Marathon Pundit

One of Little Marathon Pundit's favorite Spongebob Squarepants episodes involves something called "Opposites Day." And that what it is with the latest edition of Pajamas Media Blog Week in Review. Blogger Ed Driscoll is the host--he usually produces the podcast--and regular host Austin Bay is the guest.

Ed calls Austin, who was in Abu Dhabi when the podcast was recorded, and he talks about his trip to Afghanistan--where he "Greets the Strong Horse." Retired Colonel Bay discusses his trip to the Dubai Air Show, where surprising, civilian aircraft got more attention than the military planes.

The importance of military blogs is also brought up.

Listen to or download the podcast here. Or do what I do and subscribe for free via iTunes.

Technorati tags: war on terror iPod itunes podcast blog Pajamas Media Military war on terror milblogs أبو ظبي Afghanistan افغانستان

Chicago Heights native David Broder put out a great column yesterday--before Obama whiffed, just like Hillary two weeks prior--his turn on driver's licences for illegals.

As the Democratic presidential race finally gets down to brass tacks, two issues are becoming paramount. But only one of them is clearly on the table.

That is the issue of illegal immigration. A very smart Democrat, a veteran of the Clinton administration, told me that he expects it to be a key part of any Republican campaign and that he is worried about his party's ability to respond.

I think he has good reason to worry. The failure of the Democratic Congress, like its Republican predecessor, to enact comprehensive immigration reform, including improved border security, has left individual states and local communities to struggle with the problem. Some are showing a high degree of tolerance and flexibility. Others are being more punitive. But all of them are running into controversy.

The other iceberg facing the Democratic Party, according to Broder, is Bill Clinton. Assuming Hillary wins the Democratic nomination, we could be looking at a dual presidency--the first since the post-stroke part of Woodrow Wilson second term. After HRC stumbled over her licence for illegals question, Bubba had to step in and assist in her damage control.

Will we have four--or eight years of this?

Related post:

Hillary victim of a "gotcha" moment in Philly debate

Technorati tags: democrats elections 2008 Hillary Clinton Hillary Bill Clinton Obama Barack Obama DMV illegal immigration immigration

I missed last night's Democratic presidential debate, on such occasions, I turn to a blogger whose opinion I trust to see what I missed. Roger L. Simon is my choice, and he hits Barack Obama hard--view the YouTube video first, though.

I caught most of the Democratic debate tonight and I was astonished by how unprepared Obama seemed to be on the most obvious question of the evening - how he stood on illegal aliens having driver's licenses. This is the very subject he had used to nail Hillary Clinton at the previous debate, yet his answer to this same question this time was, if anything, more evasive than Hillary's at the other debate.

Surely his handlers must have prepared him for this question. Otherwise they are rank incompetents. So there can only be one conclusion: Barack Obama does not really want to be President.

At least that was what was going through my head while watching the rest of the desultory performance by all concerned. (Only Biden is able to really answer things directly, agree with him of not.)

Now I can't say I totally blame Obama, because he must know what we all do - that he is way too inexperienced for the job at a time like this. During the last week, when the press was making a big deal out of Hillary stumbling, he must have been wrestling in his unconscious with the possibility that he actually could win - a surprising development under the circumstances. The result: he sabotaged himself at the most obvious moment. You don't need to be Dr. Freud to figure that one out.

And exactly who is Obama trying to impress when he brings up his record in the Illinois State Senate? It just reminds people that he was a minor player in the scheme of things just three years ago. Also, regular readers of this blog are well aware that Illinois is a very corrupt state, one that esteemed political scientist Larry Sabato recently called part of the "holy trinity" of corruption. Louisiana and New Jersey are the other partners in crime, according to Sabato.

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics Illinois New Jersey Louisiana Biden

That's just the beat of time-the beat that must go on
If you been trying for years-then we already heard your song
The Clash, "Death or Glory," 1979

Although none of them were Ronald Reagan conservatives, from 1977 until 2003, Illinois' governor's mansion was occupied by Republicans. Illinois' state senate was contolled by the Republican Party as late as that same year.

How do we take back the state?

One way is to not find candidates with leadership skills--but no political experience. Someone like Greg Ballard who pulled off one of the biggest political upsets ever by unseating two term Democratic incumbent Bart Peterson in the Indianapolis mayoral race. Ballard was outspent 30-1 by Peterson, but still came out on top.

From the Louisville Courier-Journal, with a hat tip to Bill Baar at Illinoize.

Ballard, a 52-year-old retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, capitalized on public discontent over property tax increases, a hike this year in the Marion County income tax and the city’s crime rate.

"I've got more experience than most mayors going in based on my Marine Corps experience, my corporate experience and small business experience," Ballard said today. "I study leadership all the time, and so I have no problems at all leading this city."

From a later Courier-Journal article:

City-County Councilman Robert Lutz, a Republican, said Ballard isn't "beholden to anyone or to any law firm that lined his pocket" in the campaign.

"He's an independent guy," Lutz said. "I don't know what he's going to do. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if he made some decisions that won't make the powers that be happy, on either side of the aisle."

Only one Indianapolis law firm held a fund-raiser for Ballard--no one thought the incumbent would lose.

Oh, and the Republican Party won control of the Indianapolis City Council too.

Illinois has twice the population of the Hoosier State, so there has to be a couple of Ballard-types here. Looking to the business world--many Fortune 500 companies are headquartered here--makes sense, but it would be have to be someone who didn't have a toe in Illinois' sleazy politics. That's why Ron Gidwitz, CEO of Helene Curtis, went nowhere with his 2006 gubernatorial campaign. As for Jim Oberweis of Oberweis Dairy, well Jim, you're a political gadfly.

But maybe a corporate leader isn't the answer. After all, Ballard was just a colonel.

Besides the tax and crime concerns of Indianapolis voters, one of the reasons Ballard pulled off a surprise win was that he a man with proven leadership skills--but he wasn't a professional politician. His inexperience became an asset.

Illinois is being run by professional politicians right now. Everything is going great, isn't it?

Technorati tags: republican elections politics illinois Indianapolis indiana Greg Ballard

Supposedly Chicago White Sox outfielder "Shoeless" Joe Jackson was confronted by a young fan who heard he'd been indicted on conspiracy charges for his role in the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal who said "Say it ain't so, Joe."

Well, as far as so-called home run king Barry Bonds goes, it is so--he's been indicted for conspiracy and obstruction of justice today for lying to a federal grand jury about not abusing steroids.

It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

A few months ago, Jack Cashill wrote about Barry Bonds and the "anything goes" culture of the San Francisco Bay area. While baseball fans around the world were disgusted by Bonds allegedly-chemically enhanced chase of the legendary Hank Aaron, the folks of the bay area cheered him on.

Hat tip to Third Wave Dave for the Cashill article.

UPDATE November 16 11:10AM: Pat Hickey in the comments brought up this Bonds bile, involving former Chicago White Sox slugger, and Gary, Indiana native Ron Kittle, who had an unfriendly encounter with Bonds in 1993. As he recounts in his book Tales from the White Sox Dugout:

The setting was the visitors' clubhouse at the Chicago Cubs' Wrigley Field home in 1993, when Bonds’ San Francisco Giants had come to town. Kittle, by then retired from the game, had asked Bonds to sign two jerseys Bonds had worn in games, so that Kittle could auction them for Indiana Sports Charities, his philanthropy helping kids with cancer.

I paid about $110 of my own money for them, so they could be auctioned off at the golf outing. I did that all the time for stars like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Derek Jeter and Roger Clemens. When I tell them how their autographs help the cause, every player gladly signs -- with one exception.

I walked up to Bonds at his locker in the Wrigley Field visitors' clubhouse, introduced myself and said, ‘Barry, if you sign these, they'll bring in a lot of money for kids who need help.

Bonds stood up, looked me in the eye and said, “I don't sign for white people.” If lightning hits me today, I will swear those were his exact words. Matt Williams and other Giants were in the room and they heard what Bonds said.

I stood there for a minute, and the veins in my neck were popping. I've only been that mad a few times in my life. I was going to beat the (heck) out of him, really kick his (butt), but Williams saw what was happening, so he came over and got between us. Matt said, "Ron, that's just the way he is."

Bonds. What a tool.

Technorati tags: baseball mlb sports history law barry bonds san francisco giants crime San Francisco

A year ago he was Illinois' most powerful Republican--of course that's not saying much. This afternoon, former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert of Plano announced he'll be resigning his congressional seat before the end of this year.

Look for the Democrats to make a move to pick off his seat. Hastert's suburban-rural district leans Republican, but the after last year's success--particularly in Illinois--the Dems are cocky.

Technorati tags: Congress politics Illinois Hastert Republican

Barack Obama on occasion boasts how he connected with southern Illinois voters during his 2004 senate run.

During that campaign, Obama made a promise to revive the moribund coal mining industry in that part of the state.

Shortly after getting sworn in as a senator, Obama had his chance to do something. A bill called the Clear Skies Act would've loosened emission standards of power plants burning coal--and its passage would've been a shot in the arm for the Illinois coal.

He was probably just polishing the "Obama Brand," the new senator publicly toyed with voting for it. But Obama voted the party line--and if he didn't break a campaign promise, he certainly let down some southern Illinois voters.

Two years later, Obama had a chance to make good on his pledge. From a July Washington Post article:

After co-sponsoring legislation earlier this year for billions of dollars in subsidies for liquefied coal, Obama more recently began qualifying his support in ways that have left both environmentalists and coal industry officials unsure where he stands. His shift has helped shape this month's Senate debate over how to reduce both dependence on foreign oil and carbon dioxide emissions; on Tuesday, he voted against one proposal to boost liquefied coal and for a more narrowly worded one. Both failed.

More broadly, Obama's contortions on coal point to the limits of the role he likes to assume, that of a unifier who can appeal across traditional lines and employ a "new kind of politics" to solve problems. In reaching out to the coal industry, some observers say, he may have been trying to show that he is a different sort of Democrat, but the gesture had the look of old-style politicking and put him in a corner, where he wound up alienating some on both sides of the issue.

Some in Illinois view its vast, but heavy-on-the-sulphur brand of coal as black gold.

In Nevada there is real gold to mine. Which is leading Obama into more mining trouble.

Obama opposes repealing a 135 year-old law that allows companies to mine for gold and other minerals on public lands without paying the federal government for the usage--environmentalists call it mis-uage--of the land. The mining industry of course opposses the bill, as does Billy Vassiliadis, a Nevada power broker and lobbyist for mining interests.

And he's an advisor to the Obama campaign.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), son of a miner, opposes the bill too.

Both the Obama campaign and Vassiliadis say they've never discussed the bill, which would compel mining firms to pay royalties for the use of the land, as well as force them to pay up for clean-up efforts, install enviromenntal controls on mining, and ban bargain sales of public land to miners.

In addition to oppposing the royalty requirements on the mining firms, Obama said the bill, "places a significant burden on the mining industry and could have a significant impact on jobs."

Is this what Obama's "new kinds of politics" is supposed to be?

Related post:

Obama and the Laborers' Union Ed Smith

Technorati tags: democrats elections Barack Obama Obama Politics Senate Illinois Nevada Harry Reid mining coal environment

MJ and Jake (behind the camera) of Freedom Folks are back after a hiatus with another Blogs for Borders vBurst. This one is not for the little ones, because it involves a physical attack, one in which anti-illegal immigration protester Dennis Slater received a nasty cut that required 12 staples to his head.

MJ catches up to Robert Spencer and interviews the author and blog host after his DePaul University appearance last month. Spencer praises bloggers and their role in bringing attention to the illegal immigration problem, telling MJ, "The blogosphere is the primary hope in this struggle."

In my Pajamas Blog Week in Review post from Saturday, I wrote that the illegial immigration issue has come to the forefront of the political arena "from the ground up." Freedom Folks are among the ground troops who've moved the story.

Technorati tags: immigration politics illegal immigration dennis slater Robert Spencer DePaul video

Regular visitors to this blog can't help but notice that I've posting a lot lately on the Green Party. The group is being infiltrated by radicals, and there is no clearer evidence of that than the potential Green Party presidential run of former Georgia Democratic congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.

McKinney hasn't officially announced her run, but she'll be on the Illinois Green Party ballot as presidential candidate. And she's hoping to qualify for federal matching funds, as she explains here.

According to Fox News, Georgia state legislator Mike Jacobs wants to see the Cynthia McKinney Parkway revert to its original name, Memorial Drive. The road runs through DeKalb County near Atlanta.

Jacobs explains:

If had I had to pick any road in the state of Georgia to strip the name from, this would be it. The original name of the road is Memorial Drive, which is named for the men and women who died protecting our freedom.

Who’s more deserving? I think the question answers itself.… [And] in light of the fact that her commitment to the state of Georgia is nil, we should re-double our efforts to remove her name from a state road.

More from Fox News:

McKinney, Georgia’s first black congresswoman, has long been known as an outspoken and controversial politician. In 2002, she lost her primary bid for re-election after she suggested that members of the Bush administration had advance notice of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She won back her old seat in 2004, but she was defeated again in the Democratic primary in 2006.

That last defeat came five months after McKinney struck a Capitol police officer who asked to see her identification before she was allowed to enter a House building. McKinney said the officer, who was white, did it because she was "a female black congresswoman."

Lovely.

The proposal was originally introduced in the Georgia state legislature last year. At that time, Rep. Len Walker said about McKinney's time in Congress being "marked by controversies and rhetoric that has brought embarrassment to the state of Georgia."

In response, McKinney's campaign manager at the time, John Evans, dismissed Walker's claim that McKinney caused embarrassment to Georgia, saying:

He must be talking about white folks or uppity black folks.

You think that the Greens would be running away from McKinney, but that's not the case. Here's what one commenter said about my statement, "To the chagrin of many supporters of the Green Party, yesterday I pointed out McKinney's ties to the Greens."

Why would this be to the chagrin of Greens...? Most Greens that I've talked to are pretty enthusiastic about her campaign.

Troubling, very troubling.

Here's what Michelle Malkin has to say about the renaming proposal:

It takes a lot of cleanser to erase an unhinged legacy. Good luck, Georgia.

Related posts:

Police brutalizer Cynthia McKinney to lead protest of police brutality
Green Party makes political threat against Rep. Schakowsky
Uh-oh. Green Party candidates multiply in Illinois
Cynthia McKinney and the Greens
Massachusetts Green Party: Enough to make you puke
Still in the 1960s: 2008 Green Party convention coming to Chicago: UPDATED
Illinois gov race--Rich Whitney: What is Green once was Red

Technorati tags: Green Party Cynthia McKinney politics 2008 election democrats Georgia atlanta racism

Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist got a rock in its trick or treat bag on Halloween, courtesy of a federal jury that ordered the hate-church to pay $11 million for breaking a federal anti-funeral picketing law and invasion of privacy.

The church doesn't have the money to pay the plaintiff, the father of a soldier who was killed in Iraq--Phelps' church protested at the son's funeral.

From the Wichita Eagle:

Westboro Baptist Church has taken an unusual legal move by asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a Maryland lawsuit and a Nebraska criminal case to protect the church's right to protest at military funerals.

The Topeka church believes the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality. The church argues the Supreme Court should step in because the pending lower court cases could inhibit its members' protests, which they consider an expression of their religious faith.

More...

And one of the church's leaders, Shirley Phelps-Roper, is facing criminal charges of flag mutilation and negligent child abuse tied to a protest at a Bellevue, Neb., soldier's funeral in June.

Ronald Collins, a scholar at the First Amendment Center, said the church's Supreme Court filing seems bizarre to him because no appellate courts have evaluated the lawsuit verdict and the criminal case has not even gone to trial. He said it's unusual to combine two different cases from different states and jurisdictions in one motion. "I can't imagine the Supreme Court doing anything with this," Collins said.

Related posts:

Slain Marine's father wants Westboro Baptist Church property

Phelps' church loses lawsuit, owes fallen Marine's family $2.9 million: UPDATED

My Kansas Kronikles: Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church

Technorati tags: Kansas gay military Fred Phelps westboro baptist church War on Terror Maryland Topeka law legal SCOTUS Nebraska

Big hat tip to Billy Dennis at Peoria Pundits, whose done what I should be doing by signing up for e-mail alerts from each of the presidential candidates. Dennis made this post on November 11.

Illinois voters might still be asking "Who is Ron Paul" on February 5.

If we don’t get hundreds upon hundreds of signatures immediately in Illinois Ron Paul will have no delegates to send to the National Convention.

PLEASE HELP by doing the following:

1. We have delegates but many of those delegates HAVE NOT sent Jason Acebel their forms. If you are a delegate and HAVE NOT sent in your form contact Jason ASAP at ilpetitions@gmail.com and let him know when your form will be mailed.

2. If you can take time off work or give 2-5 full days to gathering hundreds of signatures email Jason at ilpetitions@gmail.com with your phone number and best time to call. THIS IS MISSION CRITICAL. Please DO NOT contact Jason if you cannot give this amount of time. Many of you are gathering a few signatures and that is fine. Please keep up the good work but unless we get some major help soon Ron Paul will not have delegates. Jason does not have time to respond to a lot of emails. We need at least 1 person in each of the 19 districts to give us 2-5 days to get the job in that district done.

3. If you can commit full time for 1-3 days to make phone calls for Jason Acebel to call our delegates please email Jason at ilpetitions@gmail.com

Mike McHugh
National Ballot Access Coordinator
Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee

Not a good sign. Paul has a core group of very dedicated supporters, but is that all he has?

Technorati tags: Ron Paul republican 2008 elections politics illinois Illinois Primary

Abraham Lincoln has shrunk over the years. Not his height of course, his physical size is one of the few things Lincoln buffs, Lincoln scholars, and Lincoln-haters agree on.

Author Andrew Ferguson set out to find the new and diminished 21st century Lincoln and writes what he found in Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America.

As he writes in his foreword:

From the enormous figure of the past he's been reduced to a hobbyist's eccentricity, a charming obsession shared by a self selected subculture, like quilting or Irish step dancing. He's been detached from the national patrimony, if we can have a national patrimony any longer. He's no longer our common possession. That earlier Lincoln, that larger Lincoln, seems to be slipping away, a misty figure, incapable of rousing a reaction from anyone but buffs.

But a newspaper headline caught Ferguson's eye, one about opposition to a Lincoln stature in Richmond. Lincoln mattered to these southerners.

And so the adventure begins. Ferguson makes a rendezvous with the the anti-Lincoln group in Richmond as the statue unveiling looms over the former Confederate capital. He also attends a couple of Lincoln conference, where Ferguson comes to the conclusion during a Lincoln symposium, one with a decided liberal bent, that the participants believed "If Lincoln had been born 125 years later, he could have been Bill Moyers."

When Ferguson reconnects with an anti-Lincolnite, he's sarcastically asked, "Did you learn about the greatness of the great man?"--Ferguson counters with, "They think he was a wimp."

"Jesus, even I don't think he was a wimp" was the reply he got.

Naturally Ferguson spends a lot of time in Springfield, and meets with Julie Cellini, secretary of the board of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation. The author doesn't overlook her powerful lobbyist husband, Bill, and his controversial business dealings with the Abraham Lincoln Hotel and downstate casino.

As it's hard to write about Illinois' state capital without bringing up politics, the corruption of sleaze is not overlooked either. And he doesn't stop there...

Ferguson recalls a conversation with a professor who specializes in the 16th president about the "impossibility" of getting jobs for his graduate students at Illinois Historic Preservation agency and the state library, saying "These are good scholars who would kill for these positions. But the jobs always went to the party hacks."

Ferguson was in attendance at the 2005 grand opening of the Lincoln Library, and goes behind to scene to tell the story of the story-tellers--and the dreaded "D" word--Disney--figures in prominently in this part of the tale.

Ferguson makes his way to New Salem, the Chicago Historical Society, a Chicago Thai restaurant with a Lincoln shrine, a Lincoln re-enactors convention, Lincoln's birthplace site in Kentucky, Gettysburg, and he even catches a musical rendition of Lincoln's life in southern Indiana.

Don't laugh: Each summer, Medora, North Dakota puts on a similar show for Theodore Roosevelt. David Soul, who appeared in the 1970s TV cop show "Starsky and Hutch," is an alumnus of that musical.

The author finds the resolve, something that I didn't do when I visited Springfield earlier this year, to stop in at the Museum of Funeral Customs--where there is of course a Lincoln exhibit.

"Death is only the beginning" is the museum's motto. Perhaps I'll drop by the next time I'm in Springfield. Or maybe the time after that...

If you've read this far, you've probably made it through at least one Lincoln book, this book should be your next.

And it's nice to know Lincoln still matters, despite the multi-front attempts to bring him down that will continue long past the sleep-aid drug Rozerem fades away.

Related posts:

Andrew Ferguson video on his new book, Land of Lincoln
Thirty hours in Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois
Bush to kick off Lincoln bicentennial celebration next Feb. 12
Abraham Lincoln birthplace site
Abraham Lincoln birthplace site's log cabin
"My earliest recollection is of the Knob Creek place"
I found this bit of history in downtown Chicago today
Lincoln Bicentennial Commission playing with Lincoln Logs
Illinois lagging in Lincoln bicentennial celebrations

Technorati tags: Abraham Lincoln history Americana Illinois books Kentucky Chicago Richmond virginia Springfield politics corruption

A little more than three years ago, former DePaul professor Thomas Klocek's professional life was turned upside down when the 15 year adjunct was essentially fired from the school after defending Israel from some spurious attacks by some Muslim students there.

Klocek, a Roman Catholic, had a exemplary record in his decade and a half teaching at the Chicago Catholic university.

Here's an update on the legal front of the Klocek case:

Six counts have survived motions to dismiss, four of them defamation claims, and two involving invasion of privacy. Klocek's legal team at Mauck and Baker is well stocked with evidence to substantiate those claims.

A trial date is expected to be assigned at the end of this month, with the trial expected to last two weeks. From what I hear, Cook County courts are backlogged, but depending on the judge's calendar, the trial should begin within six months.

DePaul is playing hardball with Klocek and his legal team, making the ridiculous request to submit the former professor to three days of psychological testing.

To me, well, that's nuts. But we're talking about academics here, so no one should be surprised.

From Andy Norman, one of Klocek's attorneys:

We have a motion to dismiss two of the four affirmative defenses defendants have raised. Affirmative defenses are legal statements made by the defendants that say, in effect, that even if we prove our case against the defendants for defamation and invasion of privacy that there are reasons that the defendants still should prevail and we should lose.

In short, their affirmative defenses are (1) DePaul is not responsible for the DePaulia, which is independently run by students; (2) DePaul was permitted to defame Prof. Klocek because it was part of defendants' respective jobs to inform DePaul administrators, professors and students about the event of September 15, 2004; and DePaul's efforts to remedy the problem Prof. Klocek caused; (3) We made Prof. Klocek a public figure in March 2005 when we had the protest on the Lincoln Park campus and that the defendants cannot be responsible for defaming Prof. Klocek after that time because we caused him to be a public figure; (4) All the statements the defendants made about Prof. Klocek were substantially true and, therefore, not defamatory or invasion of privacy. We have moved to dismiss ## (1) and (2) on the grounds that the defenses are not plead clearly enough to allow us to answer, and a hearing on our motion is set for 12/18/07 at 9:30 am. We have answered ## (3) and (4) with denials.

Oh, and please don't forget to sign the Reinstate Professor Thomas Klocek at DePaul University petition. Just 17 signatures are needed to reach the goal of 2000.

Related posts:

Sept 15: Second anniversary of the beginning of the Thomas Klocek affair

Technorati tags: Chicago illinois college education news DePaul Thomas Klocek Catholic free speech law

Tom Mannis has an a great video up at The Bench where some of my congresscritter Jan Schakowsky's fellow travelers on the Left, in Mannis' words, got together at "a reunion in Chicago of some aging S.D.S. alumni, socialists, and self-proclaimed communists."

And Green Party members.

They have targeted the Evanston Democrat for defeat in the November general election--which is a good thing. The Greens are a menacing and nasty group, and they're flying under the radar wrapped in their cuddly, "Save the Whales" image they've cultivated over the years.

Anyway, in Tom's video, there's a guy speaking who perfectly exemplifies the Greens. His long gray hair is turned up into a bun--like his party, he's hiding something.

Because anti-war Schakowksy isn't anti-war enough for them, this grey-Greenie urges the other people in the room, including the fidgeting moderator, to choose a Green Party ballot in the February primary, and then says, "This is not a vote against Jan Schakowsky--it's a threat."

It's enjoyable to see Schakowsky feel some heat from people other than Republicans. She needs to go, but it'll take a lot of money--and a couple of election cycles--to topple her. And word needs to spread through Illinois' Ninth Congressional District that this self proclaimed "Fighter for families" is a Leftist extremist.

Certified loon Cynthia McKinney will also be on that February 5 Green Party ballot in Illinois--as a candidate for president.

Related posts:

Liberals laud book by ex-con husband of Rep. Jan Schakowsky

Police brutalizer Cynthia McKinney to lead protest of police brutality

Uh-oh. Green Party candidates multiply in Illinois

Cynthia McKinney and the Greens

Massachusetts Green Party: Enough to make you puke

Still in the 1960s: 2008 Green Party convention coming to Chicago: UPDATED

Illinois gov race--Rich Whitney: What is Green once was Red

Technorati tags: Green Party Cynthia McKinney politics 2008 election Illinois Schakowsky Jan Schakowsky Congress democrats

With the memory of a jail stay that resulted from a drunken driving incident to fresh in her fertile mind, the socialite is doing what she does best--draw attention to herself--and this time, drunken elephants as well.

It's a big problem in India. Last month, six naughty elephants broke into a farm in India, and quenched their thirst by guzzling some home-made rice beer. Acting like college students on a Saturday night, the pachyderms raised hell for a while, until they uprooted an electrical pole--which electrocuted the elephants.

Here's what Hilton says, courtesy of AP:

The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them.

More...

There would have been more casualties if the villagers hadn't chased them away. And four elephants died in a similar way three years ago. It is just so sad.

And here is an incident in 2002 where six people were trampled to death by intoxicated elephants.

CORRECTION Nov. 14 9:19 PM Drunken elephants are indeed a problem, but apparently Paris Hilton has never spoken out against drunken pachyderms.

Thanks for the link: Pajamas Media

Technorati tags: भारत elephants India nature wildlife Paris Hilton rice beer

The nearest cornfield from my home is probably twenty miles away--such farms are in a holding pattern until the right price is reached to turn the land into a town home development.

But if corn prices keep going up maybe keeping those farms up and running makes sense--that is if the ethanol boom continues. It may not.

The arguments for ethanol are that it decreases our demand for foreign oil, it saves marginal farms from going under by increasing corn prices, which trickles over to other crops, and best of all, it offers to save dying small towns with the construction of ethanol refineries nearby.

The negatives are clear: The net energy gain received from ethanol are minimal, refining corn to get to the end product takes a lot of energy--some scientists even claim ethanol is a net energy loser--in short, it takes more energy to produce ethanol than we get out of it.

Marginal land, such as this sandy cornfield in western Kansas which would be better off producing wheat--or nothing at all--require massive amounts of irrigated water to be viable. Increased corn prices have driven up food costs for people, and animals--cattle feed is more expensive now--which drives up beef prices. Beef tallow is an important ingredient in soap, and guess what, that's driving up soap prices. Palm oil is being imported as a substitute...which effects our balance of trade.

Farm land is pricier now, because, well you know....

But what about those ethanol refineries? When I was in Kansas this summer, I heard a local radio station broadcasting a speech from a chamber of commerce type explaining when an ethanol refinery is built near a small town, that means that a restaurant that closed a few years ago can re-open, high school kids have reason to stay in town when they graduate, town services improve....that sort of thing.

Well, according to a Tuesday New York Times article, those rural plants aren't so popular any more.

"It's like the dot-com industry," said Anne Yoder, who is pressing to stop plans for an ethanol plant outside Topeka, Kan., and describes herself
"not at all" as an activist but as "an ordinary soccer mom."

"When ethanol first came along there was so much promise," she said. "Maybe that's starting to trickle off."

This spring, when Ms. Yoder first began going door to door to her neighbors to describe her worries about a proposed facility, she expected to be dismissed by the many farmers in her rural county, who presumably would benefit from having a plant nearby to sell their corn.

"But I was shocked by what I heard," she said. "They don’t want it here either. Farmers have been in the business for hundreds of years and what they told me is that they don’t have a limitless supply of water to produce more corn anyway. This isn't as pretty a picture as everyone wants to make it out to be."

And via e-mail, Yoder communicates with other anti-ethanol activists.

Although it has to smell better than a meat processing plant, ethanol facilities also emit an odor, described by Wisconsinites as "like beer but with a metal smell mixed in."

Back to that farm in the picture. I took that photograph just north of the Oklahoma pandhandle--in the heart of the area that was devastated by the Dust Bowl in the 1930s.

Such a catastrophe could happen again--especially if greed takes hold in the dry Great Plains.

Related posts:

My Kansas Kronikles, a 39 Post Series

Corn, ethanol, toilet paper, and Sheryl Crow

Technorati tags: ethanol biofuels corn palm oil Kansas energy farming dust bowl irrigation Great Plains

Anne Brophy is a former McHenry County, Illinois assistant state's attorney who served last year on a humanitarian mission in her role as an Army captain in the reserves.

But when she got back from that mission, she discovered that she had been demoted from that position.

From the Daily Herald:

But her status took a significant hit, going from a high-ranking felony prosecutor's post when she left in July 2006 to that of a "backup" prosecutor in the office's juvenile division when she returned.

"It's an entry-level job," said Brophy, now practicing with a private firm in Crystal Lake.

"I was not offered my position back," she said. "I believe that because of my time in the military, I was put in a position where I had to leave the office."

The McHenry County state's attorney's office disputes those claims, saying Brophy's job assignment had nothing to do with her military commitment

Technorati tags: Veterans Day military illinois jobs armed forces McHenry County law government army

Veterans Day is being observed today. However, 17 veterans are not in a celebratory mood, they are looking for work in the same month that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich proclaimed November "Hire a Vet Month."

Lt. Governor Pat Quinn, who has been at odds of late with his boss, had this to say yesterday:

The governor proclaimed this "Hire a Veteran Month." He didn't say "Fire a Veteran."

A Democrat, Blagojevich has approval ratings that are so low, even President Bush polls better in this Democratic state. He's been particularly inept in fiscal matters, so it should be taken with a grain of salt that "Blago" blames federal cutbacks for being forced to lay off 17 security guards charged with protecting state National Guard facilities. A Swedish firm will keep an eye on those sites instead.

The Chicago "free registration" Tribune has more.

State officials said the displaced veterans have been offered other state jobs, and 12 have accepted. But one of the affected vets said the job he was offered paid $600 less per month, so he turned it down.

Army Lt. Col. Alicia Tate-Nadeau, a spokeswoman for the Illinois National Guard, adds that security guards didn't meet federal requirements to carry firearms, which one vet who lost his job, National Guard Staff Sgt. Bob Clingen, to say, "It's ludicrous that they would even say that, when you're talking about veterans."

Lt. Governor Quinn is a strong supporter of Illinois veterans.

Thanks for the link: Third Wave Dave

Technorati tags: Veterans Day military politics Blagojevich illinois jobs armed forces National Guard

This delicious morsel came to me via e-mail from a great American who prefers to remain anonymous.

Robert Creamer, not to be confused with the famed baseball writer, is now also going by the name of Bob, which I'm sure greatly pleases the more famous Creamer.

About Creamer the Lesser: For many years, he was the executive director of the Illinois Public Action Council. His wife, Jan Schakowsky, now a Democratic Illinois congresswoman who nominally represents me in Washington, was on the board of directors of the self-appointed consumer advocacy group. Creamer got caught kiting checks while running the group--he had done it before and was warned by federal authorities not to do it again. He didn't listen, and got nabbed by the Feds again, which got him a trip to a Federal Prison Camp for five months last year.

Rep. Schakowsky has not been accused of any wrong doing.

Click here for a good explanation of how check-kiting works, and how it undermines the integrity of our financical system.

Creamer has written a book, Listen to Your Mother. Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win. Amazon lists it under "Robert Creamer," but the promotional hoopla mostly refers to him as "Bob."

Hey, I have no problem with an ex-con writing a book or trying to make a living. But I find it quite humorous that a whole bunch of big-time liberals, such as Sen. Dick Durbin, Jim Hightower, Rep. Jim McGovern, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, and a whole bunch of others fawn over Creamer in their endorsements of his book--and none of them mention his five months in prison last year, nor is that part of his life included in the summary of his public life below.

About those five months in the joint. Federal prosecutors had asked for a three year sentence, but US District Judge James B. Moran took mercy on Creamer. Coincidentally, Moran is the father-in-law of Peter Giangreco, a longtime Illinois Democratic insider who like Creamer, worked on Rod Blagojevich's successful 2002 gubernatorial campaign. Giangreco's endorsement is the first one I list.

To his credit, Creamer writes in his book, "I did much of the preliminary work on this book while spending five months on a forced sabbatical at the Federal Prison Camp at Terre Haute, Indiana."

Oh, Lynn Sweet, presumably the politically neutral Washington correspondent for the Chicago Sun-Times, gives an endorsement too.

Bob Creamer has been a consultant to Americans United since its inception in 2005 to successfully fend off the president's plan to privatize Social Security. Bob is one of the top political strategists in the country and he has spent four decades influencing the political and issues debates in America from Springfield, IL to Washington, DC. He has served as a consultant to some of the country's leading politicians and he has helped lead some of the most important issue fights in our nation's history.

Bob has taken all he has learned from his decades of public service and chronicled them in the definitive how-to-manual for how progressives can fight the right wing machine and win. Listen to Your Mother. Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win is the Bible for progressive activists and politicians who want to and are willing to go toe-to-toe with the right over the future of the country. Please join Bob, his wife Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and a host of Senators, Representatives and leading progressive figures for a reception on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 (see details below)

Celebrating the publication of Listen to Your Mother. Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win. Comments appearing in the book (can be found below). Credentialed media will receive one complementary copy of the book. (Note, if you want you are credentialed media, leave your e-mail in the comments section, and I'll give you the e-mail address where you can RSVP.)

You Are Invited
To a Reception Celebrating the Publication of Bob Creamer’s New Book
Listen to Your Mother. Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win

Tuesday November 13, 2007
The Mott House
122 Maryland Ave. NE, Washington
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

New Book Says Progressives Must "Stand Up Straight" to Win

Washington, DC. A new book by veteran political organizer and strategist Robert Creamer says that progressives have an historic opportunity over the next two years to create long-term political realignment in the United States. But to be successful, he argues, progressives must forcefully reassert their commitment to fundamental progressive values and vision for the future.

"Some people think that in order to win, Democrats need to move to the political center by adopting conservative values and splitting the difference between progressive and conservatives positions," says Creamer. "History shows they are wrong. To win the next election and to win in the long term, we need to redefine the political center."

The book, titled Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight. How Progressive Can Win, lays out a broad strategy for progressive victory and describes the tactics needed to win real-world political battles one at a time. In the book’s foreword, "Progressive today need to take direct responsibility for winning." This book lays out a game plan for victory.

As an organizer and strategist, Bob Creamer has won all kinds of improbable victories for progressive causes. This book is must-reading for his fellow progressives who seek to do the same, and to build a more decent world. Pete Giangreco, Democratic Political Consultant, Partner, The Strategy Group

Even before the book’s publication it has received wide acclaim.
If Progressives are ready to move beyond the "Age of W" into a winning era, they can start with Stand Up Straight. This is more than a call to arms. This is a battle plan from one of the best campaign minds in America. Bob Creamer takes his readers from values to votes with practical tactics and insight gathered over decades of experience. This book is for player...spectators need not apply.
Senate Democratic Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL)

If every activist in America read Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight, we could change our country. This book will help bring on the New Progressive Era. It's that good." Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)

Creamer’s book is a one-stop shop for political junkies, from a novice to a know-it-all…While Creamer writes from the progressive Democratic perspective, his chapters on organizing, messaging, demographics and constituency groups comprise a how-to political manual.Chicago Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief, Lynn Sweet

Stand Up Straight is nothing less than the bible for progressive political activists." Brad Woodhouse, President of Americans United for Change

Stand up Straight is a one-stop, nuts-and-bolts manual on how to run a winning campaign – and, in the process, return America to its progressive roots. Filled with learned-in-the-trenches lessons, Creamer's book is a master's class in electoral politics. Ariana Huffington, The Huffington Post

Stand Up Straight is a straight up shot in the arm for progressives. Robert Creamer has successfully turned decades of campaign and organizing skills into an essential handbook for understanding political power, activism, and progressive values. Creamer rightly argues that progressives should embrace their core principles and fight for the real political center in American politics today -- issues like universal health care and pre-K, energy independence, redeployment from Iraq, and a return to sane and sensible national security policies. John Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress and former Chief of Staff to President William J. Clinton

Progress takes more than passion, it requires planning. This book is a blueprint for victory." Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)

Bob Creamer's welcome book rightly instructs progressives to say and fight for what they believe. To Hell with the politics of timidity - a long-term progressive majority is within our reach." Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA)

Creamer's classroom has been (on) the frontlines and trenches of progressive organizing, from the Civil Rights Movement to the battle for children's health care. Here, he shows us how to replace fear with hope, to renew the call to commitment, and to create our society's next historical movement. Congressman John Lewis (D-GA)

A stand-up book from a stand-up guy, showing us how to put progress back into "progressive." From broad vision to minute details, Creamer offers an invaluable manual for those who want to reassert our country's historic egalitarian values of fairness, justice, and opportunity for all. Jim Hightower, best selling author, radio commentator and editor of the Hightower Lowdown.

In Stand Up Straight, Bob Creamer gives citizens an owners manual for Democracy. With a practical eye from his decades of experience, Bob shows how to do the real work of political organizing and win, by promoting deep progressive values. With hundreds of real world examples and step-by-step advice, Stand Up Straight is both inspirational and a serious tool. Thanks, Bob. Wes Boyd, Founder of MoveOn.org

This book is so important because it focuses like a laser on the one element that is essential to progressive victory: courage. With out exception, all of our historic victories have required that people had the courage to act -- and stand up straight. The lessons in Stand up Straight were learned the hard way by generations of Americans fighting for civil rights, women’s rights and important social change. It's a must read for anyone who is passionate about changing America – now. Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, President, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition

Jim Hightower's comment is my favorite. "A stand up book from a stand up guy..."

Try running that one past some bankers who had to deal with Creamers kited checks.

Also, considering the skeleton in her closet known as her husband, it's understandable why Schakowsky wants to bring back the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" to the public airwaves.

Related posts:

Ex-con and congresswoman's husband Creamer taught at Camp Obama

Leftist congresswoman wants to reinstate "Fairness Doctrine"

Thanks for the links:

Reverse Spin
The Bench

Technorati tags: Schakowsky Jan Schakowsky Congress democrats banking politics books liberal Illinois Lloyd Doggett Jim McGovern Robert Creamer Jim Hightower Durbin corruption crime Sherrod Brown John Lewis fairness doctrine

Presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, a Republican congressman from Colorado, was way ahead of the curve on the issue of illegal immigration--scroll down to the Pajamas Media BWIR post--will be the guest tonight on Andrea Shea King's radio show on WDBO 580 AM in Orlando.

You don't live around there? No problem. You can listen in live on the internet. If you can handle more fun, then join the crowd in the chat room.

The show begins at 9pm EST, 8pm Central.

H/T to Third Wave Dave.

Technorati tags: elections 2008 immigration Tom Tancredo Republican Florida Colorado

The stream of corruption charges against the administration of Governor Rod Blagojevich, a Chicago Democrat, continues.

From AP:

Illinois State Police have reopened an investigation into whether a fundraiser illegally pressured a pharmacy owner to donate $25,000 to the campaign fund of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, according to published reports.

State Police spokesman Lt. Scott Compton told the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times that the matter is now an ongoing investigation.

Chicago pharmacy owner Jatin Patel has claimed that fundraiser Harish Bhatt encouraged him in 2005 to make a campaign contribution so his pharmacy would be treated fairly in a Medicaid fraud dispute.

Bhatt's attorney denies the charges, calling them "absolutely false" and "defamatory."
More...

(The Blagojevich) administration has been accused of trading state jobs, appointments and contracts for political contributions. And federal prosecutors have acknowledged they're investigating "serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud" under Blagojevich.

The Associated Press story draws heavily from today's Chicago Tribune report, but free registration is required for the article.

Technorati tags: Illinois Chicago Blagojevich corruption graft Democrats real estate politics

E-Verify is a federal program that allows companies to check the employment eligibility at no charge to them to check the employment eligibility of job applicants.

In short, it's a check to see if a potential employee is in the country legally.

From WorldNet Daily:

Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff recently told a congressional committee he didn't intend to "tolerate interference" by sanctuary cities that would block companies from participating in such programs as "E-Verify," which allows workers' IDs to be checked before hiring.

Chertoff also told Congress that, "I intend to take as vigorous legal actions as the law allows to prevent that from happening, prevent that kind of interference."

And guess who Chertoff has his eyes on? Illinois.

More from WorldNet:

Within days, the first fruits of that promised were revealed, with a lawsuit against the state of Illinois over a legislative proposal signed into law by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

According to published reports Illinois is "complicating" efforts by federal agents with a state law that virtually blocks corporations from participating in the program that was set up to verify if new employees have legal standing to work in the United States.

"The state of Illinois has now made it illegal to comply with federal law," Chertoff told reporters when the action was filed. "That's not acceptable as a matter of the Constitution."

Scroll down one post for more on how illegal immigration has become a major issue among ordinary Americans.

Hat tip to Third Wave Dave and Andrea Shea King for the story.

Technorati tags: illegal immigration immigration crime Illinois Blagojevich Homeland Security Chertoff dhs E-verify business

The immigration issue, or really, the illegal immigration issue took Sen. Hillary Clinton by surprise at last month's Democratic presidential debate. The week's guests of moderator Austin Bay on Pajamas Blog Week in Review are writers Heather Mac Donald and Steven Malanga of the Manhattan Institute.

Malanga and Mac Donald mention in the podcast that other presidential candidates, with the exception of Republican Tom Tancredo, also haven't fully realized the importance of this issues, as it has arisen not from Washington of the media centers, but from the ground up.

Along with Pajamas Media's Victor Davis Hanson, Malanga and Mac Donald are the authors of The Immigration Solution: A Better Plan Than Today's and this new book is one that our presidential candidates should add to their Christmas wish list.

A friend-of-the-blog was kind enough to send me an earlier Heather Mac Donald book, The Burden of Bad Ideas: How Modern Intellectuals Misshape Our Society, it was a great gift and a great read.

Listen to or download the podcast here.

Or do what I do and subscribe for free via iTunes.

As always, the podcast is produced by Ed Driscoll.

Technorati tags: iPod itunes podcast blog Pajamas Media books illegal immigration Hillary Clinton Hillary elections 2008 immigration Tom Tancredo Manhattan Institute

I took this photograph of a Morton Grove businessman, whose name I don't know, Friday evening on Lincoln Avenue. Yes it's Veterans Day Weekend, but the blonde-gentleman with is large US flag on his Harley, is a common site here.

Thanks for the link: It's My Mind

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In one of their biggest football wins ever, the University of Illinois, my alma mater, defeated the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in front of over 100,000 stunned fans in Columbus.

The Fighting Illini's Juice Williams threw four touchdown passes. The Illini are now 8-3 for the season; they're coming off three successive two win seasons.

It was the first time Illinois had ever beaten a Number One.

UPDATE 8:00PM: In addition to winning the game and ruining Ohio State's perfect season, the Fighting Illini have taken possession of the Illibuck Wooden Turtle. Many Big 10 football games award trophies to the victor, for instance Iowa defeated Minnesota to win back the Floyd of Rosedale trophy.

Next Saturday the Illini hope to bring the politically incorrect Sweet Sioux Tohamawk back to Champaign, currenty the Northwestern Wildcats diplay it in Evanston.

UPDATE 8:15PM: Commenter Illini Fan points out that this was the first Illinois victory over a top-ranked team on the road. The Fighting Illini defeated number-one ranked Michigan State in Champaign on Oct. 27, 1956.

Related post: College football: The odds get even

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