Common sense in a blind spot for Illinois liberals - Crystal Lake company departs for Wisconsin

It's no longer hypothetical. Catalysts Exhibits, Inc., is soon to depart Crystal Lake, IL, for a warmer environment - warmer at least in terms of the embrace and support it will receive from its new state government. Check out this story on Triblocal.com: http://triblocal.com/crystal-lake/2011/03/17/crystal-lake-loses-business-to-wisconsin/.

This situation is indicative of the blind spot in the liberal perspective. They are so completely focused on the idea of financial equity for the 'little people' under their elitist benevolence, that they can't understand an engine won't run without fuel. It's like the episode of The Twilight Zone from years ago where the killer, unable to accept the existence of terrible scars on one side of his face, which he hides from the television audience until the very end, is stunned when he's identified for the crime.

"How did they know it was me?"

"Well, no one else has that particular type of facial disfigurement."

Liberal progressives just don't see it.

"Ahha, I know the answer - tax all the wealthy owners of companies in the state."

"But, what if they move, say, to Wisconsin or something?"

"I'm sorry. I know your lips were moving but nothing was coming out."

It's as though logic is spoken at a decibel the liberal progressive ear can't pick up. "YES, YOU CAN TAX ALL THE CREATORS OF JOBS - BUT MANY WILL TAKE THEIR JOBS TO OTHER STATES RATHER THAN PAY YOUR TAXES."

"Do you think he heard you?"

"Judging by that blank stare and incoherent smile on his face, I doubt it."

The only apparent means of getting through to these Bozos is by speaking loudly at the ballot box. Hopefully, enough Illinoisans have hearing that is effective at the common-sense level and we can do some elective shouting next time these Bozos run for re-election.

The Left's 'Duh' factor is working to our advantage

I'm glad they're trying to do this. It's the stupidest, most idiotic, moronic idea I've ever heard of and I applaud their effort. In fact, I hope they try to outdo themselves with something that even surpasses this proposal for its 'Duh' factor.

What am I talking about? I was listening to Michael Medved on the radio yesterday and he spoke about the geniuses in Seattle proposing a law that would make it illegal for a landlord to consider an individual's criminal background when determining someones viability as a reasonable tenant.

Of course, I don't want to saddle Seattle's landlords with such an insane law. But, as the liberal progressives pile insanity upon insanity, fewer and fewer Americans will be able to ignore the fact that something crazy is afoot. Too many American voters didn't notice the insanity of electing an ultra-liberal, with an unknown background president of the United States. For all we know about Obama - whether we dig in Hawaii or Kenya - there might just be an infant's grave containing the bones of a newborn jackal.

OK, now I'm sounding crazy - but just a little bit. The point is that Obama and the liberal progressives generally hid in the shadows of obscurity during the election of 2008. Sure, Obama's smiling, teleprompter reading face was splattered across television, internet and newspapers, but what did we really know about him, and how much interest did the Left-stream media really exhibit in its effort to vet the presidential candidate? Kind of like voting on a 2,700 bill before reading it, we elected Obama so that we could see what we got once we had him in the White House.

Well, now we've seen. Of course, the Left-stream media is still trying to run interference for the man but that will only go so far. Libya erupts into revolution and we see Obama's backswing while teeing off at the 9th Hole. An earthquake and Tsunami engulf Japan in a radioactive disaster, and Obama graces us with his NCAA picks.

It's not just in the White House. Here in Illinois, we have a liberal progressive attorney general, the daughter of the liberal-progressive, big-spending Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, agreeing with the Left-stream Associated Propaganda that gun card and gun ownership records should be open material. Never mind that the Constitutionally questionable records are required by the state - now that Illinois has forced people to sign up to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights, the state wants to turn over that list to the liberal biased medai.

Let's look at the media for a little liberal-progressive insanity. Members of the Left-stream media have hurled every possible vile epitaph at conservatives and TEA Party members these last two years, accused them of violence when there was nothing to report, rashly pointed the finger at the TEA Party when violence did occur only to find out the violence did not originate from the right. And what did the Left-stream media have to say about death threats to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker? ................................................................. Yep, that's the sound of silence. Not a peep.

So let the liberal jerks in Seattle propose laws that require landlords to ignore a rapist's criminal background when he wants to move into the apartment next to several teenage girls. Never mind that the child molester wants to live next door to the young couple with several young boys. And, just because that guy with the crazy look in his eyes has killed before, that's no reason to stop him from moving into that quiet little apartment block.

Of course, none of these examples even begin to address the idea that criminals shouldn't find life easier as a result of their crimes; that making life a little more difficult for criminals might actually persuade some potential criminals, or prior criminals to choose a different path in life.

AP - Associated Propaganda - sheds veil of journalistic ethics for liberal agenda

I challenge the liberal progressives at the AP (Associated Propaganda) to show me how a FOIA request for all the records of private gun owners in Illinois is not a grossly biased act. For what purpose have they made this request? How is this news? Will it serve the public beyond the scope of advancing the liberal progressive agenda?

No, it’s not ‘news’ to name all the people who own guns. Our laws and our Constitution support the right to own guns. This is nothing more than the AP’s version of a Wikileaks moment – exposing information for the pure and simple sake of exposing information.

OK, it’s not news, so why do it? Why ask the Illinois State Police to provide information about individual citizens that, for those who have chosen to exercise their right to bear arms, is required by the State of Illinois? If I grant the Associated Propaganda a great big, enormous benefit of the doubt, assuming it has nothing to do with furthering the liberal cause, I draw a complete blank.

So, help me out. Show me how this has a reasonable and appropriate purpose from a journalistic standpoint. Oh, and that means with the application of actual journalistic ethics and standards, not the Left-serving version the Left-stream media has openly operated under these last several years. I say the “last several years” because, prior to that, I think the Left-stream media made a thinly veiled attempt to hide its bias or at least to give the impression that they were policing their own work.

Now, the veil has been torn aside. And who has exposed the Left-stream media for what it is? The Left-stream media has. It wasn’t an incredible case of investigative reporting. The Left-stream media, with a ultra-liberal president and an ultra-liberal Congress assumed, a couple years ago, that they didn’t have to hide any longer. They didn’t have to worry about it.

You might say the Left-stream media misread the elections of 2008. There is a quietly long-held sense within the liberal camp that, with liberal indoctrination in our schools, matched by liberal propaganda in the press and subliminal liberal messages in entertainment, as the old fogies died away, those folks once called by a Left-winter – “The Greatest Generation” – the nation would eventually become a liberal socialist utopia.

The TEA Party upset that applecart, though it took the Left-stream media a while to catch on. They thought they could call conservatives TEA Baggers and make unsubstantiated claims of violent conservatives with impunity.

So, when the Left-stream media outlet – the Associated Propoganda – makes a wholly unreasonable request for the private records of gun owners in the state, they assumed they had the forces in power to push that request through quietly. They were almost right.

Lisa Madigan apparently thinks gun owners in this state don’t have a right to privacy. Of course, she also doesn’t think gun owners in this state have a right to own guns. She’s all too willing to help the Associated Propaganda line Illinoisans up like sheep to be sheared.  

Madigan shares the same agenda with the Associated Propaganda and, instead of performing her duties based on principles, she has chosen to apply her ideology to her responsibilities, just as the idiots at the Associated Propaganda have done.

Governor Pat Quinn might go along with that, though he’s less likely to do so in the face of a political firestorm. Thankfully, the Illinois State Police were a little more level headed about the request.

Who's taking that swan dive into the political rocks below? Lisa Madigan, that's who.

I wonder if the term "political suicide" means anything to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan? It should as she seems to be taking a high dive off of the Cliffs of Most Idiotic Decisions by Public Officials. Madigan, for those of you who haven't heard, has endorsed the FOIA request from a Associated Press reporter demanding that the Illinois State Police turnover the list of gun owners in the state and a list of the weapons those owners are allowed to own.

To their credit, the Illinois State Police have said, "No." Madigan appears to think she has the authority to force the issue though I understand the State Police actually answer to the governor.

The Freedom Of Information Act compels government bodies to provide copies of government records to citizens upon appropriate request and at a reasonable cost for duplication. Of course, the way things work in this country, Madigan would probably try to enforce an FOIA on the Illinois National Guard if it was submitted by Al Qaeda.

What some may not realize is that an FOIA request does not absolutely force the government to turn over documents. The government body has a certain amount of time to consider the request. The government body can also say, "No." If the government body does say, "No" the requester has a right to go before a judge to ask that the government body be forced to comply.

At that time, the judge will consider the argument of the government body for withholding the information. In the case of the AP's request for a list of those with permits to own guns, the FOIA request runs roughshod over individual rights to privacy. It also illuminates one of the greatest concerns raised by gun owners over the years who have argued that gun-ownership permits create lists that defy the goal of the 2nd Amendment in establishing a safeguard against a takeover of the government in opposition to the Constitution.

With the release of this information, should such a government takeover occur, the enemies of Constitutional government would know just where to go to collect all the 'legally owned' guns and their owners. Of course, that's merely a hypothetical situation at this point. But, as shown in the FOXNews story linked above, Illinois Representative Ron Stephens has pointed out that turning over such a list not only identifies who owns a gun but who doesn't.

Once published, criminals who don't want to worry about breaking into the home of someone who could shoot back would be able to quickly identify which homes are easy pickings.

I suppose, if Madigan has considered the political implications of this situation at all, she's banking on the support of all the anti-gun Liberals in the state to maintain her future electability. I think this is a pipe dream. Once those who don't own guns realize that 'everyone' knows they don't own guns, even the anti-gun crowd may find their continued support for her problematic. And, for the gun owners in the state, this is a galvanizing moment.

I wonder what Madigan was planning after public office. She might just want to dust off that resume. I think she's going to need it.

So it begins - Emanuel transition team member unethical

And so it begins. I woke to news on the radio this morning that Mayor Elect Rahm Emanuel's transition team has hit a "small speed bump." It appears, one member of the seven-member team, Judy Erwin, was recently found guilty of violating state ethics rules while executive director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Erwin claims she didn't tell the Emanuel campaign about this little problem but, of course, that's the same as a head coach of a football team getting caught in a sex scandal and then claiming he's retiring to "spend more time with my family." It's standard procedure. Defend the team.

There's also no surprise that Emanuel would appoint someone like this to his transition team. She's apparently guilty of what, I suspect, is standard operating procedure for Emanuel and, hence, to be expected by his underlings.

I hate to say "I told you so." No, actually, I don't mind saying it at all. The only thing that surprises me as that the worm began to turn so quickly. And, like I said, so it begins.

P.S. apparently she was also involved with the Obama campaign. Anyone surprised by that, too?

WGN radio host smooches with Wisconsin Dem hiding in Illinois

I woke to a love fest on the radio this morning. A WGN radio host was questioning one of the Wisconsin Democrat legislators currently hiding out like a common criminal in Illinois. Did he ask him any tough questions? Certainly not during the time that I was listening. In fact, every question he asked seemed to come from a place where hiding in another state to avoid the passage of unwanted legislation is treated as entirely valid.

If anyone else was listening, please tell me - did the host ask the one question that begged to be asked, the only truly valid question? Did he ask, "If you and your peers had a Democrat majority in the Wisconsin legislature, and the Republicans fled the state to avoid a vote they didn't want, what would you say to them?"

Now, I know the Democrat on the radio this morning would not give an honest answer to that question. He would answer it based on the current situation: "Well, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I'd understand and I'd compromise with them so they'd come home and we'd all work together like a happy family."

Here's the answer he'd give if he was in Madison, the Republicans were hiding in Iowa (they wouldn't hid in Illinois because our Democrat governor would almost certainly send our state police to send them back) while the Wisconsin Dems were about to pass legislation the Republicans didn't agree with: "This is an irresponsible dereliction of duty. These Republicans are nothing more than criminals. Imagine, running away to hide across state lines."

Of course, if the shoe was on the other foot, the Dems would twist the rules in Wisconsin so that they could vote without the Republicans.

You don't need to tell me. I missed the beginning of the interview but the question I've posed here was not in the spirit of the moment. Instead, the host seemed to validate statements by the Wisconsin Dem that the governor of Wisconsin is wasting state funds by having the state police drive to the homes of Democrat legislators he knows aren't home (hmmm, who paid for the gas when the Dems fled across the border?).

So, I have another question; how long do the Dems have to stay in Illinois before they lose their residency in Wisconsin, and hence their jobs? Oh, and one other question - will Taco Bell look to this as fodder for a new "Run for the Border" commercial?

Rahm Emanuel? Are people just tone deaf?

Sometimes, I just don't understand. This morning, someone posted a photo in Facebook that showed a Rahm Emanuel for Mayor sign planted in the snow-covered grass between the lanes of a Chicago boulevard. While the person who posted this pointed out that Rahm must have some kind of clout with the city to pull that off, since it is apparently not otherwise acceptable, she still likes Rahm.

I'm a big fan of Ronald Reagan. I think he was possibly the best president since George Washington. And that's saying something since we've had some other remarkable men in that office since 1789 when Washington was first sworn in. But, as much as I appreciated Reagan, I never quite got the "Great Communicator" thing.

Sure, I was impressed with what he said but it was his message more than his delivery that really got me. The same thing with Billy Clinton and Barack Obama, both of whom have also had similar monikers attached to their names. I never got that at all. With Clinton, when the Lewinski scandal broke, I felt like I was the only person who wasn't surprised. I mean, the guy had hound-dog written all over him as far as I could tell.

And Obama - it's as though people who love him are absolutely tone deaf to the rather peculiar things he has to say. I want to scream at them: HE'S A SOCIALIST/WELFARIAN WHO BLAMES AMERICA FOR MOST OF THE WORLD'S PROBLEMS. But, I guess people will only hear what they want to hear.

I recently wrote a column where I spoke of Emanuel setting off the same alarms for me that Stuart Levine did. I once interviewed the former head of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, who is now in prison for using that position to fatten his wallet, for a story about the IHFPB's decision making process related to a proposed hospital in Crystal Lake, IL. I was right about Levine and, in my recent column, I wrote of how Emanuel sets off the same alarms for me. But, nobody else seems to see it.

I told someone about that today - about how I think Emanuel is dirty to the core and, with any luck, will go from City Hall to 26th and California in the near future. My friend said he doesn't see it. In his eyes, Emanuel is merely a pitbull who will get things done one way or the other.

"That," I said, "is the point. How will he get things done and for what purpose?"

I believe Emanuel escaped an investigation into his involvement with Fannie Mae because the investigators were largely sympathetic to his position and influence. But, with or without any solid evidence, I'm convinced this guy is dirty. And I can't understand why other people don't see it.

Maybe I'll one day admit that I was wrong. More than likely, I'll only admit that he hasn't been caught yet. Then again, if Chicago is really lucky, he'll prove me right.

Rahm has me dreaming of Rockford

Have you ever been in a car accident? Not all accidents happen suddenly. Sometimes, you can see the accident unfolding around you realizing there's nothing you can do about it. All you can do is to try to grab hold of something solid, brace your body and wait for the impact.

That's kind of how I felt watching the elections in Chicago today. I could see the accident coming as I did protest in a recent posting here. However, even as I expressed my concern over what I see as a lack of foresight on the part of voters in Chicago, I knew there was little I could do to avoid the political equivalent of screeching tires and busted glass and a dismal choice for mayor of the Windy City.

I don't live in Chicago but that offers small comfort. On a clear day, if I drive about halfway to the city, I'll begin seeing the high-rise buildings of the Loop - Sears Tower, the Hancock Building, if that's what they still call them, and others. But, even from a distance, Chicago cast a big shadow. That shadow isn't merely from tall buildings blotting out the sun; it's also a political shadow cast upon Springfield, the state capital a few hours to the Southwest.

For those of you less familiar with Illinois politics, you may still remember the name Rod Blagojevich - you know, the guy with the hair. Blagojevich made Illinois something of a laughing stock with the scandal that drove him from office, not to mention the way he handled himself in the midst of the personal crisis he shared with the state. Embarrassing Illinois politically takes some doing. Think back to the prior Richard Daley - not the one who just stepped down. Richard J. Daley was the guy who had this to say to a fellow Democrat when the 1968 Democratic Convention turned into a riot in the streets:

"F--- you, you Jew son of a bitch, you lousy mother-f---er, go home." said to US Senator Abraham Ribicoff after he blasted Daley and his administration at the 1968 Democratic Convention for their handling of convention riots."

That's about the same time that he pumped out this beauty: "The policeman isn't there to create disorder; the policeman is there to preserve disorder."

Now that's a touch of class, isn't it. And that was eight years before he left office due to a fatal heart attack. The lesson, reinforced in Chicago today - Chicagoans just don't care. Or, more aptly put, they know which side of their bread is buttered and that's the key to their hearts.

But, back to Chicago's long shadow. What you may not have heard about during Blagojevich's impeachment-shortened term as governor was the joke about the Governor's Mansion. Seems Blagojevich, a former Chicago Alderman, thought the mansion was in Chicago - not Springfield. In fact, from the way he acted, he seemed to think the state capital rode a little to the Northeast of center, as well.

It makes sense that a city with the population of Chicago should have a little more pull than other communities. But, just as our national government was setup to ensure that smaller states and regions were not left in the legislative dustpan, the government in Illinois is setup to protect the interests of smaller communities, too.

That balance doesn't work as well when we have people in office who are not entirely committed to the arrangement. I'm not sure where Pat Quinn stands on the matter. And I have no doubt Richard M Daley was adept at pulling Springfield's strings for the sake of his voting district - Chicago. But, I find it disquieting to think that the big city to the Southeast of me is now in the hands of someone who, while Chief of Staff to Barack Obama, demonstrated what I consider a total lack of respect for Constitutional authority - well, beyond the opportunities it gave him to take advantage of a crisis or two.

I used to like to take a day trip into Chicago from time to time. Rockford is looking much more appealing these days. For that matter, Lake Geneva isn't that far.