Thank You Cook County Democrats

In 1998 the corrupt politicians who run this state had their guy for Governor, George Ryan. George Ryan is an extremely nice guy but his time as Secretary of State was marked by corruption. The winner of the 1998 Democratic Primary was then Downstate Congressman Glenn Poshard who went on to lose to then Republican Secretary of State Ryan. Poshard lost because he did not get real support from the Democrats of Chicago, Ryan would play - Poshard wouldn't. When Blagojevich's troubles seemed to deepen almost two years ago, suddenly one of this state's few politicians whom the public views as reform-minded, Poshard the current President of Southern Illinois University came under attack as a plagiarizer, for a then 23 year-old dissertation. If the Chicago Democratic Machine had supported the Democratic candidate for Governor ten years ago we would not today have a former Governor in prison and the sitting Governor indicted for: attempting to sell a United States Senate seat, shaking down Children's Memorial Hospital, attempting to shake down the Chicago Tribune and on some level, attempting to shake down the Chicago Cubs. For this we can thank the Democrats of Chicago. Was the Senate Candidate #5 part of the government's investigation or just another local politician?

Obama on Mid-East: Let Them Eat Falafels!

This was originally posted on January 19, 2007 in reaction to local journalists and their slavering coverage of Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) and his then impending announcement of a White House run. The Tribune's Eric Zorn has continued that ignorant comparison between the great Emancipator and the Senator who would leave the Arab world under the thumb of tyranny in this silly article in this morning's Trib.

Obama on Mid-East: Let Them Eat Falafels!

Since he announced an “exploratory committee” for the Democratic Presidential nomination our local journalists have been pushing the theme that Senator Obama will officially announce his candidacy in Springfield, Illinois just days before Lincoln’s birthday in order to tie Obama to the legacy of Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln has long been known as the “Great Emancipator” due to his dogged determination to end slavery in the United States. Senator Obama on the other hand has had ample chance to stand up for the freedoms and liberties of others; instead of grabbing that chance or simply demurring on the issue Senator Obama has chosen to stand steadfastly against any chance for the people of the Mid-East to experience the thrill of liberty. Obama’s supporters have even bragged that the Senator’s “let them eat falafels” moment came while he was still an Illinois State Senator.

The Senator has announced his committee during the week of the anniversary of the inauguration of another charismatic Democratic politician, President John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy’s inaugural address was one of the great speeches of the twentieth century and one in which Kennedy threw down a moral gauntlet while stating “that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” The past forty-six years have seen the Democratic Party completely abandon that strong moral stand; whether it manifested itself in the refutation of the legacy of the late Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson (D-Wa.) or making Congressman Zell Miller (D-Ga.) into some sort of apostate, the Democratic Party will no longer stand up for the freedoms of others. This immoral stand flies in the face of centuries in which mankind has gained personal liberty in the face of tyranny, the refusal to help others is quite simply a disgrace. In his wonderful inaugural speech President Kennedy reminded us that “each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.” The President was discussing the need for Americans to help others gain liberty because we have been given liberty by the actions of others. Senator Obama, like nearly all of the members of his party will not pay any price, bear any burden nor meet any hardship in order to help others gain freedom; unless the dispossessed are coming to the United States to cut their lawns. In short any comparisons of Senator Obama and President Lincoln are hysterical in all senses of the word.


Big Hat Tip: to Anne of the Backyard Conservative for inspiring me to re-post this piece, I had been waiting for an opportune time to re-post it and this is one of those moments.

Dems Want to Jail Political Opponents

In this morning's Chicago Tribune, a paper once described by the late Chicagoan John Belushi as "that fascist newspaper from Chicago", was another of the Tribs typical propaganda pieces. This time they are not shilling for CAIR but for the Democratic Party. They have a ridiculous article by Northwestern Law professor James Pfander and former Democratic congressman and former DC Court of Appeals judge Abner Mikva that suggests that the US House and the US Senate should construct a jail to imprison people from other branches who don't dance to their bizarre tunes. Abner Mikva was once White House Counsel during the Clinton administration when he gave that administration the advice that they could not legally implement their illegal fund raising schemes; ironically Mikva lasted a few months and left for "personal and family reasons" at about the time that the Clinton people implemented their illegal fund raising schemes, you know, the ones in which Al Gore claimed that there was "no controlling legal authority". Mr. Mikva was not exorcised over the blatant illegal political fund raising by the Democratic Clinton administration. It is worth noting that when the Clinton administration was in hot water with congress that Judge Mikva had no such suggestions. Mr. Mikva also argued that President Clinton should not be punished for lying to a Federal Court. Thanks Ab.

It is worth noting that these two "experts" on the Federal Court system are not willing to admit that the President of the United States has unlimited powers to appoint and relieve Federal prosecutors at ANY time for ANY REASON. What is going on up at Northwestern? Is it the water? Because they are two hyper-partisan lawyers these two men have dishonestly framed their argument as being about "executive privilege", a serious component of our system. They are also saying that congress should be able to throw people in jail for invoking a well established right to counsel that is held by the executive branch. They believe that all Republican Presidential counsel should be open to congressional and public scrutiny. Thanks Ab.

Mikva, a former congressman may be trying to give congress powers that he dreamed of having while he was in office. The balance of powers between the branches of the US government is a very important component of our system and to willy-nilly give hyper-partisans the power to jail their political opponents is disgracefully fascistic. It is interesting that arguments over the balance of power are as old as our nation and that these two are basing their arguments on the fact that the congress had a jail during the "19th century" and regularly used that jail to imprison those they disagreed with. Mr. Mikva and Mr. Pfander may not be aware of this but our nation and our government have changed quite a bit since those halycon days; for instance those two men could have owned slaves back in the 19th century, in fact as recently as the 1864 election the Democratic platform advocated slavery for the Southern states. Thanks Ab.

It is interesting how they develop their propaganda but it is important to realize that these two are advocating that the hyper-partisans of the House be given the power to jail those governmental officials with whom they disagree, a position that at least one of them did not take when the power in Congress was held by Republicans. Those two men are pathetic.

It is worth noting that as a pre-teen I passed out brochures for Mr. Mikva's numerous congressional campaigns and that I have met the man. My late father also knew "Ab" Mikva, my father also taught at his alma mater Northwestern Law and that one of my uncles is currntly on the faculty of Northwestern Law.