Category: Chicagoland

When Illinois Dems Joined the Mile High Club

Posted on by TL

Speaker Michael Madigan hugs Gov. Rod Blagojevich

The image of Governor Blagojevich and Speaker Madigan hugging at the Democratic National Convention was one for the books.  I’ve been reflecting on the Democratic love-fest for over a week now, not quite sure how to respond.  What does any of that mean?  What really happened?  Who started singing Kumbaya first?

According to news reports, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. started things off with an apology to Rep. Bobby Rush.  Carol Marin tells the story:

On Wednesday morning at the breakfast meeting of the Illinois delegation, Rep. Bobby Rush rose to say a few words. Recovering from the aftershocks of radical cancer surgery, he is physically a shadow of his former self. But, like the good Baptist preacher he also is, Rush rose to the occasion, telling delegates the parable of the eagle and the storm.

“I am that eagle,” he declared.

Thanking those who had been supportive, Rush also noted “some who were not there, but that’s all right.”

He gave a nod to forgiveness, but didn’t name names.

Next up was Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. It isn’t clear that Rush was talking about Jackson, but there is no question they’ve been on a rocky road.

Jackson Jr. began his prepared remarks about unity, talking about burying the truckloads of hatchets that weigh down these Democrats.

And then it happened.

Jackson folded his speech in half. Stuck it in his breast pocket. And turned directly to Rush saying, “Bobby, if there is anything that I’ve ever done to offend you, I’m leaving it at this convention. You are my friend . . .”

For a second, every one of us was stunned.

Rush made his way to Jackson, Jackson jumped down from the dais and they hugged.

It was real. And touching.

Marin, arguably the sharpest political journalist in Chicago, said it was real.  If she saw authenticity, then that’s what happened.

Then Jackson apologized to Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed and State Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson.  If these were also sincere, then kudos to Jesse.

Then Daley ran to Jesse.  According to Marin:

“Who else out here has been mad at me I haven’t figured out yet?” Jackson asked.

Mayor Daley jumped up and hugged Jackson. And Jackson was stunned. Tears sprang into his eyes.

And that, too, was real.

Finally, Gov. Blagojevich and House Speaker Madigan embraced, evidence that hell did indeed freeze over.  I’ll take Carol’s word that what she saw was real.

According to Rich Miller, some aides who apparently did not share in the love tried to downplay the loving:

“It’s all theater,” confided one top Blagojevich aide later in the day. A Madigan lieutenant pointed out that Madigan was the one who walked over to Blagojevich at Jackson’s urging and had to practically pry the governor out of his seat. No happy talk could be found.

But could it be that the aides de camp hadn’t gotten the message? That very evening, Madigan and Blagojevich continued their detente by sitting next to each other at the Democratic convention.

Miller posits any photographs of Illinois pols hugging Gov. Blagojevich would be tremendous cannon fodder for Republicans in upcoming elections.  No one wants to be seen with Blagojevich, whose popularity continues to plummet.

So what really happened at the Mile-High City?  Will the love-fest have any impact on policy in Illinois?  Will Gov. Blagojevich finally develop the capacity to treat lawmakers with civility?  Will Halvorson and Jackson exchange Christmas cards come December?  Will Daley and Jackson finally go out for a cold one?

I give Jackson credit.  Some movement toward reconciliation between he and Bobby Rush is welcome indeed.  Rush is an icon in Illinois and national politics, and Jackson is incredibly astute.

For too long, Illinois Democrats have wrangled over nonsense — egos colliding at the expense of the electorate.  If they don’t learn how to play together real soon, then Republicans deserve another crack at leadership.

That would be a shame.  Illinois needs to stay on a progressive track, and that won’t happen under Republican leadership.  Democrats need to dialog with Republican opposition and stop creating their own internal opposition factions.  This is more of a struggle with an obstructionist governor.

Rush and Jackson should meet again publicly, showing the rest of the Illinois Democratic Mile High Club that it was all for real.

The first time took guts.  The next steps will demonstrate character.

Suffer the Little Children to Come Unto Meeks

Posted on by TL

Despite widespread criticism that he’s doing more harm to education in Illinois than good, State Senator James Meeks insisted last week that his planned student boycott of Chicago Public Schools will go forward.  Parents are almost unanimous in their opposition.

From the Sun-Times:

Parents at a Humboldt Park back-to-school festival Saturday said “no thanks” to the Rev. James Meeks’ planned student boycott of the Chicago Public Schools’ opening day of class Tuesday.

“The boycott is not good,” said Maybeline Juarez, who makes sure her 13-year-old daughter always attends school. “My daughter is in special education classes, and she needs all the help she can get. Colleges look at that.”

Angelo Valentin, who has five children in Chicago Public Schools, agreed that a boycott isn’t the answer to the schools’ money problems.

“The schools should get their money, but it shouldn’t be in the lap of the children,” said Valentin. “You can’t use them as pawns.”

The last statement really made an impression with me.  Meeks is using children as pawns in a vicious political game.

Meeks’ grand plan is simple: bus 2,000 students to wealthy Winnetka to protest school-funding inequities in Illinois, then try to register them at New Trier High School’s Northfield Campus.

This misguided publicity stunt will do nothing.  The children will not be able to register at New Trier High School.  At the end of the day the children will be left with anger and frustration.  No doubt Meeks will point reporters in the direction of children shouting in anger, or crying.

Then, next week, those kids will have to go to school, starting the year four days behind.  Will Senator Meeks pick up the tab for the Huntington Learning Center or the Sylvan Learning Center?  I doubt it.  When these students who took the four-day field trip with the senator start to fall further behind, Meeks will no doubt take advantage of the opportunity to further point out the failures of education in Illinois.

Another leader in education reform has another idea:

While Meeks prepared for the boycott, Phillip Jackson, founder of the Black Star Project, was at the African Festival of the Arts in Washington Park on Saturday urging men to participate in the project’s nationwide “Million Father March” by taking their children to school on the first day.

Jackson said he also wants better school funding. But he wants children in school on the first day — and every day.

“Every day they’re not in school, they’re further and further behind,” said Jackson, who expects “tens of thousands” of mostly black and Latino fathers in Chicago to take their children to school Tuesday.

Sadly, Meeks’ boycott is all about Senator Meeks, a publicity stunt he can tout during campaigns and from the pulpit.  The children of Illinois, already victims of an unfair educational system, will suffer.

Emil Jones and Uncle Tom

Posted on by TL

Face it, any way Emil Jones tries to parse this, he was out of line.  I just don’t believe him.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

A black Hillary Clinton delegate on Sunday accused state Senate President Emil Jones of calling her an “Uncle Tom.”

Jones — Barack Obama’s political mentor — denied using the racially loaded slur against Chicago political consultant Delmarie Cobb, but two aldermen who said they witnessed the Saturday night exchange back up Cobb’s account.

“Last night, I was called an ‘Uncle Tom’ by Emil Jones in the lobby of the hotel, right in front of [Ald.] Freddrenna Lyle and [Ald.] Leslie Hairston and [Ald.] Latasha Thomas,” said Cobb, a member of Clinton’s Illinois Steering Committee. “I walked over to him and asked him, ‘What did you just call me?’ “

Emil’s credibility took yet another dive with his backhanded apology to Ms. Cobb:

Cobb said Jones finally apologized during a Monday event.

“He came over, sat down. A couple of people obviously had something to do with it,” Cobb said, without elaborating. “He sat down at the table with me. He said, ‘I apologize and let’s move forward.’ I accepted his apology and said, ‘OK, we will.’ It was never my intention to continue things that would hurt Barack Obama.”

Jones, however, offered a much less apologetic version of his Monday conversation with Cobb.

“I said ‘If that’s what you think I said, I don’t want to have no hard feelings, so I apologize. We’ve known each other too long.'”

This is childish nonsense, the stuff of the grade school yard brawl.  A conditional apology is no apology at all.

Cobb has every right to support Hillary Clinton.  Hillary deserves that support and more.  Her run for President of the United States was historic, and she stands as one of this party’s greatest leaders.

Get over it, Emil, and grow up.

Sen. Meeks Tells Kids to Stay Out of School

Posted on by TL

It’s off the deep end and off to la-la land with State Sen. James Meeks.  Meeks is struggling to find support for his grand plan to encourage kids to stay home from school at the start of the school year.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

State Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago) met privately with the City Council’s Black Caucus last week to explain his plan to have hundreds of Chicago Public School students boycott the first four days of classes.

Implied, but not stated, was the fact that Meeks would like aldermanic support for his controversial tactics. Apparently, he’s not going to get it.

Aldermen are wise to stay away from this one.

Here is Meeks’ agenda for his four-day stay-out-of-school field trip:

On the first day of school, Sept. 2, Meeks plans to bus students up to the North Shore and attempt to enroll them in schools in Winnetka’s wealthy New Trier district.

The remaining three days—Sept. 3, 4 and 5—will be spent having boycotting students camp out in the lobbies of Chicago’s most prominent downtown businesses. They include the Chicago Stock Exchange, the Mercantile Exchange, Chase Bank, Fifth Third Bank and the Aon Building.

The Chicago Public Schools have struggled for years trying to get kids to actually show up at all on the first day of school.  Teachers want to start the year off right, establish a rapport with the students.  Meeks wants kids to join him on a screaming publicity stunt to Winnetka in a futile attempt to register for classes out of district.

This can only end poorly.

Here’s what’s going to happen:

Meeks will get a busload or two of kids and parents to join him on this quest.  He may even have a better showing than that the first day.  The second day, there will be less participation.  By days three and four, the good senator will be able to get by with a van or perhaps a station wagon.  Most kids will stay home from classes, taking advantage of the extra mornings to sleep late.  Children will thank the Rev. Meeks for extending summer vacation, if they even know who he is.  Gov. Blagojevich and Meeks’ colleagues in the Illinois State Legislature, the only people in the Land of Lincoln who can make a difference, will largely ignore his antics.

Meeks is completely right about the inequities in educational opportunities in Illinois.  His four day holiday for students will accomplish nothing and sends the wrong message.

Oy! Blago Thinks He’s Black as Pat Quinn Protests

Posted on by TL

Certainly one of the strangest comments in recent Illinois politics escaped the mouth of Gov. Rod Blagojevich today.

According to our friend Gregory Tejeda at the Chicag Argus, Blago described himself Monday as a “homeboy” and “possibly the first African-American governor of Illinois.”

Just try and find a context for that one.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn stood “outside an event featuring Governor Rod Blagojevich, passing out flyers and urging the state Senate to reject automatic pay raises for lawmakers and top government officials,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

Quinn says he doesn’t have a ticket for the City Club of Chicago event Blagojevich is headlining. But he’s outside handing out information alongside a staffer holding a sign that reads “Vote Now, Vote No.”

Quinn says he wants Blagojevich to also urge a no vote by senators.

What a surreal afternoon in Illinois politics this must have been.

From CBS Chicago:

Handing out leaflets headlined “Stop Political Pay Raises Now!” Lt. Gov. Quinn and a few friends protesting outside the governor’s luncheon speech on the Near North Side didn’t impress Illinois Senate President Emil Jones. He said legislators need the 12% raise.

“I have members of my caucus who are single parents … who feel very strongly that they deserve a pay raise,” Jones said.

To avoid Quinn and reporters waiting at the front door, the governor snuck in a back door to deliver his speech. When cornered later, though, he criticized state senators who are blocking a floor vote likely to kill the unpopular proposal.

When someone gave the governor a coffee mug, he reflected on friends gained and the many lost since he took the state’s top job:

“Better a mug than a mug shot, right?” Blagojevich said. “This is such a tough job, you know, I think it’s fair to say I have fewer friends now than I had before I was governor.”

Calling Jones one of his most loyal friends, Blagojevich added, “Emil and I are homeboys, man. … There are times I consider myself the first African American governor of Illinois.”

What is this?  Blago thinks he’s black because he has a black friend?

Oy.

White Man Accuses Black Man of Playing Race Card

Posted on by TL

Here we go. Johnny M. is playing it — or accusing Barack O. of playing it.

The race card. The dreaded race card.

When all chips are down, when a black man or woman is in danger of succeeding, there you have it. The race card again. It must be the race card.

Here’s what the Associated Press says happened:

John McCain accused Barack Obama of playing politics with race on Thursday, raising the explosive issue after the first black candidate with a serious chance of winning the White House claimed Republicans will try to scare voters by saying he “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.”

Until now, the subject of race has been almost taboo in the campaign, at least in public, with both sides fearing its destructive force.

“I’m disappointed that Senator Obama would say the things he’s saying,” McCain told reporters in Racine, Wis. The Arizona senator said he agreed with campaign manager Rick Davis’ statement earlier that “Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It’s divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.” The aide was suggesting McCain had been wrongfully accused.

Let’s see. The Maverick McCain, they guy who helped bring us the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform, Johnny M. is uncomfortable that the Black Man is talking about color.

Actually, Barack said more than the AP reports:

“Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me,” Obama said. “You know, ‘He’s not patriotic enough, he’s got a funny name,’ you know, ‘He doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.'”

A few years back, in the summer heat of 2003, the PGA Western Open was played in Olympia Fields, IL. Tiger Woods did not fare well. Jim Furyk took top honors with a 272, winning $1.08 million. Tiger shot a mere 283, taking home only $64,170. Very sad. I had the opportunity to see Tiger and Jim play the last round at at Olympia Fields Country Club, an exclusive club nearby which only admitted it’s first African American member in 1990.

After Furyk had won, I stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts in Olympia Fields near the intersection of Western Ave. and the Lincoln Highway. My son and I entered and waited in line. There was a “Good-ol’-boy” white man ahead of us in line. There was also an African American woman in line, and other people of color behind the counter.

As the white man was leaving, he saw my hat which I had bought at the Open. The hat clearly read, “U.S. Open – Olympia Fields, IL.” On his way out of the store, he shouted, “Yeah! The white man won! The white man won!”

The clerk looked nervous. The African American woman in line put her head down and looked disgusted. I mumbled, “Bigot,” out loud. Then he was gone.

Right here in our racially diverse south suburbs of Chicago, the voice of hatred cried out. That was just a few years ago.

Barack Obama is right. Is race supposed to be an unspoken secret throughout the campaign? The weird right is already talking, and quite nervous. Some people are genuinely frightened that a black man may be president.

Face it — if the most earth-shattering swift-boating news McCain’s campaign can rustle up is a bizarre comparison of Barack Obama with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton — well, accusing Obama of playing the race card was inevitable.

Except, in this case, the white man played the race card.

Did Drew Peterson Sleep With Your Wife Too?

Posted on by TL

Drew Peterson claims he had an affair with Paula Stark, wife of Len Wawczak, according to a TV reporter who contacted Stark. The Bolingbrook couple said this week that for seven months they wore a wire on Peterson, their neighbor and former friend.

At first, Stark and Wawczak laughed about it, saying it wasn’t true.  That was until their son Len Jr. called and told them Peterson was giving him “dirty looks” at a Bolingbrook barber shop.  The couple got in their van so Wawczak could confront Peterson.

From the Sun-Times:

What followed was another sordid chapter in the Peterson saga, an expletive-filled, Jerry Springeresque parking lot dust-up — witnessed by reporters — that resulted in Wawczak, 41, shoving Peterson in the back and getting arrested on a battery charge.

“I wanted to let Drew know he’s not going to mess with my family,” Wawczak said after his wife posted his $100 bond. “The next time, I will knock his ass out.

“It was the best 100 bucks I’ve ever spent. I’d do it again.”

In this country, we’re all innocent until proven guilty.  We are still responsible for our actions, even if they aren’t necessarily illegal.  Which is why I’m confounded as to why Peterson would claim he had an affair with Stark.

The clash of the Titans in a barbershop parking lot, egged on by the gathering crowd, was downright silly:

Wawczak, intent on confronting Peterson about the dirty looks, found a spot between some cars to lie in wait. When Peterson emerged, Wawczak popped out and pounced.

“Hey, m—–f—–,” he called out. “You ain’t nothing but a murderer. I’ll beat the f— out of you. Say something!”

“Hit me,” Peterson said calmly, putting his hands behind his back. “I’m going down.”

“You ain’t nothing but a punk, Drew!”

“Someone call the cops,” Peterson told a growing crowd of gawkers. One began videotaping.

“Take the cool sunglasses off,” Wawczak said, trying to knock them off Peterson, who dodged him.

“I ain’t Stacy, bitch,” Wawczak taunted. “You sissy.”

“I don’t have to deal with this boy,” Peterson said and walked away. Wawczak then pushed Peterson in the back.

Peterson, who later said his back hurt, brushed it off and got into Stacy Peterson’s car. Wawczak walked away, saying, “I proved my point. You’re nothing but a bitch.”

Peterson made a cell phone call and emerged from the car. The crowd yelled for Wawczak to return.

“Knock his ass out,” someone shouted.

“I got 50 bucks of his bond right now,” said another.

Peterson and Wawczak then stood across a car from each other, and Wawczak confronted him about Peterson’s purported claims about his wife.

“Say right now you f—– my old lady! I’ll come around right now and drop you like you want,” Wawczak said.

Peterson denied saying it — as eight police cars arrived.

“I ain’t Stacy, bitch! You sissy!”  Is this some ruckus in Boystown gone awry?

I don’t know if Drew Peterson gave Len Jr. the Evil Eye.  I don’t know if Drew Peterson claimed he slept with Paula Stark, slept with Paula Stark, or whether this alleged “TV reporter” was just making trouble.  Wawczak and Stark did nothing for their own credibility, and Peterson’s not looking any better.  The Village of Bolingbrook lauds itself as “a place to grow….”

Well, grow up guys.

Mayor Daley’s Firm Stance Against Guns

Posted on by TL

Despite news that some suburbs are crumbling before the Supreme Court’s recent liberal interpretation of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is standing firm.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Mayor Richard Daley was adamant Friday about Chicago’s intention to defend its handgun ban in court, despite news that a second area suburb was likely to repeal its ordinance next week.

The second suburb, Morton Grove, is set to repeal its first-in-the-nation handgun ban next week. Wilmette has already suspended its handgun ordinance.

In typical Daley-esque fashion, Hizzoner was adamant:

“Morton Grove can do anything that it wants,” Daley said at an unrelated news conference.

“I don’t look at this lightly—that, ‘Oh, because the Supreme Court’s done it we’re just gonna dismiss it and all of a sudden people can arm themselves,’” he said.

Daley’s concern is for the men and women on the front lines.  He’s also concerned about the proliferation of firearms in society.  When do we say enough?

From the Sun-Times:

“You have to look at a new ordinance in order to protect firemen and policemen going to the scenes of people who have armed themselves in their home. … We serve and protect. We’re not supposed to lose our lives … Morton Grove can do anything they want. What I’m saying is you have to look at the first- responders and how it’s gonna jeopardize their lives.”

The mayor’s laundry list of questions does not stop at the safety of first-responders. He wants to know just how far the Supreme Court is prepared to go to protect the 2nd Amendment.

“It’s just not allowing people to arm themselves. How many guns do you have — 50, 60? Can they have a .357 Magnum? Can they have ammunition that will go through a wall? What is the liability of the owners? … Do you have to have insurance if you have a gun? How much ammunition can you have if there’s a fire? If a fireman is going to your home and you have 40 weapons and 1,000 rounds, do we have a responsibility to notify all the neighbors?” Daley said.

Daley is considering drafting yet another ordinance, taking into consideration the Supreme Court’s recent split decision.

I’ve criticized this man before, but I admire his tenacity.  It may just take this mayor to stare down the Supremes.  I’ll bet they blink first.

Tinley Park Loses Personal Info for Thousands

Posted on by TL

Thousands of people have reportedly been put at risk by the Village of Tinley Park.  According to the SouthTown Star:

The Social Security, bank account and driver’s license numbers of anyone who has given his or her personal information to the Village of Tinley Park in the last 10 to 15 years may have been on a back-up computer tape the village lost in June.

About 19,000 residents should be getting letters in the mail about the incident, village manager Scott Niehaus said. That’s how many residents likely are affected, Niehaus said, adding that the risk that anyone could access the information on the tape is slim. About 1,400 current, former and retired village employees also should be getting a notice, Niehaus said. By law, vendors don’t have to be notified, he said.

No one suspects foul play.  According to village officials in Tinley Park, this appears to be an accident.

As our ability to store vast amounts of information on increasingly small media, risk for this type of “accident” only increases.  Do you wear a flash drive around your neck?  Personally, I don’t favor storage devices as fashion statements, but I’ve seen enough people wearing them.  How easy they are to misplace, sometimes.

Too bad for just about everyone in Tinley.

Man Keeps Human Bones in Box for 26 Years

Posted on by TL

This one is just too strange to pass up.

According to a report in the Southtown Star, a man in Park Forest, IL, has kept “a disorganized heap of crusty human bones” in a box for 26 years.

According to the report, John Ray claims he bought the box of human remains in 1982:

It was the year Ray said he bought the grisly collection, albeit accidentally, at an estate auction in Shipshewana, Ind. There he bought a tattered, 150-year-old book titled “The History of the American Indian.” Packaged with the book was a cardboard box layered in duct tape.

“The dealer said, ‘Wait till you get home to open it up,’ ” Ray said of the box. “He said, ‘You’ll really be pleased with it. It’s like a little gift from Santa Claus.’ ”

But Ray said he didn’t wait until he got home. When he got to his car, Ray split the box open with a pocketknife. To his shock, the book was packaged with the bones. He marched back to the dealer, who refused to take back the “gift.” The dealer claimed to have bought the remains at a separate estate auction earlier in the year.

But Ray never called the police, until recently.  According to the story, he waited to call the police to avoid trouble.  “I did put it off,” Ray said. “I was a teacher, I was afraid.”

Ray claims he called the police after he retired from teaching in 2001, but they never called back — a claim Park Forest Police dispute:

Park Forest Deputy Chief Mike McNamara said he doesn’t know whether Ray phoned the department but that people who do find bones should call police.

“We would probably contact the crime lab, and they would take it,” McNamara said. “It depends if it was an ancient skeleton – sometimes they take them to an archaeologist to examine.”

Ray may be in for more trouble, according to Bob Nale, former president of the South Suburban Archaeological Society:

“There are some fairly stringent laws, and some of them are being enforced with some big-size penalties,” Nale said. “Then there’s the other option – take them out in a field and bury them deep.”

The Illinois Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act instructs anyone who discovers human remains to report the incident to the coroner within 48 hours or face misdemeanor charges.

The Illinois attorney general’s office points to state statute prohibiting the sale of body parts.

Under the law, anyone who buys or sells a human body or any part of a human body is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for the first conviction and a Class 4 felony for subsequent convictions.

According to a second report, a local funeral home has offered to bury the remains, but Ray is “weighing the option.”

Ray said the estate auction dealer told him the bones belonged to a boy who claimed to be one of the last Delaware Indians. The boy was beaten to death at a bar, Ray said the dealer told him while refusing to take back the bones. Ray said he does not know the dealer’s name.

McNamara suggested Thursday that Ray turn the bones over to Shipshewana police.

“If this was a homicide, and the bones are 40 to 50 years old, they would have an open case on it, and they’d have evidence to solve the case,” McNamara said.

Who keeps a box of human bones for 26 years?

Unbelievable.