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Arch kindly calls it cognitive dissonance. I call it what it is: hypocrisy.
What is it with all these conserv-o-partisans like Fran Eaton at Illinois Review clamoring for Gov. Blagojevich’s head simply because he’s an inept quasi-leader who stomps his feet when he doesn’t get his way and has been implicated — though not yet charged, let alone convicted — in several legally questionable activities…?
Don’t they realize that also describes their not-so-lovable Pres. Bush to a T?
As a two-time Bush endorser, the Trib simply put the question of recall out there (likely knowing full well others would call for impeachment). Illinois Review’s Ms. Eaton, herself a well-recorded Bush defender and dogmatist, takes that next step and yelps, “Anything less than impeachment is dereliction of lawmakers’ duties.”
Yet, the only difference at this point is the number of letters after the B in their last names. Other than that, their leadership “styles” (I’m being generous) are almost exactly alike.
I’ve switched out the header to reflect the autumn season: enjoy.
We’re seeing a mix of some amazing fall colors around here, along with a few real duds that look like dried up nothings.
Commence open threading…
As Arch recently noted, the Republicans’ spin on immigration is about the only issue where they get any traction at all among the electorate.
Unfortunately for we here in the electorate, the Republicans’ solution so far has been to xenophobicly rail against illegal immigrants (all too often sweeping legal immigrants into the mix for good measure) and promote building 1/3 of a wall — neither of which actually solves the fundamental problem that our great nation’s immigration policy is fundamentally flawed and the system for accepting new immigrants is, quite frankly, broken.
So one is left to wonder whether or not 14th CD Candidate Jim “Helicopter” Oberweis — known for his serial exaggeration, FEC fines, superfat ice cream and pandering induced flip-flopping — and his con buddies like former Democrat Tony Peraica are going to talk about real solutions or simply spew a bunch of hateful, anti-brown people rhetoric during their upcoming Women’s Republican Club forum on immigration in Wheeling.
The Women’s Republican Club tells us that, “Up for discussion are the implications, consequences, and political ramifications of the immigration issue.” I take that to mean they may actually try discussing fundamental solutions rather than just unsustainable slash-and-burn rhetorical stances, but who knows.
Oh, and, “There will be a Q & A,” so since the forum is “open to the public and free”, perhaps someone would be willing to sit through it all to “Q” and hopefully get a legit “A”.
Maybe you’ll even get free ice cream… or a helicopter ride.
Specifics according to Anne Leary at ilgopnet:
Guest speakers include businessman and GOP political leader Jim Oberweis, State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), attorney and Cook County reform leader Tony Peraica, and agriculture industry leader David Bender. [...]
The event is free and open to the public.
Monday, Nov. 5
Doors open at 7 p.m. Forum begins at 7:30
Chevy Chase Country Club, 1000 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Wheeling
Expected adjournment before 9 p.m.
PS: The description of the speakers leads one to wonder just when Mr. Oberweis, who is 0 for ?X# in major campaigns, became a “GOP political leader”… 
Boohoo. Red State has had enough of actual paleocons dropping by and is banning Ron Paul supporters from posting at their collapsing tent community.
Turns out the “Conservative News and Community” has decided there’s no longer room for that “Community” bit. Riding the cons in the Bush “Administration” down their slippery slope past Nixonland will do that to ya.
I can understand moderating and banning random commenters here and there whose material is inflammatory, obvious sockpuppetry and the like, but Ron Paul fans are welcome to add their two cents of support here if they feel like it. They may have his radically conservative ideas called into question, but at least he gets it on Iraq.
When did the rest of the “strict constructionist” Republican’ts decide 1A wasn’t so important, after all?
[Update: Forgot the links at first. Now fixed.]
The Chicago Tribune excoriated Gov. Rod Blagojevich over the weekend:
Blagojevich is an intentionally divisive governor and a profoundly unhelpful influence. He is unwilling or unable to see the chaos all around him. This year, lawmakers failed to make progress on schools, on state pension reform, on any number of critical matters. Mass transit in the Chicago region is about to implode, largely because of the state government’s failure.
While their gripes about Blago are familiar and I agree with several of them…
This is coming from the same paper that endorsed George W. Bush twice???
And they had to cite the conservative National Conference of State Legislatures for “research” about recalling a Guv?
Hypocrites.
The only reason the Tribune doesn’t have a similar “bill of particulars” against Pres. Bush is because the Republican Congresses refused to actually investigate the guy and, now that Dems are back in charge, the president’s staff (past and present) refuses to honor the growing number of Congressional summonses and the Bush-led Justice Dept. has indicated they’ll refuse to enforce them. Not that a newspaper which would endorse a Rubber Chicken as long as it had an R after its name would ever bother publishing such a list damning their president (gone are the days of “nobody of sound mind can read [the transcripts] and continue to think that Mr. Nixon has upheld the standards and dignity of the Presidency.”)
Illinois, like the United States itself, does have a “recall” option: impeachment. It is up to the State Legislature and the Congress, respectively, to determine what is or is not an impeachable offense. With self-serving, hypocritical editorial bents such as that seen over the weekend, the Tribune does not help further that option at either the State or Federal level.
In another of his attempts at mimicking the shock-jock mentality of Ann “say anything for a buck” Coulter, local conserv-o-partisan Dan Proft asks the intentionally leading question, “BET racist against black people?” He opens with the mellow and understated line:
If the Aryan Nation plotted to develop a media property designed to denigrate and destroy black culture, could they do a better job than Black Entertainment Television (BET)?
Pure brilliance, Mr. Proft. Pure. Brilliance. The entire sad attention-seeking commentary is apparently what Mr. Proft thinks passes for a reasonable comparison between the “Jena 6″ and the “Little Rock 9″, ostensibly in reaction to the occasion of two of the Jena 6 teens being feted during the BET Hip-Hop Awards.
The following passage is one example of Mr. Proft’s dismissive attempt to muddy the waters and dilute the import of trying to understand and confront the racial dichotomy that is found in Jena (and, by extension, is still happening throughout our nation even today):
In Little Rock in 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower intervened to protect the students, enforce desegregation, and uphold the principle that all are to be treated equally under the law.
In Jena in 2007, Al Sharpton intervened to do exactly the opposite, advocating essentially that the law may be disregarded if one has a racial grievance.
Actually, what Al Sharpton was doing was pointing out the very different treatment standards between white teens and black teens in the Jena judicial system and under the local District Attorney. The fact is Mychal Bell — the black teen painted as the “head” of the Jena 6 — has already served 10 months in jail as an adult. Rev. Sharpton has said that, yes, he should have been punished for his role in the fight but, no, not punished as an adult for the crime of attempted murder — and argues that this should be Mr. Bell’s argument in the court of law, not the court of public opinion. In Rev. Sharpton’s own words:
The response is very simple. Mychal Bell has done ten months in jail as an adult, that even the Louisiana courts are saying he should not have been tried with. I think that, one, no one ever said that we condone schoolyard fights, but that’s what it was. And the punishment should have been a schoolyard fight. Had these young men been dealt with in juvenile court in a regular proceeding for juveniles like any other juvenile, including the white student that pulled the gun, the shotgun at the school, and the white student that beat up, I believe it was young Mr. Bailey at the party, I don’t think there would have ever been an issue, local or national.
It’s too bad for Mr. Proft’s fictional little world that the Internet exists and any one of us can go and look up the facts to dispute his wild-eyed claims.
In an effort to squash an efficient, well-liked social program aimed at helping kids and their families with healthcare costs… the Republicans are dusting off their lies about SCHIP mere days after putting that binder back on the bookshelf. They apparently feel a need to do so because the existing SCHIP bill’s extension is set to expire (The original, Clinton-era law already did expire so those kids and families in the program are on borrowed time.).
The most insidious of their lies is that Dems have somehow failed to compromise — the entire bill that Pres. Bush vetoed was a compromise. The Dems originally wanted the expansion to be much larger and to be based on a more stable PAYGO funding source. The Senate Republicans scaled the size back and insisted on using tobacco taxes.
When it looked like the whiney wing of the Republican Party was going to torpedo the compromise, the existing law was extended to mid-November and Congress is now at the point of trying to re-renegotiate a compromise that accomplishes the original intent of SCHIP while fixing some of the flaws which developed in the previous, about-to-expire-again law. These are, of course, all things the Congress already accomplished once, but the radical John Birchies in the House GOP couldn’t stand to see a successful program that helped real Americans be improved.
The formerly “grand” old party’s own conservative Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) has explained over and over how his own party’s lies are, in fact, lies.
Pat Oliphant has the perfect cartoon commentary for those Republicans whose noses just keep growing.
Thinking it’s necessary to lie about a program designed to help kids and their families is just pathetic and weak.
PS, Republican’ts: Low-income children are benefitted by other programs like Medicaid. Ever heard of it?
SCHIP is for middle incomes, and the President is the one who approves whether or not various states can exceed income levels stated in the current SCHIP law so all your griping about this or that family making too much money to be eligible? Blame the guy in the White House who approved that eligibility.
Mark Pera just released his first ad of the season. It’s online-only right now but is schedule for TV time beginning next week.
Take a gander and notice that Mr. Pera exhibits one thing sorely lacking in Washington: a spine.
Arch also had a detailed write-up earlier today about his positive encounter with Mark Pera a few weeks back in Chicago. In it, Arch describes why he thinks voters in the 3rd shouldn’t just vote against annointed son Dan Lipinski but should actually vote for Mark Pera.
That same Archpundit post was also promptly invaded by “Jerry Bennett” concern trolls which is odd since Mr. Bennett, mayor of Palos Heights Hills, endorsed Dan Lipinski for Congress so no one can figure out why the heck he’s now running against the guy he endorsed. It’s not like Mayor Bennett has any positions he’s running on… Hmm, I wonder.
I ask because, well, I don’t know what to think.
I want a strong challenge against Peter Roskam, but I’m not sure if Col. Morgenthaler is the right choice. She was the Army spokesperson during Abu Ghraib. She has started criticizing the war, but she still defends things up to a point (it was going well, but not anymore). She says she wants the soldiers to come home, but there’s a big “but” in there. I want to get behind her, but I don’t know…
She’s supposed to be formally announcing today. What are your thoughts on this?
Apparently Sen. Durbin’s main reelection opponent, Republican Steve “Slippery” Sauerberg, thinks military service amounts to a hill of beans.
Dr. Sauerberg sent out a press release earlier chastising Sen. Durbin’s DREAM Act and spouting off a bunch of illogical spin about the bill. Unfortunately for Dr. Sourpants, one component of that bill would be to give immigrants citizenship after they complete two years of military service.
Why does Dr. Sauerberg oppose honoring service in our military? What does he have against those who volunteer to sacrifice for his right to put them down so?
Note to Dr. Sauerberg who wants to be “Senator” Sauerberg… The Senate didn’t “reject” the bill. The DREAM Act actually earned a majority at 52-44 on the procedural vote, but the xenophobic wing of the Republican caucus withheld enough ayes that the bill couldn’t get the 60 vote supermajority which is apparently now required for everything from nose picking to major legislation. Without those 60 yes votes, anything is subject to the obstructionist “just kidding about that whole nucular option thing” Republicans who suddenly decided on November 8, 2006 that upperdown votes weren’t actually a good idea any more.
The southern half of California is literally ablaze so the rationale for helping the following charities is self-explanatory:
- Salvation Army* – [Update] For those of you who choose to also vote with your wallets, Dogemperor describes in a Daily Kos diary how the Salvation Army has begun discriminating against Jewish and other folks and also may conduct “church background checks” on people, with encouragement from arch-conservative Dominionist circles. I’ll leave the link up for now since they are such a well-known organization, but you should read DE’s information about the Salvation Army (which always has been a Christian-related organization) before you decide to donate to them. [/Update]
- Charity Navigator rankings of 5 best (and 5 worst) veteran and first responder charities
And not all of the homes being lost are mansions that belong to millionaires. A great many people are going to need help rebuilding so check out Habitat for Humanity:
- Greater LA Habitat for Humanity
- Orange County Habitat for Humanity
- San Diego Habitat for Humanity
- Ventura County Habitat for Humanity
- List of all California Habitat chapters
UPDATE: In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it was found that several charities promoted by Pres. Bush’s FEMA outfit were actually front groups for conservative organizations with a clear, biased agenda.
Dogemperor put together a diary at DKos outlining several examples of charities that have been vetted by independent sources. I recommend you read DE’s essay and suggestions.
DE also notes Charity Navigator (whose Top and Bottom 5 lists I linked to above) and Give.org as independent verifiers of charities.
I can barely type for the laughing… TPM tells us:
Tom Tancredo has taken his fight against illegal immigration to the Senate side — by calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement and asking them to raid a press conference yesterday by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), at which Tancredo mistakenly believed illegal aliens would be attending.
Durbin was presenting a bill that would confer legal status upon illegal immigrants who have graduated high school and will attend college or serve in the Armed Forces for two years. Accompanying Durbin were three immigrant students, all of whom are in the United States legally on temporary visas. No action was taken by ICE.
Consider this: there are just as many illegal immigrants in Tom Tancredo’s tube of toothpaste as there were at Sen. Durbin’s press conference.
And yes, immigrants who volunteer to defend our nation’s Constitution and freedom ought to be able to also call it their own Constitution and freedom. In other words, immigrants serving honorably in our Armed Forces ought to be granted citizenship. If they can bleed for Americans, they ought to be able to become Americans themselves.
Will the irrational Republican fear of “them” ever subside? And Rep. Tancredo wants to be our president? That he has any support at all is a sad commentary on the state of the formerly “grand” ol’ party.
How pathetic is it when your approval rating is below Bush’s? No, I’m not talking about the approval of the Congress as a whole. I’m talking about our very own Dear Leader, Governor Blagojevich. Rasmussen’s latest polling pegs Bush’s approval rating at 31% in Illinois (down 1 point from last month). Blagojevich dropped to 16%. Let me say that again…
S-I-X-T-E-E-N P-E-R-C-E-N-T!
Don’t get me wrong, Blago wasn’t terribly popular when his current term began. He won re-election with less than 50% of the vote. But he has dropped to 16%. 6 point drop in one two months.
I’ve complained about this Governor quite often in the past. I’ve never really liked him. One of the first things he did upon entering office was cut funding for higher education (with my Alma Mater taking the biggest hit, I believe (UIUC)). Coincidentally, UIUC’s tuition has risen astronomically since Blago became governor.
But his handling of the budget situation and the RTA problem has been absurdly awful. He issues fiats saying this is what’s going to happen and takes everyone by surprise. Then he complains when the legislature won’t play ball. He fights Mike Madigan at every opportunity, no matter how ridiculous. He is willing to risk sinking the economy in Northeastern Illinois so that he can abide by a campaign pledge.
At this point, it’s all about the Governor’s ego. He has to beat Madigan at something. I never thought I would see the day where Madigan looked like the good guy. Well, that day is here. Mike Madigan is the good guy in Springfield. It’s time for the Governor to govern, not fight with the Speaker.
Governor, you will never win another election in this State. This approval rating should show you that. Give it up. You lost. It’s over. You are now a lame duck.
You are almost as unpopular as Dick Cheney, sir. Twice as many people in this state think George Bush is doing a good job than think you are doing a good job. Those 16%? They are on your payroll.
Update: Rich Miller has another story up today about our Dear Leader. The Governor did a press release saying he met with all the Legislative leaders, except for Mike Madigan, and hammered out a deal to save the RTA. The release went on to say that Tom Cross was to meet with Madigan to convince him to get on board and drop his support for SB 572.
Unfortunately for the Governor, his bff, Senate Prez Emil Jones said he knows nothing about such a deal, but he has heard ‘rumors.’
Tom Cross said a deal had been discussed, but nothing was concrete.
Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson said that there is no plan.
And the RTA and its’ related agencies are completely in the dark.
Good Job Governor!!!
[confetti and balloons]
Welcome to Jerry101, Illinois Reason’s newest blogger. He’s got a post up just below introducing himself and also listing a few campaign notes.
[/confetti and balloons]
Here’s an open thread to discuss “autumn” vs “fall” now that July-in-October seems to be over.
I’m Jerry 101, and Rob has kindly asked me to start blogging here. I usually comment at DailyKos, and occasionally write a diary there. I’ve recently been helping another kossack organize some meetups featuring Mark Pera, Dan Seals, Daniel Biss, and Ron Shepston.
I’ve also been known to comment and write the occasional post over at Prairie State Blue, where I’m known as JJCPA. I’ve also been known to chime in at various other local and national blogs. I live in Chicago, and I plan to mostly write about campaigns around the state, both federal and state level (where possible).
Anyway, today Mark Pera’s campaign sent out an e-mail telling us that he’s about to go on-air in his race against Dan Lipinski. From the e-mail:
In other news, we also filmed our first campaign TV ad on Monday and, if everything goes according to plan, “Real People,” will be up on the air on Monday, Oct. 29 – the same day we file our nominating petitions to appear on the ballot.
The fact that we are going up on the air more than three months before the election is a testament to our ability to raise serious campaign dollars. Thanks to you we are going to be among the very first Congressional campaigns in the entire country to advertise on television.
The campaign has recently been featured in a front page story in the Chicago Tribune. Rob already covered the story earlier this week, but I wanted to point out that the only supporters for the incumbent, Dan Lipinski, came from the Republican side of the aisle in the form of former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach and north shore Congressman Mark Kirk. The story was just as much about the netroots, and the help that the Pera campaign has received from them.
