Jerry Brown blasts ‘rural areas’ for not liking gas tax that disproportionately harms them

Watch as leftist California governor Jerry Brown rips rural voters for disliking an onerous gasoline tax that hurts them the most.

"Rural voters" is a dog whistle word for white.

And if a Republican said something similar regarding minority voters?

Collusion among the "Banned Words" for 2018

Every year Lake Superior State University releases its list of Banished Words--ones that are typically misused and overused.

And what do you know? "Collusion" is one of them.

From AP:

The other words or expressions to make the list are "wrap my head around," ''grapple," ''optics," ''eschew" and "thought leader." Also submitted by the public for the pyre of popular parlance: "platform," ''ghosting," ''yeet," ''litigate," ''crusty," ''legally drunk," ''importantly" and "accoutrements."

Two other political entries also made it: "Most important election of our time" and "OTUS" acronyms such as POTUS — for President of the United States. The acronyms that have found their way onto cable news shows date back to the late 19th century, when POTUS and SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) were used as telegraph codes, according to Merriam-Webster. FLOTUS, for the first lady, first appeared in the 1980s.

California women's march cancelled over fears of too many white people

The leftists will devour themselves.

From--gasp!--Newsweek:

A planned Women's March in California has been by canceled the organizers over fears about the lack of diversity from those taking part.

The march in the town of Eureka, in Humboldt County, was due to take place on January 19. In the run-up to the event, the organizers described being "at a crossroads" as they sought to create an event that "represents all members of our community."

In a statement posted on Facebook, the organizers have confirmed that the event will now no longer be going ahead, following "conversations between local social-change organizers and supporters of the march."

More...

"Up to this point, the participants have been overwhelmingly white, lacking representation from several perspectives in our community."

If it diversity the organizers seek, why not invite some Republicans?

Related post:

Chicago's 2019 anti-Trump Women's March cancelled over Farrakhan support

From Da Tech: What transgender athletes will do to high school sports

For the second straight week at Da Tech Guy I discuss transgenderism and sports: What transgender athletes will do to high school sports.

Del McCoury Band: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning

Earlier this month Mrs. Marathon Pundit enjoyed the honor of visiting the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville for a Grand Ole Opry performance by the Del McCoury Band.

They didn't play this tune, "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," a cover of a Richard Thompson song, but they were splendid anyway.

Dem congressman: Okay for troops to ask Trump to sign MAGA hats

Democratic Rep. John Garamendi from California, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has no problem with President Trump signing MAGA hats belonging to members of our military.

The media? Well, that's another story.

(PragerU) Ronald Reagan Discusses Gun Control Laws

Ronald Reagan, the only sitting president to survive an assassination attempt, talks about gun control laws.

Spoiler alert: Reagan was a huge supporter of the 2nd Amendment.

Police: Suspect in killing of immigrant California cop in USA illegally

America needs a stronger border policy.

From AP:

Ronil Singh came to the U.S. from his native Fiji to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming an officer, joining a small-town police force in California and working to improve his English. The day after Christmas, he stopped another immigrant, this one in the country illegally, who shot and killed the corporal, authorities said Thursday.

Authorities said they identified but won’t yet name the man who killed Singh of the 12-person Newman Police Department on Wednesday and has not been captured. They believe the attacker is still in the area some 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco and is armed and dangerous.

“This suspect is in our country illegally. He doesn’t belong here. He is a criminal,” Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson, whose agency is leading the investigation, told reporters.

Newman Police Chief Randy Richardson fought back tears as he described Singh, a 33-year-old with a newborn son, as an "American patriot."

The ILL-inois exodus continues

Illinois bicentennial flag on

bottom

Meanwhile, every state in the Midwest, including longtime laggards Kansas and South Dakota, are gaining population.

What does ILL-inois have that these other states don't? One-party Democratic rule by state party boss and the state House speaker for over 30 years, Michael Madigan of Chicago, who will remain the most powerful politician in Illinois even though the Land of Mary Todd Lincoln Spending will have a Democrat governor in a few weeks.

From the Chicago Tribune editorial by way of Sauk Valley.com:

When he takes office in January, Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker will have fewer constituents than he might have expected. Unfortunately, he’ll also have fewer constituents working and paying taxes to support Illinois’ state and local governments. Every time a worker departs, the tax burden on those of us who remain grows.

The release last week of new census data about Illinois was alarming: Not only has the flight of residents continued for a fifth straight year, but the population loss is intensifying. This year’s estimated net reduction of 45,116 residents is the worst of these 5 losing years.

This is terrible news for House Speaker Michael Madigan and his cronies who in recent decades have steered the Illinois General Assembly toward higher taxes, rising public debt and anti-business policies that discourage employers from locating, expanding or just keeping their workforces here. Residents fed up with the economic climate here are heading for less taxaholic, jobs-friendlier states.

The new numbers confront Democrats who’ve run the Legislature – and who keep raising taxes – with realities they’ll wiggle to explain but can’t deny: As the nation’s population expands, the populations of Illinois and eight other states are declining. On their watch, an Illinois once revered as a land of opportunity now is in decline.

Illinois' bicentennial celebration has turned into a wake.

The Illinois Democratic Party is Michael Madigan. Michael Madigan is the Illinois Democratic Party.

When you vote Democratic in Illinois you are voting for Michael Madigan.

Steyn rips CNN's coverage of Trump's Iraq visit

CNN is consumed with contempt of President Trump and his supporters.

Mark Steyn discussed the Clown News Network's coverage of the visit by the president and the first lady to Iraq.

Mark Dice: The Best of CNN 2018

CNN embarrassed itself many times this year and you don't have to be a Donald Trump supporter to agree with Mark Dice's selection of what can be called the Worst of CNN.

Watch as Dice recalls the obsessions over Stormy Daniels, Russia, and of course, its dislike of President Donald Trump.

Chicago's 2019 anti-Trump Women's March cancelled over Farrakhan support

At least the organizers had the decency to call off the leftist march over Farrakhan's long history of racism and anti-Semitism

From Haaretz:

The 2019 Women’s March in Chicago has been canceled and previously-scheduled alternative plans have been nixed. The development marks the latest in a series of disruptions in the two-year-old movement following controversies surrounding the support of the national group's leaders for Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and related allegations of anti-Semitism.

The cancellation of a large scale march was announced several weeks ago by the Women’s March Chicago organization, citing limited "time, money and effort," but in their announcement, they promised “an exciting WMC anniversary action.

The event would have taken place on January 19th - the day marches are set to be held around the country for the third year in protest of U.S. President Donald Trump. Those who wished to participate were told to "stay tuned."

In reality you can stay tuned for dead air. There is no substitute march.

From Elf: Baby It's Cold Outside

Leftists want to ban this song because they believe it advocates rape. Huh? In an iconic scene from Elf, Zooey Deschanel is joined in by Will Ferrell as she sings this tune.

Yeah, she's in the shower but Buddy the Elf has the mind of an eight-year-old. Calm down, folks.

Merry Christmas from Marathon Pundit

Merry Christmas to you from Marathon Pundit, your beloved Blogger Laureate of Illinois

Bah humbug: Leftist on Truthout attacks Christmas and other holidays

Here's a coal in our stocking from ulta-left Truthout, spewed by Alexandra Holmstrom-Smith, a self described, "radical labor activist."

Bah humbug!

‘Tis the season…for leftist ambivalence toward commercialist and patriarchal holiday traditions.

It’s no wonder that many leftists have mixed feelings about holiday festivities, given their link to oppressive institutions and crass cooptation by capitalism.

Celebrating the virgin birth of a male deity who was to become king can be alienating for those who have anti-hierarchal, feminist values, and likewise many anti-Zionist internationalists struggle with ethno-nationalist expressions of the Passover holiday.

Secular, national holidays like the 4th of July and Thanksgiving are even more offensive, as they enact a false and incomplete narrative of the US’s settler colonial past.

Why can't they just ignore it, as I do with their holiday, Earth Day.

Daily Caller video: How To Survive Christmas With Your Liberal Family

What do you do if a leftist crashes your Christmas party?

The Daily Caller tells you how to resist.

Merry Christmas, 2018

Merry, Christmas, everyone!

From Luke Chapter2:

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger

PragerU: How the Reformation Shaped Your World

Stephen Cornils of the Wartburg Theological Seminary spells out that the Reformation, which was started by Martin Luther 501 years ago, brought us capitalism, the Enlightenment, and yes, even the American Revolution.

From the archives, Christmas Eve, 1913: The Upper Peninsula's Italian Hall disaster

105 years ago today it was a tragic Christmas Eve in Calumet, Michigan. From a 2009 Marathon Pundit post.

Christmas Eve, 1913: The Upper Peninsula's Italian Hall disaster.

Marine attacked by Antifa mob in Philadelphia speaks out

Luis Torres, a member of the US Marine Reserve, tells Fox News' Laura Ingrahm what happened while he was touring the Philadelphia with fellow reservist Alejandro Godinez.

Both men, who are Hispanic, were called white supremacist by an Antifa goon.

From Da Tech Guy: Will people care about women’s sports if transgendered women dominate?

I tackle a very controversial subject in my Sunday post at Da Tech Guy: Will people care about women’s sports if transgendered women dominate?

Erin McAndrew: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Are you down for a scintillating version of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas?" Here's one for you from Erin McAndrew.

Last minute Christmas shopping? Use Marathon Pundit for Amazon

Christmas Eve is Monday! And there is still time to get the right gift for a friend or loved one under their tree. If you purchase through Amazon by way of a Marathon Pundit Amazon ad you pay nothing extra and I receive a tiny commission.

Click below to start shopping! And Merry Christmas!

Trump on Twitter: Our country must have border security

"We don't want people coming in," President Obama declared on Twitter a few hours ago, "who aren't supposed to be here."

Trump wants a wall--or even a slat fence on the border with Mexico. He was elected president largely because his stance on illegal immigration.

Which is why there is now another government shutdown.

OUR GREAT COUNTRY MUST HAVE BORDER SECURITY! pic.twitter.com/ZGcYygMf3a

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2018

PragerU: Why Obamacare Doesn't Work As Promised

ObamaCare was founded on lies. Barack Obama lied to the American people when he said, "If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor" and "If you like your healthcare plan you can keep your healthcare plan."

What's worse than ObamaCare? In the latest PragerU video, Lanhee Chen of the Hoover Institute tells us, correctly, it is complete Bernie Sanders-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez style "single payer" healthcare, more accurately labeled as complete government controlled healthcare.

Crook County: "I'm an embarrassment," lawbreaking ex-judge says after getting sentenced to prison

Crook County, Illinois deserves its reputation.

From the Daily Mail:

A woman who became the first Filipina judge in Cook County, Chicago, has been handed a one year prison sentence after she was found guilty of taking part in a $1.4 million mortgage fraud scheme.

Jessica Arong O'Brien, 51, was a respected jurist and civic leader in Cook County before a 2017 indictment and the ensuing court case where she was convicted of two counts of scamming several lenders in the purchase of two South Side properties. She was convicted by a federal jury in February.

The mortgage fraud scheme took place a decade before O'Brien took the bench, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.

In a statement in court, O'Brien said, "I'm an embarrassment."

She sure is.

O'Brien, a Democrat, was indicted last year and she was given administrative duties--she didn't hear cases--but still collected her entire paycheck. O'Brien didn't resign after her conviction early this year until September--collecting over $150,000 from taxpayers in 2018. She remained on the ballot for retention until September as well.

ILL-inois has 313 fewer residents each day

The Illinois Policy Institute, a free-market think-tank, has spun--in a good way--the news that ILL-inois continues to lose population. Once births, deaths, move-ins, and move-outs are all tabulated, the Land of Mary Todd Lincoln Spending loses 313 residents each day.

Since 2014, when Illinois began its five-years-and-counting people drain, Illinois has lost over 150,000 residents. Worse, those who are leaving are relatively young and highly skilled.

Why stay around until the pension bomb finally detonates?

Do you want more bad news? Last year Illinois increased its income tax and the governor-elect, JB Pritzker, a Madigan/Democrat, favors instituting a progressive income tax.

The fall of Sears

The odds are very good that you have not done any Christmas shopping this year at Sears.

CBS Sunday Morning looks at the decline and fall of this onetime retail giant, one that failed former Illinois governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, gave a tax break to convince Sears Holdings to keep its headquarters in Chicago's northwest suburbs.

German reporter stripped of CNN International "Journalist of the Year" award after caught fabricating stories

Fake News CNN, or rather, CNN International, yanked the "Journalist of the Year" award from a disgraced Der Spiegel reporter, Claas Relotius, a practitioner of fake news.

You have to go back to the Hitler Diaries hoax to find a bigger embarrassment for German journalism.

From AP:

A German journalist who was found to have fabricated numerous articles is being stripped of two awards he received in 2014 from CNN International, the broadcaster said Thursday.

In a statement to The Associated Press, CNN International said the independent panel of judges who awarded Claas Relotius the Journalist of the Year and Print Journalist of the Year awards four years ago decided unanimously to remove them following revelations about his fraud.

German magazine Der Spiegel, where Relotius worked as a freelancer and later full-time, said Wednesday that he had fabricated interviews and facts in at least 14 articles.

The publication, one of Germany's leading news outlets, said the 33-year-old had committed journalistic fraud "on a grand scale" over a number of years, including fabricating elements of an article about an American woman who he said volunteered to witness the executions of death row inmates.

Then there is his fictitious story about the town of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, where nearly every stereotype of the rural Midwest is thrown in, including those about guns, race relations, media habits, and insularity. There are fabricated quotes, interviews that never happened, and stuff that is plainly incorrect.

Of course Time calls journalists "the Guardians."

After decades of Madigan: ILL-inois loses population for fifth straight year

Over three decades of having Boss Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) as the most powerful politician is yielding a foul harvest.

From the Illinois News Network:

Illinois had one of the largest population declines in the nation in 2018, the continuation of a yearslong retreat from the state, according to figures from U.S. Census Bureau released Wednesday.

Census numbers show 114,154 people moved out of Illinois in the 12 months ending in July. In total, Illinois’ population shrank to 12,741,080, a total population loss of 45,116 from last year. This marks the fifth consecutive year of total population loss for the state and the largest drop in population in more than a decade.

Only New York saw a larger population decline of 48,510. The Empire State has about 7 million more people than Illinois.

With an out-migration of more than 114,000 in 2017, Illinois was relegated to America’s sixth-largest state, falling behind Pennsylvania.

ILL-inois: FBI investigating phony Madigan organization affidavit signatures

Graphic courtesy of the

Illinois Policy Institute

Although his reach of despotism reaches down to the Ohio River, Boss Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), the epicenter for the chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party and the state House speaker for over thirty years is Chicago's 13th Ward on the Southwest Side.

And home is where the heart is for Madigan, and that heart is a diseased organ.

From ABC Chicago:

Allegations of fraud in Chicago's 13th Ward aldermanic race has now gotten the attention of the FBI, and an investigation is now underway.

"I think that the FBI is taking this very seriously," said David Krupa, Candidate for 13th Ward Alderman

Krupa said he got a surprise call from an FBI agent today.

More...

What Krupa believes is going on is a case of election fraud by the campaign of incumbent alderman Marty Quinn. 2,600 people signed petitions to revoke nominating signatures for Krupa that they never gave him in the first place.

The Illinois Democratic Party is Michael Madigan and Michael Madigan is the Illinois Democratic Party. Democrats--you vote for this insult to the republic.

Last year Reuters declared Madigan the man behind the fiscal fiasco in Illinois.

From my post at Da Tech Guy:

Illinois is only a Partially Free state

Former anarchist explains the 'rise of violence on left'

Anarchist groups such as Antifa, we learn from a former member, Conor Barnes, are a violent leftist cult.

Barnes discussed his unpleasant time as an anarchist on Tucker Carlson's show last night.

PragerU: Why You Should Be a Nationalist

What is wrong with favoring your native country? The latest PragerU video lays down the case.

Blue Lives Matter: Two Chicago cops killed when struck by train

Blue Lives Matter flag in
Mount Greenwood

Do you put your life on the line every time you report for work?

Cops do.

From ABC Chicago:

The Chicago Police Department is in mourning Tuesday after two officers were fatally struck by a train while chasing a suspect on the South Side Monday.

Police have been on the scene at 103rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue all night investigating the deaths of two of their own.

Shortly after 6 p.m. Monday, the officers responded to a call of shots fired in the Rosemoor neighborhood. The officers then chased a suspect up to the train tracks at 103rd and Cottage Grove Avenue, where they were struck by an eastbound South Shore Line train bound for Indiana. The officers were pronounced dead at the scene.

There were two trains on the tracks at the time heading in opposite directions and investigators said the officers saw one train, but not the other one. Investigators said that body camera video from one of the officers has been recovered.

The Hardest-Working Paper in America? Chicago Sun-Times recycles Ebert and Royko columns

The failing Chicago Sun-Times deems itself "The Hardest-Working Paper in America." Really? Then why is it recycling old movie reviews from Roger Ebert and columns by Mike Royko? Both Pulitzer Prize winners are deceased. Royko famously quit the Sun-Times in a huff after Rupert Murdoch purchased the paper, which the media baron quickly sold a few later.

Cut, paste, publish.

Hard work.

From Powerline: Meanwhile back in Illinois

The pension guarantee clause in the Illinois Constitution, along with lavish promises made by Boss Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) and yes, a couple of Republican governors, has created an unsustainable financial suicide pact. The Land of Lincoln has become the Land of Mary Todd Lincoln Spending.

Powerline has more.

John Stossel: Does Silicon Valley manipulate users?

The new documentary "The Creepy Line" argues that tech giants use their seemingly innocent algorithems to shove opionions to the left, John Stossel tells us.

Mark Dice: Heartbreak at CNN

The bromance is over between CNN's Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo. Of course it has to do with politics and yes, President Donald Trump.

From Da Tech Guy: Illinois is only a Partially Free state

There is a definite dearth of freedom in ILL-inois, as I write at Da Tech Guy: Illinois is only a Partially Free state.

Christmas Time's A-Comin: The Del McCoury Band.

Earlier this month Mrs. Marathon Pundit and I enjoyed the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium. One of the performers was the Del McCoury Band who played this song, "Christmas Time's A-Comin. This rendition was recorded at the Triple Door in Seattle in 2015.

Judge rules ObamaCare is unconstitutional

I am still not tired of winning.

From NBC News:

A federal judge in Texas struck down the Affordable Care Act on Friday night, ruling that former President Barack Obama's signature domestic legislation has fallen down like a losing game of "Jenga."

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth sided with the argument put forward by a coalition of Republican-leaning states, led by Texas, that Obamacare could no longer stand now that there's no penalty for Americans who don't buy insurance.

The U.S. Supreme Court had upheld the law in 2012, by classifying the legislation as a tax. But since Congress removed the individual mandate in 2017, O’Connor ruled, there's no way the ACA can be allowed to stand.

"The Individual Mandate can no longer be fairly read as an exercise of Congress's Tax Power and is still impermissible under the Interstate Commerce Clause — meaning the Individual Mandate is unconstitutional," O'Connor wrote. "The Individual Mandate is essential to and inseverable from the remainder of the ACA."

Mark Dice: Big Announcement from Democrat Genius

Someone is announcing that he's thinking about running for president.

And Mark Dice exposes some fake news about Melania Trump.

Go with Marathon Pundit when shopping on Amazon

Here's another opportunity for you to say "thank you," without paying anything extra, by clicking on an Amazon ad when you are shopping.

I get a tiny commision--and that money gets plowed into the blog.

Office of powerful Chicago alderman--who has been in office 49 years-- raided a second time

Burke

Term limits, anyone?

Chicago alderman Ed Burke (14th) has been in office since 1969. His predecessor was his father.

This is democracy?

From WGN-TV:

The FBI raided powerful Chicago Ald. Ed Burke’s City Hall office for the second time in two weeks.

The FBI’s Chicago office told WGN News it does not comment on anything it may or may not be investigating. In the past, the alderman has said that he’s cooperated with investigations in the past, will cooperate with this one and is confident no wrongdoing will be found.

Two weeks ago, federal agents raided Burke's office, who is the longest serving alderman.

After the raid began, federal agents put brown paper over officer windows to conceal their work. As the agents executed their warrant, no one was allowed in or out of his third floor City Hall Office.

Related post:

Offices of powerful Chicago alderman raided by feds

DuPage County state rep-elect being threatened for vowing not to vote for Boss Madigan as speaker

Here is more proof that when you vote Democratic in Illinois you are voting for Boss Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), the speaker of the state House for 32 of the last 34 years and chairman of the state Democratic Party since 1997. Anna Stava Murray from DuPage County ousted a Republican incumbent last month. Murray ran on the promise of not voting for Madigan as speaker, and for now she is holding to it.

But now she says she is saying Democratic leaders and labor bosses are telling her if she follows through with her promise there will be retaliation.

Rep. Scott Drury (D-Highwood) voted "present" on Madigan's reelection as speaker in 2017. He was removed from a committee assignment which cost him $10,000 in salary.

Illinois Democrats: This is your party.

You'll learn more on Murray at the Chicago Sun-Times, paid subscription required.

Last year Reuters called Madigan "The man behind the fiscal fiasco in Illinois" in an exhaustive report.

Enemies of the taxpayers: SEIU drops $1 million on Taxwinkle's Chicago mayoral campaign

Clearly SEIU, a far-left union, sees a lot they like in Toni "Taxwinkle" Preckwinkle, the leftist who foisted an extremely unpopular but since repealed Crook County soda tax on struggling county residents like myself.

While SEIU doesn't represent many city workers, I'm sure it would love to have many more under its expensive--the taxpayers that is--umbrella.

From Politico:

SEIU says it spent about $3 million between direct contributions, in-kind contributions and its own independent expenditure TV ad buys on Jesus “Chuy” Garcia in 2015 in his mayoral bid against Rahm Emanuel.

This year, the Service Employees International Union state council is weighing in with a $1 million contribution to Toni Preckwinkle’s campaign — just weeks after the Cook County Board president announced $700 million in spending above the current county budget and an infusion of money into county hospitals, which are run in part by the ranks of SEIU employees.

End Freedom of Speech Says Democrat Congressman Ted Lieu

Ted Lieu, a leftist Democratic member of Congress from California, said yesterday on CNN that we would love to be able to regulate the content of speech" but is frustrated that the First Amendment prevents him from doing do.

Democrats: This is your party.

But Lieu is encouraging tech giants to stifle free expression.

MSNBC loser Brzezisnki calls Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a 'wannabe dictator's butt boy'

Mika Brzezisnki is a co-host of MSNBC's "Morning Joke."

From the Daily Mail:

MSNBC is once again dealing with a network host's alleged homophobic comments after Morning Joe anchor Mika Brzezinski casually tossed off what can be a slur on live television Wednesday morning.

The Morning Joe host was talking about an interview on Fox & Friends earlier in the morning during which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was evasive when it came to answering questions about how the administration planned to deal with Saudi Arabia in the wake of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder.

'I understand that Donald Trump doesn’t care. He doesn’t care. But why doesn’t Mike Pompeo care right now? Are the pathetic deflections that we just heard when he appeared on - is that a patriot speaking?' asked Brzezinski.

'Or a wannabe dictator’s butt boy?'

Over the years another MSNBC clown, Joy "Joyless" Reid was discovered to have written many anti-gay comments on an old blog of hers. The left wing media chose not to excoriate her for them. Reid dismissed her hateful comments as a result of hacking.

Uh, no.

Brzezisnki did apologize for the "butt boy" comment. But will MSNBC suspend her?

Rahm endorses amending pension guarantee in Illinois constitution

I've been in support of amending the Illinois constitution for ten years now regarding pensions. It's great to have some company.

From the Illinois Policy Institute:

Outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel is publicly pushing for a constitutional amendment to the state’s pension clause. Pension reform is the only way to combat rising property taxes and prevent further budget chaos in Illinois state and local governments.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a speech to the City Council Dec. 12 is calling for a constitutional amendment to Illinois’ restrictive pension clause. State lawmakers must vote to amend the constitution with three-fifths majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly before an amendment can go to voters for approval on the 2020 general election ballot.

A constitutional amendment to allow changes to future, unearned pension benefits is the only way to stop rising property taxes and income taxes, as well as prevent annual pension contributions from crowding out government spending on education and social services, both at the state and local levels.

Illinois spends the most in the nation on pension benefits at the state and local levels, as a share of all government spending. The Land of Lincoln has the worst pension debt-to-revenue ratio of any U.S. state ever recorded.

Caravan members demand to be let into US or receive $50K each

They have real gall.

From Fox News:

Two groups of Central American migrants marched to the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana on Tuesday with a list of demands, with one group delivering an ultimatum to the Trump administration: either let them in the U.S. or pay them $50,000 each to go home, a report said.

Among other demands were that deportations be halted and that asylum seekers be processed faster and in greater numbers, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The first group of caravan members, that included about 100 migrants, arrived at the consulate around 11 a.m. Alfonso Guerreo Ulloa, an organizer from Honduras, said the $50,000 figure was chosen as a group.

“It may seem like a lot of money to you,” Ulloa told the paper. “But it is a small sum compared to everything the United States has stolen from Honduras.”

(PragerU) Who Are the Most Powerful People in America?

Philip Hamburger, a law professor at Columbia University, explains how American reverted to a monarchy. No, not a king like George III, but what he calls "little kings," the unelected heads of the administrative state such as the FDA and the EPA, who run, and sometimes destroy, the lives of ordinary Americans.

A follow up could be how Boss Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), the chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party who has been speaker of the Illinois House for 32 of the last 34 years, wields such enormous power even though he is directly elected by only a few thousand voters in his legislative district.

Don Lemonhead scolds Trump supporters on truth

CNN's Don Lemon, who once wondered on air if Malaysia Flight 370 could have been swallowed by a black hole, now is scolding supporters of President Trump for sticking with him despite what he deems are lies he made. Of course Lemonhead didn't have his finger at backers of Barack Obama when he repeatedly lied about ObamaCare, including this fib of his, "If you like your health care plan you can keep it."

(PragerU) Why Does America Spend So Much on Israel?

Good question. Why does our nation spend so much cash on Israel.

Find out!

Man shot while canvassing for candidate in Chicago

Englewood

"Politics ain't beanbag," a character in a story set in Chicago over 100 years ago said.

And it still isn't, particularly in Chicago's violent Englewood.

From Fox Chicago:

A man who was out canvassing for a Chicago aldermanic candidate was shot and wounded Sunday.

Maxwell Little, 22, was at 66th and South Marshfield in the Englewood neighborhood recording a video for Facebook when he was shot in the leg. Little was hospitalized in stable condition.

Little posted a Facebook message from his hospital bed saying, "This was no random shooting. Someone wanted me dead."

Community activist Jedidiah Brown has just parked his car to help campaign with 15th ward candidate Joseph Williams. There were about a dozen people around including Williams’ two young children.

Kid Rock pays off $81K worth of layaways at Nashville Walmart

Kid Rock is a patriot and a generous man.

A week ago this Sunday Mrs. Marathon Pundit and I ate and drank at his new Nashville club. We try to spend our money with fellow patriots.

From the Tennessean:

Kid Rock paid off the balances of 350 layaway accounts at a Walmart store in Nashville.

The musician gave the 3458 Dickerson Pike store about $81,000 to pay down all of the accounts, said Tom Meyer, the store's manager.

"Kudos to Kid Rock for making such a gesture in our community," Meyer said. "I think that's a pretty Nashville proud moment."

@tylerperry Great idea! I followed your lead and paid off the layaway at my local Walmart in Nashville. Merry Christmas and God Bless You!

— Kid Rock (@KidRock) December 7, 2018

Kid Rock said on Twitter that he was following director Tyler Perry's lead. Perry posted a video on Twitter, saying he had paid off the layaway balances at two Georgia locations.

From Da Tech Guy: Illinois' dispirited bicentennial celebration ends

It's an unhappy 200th birthday for Illinois. I point out why at Da Tech Guy.

Johnny Cash with the Statler Brothers - Blue Christmas (Live)

Earlier this week I visited Nashville with Mrs. Marathon Pundit. And among our stops was the Johnny Cash Museum.

So of course I'm going to do post featuring the Man in Black--with the Statler Brothers--crooning "Blue Christmas."

(Photos) Andrew Jackson and Nashville

What Abraham Lincoln is to Illinois, what Harry S. Truman is to Missouri, Andrew Jackson is that man for Tennessee.

There is Old Hickory, the seventh US president, on horseback at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville.

About twenty miles south Nashville is Franklin, which is best known for being the site of an 1864 Civil War battle, a major Confederate defeat.

In downtown Franklin there is an historical marker which reads, "On his return from New Orleans Andrew Jackson gave a brass cannon to Franklin. A part of his soldiery camped here on their way to New Orleans. Erected 1917. Placed by Col. Thos. Hart Benton Chapter U.S.D. of 1812."

The US Daughters of 1812 still exists.

The Battle of New Orleans was a stupendous victory over the British in 1815. While the peace treaty ending the war had been signed a month earlier in Europe and word hadn't reached the armies, technically the war was ongoing as neither Congress or the British Parliament had ratified it.

Okay, we're back in Nashville in front of the historic Ryman Auditorium, the place where the Grand Ole Opry became famous. Yes, that's Andy there, "Nashville's First Rockstar," carrying an electric guitar. The guitar isn't a stretch. In 1998 an F-3 tornado passed through the Hermitage, Jackson's plantation. While it missed the mansion and the family graveyard it knocked down 1,000 trees, some of which may have been planted by Old Hickory. Wood from some of those trees were used by Gibson build 200 officially sanctioned Old Hickory guitars.

Ten miles northwest of downtown Nashville lies the Hermitage. There is your Blogger Laureate of Illinois wearing a MAGA, that is, a Make America Great Again hat. On the sign Jackson is declared "the People's President." The 45th president is a big fan of the 7th--Trump has a painting of Old Hickory in the Oval Office. Last year on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Jackson's birth, Trump visited the Hermitage and laid a wreath at Jackson's grave, which is on the plantation's grounds.

Just as Jackson battled the entrenched interests in government, especially the federally-chartered Bank of the United States, Trump fights "the Swamp" in Washington and says he is looking out for ordinary Americans, the Deplorables, as Hillary Clinton labeled them. "The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer," Trump said in his inaugural address.

That's the Hermitage from the rear.

The Hermitage is America's fourth most-visited presidential residence, after the White House, where of course Trump lives, Mount Vernon, George Washington's home, and Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's plantation.

The Hermitage is a non-profit run by the Andrew Jackson Foundation. For over 100 years the group was known as the Ladies' Hermitage Association. Among the Board of Trustees is Jon Meacham, author of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. Meacham was one of the speakers at George H.W. Bush's funeral three days ago.

My next Jackson post will go into more detail about the Hermitage, and yes, slavery.

(Bloody Chicago Video) Chicago Police Capture Suspected Dan Ryan Expressway Killer

There is some rare good news this evening from Victor Maggio of Bloody Chicago.

"Four months later," Maggio says of the murder on Chicago's South Side, "the shooter is no longer at large."

Mark Dice: Christmas is Coming!

We are not one week into December and the War on Christmas is already intense. The stop-action 1960s classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is the first victim.

Union abuse shows why Illinois' constitutional pension guarantee needs to be amended

Late last month the majority Democrat Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of the grifter and against struggling taxpayers like myself.

From a Chicago Tribune editorial:

Former Chicago labor boss Dennis Gannon worked almost 20 years for the Department of Streets and Sanitation before taking a leave of absence in 1991. He got a refund of his pension contributions and pivoted to the private sector, first at International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 and eventually as president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, an umbrella union organization.

But there was a blip on his resume. During his leave, the city rehired him for one day in 1994, then released him again to his union leadership job. Ten years later, he was able to retire at age 50 with a city pension based on his union salary of at least $240,000. He began receiving more than $150,000 a year from a $56,000 city job he had left a decade earlier.

It was an unintended consequence — many would say abuse — of the state’s pension code exposed in a 2011 Tribune/WGN-TV investigation that drew the attention of federal prosecutors. Government employees who left to work for their unions could count that time toward their pensions. But the practice of applying their private sector union salaries toward their pensionable income, instead of calculations based on what they earned as city workers, was not the intention of the pension code. Even labor-friendly Democrats in the legislature almost unanimously voted to tighten up the law following the journalists’ investigation. In 2012, legislators passed, and then-Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law, a strict prohibition on government workers applying union salaries toward final pension calculations.

Public pension funds are strained as it is. Why should private sector workers, just because they work for unions, be eligible for lofty pensions from a city and taxpayer-subsidized pension fund?

They shouldn't be. And besides, do you seriously believe that the CFL doesn't have its own pension plan?

The Chicago Tribune is calling for a constitutional amendment to deal with the pension guarantee clause in the state constitution. That's a great idea and a perfect Illinois Bicentennial gift to taxpayers.

Illinois is one of the few states losing population and Chicago is the only major American city with negative population growth.

Tax increases aren't working to fix the problem. In fact, they're driving people away and leaving a smaller pool of taxpayers to fix it.

Default is coming. Unless something is done soon.

Top advisor to Kamala Harris resigns after $400K harrasment suit becomes public

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is a real piece of work. It's alleged that as a result of her two-year affair with a married man thirty years older than her, California Assembly speaker Willie Brown, she was appointed to two well-paying but little-work state posts.

Harris, who is mulling a run for president, was one of the toughies who grilled Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation process over decades-old allegations of sexual assault.

But there was sexual harassment scandal that occurred right under her nose.

From NBC News:

A top aide to Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., resigned on Wednesday after a report surfaced of a $400,000 harassment settlement resulting from his time working for Harris at the California Department of Justice in 2016.

Harris' office said in a statement to NBC News that it was unaware of the settlement.

Larry Wallace, a senior adviser to Harris, stepped down after The Sacramento Bee reported about the settlement on Wednesday.

The alleged incident occurred in 2016 when Wallace was working as the director of law enforcement under Harris, who was serving as the California attorney general at the time, the paper reported.

Do you seriously believe Harris had no knowledge of the settlement?

Sexual harassment and misconduct should not be allowed by anyone and should not occur anywhere. I believe the best thing for Senator Franken to do is step down.

— Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) December 6, 2017

The suit alleges that on a daily basis Wallace asked his female assistant on a daily basis to replace paper or ink on the printer that was installed beneath his desk.

From Da Tech Guy: Slave versus enslaved person

Today I tackle word wars at Da Tech Guy: Slave versus enslaved person.

I've returned!

I've been out of town for a few days.

But I am back!

Posts are coming!

The Monkees - Unwrap You At Christmas (Official Lyric Video)

Ah, this video brings back some memories. The Monkees have a new album, Christmas Party, and the lead track, "Unwrap You At Christmas," was written by Andy Partridge of XTC, a longtime favorite of this blog.

The video takes on a comic book theme for the Prefab Four, and it includes Julie Newmar, who played the first incarnation of the Catwoman in the 1960s Batman TV series. When I worked at the Congress Hotel in Chicago in the 1995 I was the convention service manager when we hosted a Batman convention. Newmar was bone thin whose face was apparently stretched too far after too many plastic surgeries. She was a prima donna, and some employees claimed, was also drunk the whole convention weekend. Adam West, who played the Caped Crusader, and Burt Ward, who played Robin, were there too. They were completely forgettable, unlike the organizers of the event, who, let's just say, had trouble finding their wallet.

On the upside Frank Gorshin, who played the Riddler opposite the small screen version of the Dynamic Duo, was a class act. But one of the organizers of the event kept telling me that Jim Carrey, who played the Riddler in the movie Batman Forever, which was about to be released, was on his way to meet Gorshin and commiserate on all things Riddler. I didn't swallow the bait. We got our money and I wasn't interested in spreading specious rumors to jumpstart flagging ticket sales.

And now over to the Monkees. Before my ten years at the Congress I worked a bit at the Bismarck Hotel a mile north. I was in a similar job when a Monkees convention came there in 1988. That get-together was unique for me as I was compelled to listen to a slew of complaints from attendees who called the event a ripoff as it mainly consisted of Monkees TV episodes being played on a video loop.

"Hmm," I replied, "you may want to voice your opinion to the man who is running this show. I just make sure the chairs are where there are supposed to be."

Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz, and Peter Tork appeared at the convention, but only together at the very end and they didn't perform as a group, unless you count 30 seconds of a capella singing as a concert. Michael Nesmith bypassed the shindig.



While it may seem creepy to have the late Davy Jones included in the video, there are two songs on Christmas Party where the Englishman sings lead. He belongs.

Merry Christmas. As for the song? It's a gem. Click below to purchase the album.