Joe.

So what’s the big deal? Why the campaign against "Joe the Plumber"? As we know, Barack Obama inadvertently let down his guard and stated his economic philosophy more clearly than he had ever before – which smacked of socialistic redistribution of wealth: "I think that when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everyone," Obama remarked to Joe.

Obama's off the cuff "spread the wealth around" remark was recorded on video and soon viewed by millions on YouTube. Suddenly, millions of Americans became worried about what an Obama presidency might really mean.

What is so incredible here — and so very revealing — is that the Obama campaign and its media co-conspirators have beem twisting the facts to claim that what is significant about Obama's conversation with "Joe the Plumber" is not what Obama said, but rather who he said it to.

This is beyond ridiculous. It doesn't matter to whom the remarks were addressed. The point is that Obama made them.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics news economy Joe the Plumber

New McCain-Palin TV ad: " Ladies and Gentleman"

Once again, another powerful ad from the McCain-Palin campaign. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes an apperance in it. Here's the copy:

ANNCR: Listen to Joe Biden.
Talking about what electing Barack Obama will mean.
JOE BIDEN: Mark my words.
It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama.
The world is looking.
We're going to have an international crisis ... to test the mettle of this guy.
I guarantee you it's gonna happen.
ANNCR: It doesn't have to happen.
Vote McCain.
JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics Biden news iran خبر حقوق بشر محمود فتوى McCain John McCain Republican

Ethanol responsible for 15 percent of Iowa's greenhouse gases

There is so much wrong with ethanol as a fuel source, it's hard for me to know where to begin. Let's see...ethanol is expensive once you figure in massive federal subsidies, it has driven up the costs of all kinds of foods, leading to food shortages and riots...and what else? Oh, it adds greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Ethanol is the biggest fraud since Milli Vanilli.

From the Say Anything Blog:

Another victory for ethanol the subsidized, mandated and so-called "green fuel of the future" for the last three decades.

The Des Moines Register reported the other day that Iowa's ethanol plants contribute 15 Percent — 7.6 million metric tons out of a total of 52 million metric tons — of greenhouse-gas emissions found in the state's new inventory of major manufacturers, businesses and power plants.

And guess what industry is looking for a bailout?

And guess which presidential candidate loves ethanol? I'll give you a hint...a lot of corn is grown in his state.

Twelve days to Election Day.

Technorati tags: corn farming democrats election Obama Barack Obama Iowa ethanol energy

A lesser known Muslim who served in the US Army

When Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama on Meet The Press on Sunday, in a put-down of the Barack-Obama-is-a-Muslim rumors he said we're being spread by the Republican Party, who told the story of a Muslim soldier buried at Arlington National Cemetery who was killed in Iraq--an American patriot.

To be sure, I don't roam the same circles the former Secretary of State does, but not one person whispered to me in St. Paul during the Republican National Convention, "Y'know, that guy from your state, Obama, he's a Muslim." By the way, Obama is not a Muslim.

I don't know the circumstances of Army Specialist Mark N. McMillion, but he's buried at Fort Sheridan Cemetery in Lake Forest, Illinois. He was a Muslim who served too. It's McMillion's turn to be remembered.

Related posts:

Fort Sheridan mansion

Fort Sheridan, Illinois

Technorati tags: Chicago crime Islam muslim Muslims Fort Sheridan army military Chicago North Shore

From The Bench: Sunrise Equities and Obama, Part Two

Once again, my friend Tom Mannis of The Bench, the sage of Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, has posted another great piece of investigative reporting on the apparent collapse of Sunrise Equities and the firm's ties to Barack Obama.

And could a possible murder be involved?

There is one way to find out--click here.

Related post:

From The Bench: Sunrise Equities and Obama

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Illinois Election Democrats Chicago crime business finance

New McCain-Palin radio ad: "Spreading the wealth"

This McCain-Palin radio ad will air win Florida.



Here's the copy:

GOVERNOR CHARLIE CRIST: Hi, this is Governor Charlie Crist.

Let me tell you why I support my friend John McCain.

He will lower your taxes.

He will stop wasteful government spending.

And John McCain knows that people don't want to "spread the wealth."

He knows that Congress should let you keep more of your money, and not take it away.

Thank you very much.

ANNCR: Your savings, your job and your financial security are under siege.

Congressional liberals will make it worse.

Congressional liberals plan nearly a trillion dollars in new government spending.

To pay for it, Congressional liberals promise higher taxes on American families making over $42,000 a year.

Barack Obama and Congressional liberals call it spreading the wealth around, we call it higher taxes, bigger government.

Either way, it will cost you.

Stop 'em before they make it worse.

Paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee.

JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.

Technorati tags: elections Politics vote Republican radio

Sauerberg for US Senate

Illinois' other US Senator, Dick Durbin, is also on the ballot next month. The downstate Democrat is only slightly less liberal than Barack Obama, but Illinois voters have another choice, Steve Sauerberg, a doctor from Chicago's western suburbs.

That's the good doctor on the right, the photograph was taken at the September 11, 2007 Move America Forward rally in Niles.

Technorati tags: illinois Chicago Move America Forward Niles Durbin Steve Sauerberg Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats Republican

New McCain-Palin web ad: "I am Joe"

We are all Joe the Plumber. Even Barack Obama's supporters--although they don't know it yet (Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn excluded)--are Joe the Plumber.

From a McCain-Palin campaign press release:

Today, McCain-Palin 2008 released its latest web ad, entitled "I am Joe." The ad features Americans who submitted their homemade videos to the campaign telling their stories and how they are like "Joe the Plumber." Like Joe in Ohio, people from across the country do not want to see their taxes increase as Barack Obama proposes. They don't want a president who will "spread the wealth around" instead of creating new wealth and new opportunity. They don't want a president who sees economic success, expansion and job creation as an excuse to increase taxes. They don't want a president who will place a tax on the American dream.

I am Joe the Plumber, too.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics news Ohio economy Joe the Plumber

Biden's "generated crisis" revisited

Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. "And he's going to need help . . . to stand with him. Because it's not going to be apparent initially; it's not going to be apparent that we're right."Sen. Joe Biden, October 19, 2008.

Pajamas Media's Michael Ledeen, an Iran expert, takes a closer look at Biden's bizarre statement.

This sort of a thing is a commonplace for incoming presidents; I can’t remember one who wasn't told something like it during the transition period, and a lot of energy is invariably devoted to analyzing likely scenarios and designing adequate responses. On this one, Biden is simply part of the conventional wisdom. The surprising part of his statement is the last sentence. What does he mean when he says “it’s not going to be apparent that we’re right”?

Of course, it may mean nothing. Lots of Bidengaffes are simply the result of an inability to stop talking, and words just come pouring out. But it may mean what McCain is suggesting it means: that Biden knows that Obama has no sense of what the world is really like, and it’s likely that Obama’s initial reactions will be misguided. The inference would then be: so until I, Biden, get him straightened out, he's probably gonna look bad."

Wow.

More:

On the other hand, he may think he knows something real. There are some blog reports suggesting that US intelligence agencies now believe that Iran will be building its first bomb by next February, and Biden may take those reports seriously. If so, President Obama would have to do something. What? Does Biden think that his administration’s first instinct would be to call a conference and then fly to Tehran to negotiate a big deal? Or does he think it would then be necessary to take drastic action? The talking cure seems more to Obama's taste, but no serious person believes it would succeed.

As I've said many times before, we are not dealing with reasonable people in Iran. Obama doesn't seem to know that, but believe it or not, I think Biden does.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics Biden news iran خبر حقوق بشر محمود فتوى

CNN botches National Review quote in Palin interview

Just one week after performing some great journalisism, reporting on ACORN vote fraud, CNN's Drew Griffin made a fool of himself and his network by confronting Sarah Palin with a way-out-of-context quote from a Byron York National Review article.

Perhaps Griffin was burned by a staffer who wanted to interpret York in a different way.

Transcript courtesy of Newsbusters:

DREW GRIFFIN: Governor, you have been mocked in the press. The press has been pretty hard on you. The Democrats have been pretty hard on you, but also some conservatives have been pretty hard on you as well. The National Review had a story saying that, you know, 'I can't tell if Sarah Palin is incompetent, stupid, unqualified, corrupt, or all of the above.'

PALIN: Who wrote that one?

GRIFFIN: That -- that was in the National Review. I don't have the author.

PALIN: Who wrote it? I would like to talk to that person.

GRIFFIN: But they were talking about the fact that your experience as governor is not getting out. Do you feel trapped in this campaign, that your message is not getting out, and, if so, who do you blame?

But this is what York wrote, one issue back, in the print edition of NR:

Watching press coverage (emphasis mine) of the Republican candidate for vice president, it's sometimes hard to decide whether Sarah Palin is incompetent, stupid, unqualified, corrupt, backward, or — or, well, all of the above.

As I write this post, CNN has not issued a retraction.

Related post:

CNN: Tough on Obama's ACORN ties

Technorati tags: democrats elections Politics ACORN CNN vote Republican Palin media bias

Fort Sheridan mansion

Three days ago I visited the former Fort Sheridan army base east of Highwood, Illinois. Ninety-four of the buildings, most of them constructed with bricks made from the limestone prevalent on Chicago's North Shore, are part of the historic district in what is now known as the Town of Fort Sheridan.

The home pictured here could have only been the post commander's residence. The stately mansion is the grandest house within the old fort, and is just a short walk from Lake Michigan.



Related post:

Fort Sheridan, Illinois

Technorati tags: travel history military Chicago North Shore photography photos architecture Fort Sheridan army

Bill Ayers does the unthinkable: Sinks to a new low

David Niven once said of fellow actor Errol Flynn, "You could always rely on Errol, he would always let you down."

Errol Flynn, despite his many personal demons, was no Bill Ayers. But Bill Ayers will always let decent-thinking people down.

Bill Ayers, the unrepentant 1960s terrorist, and friend of Barack Obama, is back in the news, thanks to JammieWearingFool.

Ayers has co-written a book with his fellow ex-terrorist wife, Bernardine Dohrn, entitled Race Course Against White Supremacy.

From Amazon:

White supremacy and its troubling endurance in American life is debated in these personal essays by two veteran political activists. Arguing that white supremacy has been the dominant political system in the United States since its earliest days—and that it is still very much with us—the discussion points to unexamined bigotry in the criminal justice system, election processes, war policy, and education. The book draws upon the authors' own confrontations with authorities during the Vietnam era, reasserts their belief that racism and war are interwoven issues, and offers personal stories about their lives today as parents, teachers, and reformers.

Absolutely disgusting. Remember, Barack Obama began his political career in Ayers and Dohrn's living room.

Will Obama praise this book just as he did Ayers' A Kind And Just Parent?

Related post:

Ayers, Ayers, everywhere

Technorati tags: Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats Bernardine Dohrn books radicals

T-shirts of the 2008 Chicago Marathon: Part Two

On Monday I displayed some of the shirts I was running around with, literally, in last Sunday's Chicago Marathon. The gentleman on the left is running in the honor of the Jerry Ayre, who is pictured on the back of his shirt. I saw about a dozen of similarly attired runners. God bless every single one of them.

Chicagoans have a love-hate relationship with New York. Mostly the latter. But the lady in red loves Chicago.

Weddings are stressful times. Running a marathon, in a different way, is also stressful. Presumably the woman in the head-dress is relaxing now, but on the back of her shirt reads, "Bride 10-18-08." The Chicago Marathon took place on October 12.

I wonder what she has planned this weekend? Psychiatric counseling?

The guys on the right share the same birthday, which is October 12. I was running alongside of them for about five miles, until I lost sight of them. My guess is that the birthday boys finished together. Happy Birthday, fellas!

My favorite T-shirt slogan from last week's race belongs to the man in the white shirt on the lower left. Temperatures reached unseasonably high temperatures in last year's race--which put 200 runners in various hospital emergency rooms. His shirt reads, "Last year ER, this year PR." PR meaning personal record. This year's race was only slightly less warm, let's hope this guy got his PR, or at least finished.

During the last five miles of the Chicago Marathon, I found myself running alongside the man on the right, wearing the familiar "34" Chicago Bears jersey of the late Walter Payton. I don't know the man's motivation in wearing that shirt, but "Sweetness" died of cancer nine years ago, at the young age of 45.

Payton was fast, and this guy was faster than I was last Sunday; he pulled away from me in the last mile--running for daylight--and the finish line.

Related posts:

T-shirts of the 2008 Chicago Marathon: Part One

Scenes from the 2008 Chicago Marathon--from a participant

2008 Chicago Marathon: Elvis is everywhere!

Finished another one: 2008 Chicago Marathon

2007 Chicago Marathon posts:

Shirts of the Chicago Marathon

A participant's view of the cancelled Chicago Marathon: UPDATED

Water station mayhem at Chicago Marathon

Happier scenes from Sunday's Chicago Marathon

Technorati tags: Chicago Marathon running marathon run Chicago illinois sports athletics photography photos t-shirt Walter Payton

New McCain-Palin TV Ad: "Sweat Equity"

I think there is a little "Joe the Plumber" in all of us.



Here's the script:

BARACK OBAMA: I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody.
WOMAN: I'm Joe the plumber.
WOMAN: I'm Joe the plumber.
WOMAN: I'm Joe the plumber.
ANNCR: Spread the wealth?
MAN: I'm supposed to work harder...
MAN: Just to pay more taxes.
MAN: Obama wants my sweat to pay for his trillion dollars in new spending?
WOMAN: I'm Joe the plumber.
ANNCR: Barack Obama. Higher Taxes. More Spending. Not Ready.
JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics Joe the Plumber McCain John McCain Republican

Discovering the "Joe the Plumber" vote

From John Berlau in the American Thinker:

Joe the Plumber did more than add some levity to the last presidential debate. Joe, aka Joe Wurzelbacher of Ohio, just may have awakened a swing bloc of voters that could make the difference in this election. This voting group can be described as "the rich" and those who aspire to be, and believe it or not, they could actually represent more than 20 percent of the electorate.

Until Wurzelbacher launched into his challenge to Barack Obama's rhetoric about the elusive "5 percent" of Americans whose taxes would be hiked, "the rich" seemed like some abstract, black-and-white concept. The U.S. economy, according to the Obama campaign and much of the media, was divided into either Wall Street fat cats or the rest of us Joe Six-Packs who barely had two nickels to rub together.

But Wurzelbacher put a face on the diverse class of voters could be classified as "rich" under a highly redistributionist tax plan such as that proposed by Obama. And the fact is that America has a dynamic economy with entrepreneurs and savers jumping back and forth into new income demographics all the time. As financial adviser Jim H. Ainsworth wrote on this site in August, "I know many people who have hit a high-income threshold only once in their lives."

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics Biden news Ohio economy Joe the Plumber

Bill Ayers: Anarchist

In a 2002 radio interview, Barack Obama's unrepentant terrorist pal, Bill Ayers, rants about how he is an anarchist, and rambles out extreme-left talking points.

Bill O'Reilly played the 2002 audio, and was quick to mention that the interview took place while Obama still was serving on the board of The Woods Fund with Ayers.

Stop The ACLU posted a six minute video based on that comment, and some others by Ayers--and Obama.



Powerful stuff.

Technorati tags: Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats

Skokie Maples

Those are two Sugar Maple trees. I encountered them an hour ago during my ten-mile run in the Harms Woods Forest Preserve in Skokie, Illinois.

Technorati tags: Chicago illinois trees fall colors autumn nature sugar maple photography photos Skokie

CORRECTED: Later today: Marathon Pundit on Patriot Games Radio

In two hours, I will be Boston Patriot's guest on her BlogTalkRadio Show.

The party will be here at 6:00pm Eastern, 5:00pm Central. There will be a call-in number.

CORRECT TIME IS 7:00PM Eastern, 6:00PM Chicago Time (Central)

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Illinois Election Democrats Chicago radio Blogtalk Radio Illinois Politics

Obama issues election night "pay to play" demand on media

The Barack Obama campaign, which has smashed all fundraising records, is demanding more money. But this time he wants a compliant ally of his, the media, to cough up the cash.

Consider it practice for an Obama administration when it tries to raise taxes.

From Crain's Chicago Business:

The best-funded political campaign in American history says news organizations will have to pay—in some cases almost $2,000 each—if they want to cover Barack Obama's election-night celebration in Chicago.

A memo sent to news organizations on Tuesday by the Obama campaign says credentials will cost $715 to $1,815, depending on whether electrical and phone lines are needed and whether an indoor or outdoor seat is requested for the event, which is expected to be held outside the evening of Nov. 4 in Grant Park.

The only free admissions are for what's known as the "general media" area. But, as the memo stresses, "Please note that the General Media area is outdoors, unassigned and may have obstructed views . . . standing room only."

The General Media area also does not include any access to top Obama campaign officials, whose statements likely are to be in hot demand on election night. They apparently will be available only in the "press file" tent, to which an additional admission fee of $935 per person is being imposed.

In Illinois, what Obama is trying to intall is known as a "pay to play" scheme.

See Tony Rezko.

UPDATE 5:15pm Central: The original source of the story is Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times. Here is her take.

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Obama Barack Obama Rezko media Illinois Chicago

Top Obama spokesperson takes the "generated threat' to new level

You just don't know what will come out of the mouth of Obama's top advisors. Or his running mate. If you don't want four years of chaos, then vote for John McCain in two weeks.

Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. Sen. Joe Biden, October 19, 2008.

This morning I watched Fox News' Jane Skinner interview Stephanie Cutter, a senior Obama campaign advisor. She tried to back pedal Biden's comments--which is something the Delaware senator should be doing by the way--and she made things worse.

JANE SKINNER: " … But he is talking about a test that would be generated just to test the mettle of this guy because he did not have enough experience."

STEPHANIE CUTTER: " … A 'generated threat' is like the Iraq War. That is a generated threat. Going into war when there is no threat to the United States. Like the Iraq War. We generated a threat because of John McCain and George Bush's policies and we're living with the after-effects."

Does that mean "Biden's threat" is that we'll start a war?

Or has living in Chicago, where she pays the nation's highest sales tax--thanks to Todd Stroger, the machine hack Obama enthusiastically endorsed for Cook County board president two years ago, pushed Cutter over the edge?

Hmm...Obama backing a tax-raiser. How audacious.

As for Biden, his mouth might start a war, and "generate a crisis."

Election Day is in two weeks.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics Biden news Stroger

Obama's nonsensical tax policy

Is America ready for four years of this nonsense? From the Wall Street Journal:

Now we know: 95% of Americans will get a "tax cut" under Barack Obama after all. Those on the receiving end of a check will include the estimated 44% of Americans who will owe no federal income taxes under his plan.

In most parts of America, getting money back on taxes you haven't paid sounds a lot like welfare. Ah, say the Obama people, you forget: Even those who pay no income taxes pay payroll taxes for Social Security. Under the Obama plan, they say, these Americans would get an income tax credit up to $500 based on what they are paying into Social Security.

Just two little questions: If people are going to get a tax refund based on what they pay into Social Security, then we're not really talking about income tax relief, are we? And if what we're really talking about is payroll tax relief, doesn't that mean billions of dollars in lost revenue for a Social Security trust fund that is already badly underfinanced?

Austan Goolsbee, the University of Chicago economic professor who serves as one of Sen. Obama's top advisers, discussed these issues during a recent appearance on Fox News. There he stated that the answer to the first question is that these Americans are getting an income tax rebate. And the answer to the second is that the money would not actually come out of Social Security.

"You can't just cut the payroll tax because that's what funds Social Security," Mr. Goolsbee told Fox's Shepard Smith. "So if you tried to do that, you would undermine the Social Security Trust Fund."

Complete, utter nonsense.

Related post:

Wolf Blitzer bites Obama economic adviser with on-air fact check

Technorati tags: news Democrats Obama politics Barack Obama University of Chicago Austan Goolsbee

Fort Sheridan, Illinois

On Sunday, the Marathon Pundit family traveled a few miles north on US Route 41 to the town of Highwood, Illinois and while there we spent some time at Fort Sheridan.

It's now a sprawling neighborhood, but from 1889 until 1993, it was an army base, named for Union General Phil Sheridan.

Fort Sheridan was built as labor unrest grew in Chicago. Concerned businessmen donated the land for the fort, and shortly after the base was established, troops from there were used to end the Pullman Strike in 1894.

As strikes became less violent, the role of Fort Sheridan changed. For soldiers from the Chicago and Milwaukee areas, it was often their first stop after joining the Army.

The military shrank after the end of the Vietnam War, and so did Fort Sheridan's importance. When its closing was announced in 1989, the fort, outside of Army Reserve usage, served one purpose: It was the headquarters of the US Army Recruiting Office. Well, the Army could have placed that anywhere, and did.

Fort Sheridan closed in May, 1993. Two weeks prior, the last time I was inside the fort's property lines, I ran through it as a participant in the Lake County Marathon.

110 acres of the 632 acres of the fort were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1984, most of the homes and buildings on the base, including the ones pictured here, were built with bricks made from the limestone bluffs that dominate Chicago's North Shore.

Over the next few days, I'll have more photographs of Fort Sheridan.

One more thing: Perhaps Fort Sheridan's biggest claim to fame is that it was George S. Patton's first assignment after graduating from West Point. It was there the young cavalry officer received his first nickname, "Sabre George."

For more on Patton, visit ThirdWaveDave's tribute.

Related post:

My Kansas Kronikles: The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

Technorati tags: travel history military Chicago North Shore Patton photography photos architecture Fort Sheridan army

Biden still doesn't think Obama is ready to be president

Last year Barack Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, said the "the presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training." He was talking about Barack Obama.

It appears that Biden hasn't changed his mind.

Speaking at a fundraiser in Seattle on Sunday night, Mr Biden said: "Mark my words, it will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here . . . we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

He cited Russia and the Middle East as possible places that may cause problems, as well as the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan – "crawling with al-Qaeda" – as being of particular concern.

Mr Obama would need help and support, Mr Biden suggested, "because it's not gonna be apparent, initially, that we're right." He then spotted the media in the room, "I probably shouldn't have said all this because it dawned on me that the press is here."

I don't think our enemies need to test President John McCain--a strong supporter of freedom. Remember, McCain supported the troop surge even before President Bush did. Just this morning, McCain said in Bensalem, Pennsylania, "I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it."

This morning Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) appeared on Fox & Friends to discussing Biden's revealing remarks.


Here's what was said:

Fox News' Gretchen Carlson: "So let's take a look at what Joe Biden said over the weekend when he was out in Seattle. He basically said that if Obama is elected within six months there will be some sort of an international incident because international leaders, I guess, will see it fit to do something against the U.S. How did you take these comments?"

Gov. Pawlenty: "Well, it's not the first time that people like Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton or many others have suggested that Barack Obama isn't ready to be president, doesn't have the requisite experience to be president and the last thing the country needs is a president who the world might be tempted to test. We need a candidate who is going to have passed the test. John McCain is respected around the world because of his national security, military, and foreign affairs experience. The country is struggling economically and in many other ways and we don't need the added pressure of some sort of invitation or temptation by others to see that kind of weakness. This is not coming from me or from somebody on our side, this is coming from his own vice presidential candidate, Joe Biden, who repeatedly has suggested Barack Obama's not ready."

Carlson: "Well he did at least when he was one of his competitors and they were debating against one another. So, do you think it's still in his mindset that he would say something like this?"

Gov. Pawlenty: "Well, I think Senator Biden is sometimes, you know, makes a lot of interesting comments but you see the situation, for example, in Georgia or Ukraine. There could be temptations by other countries to say look maybe this is a time where we test this potential new president. That kind of temptation wouldn't be as high in my opinion if you had a seasoned experienced known commodity steady hand on the throttle like John McCain."

Obama: Not ready to lead.

Presidents face crises. But remember, Biden said "a generated crisis." Even his running mate believes that Obama is viewed as week by our enemies.

Election Day is in two weeks.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics McCain John McCain Republican Biden news

Obama and the "Fairness Doctrine": Will you restrict freedom or expand it?"

My friend, Illinois Senator Paul Simon, once said on the same committee that the test for a Supreme Court nominee is not where he stands on any one specific issue. The test is this: Will you use your power on the court to restrict freedom or expand it? Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Justice Samuel Alito confirmation hearings, January 9, 2006.

Durbin was one of the earliest proponents of a Barack Obama presidential run.

So your test, Senator Obama, if John McCain somehow manages not to win the presidency next month, is this: Will you use the presidency to restrict freedom or expand it?

Although Obama claims to oppose a reinstatement of the absurdly-named "Fairness Doctrine," leaders of his party favor bringing the nasty relic back.

For the second time in a row I'm excerpting from New York Post:

Should Barack Obama win the presidency and Democrats take full control of Congress, next year will see a real legislative attempt to bring back the Fairness Doctrine - and to diminish conservatives' influence on broadcast radio, the one medium they dominate.

More...

The Fairness Doctrine was an astonishingly bad idea. It's a too-tempting power for government to abuse. When the doctrine was in effect, both Democratic and Republican administrations regularly used it to harass critics on radio and TV.

Second, a new Fairness Doctrine would drive political talk radio off the dial. If a station ran a big-audience conservative program like, say, Laura Ingraham's, it would also have to run a left-leaning alternative. But liberals don't do well on talk radio, as the failure of Air America and indeed all other liberal efforts in the medium to date show. Stations would likely trim back conservative shows so as to avoid airing unsuccessful liberal ones.

Then there's all the lawyers you'd have to hire to respond to the regulators measuring how much time you devoted to this topic or that. Too much risk and hassle, many radio executives would conclude. Why not switch formats to something less charged - like entertainment or sports coverage?

Some history: When radio came into being, there was genuine fear that the new media was so powerful, that it could turn people into brainwashed maniacs, like what happened in Nazi Germany. So it was decided that since radio airwaves are scarce resource, and could cause damage to society, they should be managed for the public good. When television came along, the same rules applied--First Amendment or no First Amendment. Keep in mind by the 1980s, there were far more radio and television stations than daily newspapers in America.

So much for scarcity.

During the Reagan administration, the FCC abolished the Fairness Doctrine. Talk radio, dominated by conservatives, flourished. But a revived Fairness Doctrine, championed by the Democrats, would kill it.

One more time, Senator Obama:

Will you use the presidency to restrict freedom or expand it?

Based on your Missouri "truth squad," and your campaign's assaults on the Milt Rosenberg Show, my money is on the former.

Two weeks to Election Day.

Obama's "Ministry of Truth" operating in Missouri

Obama goons attack free speech on Milt Rosenberg's show, AGAIN!

Stanley Kurtz and Milt Rosenberg follow-up

Obama thugs threatening free speech

New McCain-Palin TV ad: "Hypo"

Technorati tags: Fairness Doctrine democrats media politics elections Obama Barack Obama radio law Durbin

REAL school reformer Paul Vallas on Bill Ayers and Obama

In 1988, then-Secretary of Education Bill Bennett called Chicago's public schools the worst in the nation. Outside of Chicago's education bureaucracy, few disagreed with Bennett's statement. By 1995, Daley realized if he was going to keep middle-class Chicagoans from bolting to the suburbs so their kids could get a better education, he had to fix Chicago's education sinkhole. So Hizzonner Junior convinced the Illinois General Assembly--then run by Republicans--to put the schools under Daley's control.

A school CEO was appointed--Paul Vallas.

Also in 1995, the Chicago Annenenberg Challenge was founded. Barack Obama's friend, unrepentant ex-terrorist Bill Ayers, secured $50 million in funds to improve Chicago schools, independent of Vallas' work. Obama was the first chairman of the CAC, and it remains his only executive experience.

Chicago schools improved under Vallas' stewardship. Not a lot, which is one of the reasons we moved to Morton Grove in 1999. The schools are much better here.

What did the CAC accomplish? The New York Post tracked Vallas down.

"There was a total lack of accountability. If you went back and asked, you'd be hard-pressed to find out how the money was spent," said Paul Vallas, the city's school superintendent when Obama chaired the Chicago Annenberg Foundation from 1995 to 1999.

Annenberg spent $49.5 million, mostly on grants to 211 public schools that partnered with community-based groups. But despite collecting millions, those schools performed no better than other public schools, a study found.

Once again, this is Obama's only executive experience.
More..

"Very little of the money found its way directly into the classroom," Vallas said.

Most frustrating, Vallas said, was that Annenberg under Obama and Ayers funded groups that fought his mission, under Mayor Richard Daley, to impose uniform standards and stricter accountability in low-performing schools.

Vallas ran for governor in 2002 as a Democrat. I was (and still am) a big supporter of Jim Ryan, the Republican candidate for governor that year. But Rod Blagojevich, who will probably be indicted on corruption charges next year, won the Democratic primary and the general election.

Illinois would be in better shape under a Vallas administration as opposed to the Rezko-tocracy we've been living under since 2003.

Hat tip to Reverse Spin.

Technorati tags: Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Obama Barack Obama Election Democrats education Blagojevich

T-shirts of the 2008 Chicago Marathon: Part One

Last Sunday I ran my 19th consecutive Chicago Marathon. As I did last year, I'm going to take a short break from politics and show some of the T-shirts I ran behind eight days ago. Some of the photographs are less than perfect, but I want you to cut me some slack, I was running while I snapped them.

The runner on the left is running not only for his late grandparents, but the victims--I presume from the 9/11 tragedy--from the New York City police and fire departments.

Over on the right is a man also running in the memory of others. He's a charity runner with the American Cancer Society, the names on the tags are those of cancer victims.

The man in the yellow shirt is a member of Team 413, which gets its moniker from the Bible, specifically Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." That's what is emblazoned on his shirt. More from Team 413's site:

TEAM 413 was founded because we believe that while on earth Jesus Christ had the heart of an athlete. His heart defined courage, endurance, power, perseverance, strength, loyalty, motivation, dedication, compassion, and truth. We believe that He gives us, as runners, the courage to start, the perseverance to continue the race, and the strength and power to finish strong.

That's a tough act to follow. The woman on the right caught my eye not because of the shirt she's wearing, but the cape. It's the same type of cape Wonder Woman wears.

Kenyans dominate the marathon sport. As is usually the case, a Kenyan won the men's division of the Chicago Marathon last week. The man in the white shirt is optimistic about his chances of making the 2012 Olympic team from Kenya.

Part Two on Wednesday.

Related posts:

Scenes from the 2008 Chicago Marathon--from a participant

2008 Chicago Marathon: Elvis is everywhere!

Finished another one: 2008 Chicago Marathon

2007 Chicago Marathon posts:

Shirts of the Chicago Marathon

A participant's view of the cancelled Chicago Marathon: UPDATED

Water station mayhem at Chicago Marathon

Happier scenes from Sunday's Chicago Marathon

Technorati tags: Chicago Marathon running marathon run Chicago illinois sports athletics photography photos t-shirt

Tues: Marathon Pundit on Patriot Games Radio

I met blogger Boston Patriot at the Republican National Convention last month. She also blogs at Grizzly Groundswell.

She has a radio show, and I will be Boston Patriot's guest Tuesday at 6:00pm Eastern. That's 5:00pm in Chicago.

I will be talking about my experience as a man behind enemy lines living in Rezkoland.

Tune tomorrow night. Click here.

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Illinois Election Democrats Chicago radio Blogtalk Radio Illinois Politics

Richard Baehr in the American Thinker: Obama attempting to buy the presidency

Yesterday I wrote about Barack Obama's the obscene amounts of cash for his "Change We Can Believe In" campaign. Yeah, it's legal, but remember, Obama explicitly promised that he would accept public financing--and the spending limits it holds candidates to--and play by the same rules as John McCain.

But after clinching the Democratic nomination, Obama went back on his promise, and complained that public financing is broken. And I'm going to say it again: Obama broke it.

Richard Baehr has more to say in today's American Thinker:

The state where the Obama campaign has been carpet bombing the airwaves most vigorously this past weekend was West Virginia. If you watched TV over the weekend in the Mountaineer State, you could not have missed the Obama ads -- an extraordinary buy of $1.2 million per day for 5 days, with ads running in every media market in the state. The McCain campaign, had it spent all of its $84 million for the general election on TV ads, would have had $1.4 million to spend per day for campaign ads for the last two months for all 50 states. Obama has just spent almost that much per day in one state with fewer than 2 million people and but 5 Electoral College votes.

In every battleground state the story is the same. Obama has run ads 3 to 4 times as often as McCain and the gap is widening each week. Most of the Obama ads, of course, are negative ads about McCain, and in most cases false or misleading according to factcheck.org. It is as if one basketball team is playing with a rule that its players foul out after committing 2 personal fouls, while and its opponent is allowed six personal fouls per player. Or maybe one basket is two feet lower, or one team can not include any player over six feet tall.

In essence, we do not have a fair fight. Obama has always liked it that way when it comes to his campaigns. Obama said at one point that if the McCain campaign brought "a knife to the fight, we would bring a gun" -- revealing that he did not care about a level playing field . Anyone familiar with his campaign against Alice Palmer in 1996, where he used challenges to nominating petitions to completely eliminate all his challengers in the Democratic primary for the Illinois State Senate, should have realized this aspect of Obama's campaign style. Michael Barone's "The Coming Obama Thugocracy" describes Obama's effort to silence critics. And of course, there were the revelations by the Chicago Tribune of two sex scandals relating to Obama's opponents in the U.S. Senate race in 2004: the first served to eliminate Blair Hull, who held a solid lead over Obama in the race for the Democratic nomination before the story broke, and the other forced Jack Ryan, the GOP nominee, from the race. Did Obama or his campaign have a role in supplying damaging information to the media about these stories (Obama's campaign manger once worked for the Tribune), or is he just the luckiest politician alive?

More...

How a candidate runs his campaign is an important indicator of the character of the man or woman we may elect. In the case of Obama, the evidence is that he is a very skillful, ambitious, and driven candidate, and also a very, very cynical and dishonest one. What Obama says means very little. He is after all a clever lawyer. We have had a recent experience with a very smart lawyer as President and how he parsed words. In Obama's case, the lies have been pretty blatant, despite the best spinning efforts by the campaign.

Election Day is 15 days away.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics vote McCain John McCain Republican West Virginia

Ayers, Ayers, everywhere

There are some Bill Ayers updates tonight. America's best known unrepentant terrorist--and one of Barack Obama's many notorious friends--has many "fans" in the blogosphere.

Before Ayers became a household name, the current distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois-Chicago added to his income with speaking appearances. Presumably he'd talk about his far-left education theories, and the good-old days of placing bombs in public places and declaring war on the same government his pal Obama might run beginning on January 20.

My guess is that he and his wife, the equally unrepentant Bernardine Dohrn, planned to make plenty of these this year--with the theme "1968--forty years later," or something like that.

In fact, here's a February post of mine about just such an engagement:

Weather Underground's 2008 Tragical History Tour

But fate and Barack Obama intervened, and the onetime Weather Underground leaders have gone, pretty much underground.

But after Election Day--so not to ruin Obama's presidential hopes, Bill Ayers was planning a coming-out party at the University of Nebraska. But Michelle Malkin got wind of it, and his invitation was revoked. There is justice in America.

Moron Ayers: Blogger Verum Serum reports that Obama and Ayers shared office space at the University of Illinois-Chicago while he chaired the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

One of Ayers' buddies with the Students for a Democratic Society, Mike Klonsky, went from driving a cab (he did have an education Ph.D), to working in that same UIC office.

Here's my post on the SDS "Dispirit of '68" nostalgia orgy:

SDS' 1968 Tragical History Tour

And here is Tom Mannis' post from The Bench. He did all of the work.

As for Ayers relationship with Obama, he's more than "a guy who lives in my neighborhood." He's a guy from the office, too.

Finally, Zomblog tracked down the picture up on top, where Obama enthuses over Ayers' book, A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court.

Sure, John McCain has been a public servant for twenty years, but why isn't anything remotely like this being discovered about the Arizona senator two weeks before Election Day?

Technorati tags: Politics Bill Ayers terrorism Weather Underground Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats McCain John McCain Republican UIC University of Illinois

Dempster Avenue sunset

Drivers heading west on Dempster Avenue in Morton Grove got a real treat this afternoon--a beautiful sunset with altocumulus clouds.

Technorati tags: Illinois photography photos Morton Grove weather clouds sky

Maple sunset in Morton Grove

It's a little later than usual, but fall colors are finally coming out in force in Morton Grove, Illinois.

During a late day run, I took this photo in Linne Woods. Hey, even the fence is donning fall colors. The tree on the left is a Silver Maple, on the left is a sugar maple.

The first one is a popular tree for homeowners, it grows quickly, but the wood is brittle, and large branches from Silver Maples often damage homes.

The Sugar Maple is grows much more slowly, and of course its an important commercial tree--where do you think maple syrup, the real stuff, comes from. The hard wood of the Sugar Maple makes it commercially popular, the wood is used for furniture, flooring, and baseball bats.

Technorati tags: Chicago illinois Morton Grove trees fall colors autumn nature silver maple sugar maple

McCain slams Obama on skipping public financing

Several times in the early days of the presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised he would utilize public financing in the general election should he win his party's nomination.

After securing that win, Obama flip-flopped, saying he would raise his own funds, claiming the current system is "broken." And he has raised lots of money. Lots.

The current system is broken. Obama broke it.

This morning I saw John McCain on Fox News Sunday talk about Obama's audaciousness, AP has more:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain says his Democratic rival Barack Obama's vast fund-raising machine is raising the doubts about his honesty and operation.

McCain is in Ohio and was interviewed by satellite for Fox News Sunday. McCain says Obama is risking post-Watergate financing reforms.

Obama's campaign today reported raising a record $150 million in September. McCain said hours later the overall sum the Democrat has raised for his campaign - $605 million - shows the "dam has broken" for future White House races.

He also complained that the identifies of people who contributed more than $200 million of Obama's total take have not been reported.

In four years, we might see our first $1 billion presidential campaign. Such a thought was absurd even a year ago.

And Obama wins, he'll show us that his talent for raising campaign funds is transferable as he raised our taxes.

He's just getting warmed up.

Election Day is 16 days away.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics vote McCain John McCain Republican

Whistleblower suit on Obama--Rezko property deal

In 2005, Barack Obama bought the mansion that can be seen through the adjoining lot. It's that piece of property that interest we're going to focus on this morning.

Tony Rezko's wife Rita, a woman of modest income, purchased the "Rezko lot" on the same day the Obamas purchased their Georgian home. Obama paid less than the asking price for the stately residence, but what about the strip of land next to it?

In a lawsuit filed in Cook County Court, the appraiser says the value of the Rezko lot was assessed too high. You can view the lawsuit here.

From the New York Daily News' Mouth of the Potomac blog:

Obama later bought a sixth of Rezko's parcel for $104,500 to expand his yard by 10 feet and she sold the rest to someone else, bagging a profit of about $50,000, Bloomberg reported.

The new issue is that Kenneth Conner, an appraiser for Mutual Bank, says Rezko's land was assessed at an inflated value. He claims he was fired improperly last October after he discovered his low appraisal had been removed from the bank's files and he blew the whistle on it.

We have no idea of the merits of the case, and there's nothing in the suit that suggests Obama had anything to do with the alleged appraisal shenanigans, or Conner's firing.

But the fact that the suit has been filed brings back yet another item that Team Obama would rather not have to deal with in the closing days of the contest. And the validity of the case is not likely to be resolved until after the voting is done.

And results of the "singing" by Rezko to federal prosecutors won't be known until after November 4 as well.

Hat tip to Cal Skinner of the McHenry County Blog.

UPDATE 11:30 AM CDT: My friend Dan Curry of Reverse Spin, a once and future marathoner, has more.

Related posts:

Obama's "sweetheart" mortgage: Was the competing lender Broadway Bank?

Rita Rezko's contribution to America's worst government, Cook County

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats Illinois Politics Tony Rezko corruption real estate mortgage banking law

Illinois corruption update: First Lady's suspicious real estate dealings

One of 2009's major stories in Illinois will probably be the indictment of Governor Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat from Chicago. Well, it's kind of a big story. After all, three of the last seven elected governors in my state have been sentenced to prison, and George Ryan, as I write this, probably just heard the "Lights Out" call at the Federal Correctional Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana.

But the indictment of "Blago" could break new ground in the nation's most corrupt state. His wife, Patti, could end up getting charged with crimes as well.

Oh, there is a Tony Rezko angle, too.

Here is what the Chicago Sun-Times says:

A Chicago developer and donor to Gov. Blagojevich steered more than $100,000 in commissions to first lady Patti Blagojevich's real estate firm before a business owned by the developer's parents saw dramatic increases in state payments.

Virgil Tiran's real estate ties to the governor's wife are coming to light as federal investigators scrutinize her relationships with real estate clients, including recently convicted former gubernatorial fund-raiser Tony Rezko.

Patti Blagojevich's company, River Realty, listed dozens of condominium units Tiran and various partners had been developing throughout the city's North and Northwest sides between 2001 and 2004, real estate records show. River Realty sold 17 units between August 2001 and April 2002, allowing the firm to get an estimated $108,000 in commissions.

In 2002, before Blagojevich took office, the state paid Tiran's parents' home-care company for the developmentally disabled, Diane Home Care, $183,000. In 2003, during the governor's first year in office, the payments increased to $325,000. Last year, Diane Home Care did $1.1 million in state business through a contract with the Human Services Department.

The Sun-Times also reports that federal agents are investigating Patti Blagojevich's real estate dealings with convicted felon Tony Rezko.

Illinois' first lady knows her way around Illinois' sleazy political environment. Her father is powerful Chicago alderman Dick Mell.

Related post:

Obama's pal Rezko: Convicted felon

Did Rezko switch on Gov. Blago's home improvement

Impeachment talk about Gov. Blagojevich continues

Technorati tags: Illinois Blagojevich Democrats politics Chicago Tony Rezko corruption legal real estate news

From The Bench: Sunrise Equities and Obama

Just a few miles south of where I live is a thriving Pakistani and Indo-American community centered around Devon Avenue on Chicago's North Side. Dozens of family owned businesses rake in lots of cash--Mrs. Marathon Pundit bought some things on Devon--and some of that money ended up in the hands of Sunrise Equities CEO Salman Ibrahim.

AP explains:

Between the prayers that fill the holy month of Ramadan, during the long fasts that stretch from dawn to dusk, Muslims have been meeting to discuss the disappearance of Salman Ibrahim.

The respected businessman persuaded up to 200 Pakistani and Indian immigrants to contribute their savings and mortgage their homes to finance real estate deals.

But Ibrahim vanished in August, leaving his investors with losses that could total $50 million — in some cases their life's savings.

"The scale of impact that this stands to have on a lot of people in the South Asian and Muslim communities is potentially very drastic," said attorney Salman Azam, who filed a petition last week to force Ibrahim's company, Sunrise Equities Inc., into bankruptcy. "There are a lot of very, very sad stories and dire financial situations."

Here's how Sunrise explains itself:

Sunrise Equities Inc., incorporated in Chicago in 2001, is a Shariah Compliant financial services firm dedicated to providing the market with competent and innovative Shariah Compliant investment products and services. Sunrise caters on a global basis to institutions and high net worth individuals who wish to benefit from outstanding performance even as they maintain a Shariah Compliant approach in their investments.

Okay, what does this have to do with Barack Obama? My friend Tom Mannis of The Bench, in a great piece of original reporting, explains:

Barack Obama has long had strong ties to Muslims and to Pakistanis. He also has long and strong ties to Sunrise Equities and Salman Ibrahim.

(In 2004) Obama wanted a satellite fundraising office in the "Devon Corridor," the largely Indian-Pakistani section of Chicago's West Ridge neighborhood on the north side. Salman Ibrahim was happy to help. Free office space was given to Obama's campaign within Sunrise's general offices at 6355 N. Claremont. Obama has long wooed Muslim voters, and did not have a physical presence in this part of Chicago, so the Sunrise location made logistical sense for Obama. It also made sense for Ibrahim and Sunrise as an effort to curry favor with rising star Barack Obama.

In 2004, Sunrise Investments gave Barack Obama free office space during his run for US Senate. The Bench has photographs of the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Clearly seen in the photos is Barack Obama and Salman Ibrahim.

But this is just part one of Tom's report. What's next? Part Two - Obama's Connections to Salman Ibrahim and Sunrise Equities.

Oh, if someone can explain how Shariah financing functions, please enlighten me. But I'm going to have a stab at it. As far as I can gather, with Shariah financing, a borrower buying a house gets title to the property right away (Huh?), sends the lender monthly payments, but so the borrower doesn't tell the borrower "Shove off, the house is mine now" after the title is handed over, the borrower first transfers to the lender assets worth the same as the house as collateral.

According to regular Marathon Pundit commenter "Yo," the "interest" is figured into the monthly payments, but is not called that.

But what if the collateral is assessed wrong or fraudulently? (This is what happened in the 1980s savings and loans scandals.)

What if the collateral plummets in value but the worth of the house doesn't?

And most importantly--how on Earth can anyone, Muslim or not, move ahead operating under such a financial system. How do you acquire the collateral in the first place?

Economic growth is stunted, if not stopped, under such conditions.

Related post:

Sunset on Sunrise Equities--an overlooked story

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Illinois Election Democrats Chicago crime Islam muslim Muslims

Morton Grove on Sunday: Harvest Festival

See the flowers round the altar
See the peaches in tins 'neath
the headmaster's chair
Harvest festival
XTC, "Harvest Festival," 1999.

I just might go to this event, the Morton Grove Historical Society's Harvest Festival tomorrow at Harrer Park. I'm curious what songs the "history singers" will perform, but "Harvest Festival" by XTC probably won't be one of them.

Technorati tags: Chicago illinois Morton Grove autumn

"Hate crime victim" charged with making false police report

Last week Safia Z. Jilani, a female student at Elmhurst College west of Chicago said she was attacked by a gunman in the womens bathroom after giving a diversity speech on campus. The week before, according to the nineteen year-old from Oak Brook, "Die Muslims Die" was scrawled on her locker.

The Daily Herald is reporting tonight that the student's life is much more complicated--Elmhurst police are asking her different kinds of questions than they were last week.

Safia Z. Jilani, 19, of Oak Brook, was charged with one felony count of filing a false police report and released on $10,000 bond.

Jilani told police she was attacked about 8:30 p.m. Oct. 9 after entering a bathroom in the Schaible Science Center by a gunman wearing a mask who made racial slurs. The Muslim student had spoken hours earlier at a diversity rally on campus.

Police found anti-Muslim graffiti written in marker in the bathroom.

Deputy Chief Jim Doherty, though, said on Friday that "there was no gunman and no attack."

The cops are looking into the veracity of the graffiti incident as well.

This was a major news story in Chicago--the local television stations were especially interested in Jilani's tale--make that fairy tale.

Absolutely shameful.

Technorati tags: Islam muslim Muslims Chicago Elmhurst crime education

Chicago Tribune's Obama endorsement: It's about keeping subscribers

If they haven't done it already, the Barack Obama campaign will make a big deal about the Chicago Tribune endorsement of the Democratic senator from Illinois for president--the first time the Trib has endorsed a Democrat--unless you count independent Horace Greeley, whom the Democrats endorsed after the Tribune made its choice.

Like most big-city papers, the Tribune is hemorrhaging subscribers, laying off staff, and cutting the size of the paper. Oh, it ended publication of its Midwest edition.

It's my belief that the Tribune editorial board endorsed Obama today to prevent an acceleration of the subscriber exodus.

About that editorial. Oh, I could "fisk" it, but I'm going to keep it simple. Forget Bill Ayers (whose father served on the Tribune Company board of directors a couple of decades ago), where, oh where in that endorsement is a mention of convicted felon, Antoin "Tony Rezko? Obama accepted campaign cash, performed legal work, and went into a bizarre property deal so he could afford that lovely house pictured on the top of this post.

The Tribune has been harsh, just as all of the other newspapers in Illinois, on Rezko. But now that the grifter is singing to the feds, who is Obama going to pull down with him? Governor Rod Blagojevich? Probably. State Treasurer Alex Giannoulias? Obama endorsed the then-29 year-old year old in the 2006 Democratic primary--even though the party refused to back him after winning that race.

But there is speculation in Illinois that Broadway Bank, which is owned by the Giannoulias family and has made loans to reputed mobsters, might get caught up in what will end up being called "the Rezko scandals." Rezko banked at Broadway, so did Barack Obama.

But none of this was worth mentioning within the twenty-nine paragraphs of the Tribune endorsement. But it will make readers feel better, some of them at least.

Remember: Barack Obama's first political sponsor was Tony Rezko. The ramifications of Obama's damage to Illinois are will be felt well within what could be Obama's first term in in the White House.

No mention of Rezko in your endorsement? Shame on you, Chicago Tribune.

UPDATE 10:00pm CDT: The Chicago Sun-Times also endorsed the guy from Chicago's South Side, but it had the audacity to mention Rezko.

Related post:

Obama's "sweetheart" mortgage: Was the competing lender Broadway Bank?

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Election Democrats Chicago Obama