edited by: Douglas Welch,
Illinois Editor
by Mark Silva
The first lady has embarked on a cause, as anyone near a television set today will see: Michelle Obama will appear on Good Morning America and a run of other shows through PBS' Newshour tonight with a wake-up call for families overlooking childhood obesity.
The first' [...]
Mayor Richard Daley today proposed expanding the powers of the city's inspector general to include investigating aldermen -- an idea long opposed by City Council -- as well as taking away the [...]
The “Tea Party” types (really just the conservative cranks who think that “real America” means only people just like themselves) had themselves a convention this past weekend, and so much of the attention went to the fact that keynote speaker Sarah Palin had notes scrawled on [...]
Chris Muir scores!:)
I’m trying to figure out if Alexi Giannoulias is truly as naïve as he appears to be with the way he has been responding to questions about the financial dealings involving the bank his family controls. Because if he’s truly this gullible, then we have to [...]
Get a load of this anecdote by a past professor at Tougaloo College courtesy of The Volokh Conspiracy:
This weekend Sarah Palin was caught, which some liberals view as scandalous, with a crib note on her hand. Attention assignment editors and media pundits: Can we PLEASE stop wasting column inches and air time discussing Super Bowl commercials?
It’s giving free publicity to corporations rich enough to afford air time during the Super Bowl. It’s a stupid news media cliche, like articles about Krispy Kreme grand openings and [...]
The Politico's getting a little fed up. Obama the scold:
The White House says Obama’s admonitions, whether to the Supreme Court about campaign finance law or to Congress about pork-barrel spending, are simply part of his drive to change the ways of the capital.
“A central' [...]
I don”t want to hear ANYONE who has defended waterboarding to me to express anything other than indifference to this:
An Army sergeant who served in Iraq for 15 months has been restricted to his Washington military base after being accused of waterboarding his 4-year-old daughter because she refused to [...]
UNREAL: DHS Collected Information on Wisconsin Pro-Life Activists Even Though They Posed No Security Threat, Attempted to Destroy Copies of Report...Earlier: `Curious George,' darkly reinterpreted' [...]
After spending several days complaining that the only way to be informed is through the alternative press and going online, I got an email about former Springfield reporter R. L. Nave becoming editor of the revived FOCUS/Midwest. Cool!
The future of good reporting will come from outlets who remember [...]
Who is Alexi Giannoulias? Find out in this cool video.From my inbox:
Date: February 8, 2010
Released by: Alma Brown, Communications Manager, 494-8554
Subject: CITY CREW UPDATE
City crews are maintaining primary intersections with a sand/salt mix, and primary hills with straight salt. Plowing operations will begin with accumulations over (2) inches. Expect a slow morning rush with snow [...]
Here is today's must read article--Michael Barone writes about the threat of public-sector unions such as SEIU and AFSCME in the Washingon Examiner.This is wholly and easily believable. From Fox News Sunday regarding this controversy:
CHRIS WALLACE (host): OK, but, Rush Limbaugh weighed in this week, and he said this: "Our politically correct society is acting like some giant insult's taken place by calling a bunch of people who are retards, retards."
[...]
How did Scott Lee Cohen survive the Illinois Democratic lieutenant governor primary without one prominent party official raising hay about his sordid past? That's a question Democratic operatives and activists are trying to wrap their heads around this week. And a good deal of blame is being cast at House Speaker' [...]
Reader Marsha Niazman writes:
As a longtime Democrat who has devoted a lot of money and time to the party, I was outraged that Scott Cohen was forced to give up a position to which he was legitimately elected.Initially his background dismayed me, but as I reflected upon [...]
Video. ‘We Weren’t Told’: Hoekstra Fires Back at Claim GOP Knew Christmas Bomber was MirandizedThe best local news-chat podcast that I'm aware of is Bill Cameron's "Connected to Chicago" that features Cameron, WLS news anchor John Dempsey, Greg Hinz and my colleague Ray Long.
Criticisms: It's too short. And it doesn't seem to have a subscription feed, so you have to download it [...]
To find out more about the process of replacing Scott Lee Cohen as the lieutenant governor nominee, we dug into the Democratic State Central Committee bylaws (PDF) today. We also caught up with Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd Ward), who is a 4th Congressional District committeeman, and former state legislator William Marowitz, [...]
For years, the City Council, including Ald. Shiller, have opposed the Inspector General poking his nose into their affairs. Ald. Shiller has called support of the IG's expanded powers "a stunt" and a "political move" and "thinks it’s a bad idea to give the office the" [...]
by Mark Silva
Rep. John Murtha, decorated Marine and powerful veteran of Capitol Hill, was the first Vietnam combat veteran elected to Congress, a force to be reckoned with in the House, and he was, when all is said and done, an imperfect and longtime servant.
Murtha, a "tough-as-nails'' Democratic hawk" [...]
Following a meeting at the White House today, federal and state officials have unveiled a five-point, $78.5 million plan to prevent Asian carp from invading Lake Michigan.
[...]Today, Mayor Daley introduced an ordinance that would transfer hiring oversight from the ethics compliance office to the city inspector general. Under the proposal, the inspector general would also gain authority to investigate aldermen -- an idea long opposed by City Council. [...]
Since Toni Preckwinkle won the Democratic nomination for county board president last week, I’ve heard lots of people saying it represents the return of the Washington coalition—a band of independent-minded African-Americans, Latinos, and whites who want to whip local government into shape.
There are a couple of problems with [...]
I suppose the IG will have less time to pester the Mayor–unless he is also going to increase the IG’s budget…
[...]
The
little locavore delved into political activism last night, writing his
first letter to a political official. I guess I shouldn't be surprised
that the issue that piqued his ire was food-related.
As many of you have already heard, Chicago's health [...]
Carl Nyberg has set up a Condorcet poll here for voting on a Candidate for Lt Governor now that we have lost Scott Cohen. Use this diary to discuss that poll. Or anything else LG related.
CONDORCET 30 Candidate poll - Vote here.
Michael Jackson’s doctor has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the pop singer’s death.
Prosecutors announced the charge Monday against Dr. Conrad Murray, a Houston cardiologist who was with Jackson when he died June 25. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.Murray’s attorney Ed [...]
Below, release from Gloria Allred....
Statement regarding Scott Lee Cohen and Amanda Eneman
On Saturday, February 6, 2010, we issued a statement on behalf of Amanda Eneman, Scott Lee Cohen's former girlfriend. Mr. Cohen had previously invited his former girlfriend to speak out and she did. [...]
Was she thinking, "Take that, service cuts!"? Or just, um, not really thinking through the whole thing?
An article I linked to yesterday that has since been fleshed out; the State Journal-Register reported on the loans Democratic Senate nominee Alexis Giannoulias' approved to convicted pimp and mobster Michael "Jaws" Giorango while he was an officer at Chicago's Broadway Bank. "No bank performs'" [...]
With Scott Lee Cohen officially off the ticket, Gov. Pat Quinn appeared before reporters this morning, who peppered him with questions about how he and party leaders will go about slating a new Democratic candidate to run as lieutenant governor this fall. During the press conference, Quinn hinted that he [...]
You Betcha!… Palin Campaigns For Rick Perry– Writes “Hi Mom” On Her Hand! (Pics)
From Ald. Schulter's weekly ward newsletter: "The Chase Park Advisory Council (CPAC) is currently sponsoring a fundraising event to to improve the Chase Park for our growing community of families. Residents and businesses can participate by purchasing a brick to be installed at the new grand entrance to" [...]
It seems a like a distant memory at this point, but on November 3, 2008, then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich told reporters that he planned to assemble a search committee to replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate should he be elected president. As we all know, Obama did defeat John [...]
By CHRIS FUSCO and DAVE McKINNEY
Chicago Sun-Times Staff Reporters
State Comptroller Dan Hynes, who narrowly lost to Gov. Quinn in a bitter battle in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, isn't interested in replacing Scott Lee Cohen as Quinn's running mate, a spokesman said today.
Hynes' decision followed a breakfast [...]
Tony Lopez-Cisneros 59 minutes ago
When I Was A Candidate For Congress In 2002 In Chicago, The Cohen Brothers–Scotty In Particular–Contributed To My Campaign.Scotty Was The Most Generous Of The Cohen Brothers; As He Contributed A Couple Of Hundred Dollars To My Campaign.
His [...]
Via RCP, Core Chicago Team Sinking Obama Presidency, which discusses a searing Financial Times article by Edward Luce. All take no prisoners campaigning, no governing. Yes, he even has his political advisers take part in national security meetings. His cabinet are props [...]
by Mark Silva
We're having to hand it to Sarah Palin today, because she really has played her own hand this time.
After telling the National Tea Party convention that it doesn't really need a leader -- while telling the TEA Partiers that they also don't need a
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
[...]I met Adam Andrzejewski at the Champaign County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner last year. He was a nice guy, but I never thought he had much of a chance in his race for Governor. He ran relatively quietly under the radar for most of the election, polling generally in low [...]
Below, release from Durbin......
DURBIN: IMPROVED ACCESS TO CREDIT FOR SMALL BUSINESSES CRUCIAL TO JOB CREATION
[CHICAGO, IL] - Illinois small businesses would receive a much-needed lifeline if legislation included in the Senate jobs proposal to improve access to credit and jumpstart job creation becomes law, [...]
Maybe it’s just as well that Chicago did not get the Olympics. This story in The New York Times points out that a year and a half after Beijing’s hosting of the summer Olympic games of 2008, most venues are largely unoccupied. Same goes for the Athens Olympics structures [...]
A spokesman for Cohen said today the conversation with Madigan was in the form of “valued advice from a political veteran.
“Scott really values his advice,” said Cohen spokesman Baxter Swilley.
There [...]
So in the comments Carl suggested a Condorcet poll. I love Condorcet polls but I don't have one handy. So how about this:
In the comments to this diary nominate a Lt Gov possibility and include a few sentences about why your nomination would make a good running mate [...]
At first glance, I don't care for it:
Too busy, strange inconsistencies with colors, the user registration requires passage of two different captcha tests, and it's not clear what the benefits of registration actually are.
Strange organization - why are "opinions" listed under "community?"
Supposedly columns were going' [...]
I missed this story because of the run-up to the Illinois Primary election last week, but registration for the 2010 Chicago Marathon has been open for a week now--but only to the first 45,000 entrants.
Audi's Super Bowl commercial (see it below) was not only funny, it's frighteningly accurate as a look into the future of American freedoms - and the lessening thereof. The ad pokes fun at "green laws," and shows people being arrested by Eco Fascists for doing things [...]
Following a Sun-Times report indicating that Dan Hynes "would consider" replacing Scott Lee Cohen as the Democrats' lieutenant governor candidate, Hynes' former campaign manager told Capitol Fax that the comptroller is "not interested" in the position.
[...]The few radio commentaors I heard talking about the comptrolers race -- and one candidate -- were careful to pronounce the "M" and "P" in that word.
However, the dictionaries i consulted -- including a library dictionary copyright 1993 -- say it is pronounced "controller."
1. Rep. Art Turner -- He finished second in the Democratic light gov primary and would be as easy and relatively safe choice. As an African American he would stand to be the first black light gov and offer diversity and racial balance to the Democratic gubernatorial ticket. But he's [...]
First New Jersey and Virginia...then Massachussets. Illinois is next.
