Judy Baar Topinka (R - Combine) Gubernatorial wannabe and faux Republican has been defended by Eric Zorn, The Chicago Tribune’s resident lefty columnist. Stopping short of an endorsement, Zorn defended Topinka as a good and honest State Treasurer and steward of the Illinois’ money by quoting Trib and Chicago Sun-Times (Obama News) endorsements from 2002 . He likes that she is a social moderate (as any liberal would) but doesn’t really go any farther. He then makes a statement about how he usually supports Democrats. (Read he will not vote for her regardless)
While decrying Governor Rod Blagojevich’s lame “What Was She Thinking?” commercials he offers only tepid reasoning that she would be a worthy choice for the Governor’s mansion. In the whole column he cannot really produce anything positive to sell about Topinka as a candidate and instead must satisy himself with what she is not.

She is not the things Rod Blagojevich calls her in his campaign commercials, She is, for all intents and purposes, Rod Blagojevich. Say no to both.

Posted by Biloxi in Illinois Politics at 7:21 PM EST

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Given the dearth of respectable and worthy candidates one might say yes to the headline question, but that wasn’t exactly the angle I was looking for here.

Starting with the disputed 2000 election, people have been looking for voting reform or something like it, when in actuality a huge shakeup was hardly needed. Now we have early voting for a month prior to an election, people crying about the difficult “butterfly ballot“, and a hue and cry claiming disenfranchisement. So optical scan and computer voting was brought in and now the computer voting is called into question.

Many have complained of voter fraud over the past two national elections, crying foul at the victors but with little proof of said fraud. In Florida during the 2000 election the Gore campaign actually asked for their recount in heavily democratic counties hoping to glean a few votes from the old hanging chads.

Recently, House Democrats opposed (in a near unanimous fashion) a voter ID bill that would require photo identification to vote in 2008 and proof of citizenship by 2010. Now if I remember correctly, the largest screams and and accusations of fraud came from Democrats in 2000 over a close Florida vote and again in 2004 complaining about Ohio which the President carried with a 200,000 vote plurality. A voter ID requirement can only help to assure an honest and fair voting process, right? Wrong. The naysayers complain that it is akin to a poll tax and would be hard on seniors and the poor, placing an undue burden on them and leading to voter disenfranchisement. That is bunk. A voter ID used in tandem with a valid picture ID could prove the legitimacy of every voter and take away much of the doubt surrounding electoral accuracy. When I arrive at my local polling place I need only go to the line for the proper precinct and they merely ask my name , ask for a signature then hand me a ballot and point me towards the booth. I could be anybody, or nobody but they would never know.

So my question is, what is so hard about voting that we need to allow people to vote up to a month early (for no particular reason), why can’t we read a butterfly ballot, and why do we need ballots in at least 2 languages besides english? When we have a country that has had a peaceful transfer of power every four to eight years (excepting the FDR administration) why is it so hard to get even 50% of the eligble voters out to the polls? People in other parts of the world would die for our freedoms, yet we can’t find it in self-important hearts to find the time between 6:00 am. and 7 p.m. on election day to drop into our local polling place and vote for the people we think best represent us, whether we agree with them 100% or not. A representative Republic functions best when the governed take an active role in the process. Lastly, why does a large portion of our current Democratic house members oppose a bill that would protect the sanctity of the privilege that so many have died for?

The answer is clear, the very process itself has become politicized to the point that our own Representatives have become so enamored of their own power that its aquisition and retention trump the principles on which the country was founded. The consent of the governed is less important than the expansion of government. Any vote tally that does not reflect their values is viewed as fraudulent instead of examining the values themselves and questioning why the people reject them. If people in Iraq and Afghanistan can overcome the possibility of being shot on the way to the polls, or others can suffer death for serving their government and people, we should be able to overcome the malaise and cynicism that has overtaken our electoral process. That is why we need to vote and use our conscience in the process. We owe it to those before us and those that follow. We owe it to ourselves and most importantly, the country.

God Bless America.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 9:22 PM EST

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Obama News columnist Cindy Richards wistfully dreams of a Democrat majority Congress in today’s column. Among them are visions of investigations of the Vice President, universal healthcare and compassion by government decree. After her breathless exhortations on what a Democrat controlled Congress should be she held forth on the annoited one, Barrack Obama. Regarding the topic of whether or not the Senator should run for President, Ms. Richards had the following to offer:

On the plus side, there’s a long list. He’s smart and personable. He’s thoughtful and deep. He’s a likable guy who doesn’t seem to have been in Washington long enough to have made a lot of enemies. And, oh yeah, he’s got the hype. Who knows whether he’ll have that if he waits six years or longer to make a run for the White House?

Obama could offer to Democrats a candidate we could support without reservations, without asking one another in frustration, “Couldn’t we do any better?” And what a nice change that would be.

Let me see… if the above criteria were all that was needed then my Uncle Francis should have run for President except of course he didn’t have the all important hype. Cindy Richards is a microcosm of what is wrong with politics today, especially Democratic politics. Her little ode to Obama shows all that I have been saying. Based on her statement what would Democrats support without reservations, the smart and personable or the thoughtful and deep? Ultimately I think she likes the hype, but is that alone enough of a reason to elect a man to the country’s highest office?

I actually believe that there is more to Senator Obama than meets the eye and I believe all of the above are true; unfortunately the substance behind the man is that of a dyed in the wool, unabashed liberal with a very strong left voting record. He wants to appear reasonable and moderate but his voting record would tell you otherwise.

This is not to bash the good Senator but to demand he let us know just what and who is behind the Wizard’s curtain. I welcome a run for the Presidency by this man because it will force him to take a stand and admit his actual positions on a myriad of issues. If he were able to get elected on image alone; then we get what we deserve.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 11:08 PM EDT

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For those Republicans that think staying home and not voting as a form of protest is a viable option:

As much as we dislike some of the policies of this current Republican majority, there is a difference. Unless of course you live in Illinios.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 4:34 PM EDT

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Stay on the edge of your seats. Barack Obama, the man-god who is aptly “dubbed he who walks on water” by Teri O’Brien, has announced to the world that he is thinking about reversing his earlier statements to the contrary and will consider entering the 2008 presidential derby. I’m shocked, I thought he was supposedly sincere and flawless. Now he comes up with an I said no before I said yes moment like all political animals.

First he wants to wait until after the elections, my guess is to see what kind of congress we end up with, helping him to gauge the political mood over the substance bereft, heated rhetoric we have been hearing since the ‘04 election. How nice it is to be annointed before having to do anything of substance. It would be easier to do with his own newspaper in Chicago, the Obama News, a paper otherwise known as the Chicago Sun-Times which comes complete with his own fawning columnist, Lynn Sweet. That is a whole lot of publicity for which he will never have to pay.

Before everyone falls all over themselves we really need to look at his sparse voting record which reveals a nearly lockstep record of following that of Illinois Senior Senator Dick Durbin. He is a very attractive package on the same old left side. Well spoken, seemingly reasonable, a man who can change the tone in Washington. Of course that tone was set as much by his Democratic Party cohorts as it was the Republicans. President Bush bent over backwards to work with the Democrats, to the detriment of the country at times, and was roundly slapped around by the left; before during and afterwards. (Think Medicare reform, Education Bill and immigration). Let’s face it folks, the Democrats don’t want to change the tone unless the new tone means agreeing with them on every issue. Obama has done little in his short tenure in Washington except try to craft an image of a reasonable nature. His voting record, limited as it is shows no such compromise and his Illinois Senate voting record is undistinguished and left leaning. He has shot out of nowhere to national prominence because Washington DC and politics in general has become far more of an image contest that seriously neglects substance on any issues of importance. That is why we hear terms like right wing extremist being used against candidates that are pro-life or pro-second amendment yet are relatively reasonable on other issues. We are seeing this in the Illinois Sixth race between Tammy Duckworth and Peter Roskam. We see it with comparisons of the President to Hitler and we see it from the right as well when it comes to mischaracterizing some on social issues. The problem is the right is far less adept at the tactic then our left leaning bretheren. So Senator Obama can only change the tone if everybody in both houses of Congress wishes it to be so. It will be real easy to appear reasonable until he has the rhetorical target on his back that a National Campaign will provide.

Obama is smart, but not so smart as to avoid making statements that contradict his earlier stance of finishing his term in the Senate. As the national media fawns his head is starting to swell and it will continue. He is correct in assuming that 2008 may be the most opportune time for a run as he has little record to be nailed down on. The more an agenda and philosophy becomes evident the easier it will be for his opponents to refute him politically. It is yet to be seen how the rock star will hold up when debating and defending the issues of the day. It is so much easier with an adoring press than it would be in the forum of a debate or a national campaign.

I hope he does jump into the ring, it will be fun to watch the dynamics of a primary race between the annointed Obama and Hillary Clinton which would suck the air out of the Democratic primary to the extent there will be no room for any others to consider a run in 2008. Should Obama be successful in getting the party nomination, it would be interesting political theater in the general election. Maybe then we would finally see the substance behind his positions and my bet is the general public will no longer see him as a true uniter and discover the solid left leaning philosphy that is at the true core of our esteemed Senator and current media darling.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 9:08 AM EDT

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Many liberals in Chicago like to refer to the Chicago Tribune as a conservative paper. This was true at one time but we are long past ther era of Col. Robert McCormick. One look at today’s op-ed page endorsement column should disavow people of that notion once and for all. Not one endorsement for a Republican in the entire column for the first seven Illinois Congressional Districts. It will be interesting to see what tomorrow’s edition holds.

I won’t hold my breath for the conservative endorsements though. Any paper that says Rahm Emmanuel has any sensible centrist ideas whatsoever, can be considered neither conservative nor objective. I have no issue with partisanship on the op-ed page, it is opinion after all, but the Trib needs to declare its identity if it can even find one these days.

Posted by Biloxi in Illinois Politics, Politics at 5:01 PM EDT

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During the lengthy debate over illegal immigration the part that never gets mentioned is the effect that the 11 to 12 million line jumpers have on those who are following the rules. Today’s Chicago Tribune presents an article dealing with the travails of those who are trying to enter the country legally.

A legal permanent resident who applies to bring a spouse from China today would wait an estimated seven years. A U.S. citizen must wait 11 years to bring a sibling from India.

Hey, but if you live in a border country and a little thing like the law doesn’t bother you, one can sneak right in…no waiting. The first issue for reform after border enforcement should be clearing up the backlog of those who have jumped through every hoop, filled out every document and followed every rule in hopes of entering our great country legally.

Leaving the ecological issues of unchecked immigration aside it seems that the hue and cry for immigration reform always centers on the illegal while ignoring those who desire entry just as strongly as the immigrants who overstay their visas or sneak over our northern and southern borders. While Elvira Arellano claims hardship for her son should she be deported, allowing her to stay would put her in line ahead of Teodora Unlayao, the Filipino woman in the linked article that has been waiting for 24 years in hopes of joining her sister as a resident of the United States.

Immigration demand worldwide is at least triple the supply, and the odds are much worse for Unlayao because she hails from a high-immigrant country

.

Immigration reform is of utmost importance but that does not mean amnesty over enforcement or preference for those who are already here illegally. Let’s see which of our elected representatives are serious about real reform, instead of looking at the illegals as potential votes that require pandering to obtain. As the picture on the right states, I’m pro immigrant and I do vote. I think we need to make it easier for those who wait for a chance to participate in the promise of America. Their patience should be rewarded ahead of those who came in the back door.

Posted by Biloxi in Immigration at 9:57 PM EDT

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The Chicago Tribune printed what amounts to an advertisement for Sen. Barack Obama’s new book in today’s edition.

Many on the left complain that talk radio (which is editorial in nature) should be subject to the fairness doctrine on political speech and that equal time should be given to opposing viewpoints. Many left leaning Chicagoans complain that the Tribune is a conservative paper when its news content is anything but, and half of the editorial page is dedicated to the likes of Garrison Keillor, Molly Ivins, and Clarence Page. This article should quiet both sets of critics but I won’t hold my breath.

In the article Mike Dorning relates the Senator’s views on meddling with private industry as he espouses rescinding all tax cuts for oil companies at the same time he would require those oil companies with over 1 billion in quarterly profits to spend 1% on financing research for alternative energy sources. Obama also suggests health care for all without suggesting a means to pay for it. The financial realities behind the “model health care plan” he touts also seem shaky if not unviable.

What a wonderful world it must be when you can do no wrong and your every move is covered by the press. Sort of beats having to buy advertising like the rest of us mortals, don’t you think?

Posted by Biloxi in Illinois Politics, Politics at 4:55 PM EDT

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No matter what the gathering threat, it seems that all the leaders in the Democratic Party can come up with as a solution is to attack the Administration and Republicans in general. Today several party stalwarts criticized the President concerning Kim Jong Il’s claim of a nuclear test in North Korea.. The folks from the party of no were quick to blame the administration for the acts of a madman just as many criticized the President for being to harsh and claiming he needed to initiate talks earlier.

We got the following gem from Sen. John Kerry who may have been for Kim Jong Il before he was against him:

“While we’ve been bogged down in Iraq where there were no weapons of mass destruction, a madman has apparently tested the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.”

The Senator’s stance during the 2004 was to pursue bilateral talks in hopes of securing an agreement on nuclear disarmament, even though North Korea had withdrawn from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Bilateral talks were exactly what the Clinton Administration undertook in 1994 while giving in to North Korean demands for fuel oil and lightwater reactors for electricity. In the end they took what the Clinton Administration offered and went about their work developing nukes.

As to his claims of diverted attention because of the Iraq war; does the good Senator really think we would be safer if we had ignored Iraq and engaged in bilateral talks with North Korea? Until the communist regime is deposed or collapses under its own rotting carcass you can expect deception and broken promises as a result of bilateral negotiation.

Our second flash of brilliance comes from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid:

“The Bush administration has for several years been in a state of denial about the growing challenge of North Korea, and has too often tried to downplay the issue or change the subject,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Forgive my ignorance Senator Reid but was the “Axis of Evil” speech denial or downplaying the North Korean threat? It sounds to me like the President was on the problem as far back as 2001. Giving in to a certifiably unstable dictator does not constitute awareness, it is an example of stupidity. Kim Jong Il has long threatened the world in an attempt to gain the food and fuel his country needs to survive and when the world capitulates he waits a short while and does it again. There is no honor among the evil or diplomacy with the dishonest. President Bush’s refusal to capitulate and instead insist on 6 party talks is exactly what is needed.

And then there was Senator Bob Menedez of New Jersey with his rapier like intellect:

We had the opportunity to stop North Korea from increasing its nuclear power, but George Bush went to sleep at the switch while he pursued his narrow agenda in Iraq,” added Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat in a tough campaign in New Jersey.

Oh, those who will not see. An essential part of talks and negotiation is to have an earnest party to negotiate with, one who will enter into honest discussion with the intention of achieving an equitable solution. When President Bush discovered that North Korea had reneged on the 1994 agreement he cut off negotiations because he saw no use in dealing with the dishonest. Later he moved for six party talks. Appeasement will get us more of what we already saw from 1994 on, lies and cheating. Kim Jong Il wants to go nuclear because he feels it will bring him international prestige and leverage. No amount of negotiation will change that, now or next week. Only the despot himself can and that is unlikely in the near future.

As is so often the case, we see no real plan emerging from the Democrats. Their plan for national security is the same for Korea as it is Iraq, Iran and any other emerging threat. That plan is to criticize the Administration using hindsight and revisionist history. This is to be follwed up with self congratulatory backslaps but no plan of their own. The closest thing we have seen to a battle plan is to fire the October surprise called the Foley weapon which makes a lot of noise but carries little punch and it does absolutely nothing to make our country safe from the maniacs of the world.

I came of political age during the Carter Administration and watched the genesis of the current mess in the middle east. It is why I am a conservative today. I recognize weakness when I see it and so do our enemies. The reacquisition of political power does nothing without a substantive agenda once that power is gained. The American people see that as well and it is why the Republicans have been able to win elections even as they sleepwalk through the domestic agenda and stumble through their own scandals. The donks need to realize that Republicans are not the enemy. North Korea, China, Iraq, Iran and a whole host of other bad actors are. Americans recognize strength and tend to notice its absence.

For their own survival, the Democrats need to get a spine transplant…stat.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics, War on Terror at 11:18 PM EDT

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It’s not my fault! Ever notice that when a politician, celebrity or high profile business person gets caught being a ne’er do well by doing something that is generally unacceptable to the rest of society, they immediately enter rehab? It is like the automatic cleansing solution for bad human behavior. The problem is that it is rarely entered into for any reason beyond image reclamation or political cover.

I have respect for the fact that there are human frailties that lead all of us to stumble, it is all part and parcel of being the imperfect sinners that we are. Redemption is there for all who seek but we must also pay the consequenses of our actions. Part of those consequense would be taking ownership of our own bad behavior. Rep. Mark Foley (R - hypocrisy)appeared to be doing just that with his resignation but then he entered rehab for a problem some say they were unaware he had. This was closely followed (in the same press release) with claims that he had been molested by a priest as a young boy. The need for alcohol abuse counseling never occurred to him while he was harrassing young pages with salacious and suggestive e-mails and instant messages three years earlier, only when it became public information.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D - Chappaquiddick) ran to rehab after an incident of impaired driving this past May. This was after he had done a stint in rehab just months earlier. At least Kennedy had given it a shot prior but didn’t appear to take things serious until his incident in the Capitol. With an image in bad need of repair Kennedy ran back to rehab.

Then we have the infamous Mel Gibson incident this past July and of course talk radio king Rush Limbaugh had his own fall from grace and subsequent rehab stint. In the end Limbaugh claimed accountability for his actions as did Gibson though he has since tried to repair his Hollywood image by likening the war in Iraq to the ancient Mayan civilization’s practice of human sacrifice.

What makes Foley’s case even worse is the apparent absence of an actual addiction, (unless you consider a proclivity for teenage boys an addiction). Even so he has entered rehab for alchol abuse when many say they never saw any signs of such a problem.

Has rehab become the first step in the 12 step method to image reclamation? Does our societal bent towards avoidance of responsibility lead us down this path where no person is ever at fault for their own behavior? There may be root causes for addictions of all kinds including genetic predisposition to alcohol and substance abuse, but tantamount to curing any addiction is taking ownership and admitting a problem. Too often rehab has become a dodge for accountability.

It is high time we act like grownups and take responsibility, if that includes a stint in rehabilitation so be it but it should never be used as an image reclamation tool. As a society we need to demand more of our public personailites. Redemption is there for the truly repentant, but sincerity is an imperative part of the process.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics, Social Issues at 9:54 AM EDT

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