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Per a request from Sen. Murphy… here goes a tome about local races. 
(What happened to your own blog Matt?) The northwest suburbs have a few primary races, most notably in the 56th and 66th (I live in the 66th).
The Dem side of the 56th House district over in Schaumburg pits incumbent Rep. Paul Froehlich (who switched from R to D last summer) against Dem attorney and involved community member John Moynihan. This is Rep. Froehlich’s first primary as a Dem and it’s natural that he’d attract a primary opponent from amongst the long-standing (if historically minority party) Dem base in the area. Quite the soap opera there given the flipped party and traditionally Dem-leaning orgs (ie, Personal PAC) pitted ultimately against the Dem Speaker/State Chair.
The other local contested primary is a Republican affair between long-time Elk Grove Village Trustee Christine Prochno and Arlington Heights party activist Laura Bartell. These two candidates in the 66th State Representative district have been very actively campaigning for the nomination to run against Vietnam Veteran and independent Dem Mark Walker. (State Rep. Carolyn Krause announced her retirement last year so this is an open seat.)
While it’s understandable that the Clinton campaign would be jumping on any little tidbit of Rezko flotsam they can scare up, it’s much less clear why conservatives would play along. As point of fact, Illinois Review wrote up a “new” series on Rezko rehashing a bunch of old info from a conservative partisan perspective. Curiously, in the second post of that series (about Rezko’s political donations) Fran Eaton begins:
Tony Rezko aimed his campaign dollars where he would get the most return on his investments, there’s no doubt.
Perhaps she didn’t realize Mr. Rezko put quite a large investment in her conservative hero, Pres. George Bush.
Mr. Rezko donated $7000 directly to Bush and also helped co-chair a $3.5 million Bush-Cheney04 fundraiser in 2003. Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed called it simply a “megamillion” fundraiser which, at $3.5 mil, it certainly is. Her S-T colleague Lynn Sweet notes that co-chairs for that event were responsible for bundling at least $100,000 in donations to Pres. Bush. In addition to that largesse in support of Bush, Rezko of course also was quite generous to a variety of other Republican pols over the years.
I wonder if Ms. Eaton knows what sort of “return” Rezko was trying to get on his mega Bush “investment.”
Head on over to brand spankin’ new blog Cluestick 4 Bambi to keep up with John “academic professional” Bambenek’s hypocritical idiocy. In the latest Bambi drama, we learn that he is releasing his inner crotchety self with a “Get off my lawn you varmints” for the digital age, going after adults who play video games:
Yeah, good luck with that one Mr. No Fun.
Remember those good ol’ days before the Internets when these kooks kept to themselves under their rocks? Now, with the advent of the World Wide Web the gaggles of radical right-wingers who’ve found each other think they’re in the mainstream just because they’ve found the few other uber-cons who plugged their computers into the phone jack.
At least it makes for high comedy (when these hyperpartisans aren’t busy ruining our great nation that is).
Not sure I’ll have time to get to those “local races” that folks are requesting since Feb 5th is fast approaching — quite the busy boy — but I’ll certainly try to get to the 66th which features the only state lege contested primary in the area (Prochno v Bartell).
Here’s a topic: Compare and contrast the Skywalkers and Lipinskis…
ArchPundit did some research into Princely Heir Congressman Dan Lipinski’s most recent fundraising and expenditures and finds, to borrow his phrase, “Lipinski’s Friends and Family Plan Continues“. Seems to be a good racket for that crew… unfortunately enough for the residents of the 3rd.
Keep in mind Rep. Lipinski is the same fellow the Tribune recently endorsed despite their wavering and unease over his “record” and “ties” to his lobbyist dad (who got him the seat in Congress). Oh, and despite the fact Rep. Lipinski couldn’t be bothered to show up to the editorial board meeting.
Apparently, getting facts wrong (like claiming he’s in his first term?!) and whining about bloggers (hey, that’s me!) is more important to the Trib than endorsing a candidate like Mark Pera who actually represents the district they are seeking to represent rather than being the face of what’s left of a decaying Machine.
…Those without their partisan blinders on will be willing to read through the nearly 1000 lies told by the conservative Bush Administration in the lead-up to the Iraq War and evaluate them for what they are. Even the abbreviated versions are damning — Pres. Bush himself came in as the liar-in-chief, having expressed the most falsehoods (259).
At the Center for Public Integrity’s “The War Card: Orchestrated Deception on the Path to War” readers can review a database of the whoppers told to the American people and when they were disseminated. (The Fund for Independence in Journalism also helped produce this database of deceit.)
Meteor Blades has more. Shame on the “Fourth Estate” for buying this bill of sale lock, stock and barrel.
“…the real ‘plantation’…”
Seriously?! And the Wall Street Journal published this ignorant dreck?!
What does “the real ‘plantation’” have to do with the fact that people are attacking Obama’s church simply because it’s a historically black church?
What does “the real ‘plantation’” have to do with modern day inequities in Paris, Texas?
What does “the real ‘plantation’” have to do with Bill O’Reilly being surprised that black folks don’t order iced tea with a side of m’fer… let alone that “they” act “civilized”?
What does “the real ‘plantation’” have to do with more black men being in prison than in college?
What does “the real ‘plantation’” have to do with the Crescent City’s Ninth Ward?
…Here’s a song for Hitchens. His name could just as easily swap right in there, too.
On Friday “Team America blog” had a half-cocked, twisted context post about The Swamp’s earlier comments on the DCCC’s “Red to Blue” program. For those who are unfamiliar, “Team America” began as a constant critic on a Democratic activist’s blog (the well-reasoned and well-written Ellen of the Tenth blog) and eventually branched off into fiction blog writing of their own.
In Friday’s case, instead of taking the 30 seconds to learn what the R2B program actually was and how it worked, TA appeared simply to be salivating at the chance to throw a punch at their chosen nemesis, Dem candidate Dan Seals.
Sadly, the dubious “facts” over at TA continue with another completely erroneous post lambasting Sen. Dick Durbin’s recent endorsement of Dan Seals.
In this latest post, TA writes:
This endorsement was no shock, considering that Durbin backed Seals last election (we note, though, that Seals did not face a contested primary last time) [...] (emphasis added)
I think Mr. Seals’ 2006 Dem Primary opponent Zane Smith would be disappointed to learn he’s magically vanished into thin air at some point in the past 48 months…
If the staunchly Republican “Team America” blog is getting such basic, easily verified facts completely wrong, what other kind of fried baloney sandwiches are they trying to pass off on denizens of the Tenth?
(Who’s got dibs on how long it’ll take TA to correct this latest bout of misinformation? At least TA was honest enough to correct their earlier misstep unlike some other partisan conservatives — cough, Fran Eaton, cough, John Bambenek, sniffle, cough — we know and love who just can’t admit how wrong they are.)
Notorious 10th District blowhard “Team America” has a post up claiming “DCCC’s “Red to Blue” Program Passes Over 10th District” saying…
“The Swamp” reports that the 10th District is NOT one of the first 10 house districts that will be the target of the DCCC’s “Red to Blue” blitzkrieg. Of the first 10, nine are Republican districts.
Umm, no. The Swamp didn’t report the 10th was NOT one of the districts; they simply reported what the first ten districts were:
Of the 10 districts targeted, Seven are held by Republicans who plan to retire at the end of the current term; two were held by Republicans who already have left Washington, and one was left vacant by the death last month of Democratic Rep. Julia Carson.
And gee, the “Red to Blue” program is designed to help Democrats (blue) win districts currently held by Republicans (red) so it makes a wee bit of sense that 9 of the 10 districts are held by “red” incumbents (and the last district had its Democratic Representative pass away).
As DCCC head Rep. Chris Van Hollen noted in announcing the current version of R2B, this is the First Round (implying there will be more R2B groups in the future) and this particular batch is focused on open seats.Illinois 10th is not an open seat (unless TA knows something no one else does). For that matter, neither is Illinois 6th which TA also mentions as being “passed over.”
Team America ought to try thinking before posting… or at least try learning what the heck he/she/it is talking about. It’s a lot easier to keep your foot out of your mouth that way, TA.
UPDATED: Team America thanks me for keeping them honest by pointing out the error of their ways.
The honesty is appreciated Team America.
The “Unity 08” effort has been a round for some time now (a few years) and is ostensibly dedicated to increasing bipartisanship in Washington, having been founded by a mix of Republican and Democratic “centrist” politicians. This month they announced they were suspending their activities due to lack of funding. Curiously, the Unity 08 ’suspension of activities’ happened in very close proximity to the recent well-publicized meeting of centrists to discuss bipartisanship. Many who realized the partisanship in and of itself is not the problem in Washington (the lack of rational debate is, in and out of DC) had routinely panned their efforts as so much pointless and navel-gazing spin.
It’s unclear to me how direct an offshoot this is, but two of the Unity founders — Repub Doug Bailey and Dem Gerry Rafshoon — have left Unity 08 and are now doing something called the “Draft Bloomberg Committee” headquartered in Washington, DC itself. Their committee sent me some spam email yesterday, asking for virtual signatures and publicity for their “Draft” effort.
No offense, but get over yourselves guys. The problem with “centrism” is that the “center” is a fleeting concept. As Republican conservative activists push and yell and generally act on their conservative concepts and ideas, they drag the “center” to the right. Same would be happening in the reverse if Democrats actually had any sort of group equivalent to Movement Conservatism (they don’t, so the “center” has been left to float rightward over the past two decades or so).
Who knows if this “Draft Bloomberg” effort will amount to anything. He was reported to have been conducting national polling to determine whether or not (and if so, how) to make an independent bid for the White House, but has also declared he will wait to see who the two parties’ nominees are. With the discombobulation on the GOP side, who knows when that will even happen.
Perhaps more importantly, know one has really explained “why” Mayor Bloomberg in the first place… He runs a business. He’s a mayor. He used to be a Dem and then abandoned that party to run as a Republican for mayor, to succeed term-limited Rudy Giuliani.
This makes him presidential material? That record is barely better than current candidate Giuliani himself — a candidate who has racked up an impressive number of bottom-of-the-pack finishes to date. And Mayor Bloomberg’s own denizens don’t want him to run for president.
What are his thoughts on how to advance our country, tackle our problems, and defend against our enemies?
Shorter Fran Eaton: Barack Obama attends a historically black church. This church’s pastor has some daughters who run a magazine. That magazine published by the daughters of the pastor of the church that Sen. Obama attends gives out awards to those who have helped the downtrodden — historically black communities across the country and black peoples around the world. Last year, one of those awards was given to Louis Farrakhan because of his and his organizations’ dedication to rehabilitating and improving the plight of ex-convicts.
Therefore, Sen. Obama is evil. Oh, and don’t forget that he goes to a “black” church.
The logic is… impeccable (not).
(And did she ever mention Sen. Obama attends a “black” church? And Farrakhan has made anti-Semitic remarks? Might’ve skipped that last one. Remember: Obama, Farrakhan. See how easy that is to figure out? Obama… Farrakhan… … … Black…)
–
In the recent past, Ms. Eaton has whined that she’s simply expressing her opinion that Sen. Obama is “hypocritical” when it comes to his church. That’s a far cry from her first few acid-tongued posts declaring that Sen. Obama’s Christian church was “racist” and “black supremacists” and “black separatists” simply because they devote much of their Christian charity and compassion to those in the black community who may be in need.
Recall that Ms. Eaton is editor of a conservative blog site which proudly promoted the notion that Chinese people eat babies; complete with sweet-n-sour sauce.
Regardless of whether she’s being soft or acidic in her myopia, myopia it is. The entirety of her premise that Sen. Obama’s Christian church is somehow “bad” and that he is somehow “hypocritical” is based on her own ignorance of the history African American Christianity in this country and her own misreadings of Trinity United Church of Christ’s tenets related to liberation, compassion, charity and community. (Oh, and her disdain for people who dislike her hero, George W. Bush, crossed with a deeply partisan loathing for Sen. Obama himself — to be expected from a former campaigner for Alan Keyes for Senate, Illinois edition.) The intertwined network of conservative partisan media has helped her efforts at promoting this ignorant misinterpretation of basic information. (This wouldn’t be the first time Ms. Eaton proved to be ignorant and apparently willfuly misinformed, nor the second, nor the third, nor the… you get the idea.)
Now that her original, anti-Christian premises have been thoroughly and repeatedly refuted … she’s taken to regurgitating the latest limp lament from conservative partisans that Sen. Obama is evil because he is someone who “associates with someone who associates with someone who associates with someone who likes Farrakhan…“
It’s Six Degrees of Louis Farrakhan, and the cons are running with it.
Burt Prelutsky of Pajamas Media tried to spin this tangential, guilt-by-association meme a few days ago and local anti-Obama con John Ruberry spit that same baloney back up shortly thereafter. In a much more widely read forum, Richard “Unity, Schmunity” Cohen decided a day later to follow suit by playing the Six Degrees game in the Washington Post. (Keep in mind that, although Republican, Sec. Cohen worked in Bill Clinton’s Administration and is now part of the hypothetical “Unity ‘08″ effort which may culminate in a presidential campaign by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg — more on that in a bit post is here. Either or both of those tidbits may explain his desire to suckerpunch Obama as he did.)
Are these people all really so arrogant as to think that if they simply say something often enough that people will buy it, even if it has no actual import because the connections are so weak?
Sen. Obama attends the church, but that’s the extent of the connection…
The magazine is published by the church’s pastor’s daughters, yes, but Sen. Obama does not work for the publication.
The magazine gives out the annual award, yes, but Sen. Obama does not decide who should be nominated for the award nor decide who it should ultimately be given to.
He didn’t even hand out the award and wasn’t even in the same room (maybe not even in the same city) when it was given out.
Heck, even darling of the right Sen. Joe Lieberman (who left the Democratic Party and has recently gone about endorsing Republican candidates) would somehow be “more” guilty then Sen. Obama in this hackneyed guilt-by-assocation game since Sen. Lieberman told us he had respect for Farrakhan and would like to meet and talk with him during the 2000 presidential race.
Maybe the con-partisans thought, by laying this groundwork now, they could peel Jewish support away from the Dems if Sen. Obama should earn the nomination. If so, that effort may have been abjectly futile as this week many Jewish national leaders came out strongly against the vicious, racist, bigoted smears being spread about Sen. Obama, his upbringing and his faith.
But, for whatever reason (narrow-minded partisanship, dislike for his values, disagreement with his record, or even, sadly, perhaps some latent sense of racism) it is clear that these partisan conservatives loathe the very idea of Senator Obama as President Obama. Based on these people’s pure, unadulterated hate for him they’re willing to play the fool, writing and publicizing utter nonsense, to try and tarnish him somehow.
Using their exact same logic, each of these people is guilty of the same sorts of “bad” associations.
Take Ms. Eaton for example…
Ms. Eaton worked for Alan Keyes’ Senate run as an out-of-state carpetbagger. Alan Keyes is a staunch conservative who hates gay people, even going so far as to very publicly tongue-lash and ostracize his own gay daughter.
Before her career as a partisan, Ms. Eaton also went to college at Missouri Baptist University.
Like Alan Keyes, there’s another conservative fellow out there named Rev. Fred Phelps who despises gay people. Plus, Mr. Phelps leads Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, the state next to Missouri (where Ms. Eaton went to a Baptist college). In fact, Mr. Phelps is so adamantly against gay people that he has led his congregation to protest military funerals because those soldiers defend America and there are gay people living in America.
Therefore, obviously, Ms. Eaton hates gay people and would protest at military funerals to prove it, no matter what she says. (Given the similarities between her and Mr. Phelps, one can easily ignore what she says since she’s clearly in the wrong anyway.)
Of course, the above is purely for demonstration purposes only. I take Ms. Eaton at her word when she says she rejects the Phelps-brand of rabid and vile hate. I also don’t think she’s racist — at least not outwardly so. But, from the pattern of her writing on this and other topics, she is clearly vacuous and ill-informed with little ambition to actually learn anything new, especially if it may counter her narrow, partisan view of the world. But, using Ms. Eaton’s own brand of cracker jack logic and guilt-by-association, it’s really very easy (and very silly) to prove just how “__insert_synonym_for_’bad’_here__” she really is.
….What’s next? TIME Magazine conservative columnists and CNN conservative guests discussing whether or not Sen. Obama picked his nose in kindergarten and how that clearly demonstrates he hates kittens and puppies?
Well, maybe that thought is too ridiculous, eh? Just remember: Obama, Farrakhan. All you need to do is say the two names. C’mon: Obama, Farrakhan.
Obama…
Farrakhan…
…
…
Black…
PS: Yes, Sen. Obama has repudiated Farrakhan’s past spiteful remarks.
Check out Timmy Baldermann’s issues page. Who wrote that? Seriously, I think a 6th grader could have done a better job.
Timmeh’s issues, copied and pasted verbatim. My commentary in italics.
Immigration
America is a nation of immigrants. I support people who follow the law and become American citizens legally. However, I do not support giving amnesty or driver’s licenses to people who broke our nation’s laws.
Timmy – Driver’s licenses? Do you realize that you are running for federal office? Did you buy Immigration Talking Points for Dummies?
Taxes
I believe the only way we can fund our priorities and pay down the national debt is by keeping taxes low and fostering economic growth. The American people should be allowed to keep more of what they earn, which is why the tax cuts must be made permanent.
Tim, Tim, Tim. Once again, I take back that mean comment about Immigration Talking Points for Dummies. You clearly invested in Republican Talking Points for Kids!!! Now with MORE STICKERS!!! So, you propose funding our priorities and paying down the national debt by sticking with a tax cut for the top 1% that caused the deficit to spike? Maybe you want to get us out of Iraq. I’ve heard we can save a lot of money if we got out of there…
Health Care
I believe health care considerations should be focused on treating someone’s illness now rather than waiting until the illness has progressed before spending money for treatment.
I also believe America needs a more uniform system that would standardize data and electronic medical records. This type of system would provide a better overall picture to medical professionals of what is working and what is not.
Finally, I strongly favor associations being given the power to develop health plans across state lines. This gives small businesses a chance to compete for discounts that larger organizations receive.
This is, believe it or not, Timmy’s most clearly thought out, most original description of his platform. Form associations across state lines to get a discount for business. Treat an illness now, not later. So, how is someone without insurance going to get that treatment now? Are you proposing Universal Health Care? Answer – see the small business proposal.
Iraq
Serving as a police chief in a city close to Chicago-which has been on many terrorists’ hit lists-has given me significant insight as to what needs to be done to protect the American people. We cannot turn Iraq over to terrorists so they can plot future attacks against the United States. The surge is working and the terrorists are losing support. I believe the problem in Iraq is political in nature. The Sunnis, Shiite and the Kurds must feel included with a stake in the future of Iraq.
OMG!!!! Chicago Ridge is so totally on Osama Bin Laden’s hit list!!! And the Iraqi’s totally planned all those terror attacks around the world!!! The surge is totally working!!! Just keep paying everybody off so they can build up their ammo stocks for the civil war!!! The Sunni, the Shi’ia, and the Kurds need to get along?! Amazing insight, chief!!
Education
My experience as president of the New Lenox School Board gives me great insight as our nation is about to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law. Before the No Child Left Behind act, federal education policy focused on access to education, now the focus has shifted to accountability. There are however, flaws that I believe must be addressed before the law is reauthorized.
And those flaws are…? Care to fill the rest of us in? Or is that double secret information?
And that’s all folks. There are 5 issues pending in the 11th Congressional District. And none of them include your standard GOP talking points on Guns, Gays, and Abortion. No mention of Peotone. No mention of crime (and this guy is supposed to be a cop).
Man, corrupt and incompetent. It’s no wonder Jerry Weller handpicked him.
Oh dear… I’ll have more on this race shortly. (I keep saying that, but the primary’s coming up so I should probably finish up my thoughts on this race soon, eh?)
Basics are that State Rep. Carolyn Krause is retiring from the 66th State House district covering all or part of Elk Grove, Arlington Heights, Mt. Prospect, etc. This office is the western counterpart to freshman State Sen. Dan Kotowski’s 33rd State Senate district.
Running for this open seat on the Dem side we have Vietnam Veteran and business executive Mark Walker, a great guy and a friend of mine (that’d be a disclosure, btw).
On the Repub side we have Elk Grove Trustee Chris Prochno versus Arlington Hts resident Laura Bartell.
Turns out that Ms. Bartell is alleging Ms. Prochno is turning to “negative campaign tactics” in the weeks ahead of their primary, which if true is unfortunate given that these communities are all rather close to each other and, in the main, neighborly:
Dear Supporters,
The Bartell campaign has received word that Christine Prochno has engaged in negative campaign tactics including anonymous negative phone calls.
Laura Bartell and her campaign absolutely reject Prochno’s smear attempts. Laura has decided to run her campaign on the principles Prochno apparently finds abhorrent: honesty and competency. We believe that the voters of the 66th district are more interested in a campaign that offers property tax relief, better schools, ethics and immigration reform than a campaign who can only offer mysterious calls promising to divide the Republican coalition in our area.
For more information on Laura and her campaign, please visit [the Bartell site]
A propos of nothing, the previous one-day record for overall visits to this blog had been 390 visitors; set last summer.
Yesterday, 382 folks enjoyed a single post on the comedic stylings of John Bambenek, filer of completely inane frivolous legal threats based solely on his myopic misreading of laws. That one post, at 382 reads (plus however many unrecorded views), nearly totalled the entirety of the previous one day record. (The overall site visits yesterday totalled 772 on the strength of a link from Kagro X, obliterating that old record.)
Call it the Bambi Effect: Mr. Bambenek’s moronic misinterpretation of the law and regulatory boards’ legal decisions is so spectacularly stupid that his idiocy was actually able to not just spike traffic to this blog, but blow the previous record out of the water.
Congrats on that dubious distinction, Bambi.
Now back to our regularly scheduled debunking of conservative lunacy.
