And now it's the rain

Rain, rain go away.
Come back another day...
Like some time in July when we need the grass
watered....

Spring will come---REALLY

and soon enough the flowers will be here--just like these.

Gosh I hope so. I'm tired of weird snow and cold weather.
Now I understand why people move to Florida.

I think we're all sick of Bill-Hillary

And maybe they'd look like this in the White House.

Heard Rush the other day explain why Hillary won't drop out of the race even though it seems statistically impossible for her to win the Demo-nomination: because if SHE loses - HE loses, and he refuses to lose.

Well Bill, get used to it. She's gonna lose.

Ok, so this is about taxes and caught my eye

"Obama talks cap-gains rate with CNBC"

"In an interview in conjunction with his big economic speech in New York, Senator Obama tells CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo he favors increasing the capital-gains tax rate.

Bartiromo reported after her interview: “Right now, as you know, the cap gains tax is at 15 percent. He has yet to give us a specific number. How high he wants that number to go? He has said, and he told me today, that he won't go above 28 percent. So we are talking about the possibility of a doubling in the capital gains tax. He was averaging at about 25 percent.”

Just what we need--more taxes. Just like a Democrat---take more money away from hard working people and give it to people who aren't.

Why no updates?

• Not much is going on (really).
• We're all tired of the Hillary/Barack disputes.
• We all know that if your pastor or priest spewed racist or anti-government rhetoric you'd walk out and find a new church/synagogue.
• Spring just can't quite get here.

So not much to post here. I think I'll wait for something interesting to happen.

I know you're shocked, but Hillary Clinton is a liar.

Watch this YouTube video. It's a keeper.

Notice how she tiptoes around the obvious lies she's been caught in.

Here's a link to the original video (posted on YouTube). Didn't exactly happen as she recounted.

Don't ya love the way the Clinton Democrats talk about other Democrats?

James Carville is on the rampage again. When Bill Richardson (former Clinton hack) endorsed Obama, Carville was none too happy and compared him to Judas.

No Carville apology for Judas remark

"Carville made the comparison to The New York Times after Richardson, once a member of President Clinton's Cabinet, endorsed Hillary Clinton rival Barack Obama last week for the Democratic presidential nomination. Carville called it an "act of betrayal," and pointed out that it came during Holy Week.

"Mr. Richardson's endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out (Jesus) for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic," he said.

And Richardson's response:

"Richardson told "Fox News Sunday" that he wouldn't respond by getting "in the gutter like that."

"That's typical of many of the people around Senator Clinton," Richardson said. "They think they have a sense of entitlement to the presidency."

Richardson finally verbalized what many Republicans have been saying for years. The Clintons (aptly assisted by Mr. Carville) have been utilizing "gutter politics" for years. They are the masters of ripping opponents apart, spreading innuendos and accusing everyone of unfairness when they are the first and best at unfairness. And yes, we all have known for a long time that Hillary has displayed an obtrusive and disgusting aura of "entitlement to the presidency." YUK.

Funny how the Democrats are going at each other. Let's just enjoy this while we can.

Another reason many people are mad at Denny

The headline says it all:

Retired House Speaker Dennis Hastert takes job at Naperville firm

Here's the link to the story in the Chicago Tribune:

Hastert hired as strategic adviser at The Goeken Group Corp., a medical records firm

A former contributor has hired Denny as an "advisor." So Denny, you resigned your seat in Congress for this? You abandoned your district for this? You turned your back on the constitutents who have loved and supported you and voted for you for years for this? And you couldn't wait just another year to take this job?

Kind of feels like a betrayal.

Media coddles Obama

"I did not breathe his seductive cologne."

That tells it all. Read this article from the Southtown Star by Kristen McQueary.

She's calling out Obama and Governor Blago on their "lack of truthfulness" on more than a few issues.

It's a goodie--read it.

Telling Sam Zell we want it to be WRIGLEY FIELD

And not Viagra Park or any other such stupid name. Katie the intern at the Sun-Times put together a winning video.

Watch the video on YouTube. It's priceless!

I AM SICK OF WINTER

It's the 2nd day of spring and it's snowing.

• I put away the snow shovel I used to clean off the deck.
• We washed the salt off the cars.
  
• I want to wash and store the winter coats
• It was just starting to be nice for walking the dogs.
• The sun was shining and improving all our moods

AND NOW IT'S SNOWING. ENOUGH

Playgirl magazine wants Eliot Spitzer

Actually I think it's just a spoof, but it's darned funny.
Check this out......

Open Playgirl Casting Call to Eliot Spitzer

Spring is here

and we're supposed to get a major snow storm.

Great. Isn't about time for this bad weather to end?

...HEAVY WET SNOW AND SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED OVERNIGHT
TONIGHT AND EARLY...

A STORM SYSTEM MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES EARLY THIS
MORNING WILL CONTINUE SOUTHEAST INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS BY
TONIGHT. THE SURFACE LOW PRESSURE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM
SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO TRACK FROM SOUTHEAST IOWA ACROSS CENTRAL
ILLINOIS AND INTO CENTRAL INDIANA ON FRIDAY. HEAVY WET SNOW IS
LIKELY NORTH OF THE TRACK OF THIS LOW ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL
ILLINOIS EXTENDING EAST SOUTHEAST INTO FAR NORTHWEST INDIANA.

Happy Birthday GOP

Here's something I received in an e-mail from Michael Zak this morning:

"Today, Republicans celebrate -- or should celebrate -- the 154th anniversary of our Grand Old Party.

At the time, the Democrats in control of Congress were moving toward passage of their Kansas- Nebraska Act, allowing slavery to expand into the western territories. The Democrat President said he would sign the bill into law.

Amid the intense reaction, a grassroots movement arose to oppose the pro-slavery policies of the Democratic Party. In just a few months, these town meetings and demonstrations coalesced into the Republican Party.

Several sites share the credit as its birthplace, but the GOP was named in Ripon, Wisconsin. At a March 20, 1854 meeting convened by anti-slavery activist Alvan Bovay, fifty-five men and three women called for all opponents of slavery to unite in a new organization, to be called "the Republican Party." This name had a past as well as a future. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and many other Founding Fathers had called themselves "Republicans."

The Ripon meeting was widely reported in the newspapers. Just two months later, Members of Congress who opposed slavery declared themselves to be Republicans. In July, the Republican Party held its first state convention, in Jackson, Michigan.

Within two years, the GOP became a major national party, controlling the U.S. House of Representatives, and in 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected the first Republican President of the United States.

Republicans today would benefit tremendously from appreciating the heritage of our Grand Old Party."

Michael Zak adapted this article from Back to Basics for the Republican Party, his acclaimed history of the GOP cited by Clarence Thomas in a Supreme Court decision. Hundreds more articles are available on the Grand Old Partisan blog -- http://grandoldpartisan.typepad.com -- each day celebrating 154 years of Republican heroes and heroics.

Michael Zak is a popular speaker to Republican organizations around the country. See www.republicanbasics.com for more information.

Ya gotta watch this You Tube video

He calls Obama a "mac-Daddy."

WATCH THIS--IT'S SOMETHING ELSE.

WARNING: He's a Clinton supporter and extols Bill Clinton's virtues (are there any?????).
He calls Obama a "long legged freak."

My 2 favorite new tee shirts

(left) Gotta get this one for my dogs.

(right) Gotta get this one for me!

Will the paparazzi ever stop pursuing me and my friends???

Shelby Steele is one smart guy

If you haven't read any Shelby Steele stuff you really need to. Here's a link to something he wrote for the Wall Street Journal today, and it's gangbusters.

The Obama Bargain

By SHELBY STEELE

Some of Steele's points:

• The novelty of Barack Obama is more his cross-racial appeal than his talent."

• How to turn one's blackness to advantage?

  The answer is that one "bargains." Bargaining is a mask that blacks can wear in the American mainstream, one that enables them to put whites at their ease. This mask diffuses the anxiety that goes along with being white in a multiracial society. Bargainers make the subliminal promise to whites not to shame them with America's history of racism, on the condition that they will not hold the bargainer's race against him. And whites love this bargain -- and feel affection for the bargainer -- because it gives them racial innocence in a society where whites live under constant threat of being stigmatized as racist. So the bargainer presents himself as an opportunity for whites to experience racial innocence.

  This is how Mr. Obama has turned his blackness into his great political advantage, and also into a kind of personal charisma. Bargainers are conduits of white innocence, and they are as popular as the need for white innocence is strong. Mr. Obama's extraordinary dash to the forefront of American politics is less a measure of the man than of the hunger in white America for racial innocence.

• But bargainers have an Achilles heel. They succeed as conduits of white innocence only as long as they are largely invisible as complex human beings. They hope to become icons that can be identified with rather than seen, and their individual complexity gets in the way of this. So bargainers are always laboring to stay invisible. (We don't know the real politics or convictions of Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan or Oprah Winfrey, bargainers all.) Mr. Obama has said of himself, "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views . . ." And so, human visibility is Mr. Obama's Achilles heel. If we see the real man, his contradictions and bents of character, he will be ruined as an icon, as a "blank screen."

Read the whole article. It's pretty darned good. By the way, Shelby Steele is black and a conservative.

Obama Speaks...people swoon (yuk)

I'm not interested in hearing the speech or reading it. As far as I'm concerned it's all platitudes (all show and no go) and he's just trying to CHA (cover his a**).

Here's one thing he said--see if you buy it.
"As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all."

So now the words are divisive but for the last 20 years you sat in a pew at that church and listened to those words and called Pastor Wright your friend and spiritual advisor they WEREN'T DIVISIVE?????

That goes beyond the smell test....just not buying it.

He also said: "Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable."

Yep, that's exactly the way most reasonable objective people see it. You're saying that's just the way it is, just the way an African American church and pastor are. HOW DISRESCTFUL to the thousands of pastors across this country who DO NOT behave the way Pastor Wright did.

So here's a link if you'd like to read the speech....

The media might just be going after Obama (finally)

Here's the story: Obama walks arrogance line

Here's my favorite part of the story:

"He's bordering on arrogance.

The dictionary defines the word as an "offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride." Obama may not be offensive or overbearing, but he can be a bit too cocky for his own good."

Ya, like us folks here in Illinois don't know that....well, at least the ones who actually pay attention know it.

Is there a politician in New York that believes in fidelity to their spouse?

Yep, even the new governor of New York is an adulterer. What the heck is going on in New York? The men are unfaithful to their wives and their wives are stupid enough to hang around and be publicly embarrassed. HOW DUMB ARE THEY????

So check out this link to a story about the new governor of New York--another cheating husband.
Of course the guy is a Democrat....and no one seems to be making a big deal of it. Can you imagine if he was a Republican????

The kind of change you get with Democrats

Another tidbit from Karen (thanks!)

Hmmmmm, any connection you think?

A little over one year ago:

1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;
3) the unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since the Democrats took over Congress in 2006:

1) Consumer confidence plummet;
2) the cost of regular gasoline soared to over $3 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value
evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by
$1.2 trillion dollars;
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.

America voted for change in 2006, and we certainly got it!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

• It's Monday.
• It's overcast and threatening rain.
• The newspapers are full of bad news.
• The stock market is up and down all day (thanks Bears Stearns)
• People are still droning on and on about Jim Oberweis (it's getting nasty now)
• Obama still says he didn't know about his pastor's racist paranoid sermons (ya, like we believe that).
• I'm tired of Hillary Clinton (isn't everyone tired of the Clintons????)

(check out the linked points above...interesting stuff)

But hey, it's St. Patrick's Day. Let's all toast the good stuff...after the market closes.

A little celebration now and then is a good thing....

My friends and I are giving the official "Here's what we
think about liberals" salute.



(above) Just another day enjoying the good life....

But I thought Kane County was drug free?

The title of the article says it all:

DUI, drug cases flooding Kane County courts

Well, all those people that hounded Judge Jim Doyle into retirement should be so proud of themselves.

"Aside from alcohol, marijuana and cocaine also are pervasive in Kane County, Barsanti said. Last year, the most common felony charge was unlawful possession of a controlled substance. The fifth most common change was delivery of or possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, according to the statistics."

People need to wake up and realize the destructive influence of drugs in this area.

Denny's staff members have left the building

The last paychecks have been cut and the lights have been turned off.

From the Batavia Sun....scroll down to the last paragraph in the story.
It's a March 12th article.

Office in transition

For the next month, residents of the 14th Congressional District probably will be on their own, as far as services from a congressman goes.

The office of former 14th District Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Yorkville, closed Saturday, its workers drawing their last paycheck.

The office will reopen with a new congressman when Democrat Bill Foster, the winner of Saturday's special election, is sworn in to replace Hastert through next January.

"The people will be without representation, and I think that should be for as short a time as possible," Cunningham said.

Why do I doubt Foster will want all those pesky Republican district workers on his staff? Ya see, the first thing a Democrat does is cause a rise in unemployment!

And another pundit weighs in on why we lost to a liberal Democrat in District 14

Read this from Dennis Byrne

Why the GOP Lost IL-14

In my opinion, this is the best thing from his article.

"Meanwhile, the Illinois Republican Party continues to implode, becoming an ever greater national embarrassment. Many in the party seem to be in suspended animation, waiting in vain for the leadership, such as it is, to come up with credible candidates and campaigns. Meanwhile, potentially talented young candidates are discouraged from making the effort by the absence of party organization and money. Divides over ideology tear at the partyʼs seams. Vision is absent."

I agree. I'm still witnessing squabbling and a failure to admit the lethargy the Republican Party in Illinois is suffering from. There are way too many empty township precincts, too many people suffering from ego "waaa waaa" issues, and too many people not admitting that Denny Hastert did us wrong in this district by walking away when he did. Republicans still don't get it. We've lost every state elected position, lost the congressional seat we've held forever, and still they're not seeing the problems that are clearly obvious. What's it gonna take to wake up?????

Ya gotta read this one

Check this out--also in today's Wall Street Journal

A President, Not a Symbol

This indicates the tone of the article: "There are many reasons the idea of an Obama presidency appeals to so many Americans, and not the least of them is that it appeals to so many non-Americans. He blends his several identities so seamlessly as to seem to be part everything -- and so for everyone, everywhere, to feel as if they have a part of him. He combines style, eloquence, youth and a common touch in a way the world hasn't seen in an American president since 1961. His soft-left brand of foreign policy, with its emphasis on global "challenges" rather than American interests, is broadly appealing to the rest of the world (or at least the segment that's in the business of writing op-eds that are later quoted back to American audiences)."

Do we want someone who is loved by the rest of the world as president?

I don't. I'd rather have someone who is feared by the rest of the world. What happened the day Ronald Reagan was inaguarated? Oh ya, the Iranians let the hostages go. They didn't want to have to deal with Reagan because they were afraid of him. Think about it....Do you honestly think anyone in the rest of the world would be afraid of Obama? Or are they all looking forward to him in the White House because they know they'll be able to do as they please to America and any American anywhere in the world????

John Fund's comments on the loss of the 14th Congressional District

Reagan Country Votes Democratic

"Certainly the weakening economy and the unpopularity of President Bush played a role in the Oberweis defeat. But there were some other factors that need to be considered before pronouncing judgment on the race's national significance.

Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich took the unusual step of calling the special election for a Saturday, ostensibly to see if it would increase voter turnout. But that proved to be a bust, with less than one in five registered voters showing up at the polls. What a Saturday election did do was enable Democrats to mobilize hundreds of union workers to canvass the district and drum up support for Mr. Foster. By way of contrast, the Republican Party in the district was unused to competitive Congressional races. "Hastert had won for so long so easily, the party was flabby and not used to a tough race," says Penny Pullen, a former state legislator and state director of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum."

VERY ASTUTE.

Also this: "Mr. Foster's win is a wake-up call to Republicans that this year they will have to step up their game, big time."

Yes, Mr. Fund. I think you got it right.

Are we awake yet? I doubt it.

Another good column by Peggy Noonan

Just got a chance to read today's Peggy Noonan column in the Wall Street Journal (online).
Click here to read this: DECLARATIONS By PEGGY NOONAN

Here's a quote that REALLY rings true: "The base is tired. Republicans feel their own kind of unease at Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton. Talk about wanting to stand athwart history yelling stop. They're not in a mood to give money. Remember the phrase "broken glass Republicans?" The number of Republicans so offended, so wounded, actually, as citizens, by the Clinton years, that they'd crawl across broken glass to elect George Bush? They existed in 2004, too. Now a lot of them wouldn't crawl across a plush weave carpet to vote for a Republican."

I've heard that from many people here in the 14th Congressional District, and honestly, it's scarey. She also said, "Philosophy is the foundation. All the rest is secondary, a quick one-coat paint job on a house with a sagging roof."

Republicans need to be re-energized. The Democrats are acting like they are on a caffeine high with the young, good looking and charming Barack Obama. He's all those things, but never really says anything of substance...empty rhetoric. But he's charming...

Bye bye to the NRCC in the Oberweis campaign

So it looks like the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) might be abandoning Jim Oberweis.
Read this story in the Friday edition of the Daily Herald.

To the NRCC: Thanks so much, but don't let the door hit you in the *** on the way out. I think Jim could have done without their help to begin with. Between their annoying "robo-calls" and bad campaign mailings it seems they probably did MUCH MORE harm than good.

Do they sense blood in the water, are they conceding the 14th Congressional District to the Democrats, or are they just weak in the knees and just don't have the stomach for what will be a good old fashioned political battle (hopefully a much better tone this time) for this coveted seat?

Maybe Oberweis needs some actual POSITIVE ads with Republicans that people like--yes, there are people like that out there. How about Jim Edgar for example. And again, Denny Hastert--enjoy your retirement, but no thanks to any more "help" from you. No insult intended, but enjoy your "retirement" with your lobbyist friends.

Whatever it is, perhaps Jim Oberweis should say adios to the NRCC who probably weren't too helpful anyway. Readers: any suggestions?

Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy

Today is a GREAT DAY.

My "offspring" just got admitted to one of the 8 law schools applied to, got a scholarship there, got the tax refund in the mail, and got a call from someone about a possible job. ALL IN THE SAME DAY.

It's a good day...and I don't care about politics for today---family is MUCH MORE IMPORTANT !!!

Is Hillary really experienced?

Yes, a little innuendo there...couldn't resist.

But read this story in today's online Time Magazine:

Clinton's Experience Debate

They went through and analyzed all her claims of experience during her public career--mostly centered on her marriage to Bill. Not so impressive....but read it and you make the call.

District 14 is changing

Read this story in Wednesday's Chicago Daily Observer about Congressional District 14 and the Foster victory/Oberweis loss.

Here's something I've been discussing about this situation: "What is really happening in the 14th and other exurban districts is political and demographic change. It is the change we saw first in suburban Cook County, where the red-blue balance keeps moving toward the Democrats. Similar gains are being made throughout the collar counties—look at Will and Lake."

My district just isn't the staunchly conservative Republican area it was some years ago. The reality is that Republicans need to understand that and not take their voters for granted.

Why would any woman stand with any man who is this big a cheater and scumbag????

There stands Silda Spitzer with her husband, New York (soon to be ex) Governor Eliot Spitzer today at a press conference where he announced he would resign effective Monday, March 17th (Happy St. Pat's Day). Read the story in the NY Post about this disgusting matter.

Spitzer is a self-righteous hypocrite who aggressively pursued anyone (when he was NY Attorney General) he decided had violated any law--including prostitution. Wow--and yet he has been involved (allegedly) in using prostitutes for at least 6 years. Well isn't he the perfect example of money & power corrupting someone.

From the press conference today: "I look at my time as governor with a sense of what might had been but I also know that as a public servant, I and the remarkable people with whom I've worked, have accomplished a great deal. There is much more to be done and I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work," Spitzer said. He is so full of himself--the guy is a multimillionaire, governor of a state, and threw it all away because he couldn't keep his fly zipped. Wow.

But back to my original point--why would any woman stay with a man who publicly embarrasses you, cheats on you, and makes you look like a fool???? Oh ya, Spitzer is rich (VERY rich) and Hillary wants to be president. I guess that justifies it all for those stupid women.

I don't often agree with Geraldine Ferraro but...

she's right on this one.

Here's some quotes from what she said and context of the story:

Ferraro, who was Walter Mondale's vice presidential running mate, said Wednesday that her remarks were not racist and had been taken out of context. She accused Obama's campaign of twisting her remarks to undercut his rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"I was talking about historic candidacies and what I started off by saying (was that) if you go back to 1984 and look at my historic candidacy, which I had just talked about all these things, in 1984 if my name was Gerard Ferraro instead of Geraldine Ferraro, I would have never been chosen as a vice presidential candidate," Ferraro said on ABC's "Good Morning America.""It had nothing to do with my qualification."

Ferraro said she has a 40-year history of opposing discrimination of all kinds, including race, and that she was outraged at criticism of her remarks by David Axelrod, Obama's chief media strategist, because he knows her and her record.

"David Axelrod, his campaign manager, has chose to spin this as a racist comment because everytime anybody makes a comment about race who is white - he did it with Bill Clinton, he was successful; he did it with (Pennsylvania governor and Clinton supporter) Ed Rendell, he was less successful; and he is certainly not going to be successful with me," Ferraro told CBS'"The Early Show.""He should have called me up ... He knows I'm not racist."

The controversy began Tuesday when the national media picked up on comments Ferraro made in an interview last week with the Daily Breeze newspaper in Torrance, Calif.: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

Ferraro said she stands by her assertion that Obama's success in the Democratic campaign is due "in part" to his race.

Source: Obama Says Ferraro Dividing Democrats

How do we revive the Republican Party in Illinois?

• Can it be done?
• Who can do it?
• Is it fixable?
• Are we relying on too many of the old "war horses" and not looking to the next generation to carry the Republican banner?
• WHY HAS THIS HAPPENED????

Doug Ibendahl addresses some of these issues in this interesting article.
Stick a fork in Oberweis and the Illinois Republican Party, they’re done

Unfortunately Ibendahl misses the point by proposing Chris Lauzen as the hero in this whole mess. Chris just isn't the hero. Too many people saw him as a good candidate and a solid conservative. That he is--a good statewide or Congressional candidate he isn't.

I like Chris. I REPEAT--I LIKE CHRIS. He's one of the good guys, but for the good of the party (he should have taken a cue from Mitt Romney) he shouldn't have run for Congress this time. We should have had ONE candidate and united behind him and worked for his election. In my opinion (take it or leave it--your choice) that candidate SHOULD NOT have been Chris. Our district IS NOT a solidly conservative district--unfortunately a sign of the times. We need someone who understands business and global markets and how to succeed in a competitive business atmosphere. Chris (again unfortunately) is not that person. We need(ed) a candidate who understands how to work with other people to get things accomplished and can hold to the principles that guide most of the families in this district.

So this election should be a HUGE educational experience for us Republicans and should wake us up to the reality of the situation we find ourselves in. Mr. Oberweis should see this as a huge rebuke of "robo-calls" (HATE THEM--I hung up on dozens of them from both Oberweis, the Republican Congressional Committee and the DCC), misinformation in campaign mailers & television ads (both Republicans and Democrats), and the failure of local Republican leaders to marshall their forces to get out the vote on a rare Saturday election.

Everyone in my house voted--and we voted for Oberweis. We voted for CHANGE--to escape the yoke of Hastert's "failure to lead" and to send a competent businessman to Washington to work for our district. Foster (ugh--hate typing his name) is a puppet of the Democratic party.

Just exactly what is the Hastert legacy?

This is a good read: Oberweis defeat only adds to Hastert’s legacy


Here's my favorite quote: "Losing yet another Congressional District in Illinois is a sad indictment of our Republican leadership."

It's time to revamp the Republican Party from the ground up in Illinois.

• Judy Topinka couldn't do it.
• Andy McKenna couldn't do it.

Ok, Jim Edgar or Jim Thompson. Maybe it's time for one of you guys to step up and take the reins of the party. Put up or shut up. SOMEONE PLEASE GET THE PARTY BACK ON THE RIGHT TRACK !!!!!

Just what are people saying about the Oberweis loss?

Go to this link and read the comments people are making about the special election to fill the 14th Congressional District seat vacated by Denny Hastert.

Here are some of my favorite comments (quotes from the posting on Illinois Review):

1. Kane County Republican Chairman Mike Kenyon, Kendall County Republican Chairman Keith Wheeler and DeKalb County Republican Chairman Mary Simons, as well as the other chairmen, need to get their collective asses in gear, and inspire the committeemen they represent that they will have to work the hardest they have ever worked in politics from now through November 4th to win back the 14th for Republicans, and deliver John McCain their respective counties in the fall.
2. Finally, my good friend Denny Hastert, whom I admire, get his share of the blame for losing this seat because he resigned so early. It should not have been a burden to serve out nine months of the term he campaigned for and was elected to just 14 months ago in November of 2006.
3. Lauzen placed principle over party. That may not make him loved by the party, but it makes him a hero to the average voter who's tired of the divisiveness that dominates politics these days.
4. The leaders of the Illinois Republican Party are a bunch of certifiable idiots and jackasses. These guys had run the Illinois GOP in to the ground. When will the rank and file wake up and realize the house is burnt to the ground and there is nothing left.
5. Reading these comments tells me one thing: it is everyone's fault. Look at how we are bickering back and forth between Lauzen and Oberweis, STILL!!! That election is over and we are acting like it continues. Who cares?! We need to work together as a party to ensure that the Republican's do not disappear in the onslaught of Obama/Clinton. We are nine months away from the general and already people are waving the white flag to the Dems. Stop this now! Instead of bickering back and forth, let's start working out a way to unite this party again, especially in the 14th (and 11th) where we will need the ENTIRE party to work together.
   

AMEN to that. Please, enough with the bickering. It's time to roll up our sleeves and figure out how to fix this awful situation and elect a Republican to Congress in the 14th District.

Oberweis Defeat a Victory for Change?

From the Illinois Review--please go to this link and read the story written by Dan Proft. He makes some excellent points but this one particularly strikes me:

"Regardless of what ultimately happens in November, the Oberweis loss then is much less a harbinger of the future for the nation than it is an indicator of the present in Illinois."

It’s not a Foster Victory but an Oberweis Defeat: Some Reasons.

Read this article by Thomas F. Roeser, Chicago Daily Observer.

Use THIS link to find the article .

I think he analyzes this situation rather well. But you read the article and see for yourself.

Here's one of my favorite quotes from the article: "The juvenile, sulk-in-his-tent attitude of Chris Lauzen who refused to endorse the winner—Oberweis—because Lauzen felt he was slandered by Oberweis’ campaign tactics. Sure the Oberweis commercials were rough which is Oberweis’ consultants’ style…but someone should have told Lauzen that politics ain’t beanbag as Mr. Dooley famously said."

Well said.

My question: How are we going to get past this and GET RID OF FOSTER???????

Oberweis Loss Of Hastert's 14th District In Illinois: Plenty Of Blame To Go Around

Here's the subtitle: GOP Special Election Defeat Shouldn't Be Seen As National Trend

What do you think?

Read this article from the RFMM.org

So I guess I'm not the only one thinking this:
"But Oberweis cannot take all the blame. Dennis Hastert's political gamesmanship, demonstrated by his endorsement of Oberweis, played a significant role in what happened on Saturday. Many believe Hastert retired when he did, in order to remain eligible to be a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, Oberweis loaded his staff with those who formerly worked for Hastert. It looked like dirty politics and, even if it wasn't dirty politics, appearances are often enough to turn off voters."

Is it a "mandate" if only 25% of eligible voters actually vote????

1. Shame on the voters in the 14th Congressional District who didn't show up to vote on Saturday.
2. Shame on the voters who knew they wouldn't be able to make it to the polls on March 8th and didn't take the time to do either early voting or get an absentee ballot.
   
3. Shame on the governor who set a Saturday election as a "test."
4. Shame on Denny Hastert (see posting below....still aggravates me).
5. Shame on the Chicago Tribune for their disgraceful endorsement of Foster (pandering to the Obama crapola is disgusting).
   

Read this article from today's Kane County Chronicle about the extremely low voter turnout.

Is it a representative democracy if 75% of the eligible voters don't care enough to vote?

Some good Italian music

Go to this link and you can listen to some good Italian music. Whenever I'm not feeling too positive about things Italian music always makes me feel happy.

The Mad World of Barack Obama

Go to this link: Creative Minority

Watch the video (warning: graphic material). Pretty much explains Obama and why we should not trust him.

Denny Hastert screwed the 14th Congressional District

I hope he's happy. I hold him personally responsible for the election of a Democrat to represent our district. Because he didn't have the courage to serve through the entire term he was elected to we were forced to have a very costly special election to replace him for the balance of the term (until January 2009). Or was it about greed Denny so you could have that extra bump in your pension that the Speaker's position gave you? Greed and laziness--that's what we'll remember about you, Denny Hastert. What a sad legacy!

In addition, Republicans in this district need to get their heads out of their anal areas and remember how to work together to secure a victory for our party. There is way too much back stabbing and rampant ego running through them. As a result we have a VERY liberal, free spending, tax raising, Nancy Pelosi supporter as our new Congressman.

Maybe some of the people that voted for this sorry excuse of a politician will see what he really stands for when their taxes are raised. But honestly, they're still basking in the glow of the whole empty "Change" rhetoric of Barack Obama. Change? Yes, we'll get change because you won't have anything BUT change in your pockets with a Democrat in Congress from the 14th District. What a bunch of dopes!

Do college campuses need better security?

One simple answer: YES.

Read this article in the Champaign News-Gazette.

As the parent of a college student I can empathize with this comment from the story: "As one parent told him, "we don't expect to send our children to college and get them home in caskets." If you're the parent of a college student I would bet you have the same concern. I worry about my daughter every day.

As a retired college teacher I can honestly say campus security is almost nonexistent. A college campus is an open place. Not only are things stolen from every campus every day (Once there was a projector stolen from a classroom in the building in which I taught--a projector that was securely fastened to the ceiling in an open classroom.) but there is no way to guarantee that someone won't do on any campus on any day what happened at NIU or VT. After the VT shootings I was in the classroom and begged my students to really think about what had happened, and to not bring a gun into my classroom ever. After that shooting I really thought about my personal safety, much like I worried about overly obsessed students who wanted to walk me out to my car after a late night class. You just never know what someone will do--someone you think is "okay" but may well not be.

So yes, Illinois legislature, give campuses more money for security. Governor Blago, this is an opportunity to be the good guy, but no, you won't get any money to line your pocket so you probably will only do a "press op" and not really carry through. Just another reason you stink as a governor.

I'm waiting for that tax rebate

So it's been a tough few months financially.

1. My 8 year old car needed work on the front axle.
2. My husband's car froze and needed repairs.
3. Our furnace died in the middle of the horrible freezing weather.
4. Both our water heaters have died.
5. My shower needed to be demolished (thanks to the contractor who built the house and didn't properly install the backer board & tile) and we need plumbing/new walls/new shower stall.
6. The guest bath walls were leaking so we decided to put in a tub/shower liner and new fixtures.
   
7. Our snow blower conked out in the last snowstorm. Did some fix it work for $7.00 but it still needs some work.

When will the winter be over???????

Good news

In a free country where the Constitution protects your right to "bear arms" there are irresponsible people who do bad things. The NIU tragedy (which hits close to home because I am an NIU graduate and live within 30 miles of the campus) brought us tremendous grief and made all of us question why horrible things like that happen. (Hint: there is a presence of evil in this world.)

But in this story in the Sun Times there is good news. The gun shop in Champaign where the killer purchased his weapons has closed. Always makes you wonder when a business such as that is a small building in a back yard. Maybe this time the owner followed all the rules and yet this horrible thing happened. Maybe his conscience couldn't bear the guilt. I don't know, but I'm glad he's closed.

Why am I not surprised by this development?

If you live anywhere in the 16th Judicial Circuit you know about the disgusting way Judge Jim Doyle was treated for the last few years by the defense attorneys in this area. Judge Doyle founded Drug Court in our district and helped countless individuals through his tireless efforts. Jim is a man of faith and believed strongly in the goodness in people while recognizing the lure and power of drugs in peoples' lives and knowing the impact those drugs have on our crime rate. But he was viciously and savagely attacked by people who put their personal egos ahead of the good that Judge Doyle was doing. And Jim, my friend and someone I greatly respect, was hounded by their baseless charges, and eventually retired from the bench. That my friends, was an incredible loss for everyone in this circuit.

So what has been the result?

• rise in the crime rate?
  
• more drug arrests and cases?
• more deaths due to drug overdoses
• more broken lives?

The answer is yes to all those questions.
Check out this article that, while skirting the REAL issue of the loss of Judge Doyle's sometimes heavy handed (but necessary) approach to dealing with those in Drug Court, discusses what's going on in our judicial circuit concerning drug charges.

DRUG CASES FILLING AREA COURTROOMS

Again, Cole Hall (NIU) razing "off the table"

Hurray for some tiny bit of sanity from the craziness that occurred on February 14th at Northern Illinois University. Cooler heads might prevail in the "tear down Cole Hall" outcry and they just might not destroy the building.

State Senator Brad Burzynski said this: ""Demolition is going to be taken off the table, and what I think is going to occur now is there is going to be discussion on campus of if there is good use for the building, what it should be and those kinds of things," he told the paper." Finally a legislator who has the courage to say what should have been said about this building.

Check out these two articles about this situation.

1. Daily Herald: Cole Hall demolition 'off the table'?
2. Chicago Tribune: NIU president pulls back from call to raze Cole Hall, Peters Aims to collect student, faculty views
3. Daily Illini: Rebuilding NIU shouldn't be about politics

One of the best quotes: "Tearing down the building is not going to heal wounds," history professor David Kyvig said a few hours after the governor's news conference last week. Kyvig had taught this semester in Cole Hall. "I do feel it's foolish for the university to be doing something so quickly."

Also: "Other students and professors said there were more pressing needs on campus, from aging classroom buildings to outdated elevators." This is so true. Up until 2/14/08, I'm not sure if Governor Blago even knew where DeKalb and NIU was. He has been an obvious foe of adequately financing our college campuses (U of I and NIU are perfect examples), so it was so incredibly apparent that he was using the tragedy to grandstand (AGAIN are we surprised by his behavior? NOOOOOO). Shame on Blago & Durbin. Shame, shame, shame.

Thanks Brett for the memories

I've always been a Brett Favre fan which makes me a Packer fan. Yes, I know that being in the Chicago area I should probably be a Bears fan, but honestly, when they fired Ditka they lost me. I'm not an admirer of the last 2 coaches--they are truly uninspiring. So yes, today is a tough day with Brett Favre deciding to hang up his cleats after 17 years.

So Brett, thanks for the memories. You're a class guy.

Here's a link to the announcement on the
Packer website.

Could Obama be as incompetent as Carter?

Probably. Please read this series in the Investor's Business Daily about Jimmy Carter and what a total absolute failure he was as president. He has the audacity to criticize President Bush. The guy needs to actually get a brain.

Carter is a perfect example of someone elected who talks a good game but has/had absolutely no business as the leader of the greatest country on this earth. What scares me is that people will vote for Barack Obama who has less qualifications and more dangerous views than Carter.

Plan to raze Cole Hall is "off the table"

Finally some sanity in this horrible tragedy! Read this story in today's Sun-Times by Dave McKinney about more than a few folks changing their minds about demolishing Cole Hall (the site of the shootings on 2/14/08). Of course Blago is still trying to promote the plan to replace Cole with a $40 million building project--but knowing how he operates, only if he can get some good publicity out of it.