Katie Couric and her CBS Evening News show dropped to number two in the ratings last week behind The NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams.

NBC Universal CEO Bob Wright commented:

“Brian is back where God wanted him to be, at number 1.”

I would suggest that future anchor hopefuls check with the Heavenly Father before applying for on air positions. Why waste your time if it has not been pre-ordained? This clears up a lot of things.

We’ve seen God choosing sides in sporting events and now we are informed that he determines the national news ratings. It’s a darn good thing we have people like Mr. Wright to clear these things up for us.

Get real, do people even think before opening their yaps these in front of the media these days?

Posted by Biloxi in Biloxi Says at 11:15 AM EDT

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Chicago Sun-Times Columnists Cindy Richards and Jennifer Hunter tackle the Illinois Supreme Court’s recent decision to write rules for a 1995 parental notification law that was never enacted for the lack of them. Richards’ column continues along a well worn approach that some kids are from such a damaged environment that they have nowhere else to turn or perhaps they became pregnant because of rape or incest. The Illinois law makes allowances for such situations so it is not necessary to intitiate new legislation. My belief is that such instances are tragic but are nowhere near the majority of abortions performed. Richards makes a wrongful assumption that like many liberals, would never apply to her. By allowing some girls to “get the care they need without imposing an additional unnecessary burden upon them” she opens it up those who might not have said unnecessary burden. Many children may be embarrassed by the predicament they find themselves in despite open communications with their parents and make a rash decision anyway. What we need to understand that these are not mature adults and they are subject to making irresponsible decisions that can irreparably harm them and adversely affect the rest of their lives. Think about all the foolish choices you made in your youth and the times you thought “There but for the grace of God go I”. Now think about the person you were saying it about. Making adult decisions without an adult can often lead to such life altering situations. Situations that could have been avoided. Richards’ argument is mainly based on anecdotal evidence such as that below:

The “vast majority” of teens who go to a Chicago area Planned Parenthood office seeking an abortion show up with a parent or another adult, said Steve Trombley, president and chief executive officer. And, he said, sometimes it is the parent — not the daughter — who really wants the abortion. In cases where it is clear the parent is pushing for an abortion, Planned Parenthood counselors “have the parent removed from the session to be sure the young person is making the decision. That happens with regularity.”

So why not give us some proof? A number, percentage, maybe an actual, verifiable statistic. They say they want the child to make the decision, but often the child is not capable of making the right decision. The final kicker is Cindy Richards’ willingness to throw her own daughter into the mix because she is so confident of her open communications with the child. She considers an underage child walking into an abortion clinic without the parental protection and guidance they so desperately need as getting “help”. It is not help and while it would be ironic I hope she or her daughter never has to experience that scenario.

Hunter’s column takes an entirely different angle. First she exhibits the liberal self-loathing over writing an editorial supporting the law as part of her duties as a member of the editorial board of the paper. She then follows it up with some of the most skull splitting tripe I have ever read. First she treats us to the revelation that “good family communication cannot be mandated by government and laws.” Then she follows it with this:

That’s one of the reasons compelling at least half of the Illinois girls seeking abortions at Hope Clinic for Women in Downstate Granite city, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. They are terrified of their parents’ reactions.

So the terror of an adolescent usurps the rights and authority of a parent to raise and counsel their own child? The child is understandably fearful but that doesn’t mean a no questions asked abortion is the answer. The emotional aftermath can scar a young woman for life. Hunter goes on as did Richards telling us that she is confident her daughter would tell her becase they have such a fabulous relationship and “she knows I would support whatever she chose to do.” So you have tacitly told a teenager that abortion is okay and damn the consequenses Ms. Hunter. That said I still doubt the child would be so open with her parents concerning such a predicament. Again we get a hypothetical wherein I hope the parent never really has to find out the truth and reality in what they are saying.

And yes, an abortion is a medical procedure but it is not a complicated one; it is not invasive like an appendectomy; it does not require a hospital stay except in very rare cases. And abortion providers do their utmost to give the best care for their patients because doing what they do requires a tremendous amount of bravery and concern for women’s rights.

Bravery? This makes me want to drive a spike through my temple. It is a medical procedure that involves a lot of emotional trauma as well and is not something I ever want any young lady to experience, especially my daughters. As such anything can and might happen. The parents of 5 year old Diamond Brownridge were probably reasonably assured a non-invasive dental procedure was okay also but something went terribly wrong and the poor little girl died. Who is to be there for the young lady getting an abortion without telling her parents should something go wrong? Who will be there to support and soothe her after the non-invasive abortion? The brave abortionist who just threw her child in the trash can? You know, the one who can regale her with tales of his or her regard and concern for women’s rights.

For a group that all of a sudden wants to abolish the electoral college and go with the popular vote because winning elections has been a challenge, it seems odd that they want to buck a popular trend such as parental consent. 35 states already have such laws on the books which would indicate that Illinois is in the minority on this issue.

Ms. Hunter has shown a clear shortcoming in her liberal outlook here and like that of Richards it is terribly flawed in the respect that it forgets the girls to undergo this procdure are children. Children who may have adult sized bodies but they are kids all the same. Plain and simple, parental consent is not just for the parents peace of mind….it’s to protect the kids as well.

Posted by Biloxi in Liberal Illogic, Social Issues at 11:13 PM EDT

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Obama News columnist Neil Steinberg weighed in on corruption in his opening shot today. It was an interesting perspective that misses the boat on one very important point.

Maybe the good government phantasm is over. People vote their race, they vote their pocketbook, they vote for the guy with the best television commercial. We don’t seem to care about a little corruption or even a lot of corruption. We see that business is replete with back-scratching and assume government will be the same.

Steinberg has a point that people may have become desensitized to corrupt practices but there is one big difference in his observation. When a CEO like Bill Ford packs his company with incompetents and cronies he is doing it with his own money and that of those who voluntarily invested in his company. They do not deserve to be ripped off but at least there was a choice in the matter. When our government officials hire incompetents and cronies with clout and those cronies then go defraud the government and citizenry, it is financed by the taxpayer and they don’t have a choice. When individual taxpayers look the other way because they benefit in some small way from the fraud being perpetrated they are doing a grave disservice to their neighbors and fellow taxpayers. The taxpayer cannot bail out at any point as investors in a private corporation have the option to do.

Voters are jaded because neither side seems to present a viable option so they vote past party affiliations , or the aforementioned race or person with the best commercial. In the information age we seem to receive a barrage of speculation and attack without ever really being informed. We get hyperbole over issues and doublespeak or evasion when politicians are pressed for substantive commentary on the issues of importance and concern for the voting public.

It is imperative to be informed and active. There is still room for goo-goo’s in politics and they are needed now more than ever. Honesty and integrity in representative government has taken a vacation for a while and it is high time we saw a return. Now is as good a time as ever.

Posted by Biloxi in Chicago, Illinois Politics, Politics at 10:02 PM EDT

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It seems my last blog post has struck a nerve. One that has caused Dan to launch another round of ad hominem attacks that are proof of his lack of substance. Anyone who accepts corruption from politicians because they “get things done” are as morally bankrupt as the crooked politicians themselves.

The reality is, what Biloxi’s beef here is that I reguarly consider the credibility of the person who’s saying something, not just what they’re saying. In this case he prattles off some silly straw man to make his point.

What Dan is saying here is that he judges credibiltiy on his own thinly defined criteria, none of which contain logic. We live in an area that has hit the political jackpot of corruption with the State, Cook County and City of Chicago governments all under Federal investigation. Yet Dan considers that okay as long as they “get results”. The fellow pictured to the right got results too and was even known to establish and fund soup kitchens in the depression. He had help from Chicago Mayor Big Bill Thompson for a while as well, until it became a poltical albatross for the Mayor. Maybe it is a little bit of a dramatic illustration but it is appropriate nonetheless. One does not have to live in a city to comment on corruption in said city and no matter how nice the wrought iron and flowers are on Michigan Ave. it is important that the progress is achieved in an above board fashion without clout or kinky insider deals. Commenting on the corruption is entirely acceptable under Dan’s own terms as it is a commentary on the broader concept of corruption and clout without getting into the specifics of ward politics. Under his own terms our arrogant urban dweller is contradicting himself.

Dan also does not represent my position on gambling accurately as he has omitted subsequent commentary that further explains my position. The reasoning behind it falls right into what I was saying in my prior post. Dan, like others assumes a lot about people they don’t know and assign their own stereotypical biases to those with whom they disagree. He likes to throw ad hominems about illegitimate children, Cubs fans and Randy Stufflebeam. During his laundry list of childish and nonsensical tripe Dan assumes much and writes fiction:

1. He supports Randy Stufflebeam a person whom, to my knowledge, has only received endorsements from hate monger organizations, which Biloxi claims to not be a part of.

Hatemonger organizations? Yeah and Dan is Mr. Open-minded

2. He claims to be anti-corruption and hates the Illinois ‘combine’ that’s made up of folks like Topinka, Daley, and former governor now convict, George Ryan.

3. Despite being against George Ryan, he has a thing for quoting a lot of Fran Eaton. That’s funny, because Fran Eaton served under the very corrupt George Ryan and is a hate monger lobbyist

Many people served under George Ryan, were they all corrupt? I quoted Fran Eaton once, does that constitute “having a thing” for quoting her? I do enjoy her blog though and enjoy many of the writers. This is not to say I agree with every article or point. Here’s the Hate Monger ad hominum again from a guy who throws out the term cock sucker and assumes people he disagrees with have illegitimate children.
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4. Additionally, Biloxi’s bullshit argument is just a parrot of what’s on the Illinois Family Institute website.

I’ve never read the Illinois Family Institue Website

5. He doesn’t even like decent infotainers; he’s not even a Dittohead or something. Instead he’s got some sort of weird love affair with WLS third stringer, Teri Obrien.

Now an ad hominem about Teri O’Brien a fine conservative radio host and beyond a mention of her and Tom Roeser he has no idea of my listening habits yet comments anyway.

6. Biloxi isn’t from Chicago. He doesn’t have our best interests in mind.

You don’t have the City’s best interests in mind, just your own Dan. Allowing corruption is not in the best interests of anyone except those with clout.

7. He’ll overlook 17 years of fantastic progress for almost every neighborhood of the City in favor of talking about a handful of meaningless corruption scandals. Sounds a lot like our new pal, the Great Chicago Snitch whom would like us to lock up King Richard II for taking back some of our property.

Meaningless scandals? Tell the guys in Federal Prison about that, it’s getting closer to King Richard, we’ll see how meaningless he thinks they are later. Outline the progress in Pullman for me, or over at Kedzie and Madison. Is overpaying one’s cronies who are handed the work in a non competitive bidding process considered progress? Just wondering.

The long and short of it is that shortsighted people like Dan are everything that is wrong with the state of Illinois, County of Cook and City of Chicago these days. Their dismissive nature and selfish attitude are less for the good of the people and more for the good of themselves. They pound their chest excitedly and proclaim their righteousness until they get out of the spotlight, then it’s back to business as usual. Holding their hand out while reciting their motto…Where’ mine?

I don’t suffer fools easily and Dan is their King. There will be no further validation of this type of knucklehead by acknowledgemnt of his ridiculous diatribes in the future. I just thought it prudent to use his own ignorance to poke holes in his rhetoric at this point but can see that it is rapidly becoming of vicious circle of unsubstantiated tripe. Much like the corrupt political system he champions so loudly.

Posted by Biloxi in Chicago, Illinois Politics at 10:11 PM EDT

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If a person never served in the military are they automatically exempt from commenting on war or any matters concerning the armed forces? Are men not allowed an opinion regarding abortion? Does residency in a given municipality trump any other view or opinion on politics in said municipality? The obvious answer is no.

There is a mindset that would agree that all the above is true because if the latter is correct then common logic would lead us to the same conclusion on both of the former as well as a myriad of other issues. The problem is that such a view is flawed beyond all rational comprehension. Dismissing rational thought without reasonable debate is not only stupid, it is dangerous. We cannot discount the logical opinion of others and dismiss it offhand without examining our own. In the above example we have a blogger who dismisses the reasoned opinon of anyone who lives outside of the Chicago city limits as invalid in the same post that he weighs in on the Illinois 6th District Congressional race. A district that lies entirely outside of Chicago proper. His prior post weighs in on a Chicago suburb. Both valid issues and blogworthy as anything, but one can only wonder why some would deny the same rights to others that they themselves currently enjoy. Situations such as those mentioned in my opening paragraph set up a straw horse that is diversionary in nature. A constant barrage of baseless opinion without addressing the debate is borne out of weakness and will eventually fall. Any opinion worth stating and championing is also worth defending, not only in empty rhetoric but in actual discernable logic. You’ll always get farther using reason and substance, not incorrect blanket statements about liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans or even more ridiculous; sports rivalries such as the misguided Dan has shown us. These tactics show a weakness in principle and a vacuity of opinion.

Any reasoned, informed opinion is worthy of debate; blanket statements and illogical assumptions are not. This is the situation we find ourselves facing with the modern left though it is not their exclusive dominion as evidenced by our wayward and misinformed troll at the link above. Unfortunately, this is what modern discourse has become. Instead of dealing with the whole argument at hand there is a tendency to hone in on a small portion of it and beat it into the ground, a tactic that produces nothing of use to anyone. Having a valid point is the ability to articulate it in detail without rancor or 3rd grade attempts at belittling others that disagree. Such behavior always says more about the lack of substance from the bellitler than it does the target of one’s childish diatribes.

We have a country where we are gifted with the ability to excercise our dissent and disagreement and half of the time we use it in such a poor manner as to waste what others fought so valiantly to provide for us. I will always support the right of people to act in an idiotic manner even if I don’t think it is wise to do so. I have no hopes that the level of debate and free exchange of ideas will elevate anytime soon but I do not have to sink to the level of the the screamers.

Harsh rhetoric is fine and sometimes needed but it is empty without the logic and strength of position behind it to support the argument. “You don’t live here so you cannot comment” or You’re not a woman so you can’t possibly understand abortion” are examples of where things fall apart. When we attack the commentor and not the argument the slide downward begins. The only thing we can control is ourselves and if each person would try it would be a great start.

I doubt it will happen in my lifetime but one can always dream.

Posted by Biloxi in Chicago, Politics at 9:36 AM EDT

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The Illinois Supreme Court has acted on the 1995 parental notification law giving teeth to the long dormant issue. Prior Courts have refused to issue rules for implementation of the law.

The Parental Notice Act of 1995 requires that a physician notify a parent, legal guardian or grandparent at least two days before a person younger than 18 years gets an abortion. The argument often heard in pro-abort circles is what to do in instances of rape and incest and this law does address that, allowing for cases where a parent has sexually or physically abused a minor. It also allows a judge the ability to waive notice if the minor is “sufficiently mature” or notification is not in the minor’s best interests. Both seem to leave a lot up to biased interpretation but at least the law addresses the issue of parental notification. The next step is for Attorney General Lisa Madigan to petition to overturn a 1996 Federal Court order barring implementation of the law.

We cannot have our children take an aspirin at school without being notified but they want our daughters to be able to undergo a serious medical procedure without telling us? Are we not allowed reasonable input and counsel into the lives of our children? The emotional component of the undertaking alone can cause psychological issues affecting the child for years to come. The political actions (or inactions) of a previous court do not make the law less needed or applicable. The people of Illinois spoke at the time through their elected representatives and were usurped in what amounted to ruling by judicial fiat as their inaction was proactive in denying the people their reasonable wishes and rulings. As telling as anything is the agenda seen in the following quote from Lorie Chaiten of the ACLU’s Reprodctive Rights Project for the state of Illinois:

“You can imagine being 16 or 17 and being faced with these rules,” she said. “It’s an enormously cumbersome process. It will be overwhelming to teens, and … traumatic to them.”

Oh yes, those pesky and inconvenient rules that teenagers must follow. You know, the ones that are for their own good! Would it be more traumatic than the knowledge they killed their own child? More cumbersome than the regret and anguish one would carry around in later years when they are mature enough to realize the full impact of their actions? 16 and 17 is still very much a child despite signs of nascent maturity and this law would help to protect them.

For those who like to point out regional trends, Illinois is the only state in the region without a parental notification law and is clearly out of touch with the values of the majority of midwesterners. A previous Supreme Court with an agenda avoided writing the rules to enact the law at the time hoping for a favorable legislature in the future. It is decidedly anti-democratic and unrepresentative in nature. Now is the time to act to protect our children and the unborn.

Posted by Biloxi in Illinois Politics, Politics at 8:42 AM EDT

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Willie Nelson has a small legal problem that may explain why he thought the gay cowboy song was a good idea. Apparently the mushrooms got the better of him. I guess that why he’s known as an outlaw.

Posted by Biloxi in Biloxi Says at 9:20 PM EDT

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With the national press in orgasmic spasms after Sen. Barack Obama’s (D - Durbin) keynote speech at Tom Harkin’s Iowa steak fry this weekend, one still has to wonder what has led them to the conclusion that he is the right man to hold our Nation’s highest office at this point in his political career. Two years into his Senate term, he has little legislative record to run on and what is there tends to mirror that of Illinois Senior Senator Dick Durbin (D - Haskell)

People have been asking him if he plans to run for President since his election in 2004 but it is hard to point to any one reason people believe him to be so eminently qualified to become the head of the free world. This Sun-Times article claims that 3 out of 5 people see him as Presidential material but nobody really gets close to the reasoning behind the rush to annoint the man. The closest it gets is this quote by a 27 year old marketing and communications executive:

“Of course,” said Kristine Kappel, 27, a marketing and communication executive from Lake View who was surveyed. “I think he is so inspirational and such a unifier that people can just rally around him.

“His vision of what we can be is just so inspirational and makes you proud to be an American.”

I’m curious as to what the woman found inspirational and what substance supposedly is there to rally behind.

Forgive my cynicism but it appears to me his rock star status is more smoke and mirrors from the left. It has nothing to do with his qualifications, voting record or any other benchmark issue and more to do with his race. He is a nice looking, well spoken and formally educated black man and as such is a liberal icon. Barack Obama personifies all of the fake “diversity” espoused by the left. Of course said diversity only matters if you are both a minority and a Democrat. I have yet to see the media tongues wagging over Condoleeza Rice, Ken Blackwell, Michael Steele, Alberto Gonzales, or any of a myriad of conservative minorities. The fact is the left sees his minority status as a bonus when it comes to electability and have embraced it as some kind of a wedge to regain power after 12 years on the outside of Congress and two terms locked out of the Oval Office. Since a Senator has not been elected to the Presidency since John F. Kennedy, largely because of the baggage they carry from an actual record, the timing is right for Obama. The point is to use his popularity before people find out his actual leanings and see that he is not the reasonable, moderate, uniter he portends to be. Unfortunately this will not work as the current age of 24 hour media has a tendency to expose all of the skeletons in one’s closet. Obama may well be Presidential material but he has not shown it yet which makes the clamor for his candidacy to be the empty hat it is.

Oh, how low we have fallen when we chose potential candidates based upon personal feeling and superficial electability criteria. How much lower yet when we base this on some kind of tokenism. Diversity indeed, how about ideas and substance.

Posted by Biloxi in Illinois Politics, Liberal Illogic, Politics at 11:33 PM EDT

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The Democrats unveiled their new plan to curtail abortions this week. It is aimed at moderate, church going voters with misgivings about abortion.

The problem is that it is the same plan they’ve always offered. It basically says, “we wish you wouldn’t use it but please enjoy abortion on demand”.

Let’s see, it offers funding for contraceptives, expanded sex education (supposedly geared to avoiding pregnancy) and support for adoption and services to new mothers. All things currently available. What it doesn’t offer is restrictions on abortion of any kind.

You’ve got to love the new Democrat gameplan. Offer the same old platform but repackage it and target it to those who have traditionally rejected said platform. With all the Republican foibles as of late you wouldn’t think they would have to obscure their true intentions. Ah libs, you gotta love them for their ineptitude.

Posted by Biloxi in Liberal Illogic, Politics at 7:25 PM EDT

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Dan L. at MoveOnandShutUp.org Has spent some time trying to make a case that corruption is not neccessarily a bad thing as long as the politicians get results. In his mind that means the trains run on time, garbage is picked up and his own little world looks good. That comes with wrought iron and flower boxes all over downtown Chicago and rising property values in his own neighborhood. Forget the excessive and oppressive taxes or those who don’t fare so well, the ones without clout, a chinaman, or privilege. Forget about those who fall victim to collapsed porches or other accidents caused by inexperienced and unqualified inspectors who were patronage hires in a corrupt system. Never mind the person injured by a politically connected truck driver who was hired to operate a garbage truck despite having zero experience driving a heavy equipment. None of that matters because Dan L. and the city of Chicago has clean streets and their snow plowed. Damn the human cost, these politicians get results!

The sentencing of former Governor George Ryan reminds us of why the results argument should never be acceptable. George Ryan was the quintessential politician and he arguably got results. George took money and handed out jobs to the detriment of the people of Illinois, and in the end six children died.

Yeah, people don’t always die or get maimed when corruption rears its ugly head, but it is a consequence. Other results are more mundane but in the end it is always the people that get robbed, even when things appear temporarily copacetic as they do for Dan right now.
When we take shortcuts to enrich the politically connected or hire patronage workers for political gain there is a cost, sometimes financial and often a hidden human cost. In the end the people always pay, one way or another. If we accept this we are as guilty as George Ryan.

Posted by Biloxi in Chicago, Illinois Politics, Politics at 4:27 PM EDT

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