Category: Rant

It’s not the PR, Todd

Posted on by TL

Sometimes I think I could turn this entire blog over to a critique of the Cook County Board and nothing else.

Most of the commissioners are fine people who I respect — Democrat and Republican. While I disagree strongly with Tony Peraica’s conservative social agenda, for example, I have a great deal of respect for his verbal calls for honesty in government. While I don’t quite understand their commitment to Board President Todd Stroger, Commissioners Joan Patricia Murphy and Deborah Sims work hard for those of us in the south suburbs of Chicagoland.

And Forrest Claypool? Well, here’s to what might have been.

President Stroger, your problem is not PR.

When I read earlier this week in the Sun-Times that Todd Stroger was “set to bring on a p.r. consultant, records show, to help improve his image and that of the hospital system he runs,” I just about choked. Of course, I’m not the only one who took notice. From the article:

“Of the multitude of problems facing the health bureau, p.r. is the least of them,” said Jay Stewart of the Better Government Association. “President Stroger should save the money, no matter how difficult that may be for the administration, and let the independent board decide how to use the money on things like actual health care services.”

Stroger already has people who are working the public relations angle:

Stroger’s p.r. staff is larger than that of many other county governments across the country, records show, but it’s hardly the most expensive.

Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan’s communications chief, Lucio Guerrero, makes more than $120,000, though he said he’s also in charge of about a dozen people, heading up outreach and research.

Stroger’s top p.r. staffer, Mullins, is budgeted to be paid $105,059 — and Stroger still employs all of his former spokesmen in other, comparably salaried positions.

“The need for yet another p.r. consultant or staffer for President Stroger is ridiculous,” Stewart said.

Honestly, now, Todd, do you really think your problem is a decided lack of public relations? You do remember shortly after you swore your oath to “support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Cook County Board President to the best of my ability,” you roped off an elevator for your own private use.

Sir, with all due respect, the problem is not a lack of p.r. It’s you.

I’m going to remind you of the 10 tips the Sun-Times offered you at the beginning of the month:

1. Please, don’t hire anybody in your family to fill the job.

2. Nope, not even a cousin.

3. A childhood friend? See above.

4. A national search for the new inspector general does mean looking outside your political home base of the 8th Ward.

5. Ask yourself: “What would my political mentor, Bill ‘The Hog with the Big Nuts’ Beavers, do?” Then do the opposite.

6. Let the inspector hire his or her own staff. Don’t view the 12 new jobs as a political dumping ground.

7. Hire someone familiar with corruption. Familiar, that is, with investigating and prosecuting it, not committing it.

8. The new inspector general will not require the services of a private chauffeur, as do some political big shots. Or a private elevator.

9. Do not brag to taxpayers that the new inspector general is coming in at a bargain salary, then give the new hire a double-digit raise within a year. For reference, see the Chicago Sun-Times, March 24, “Todd’s Cousin Cashes In.”

10. Follow the lead of Mayor Daley. He hired a first-rate inspector general for the city, David Hoffman, a former federal prosecutor. Hoffman’s smart, independent, experienced and beholden to no one. He drives Daley nuts. But he’s a friend to taxpayers.

For too long, county government has been a cesspool of patronage. You see, Todd, that’s what we’re looking at: individuals who take advantage of the tax payers by setting aside privileges for themselves and people they favor. That’s what it’s really all about. Just stop doing that.

Forget the p.r. binge. Just stop all of that and govern. Good p.r. will follow good actions.

Blago The Destroyer

Posted on by TL

Gov. Rod BlagojevichHis intransigence knows no limits. The people of the State of Illinois are hurting. These things are understatements.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do.

Until the next election.

We’re stuck with Blago the Destroyer, the Governor-Who-Won’t.

This is a sad time to be from the State of Illinois. I have had a number of conversations with State Representatives and State Senators about the governor. All bewail and bemoan the fact that Governor Rod Blagojevich simply doesn’t care. He wouldn’t even consider such a silly thing as compromise. His “no-new-taxes” pledge is running Illinois into the ground. The Pledge means no school funding reform.

Blago doesn’t get it that you don’t understand.

After all, he pledged to not raise taxes when he first ran for governor. He won’t raise taxes. He won’t consider creative alternatives for relieving the property tax burden on Illinois residents. He won’t work to ensure that Illinois is no longer 48th in the nation on school funding. He won’t work for equity in school funding, so students at Bloom Trail High School can some day read history books in their library that post-date the Cold War.

He won’t listen no matter what you say. Remember, Blago doesn’t get it that you don’t understand.

Wow. Remember how we all had hope back then? Remember how we actually believed that a Democratic governor would make a difference to the people of Illinois? What were we thinking?

Blago doesn’t care. He’s concerned about what might come next, what office he might run for next, his next fund raiser. School funding reform is not a real concern. Why should he care that Illinois still ranks near last in school funding? Why should he care that school districts like Bloom and Ford Heights have next to nothing while Naperville thrives?

Blago cares about his image. Haircuts are important as well. Must look good for the cameras, after all. But he is absolutely incompetent when it comes to critical thought, struggling to find real solutions to real-world problems and issues.

Lt. Governor Pat Quinn supports recall legislation, saying that Gov. Blago would certainly be a target if this legislation was passed. Blago says he supports the legislation, but his House floor leader, oddly, does not. From the Chicago Tribune:

Though Blagojevich publicly has embraced the concept of recall, his House floor leader, Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Collinsville), angrily denounced the bill. Also opposed are Comptroller Dan Hynes and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

Quinn, a Democrat who said he has backed such an amendment for three decades, called the measure an important way to give power to citizens and to keep elected officials accountable.

According to Quinn, based on the number of votes cast for governor in 2006, it would take 418,401 signatures to put a gubernatorial recall on the ballot.

It may be an exercise in futility, but I’m certain signatures could be found in downstate Illinois.

And in the south suburbs of Chicago, where property taxes are choking businesses and home owners.

Blago really doesn’t get it.

During the last election, I attended a rally for the governor. As he passed by, I shook his hand and told him, “Governor, you have to do something about property taxes and school funding reform. Our residents are desperate.”

He gave me the same smirk in the photo above.

“Sure,” he said.

Then he walked away.

(Photo: Gov. Rod Blagojevich at the 2005 Martin Luther King Celebration in Matteson, IL, courtesy eNewsPF.com)

Come on, Todd, Get Serious

Posted on by TL

I freely admit I was wrong in supporting Todd Stroger for President of Cook County Board. I believed friends locally who told me that Todd would do a great job. I believed them when they told me Todd was good for Cook County, and cared about Cook County residents.

I was suspicious when they insisted that Todd meant well, even after he insisted on a personal elevator in the County Building downtown. I’m not going to throw in, “What was he thinking???”, to paraphrase Blago-the-Destroyer’s campaign line.

Well, here’s the rub: Cousin: Stroger ready to tax again. Thank you to our friends at the Chicago Sun-Times for that wonderful headline. What does that mean? It means that Todd’s cousin, Donna Dunnings, who “took one for the team” and accepted the powerful CFO job with Cook County at a respectable salary, then accepted a 12% pay hike, proclaimed in a speech to the City Club of Chicago, “the county has bigger problems that need even more taxes to tackle.”

Well, that’s just sweet.

“The structural deficit is real and the sales tax is by no means an answer to that,” she said.

So, the county is going to turn to “cost containment,” according to Dunnings, and turn to “other revenues” to make ends meet.

“Other revenues”??? Translation: The Cook County Board will find a new and creative way to tax all of us.

Here is one important fact to remember: Our businesses are already being choked out of the suburbs, running to Will County in the south suburbs. Do Todd Stroger or Donna Dunnings really care about that?

I know some of the logic behind Cook County’s absurd tax structure that makes it so desirable for businesses to run to other counties. Something about business owners who commute from other suburbs to help pay for the infrastructure of Cook County, or something strange like that. Thus, the equalizer.

Look, Todd, and, for that matter, the rest of the Cook County Board: Sit down and act in concert. It’s that simple. We need the Cook County Board to stop blaming each other and act, yes, as a Board. Act in the best interest of the people of Cook County. Help those of us in the suburbs retain our businesses. Stop acting as if the borders of Cook County stop at the borders of the City of Chicago. Stop the patronage politics. We can’t afford it any more. You can’t honestly expect us to believe that the best person for the position of CFO of Cook County happened to be Todd Stroger’s cousin, Donna Dunnings.

Hold each other accountable on the board. Accountability in government is good.

And the rest of us will be incredibly more circumspect in future elections. In fact, those of us who stayed home last election day might show up next time and cast our votes.

Because, yes, we were wrong.

Muslim Baptized – A.P. Fans Flames of Hatred

Posted on by TL

The Chicago Sun-Times carries a story from the Associated Press about a Muslim who converted to Catholicism at yesterday’s Holy Saturday Vigil at the Vatican. From the story:

Italy’s most prominent Muslim, an iconoclastic writer who condemned Islamic extremism and defended Israel, converted to Catholicism Saturday with an Easter vigil baptism by the pope.

An Egyptian-born, non-practicing Muslim who is married to a Catholic, Magdi Allam infuriated some Muslims with his books and newspaper columns. He titled one book, Long Live Israel.

The story includes some criticism from Yahya Pallavicini, vice president of Coreis, Italy’s Islamic religious community, ”If Allam truly was compelled by a strong spiritual inspiration, perhaps it would have been better to do it delicately, maybe with a priest from Viterbo where he lives.” That’s fine. Baptism by a pope with Vatican Television zooming in for several closeups during the ceremony is a bit out of character for the vast majority who entered the Church this weekend. Although, for a Catholic, it is certainly an incredible honor to even attend a papal mass.

What bothers me is the last line of the story, which includes no citation or source information at all:

There is no overarching Muslim law on conversion. But a widespread interpretation of Islamic legal doctrine says converting from Islam is apostasy and punishable by death — though killings are rare.

What a horrible way to end a story on a man’s baptism at the Easter Vigil in Rome. What “widespread interpretation of Islamic doctrine” could they possibly be referring to? The Sunna of the Prophet? The Sharia? What? Tell us exactly!

This one sentence is horrifying and irresponsible. Yes, there have been a few Muslims on the fringe who have acted badly in the past and done terrible things, but the overwhelming vast majority of Muslims find peace at the core of their faith, and they live in peace. Throughout history, Jews and members of other faith backgrounds have been treated far better by Muslims than they were by Christians.

This characterization is insulting, especially at a time when we need to continue to building bridges with our Muslim brothers and sisters.

Spitzer: “Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!”

Posted on by TL

Now it’s purely political.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) has not been arrested, only implicated. And, yes, it’s not pretty. But, according to the Sun-Times, “a top state Republican” is threatening to call for impeachment proceedings. The “dogs of war” are ready to pounce:

Pressure mounted Tuesday on Gov. Eliot Spitzer to resign because of a prostitution scandal, with a top state Republican threatening to push for impeachment proceedings if the governor doesn’t step down in 48 hours.

The state ‘‘cannot have this hanging over their heads,’’ said Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco.

The Republicans are making noise, no doubt rejoicing that, this time at least, it was not one of their own involved. Democrats are not doubt rejoicing that Spitzer at least was involved with a woman.

Jon Stewart had his fun this evening, and it was hilarious.

Now, however, it doesn’t matter what really happened. Spitzer must resign. He’s been in seclusion all day, but he cannot survive this one politically.

Larry Craig is still in the United States Senate. We don’t know for how long. I don’t recall hearing many Democrats recently calling for him to step down. But when a Democrat is involved, things are somehow different. Then, the self-righteous right-wing begins screaming for justice. And we usually crumble. We usually do what’s right.

Governor, it’s time to step down.

Spitzer Makes A Call

Posted on by TL

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, D-NY, is in trouble.  Formerly known as “Mr. Clean”, Spizer has allegedly been involved with prostitutes.  The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Spitzer was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet in a Washington hotel room the night before Valentine’s Day with a prostitute from a call-girl business known as the Emperors Club VIP, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still going on.

Democrat or Republican, this is a story, and it must be told.  The governor has not been charged with anything.  While it is easy to make wisecracks, we must exercise restraint.  That has been my practice on Turning Left, no matter who the accused.  One colleague at the Online News Association expected the “liberal media” to stay away from this story, and only attack when the bad-boy is a Republican.

Not likely.

Spitzer already gave the mandatory apology with wife-at-side.  Perhaps he’ll resign.  Should he?  I don’t know.  If he is arrested and charged with anything, then, absolutely yes.  At that point he becomes ineffective as an elected official.

But is he ineffective now?  I don’t think so.  Not yet.  Larry Craig said he would resign, and then changed his mind. Craig was actually arrested.

Spitzer has to determine if he can still govern.  Ethically, what he did is between his family, himself, and God.  Can he still effectively serve the people of New York?  That’s the only issue right now.

We Can’t Handle Guns

Posted on by TL

Yes, the Constitution gives us the right to bear arms. Specifically:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

We could debate endlessly the meaning of “a well regulated Militia” and whether such a thing could exist in this day and age.  We could talk about keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.  That’s all we have to do, after all, right?  We have enough laws.  We just have to enforce the laws we have and all will be well.

We could compare ourselves to other countries.  Canadians have lots and lots of guns, for example. But they don’t shoot each other the way we do.

Why do we shoot each other?  We could debate endlessly.  For all our discussion, it happened again.

Today, Ruben Ivy, 18, a student at Crane High School in Chicago was shot and killed.  The Chicago Sun-Times shows a black jacket laying in a pool of blood on the school’s front steps.

A puddle of blood and yellow police tape remain on the steps in front of Crane High School on Friday evening after an 18-year-old junior was killed and another student was beaten nearby in what police are calling gang-related incidents.

Police are looking for a male juvenile they believe is a suspect.

It happened again.   Our children are killing children.

While we debate once again the merits of gun control, the fact is Ruben Ivy will not be the last young person shot.  When children shoot children, the issues are systemic, and much deeper than guns. Some have suggested adding a $10 tax to individual bullets.

But remove guns from the mix, and what do we have left?  Imagine for an instant that we have removed guns from our streets?  What would be left that is driving our children to kill other children?  What’s going on in the big picture?

I don’t have an answer tonight.  I’m just trying to feel the question more deeply.

It’s Officially McCain

Posted on by TL

CNN has projected that John McCain now has enough delegates to clinch the Republican nomination for president. Mike Huckabee is not on CNN conceding to John McCain.

Huckabee has class. He has some evolutionary problems, but he’s a nice guy. Our astronomer friend may disagree (Huckabee = very very very bad guy), but I think he’s a nice guy. His appearance on Saturday Night Live was very funny.

But we’re officially up against McCain.

I have major concerns about McCain, and you should too. Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, longtime Speaker of the House, once said, “All politics is local,” and Illinois is feeling terribly the effects of the Two Trillion Dollar War. Bob Herbert really drives that home today in the New York Times:

The war in Iraq will ultimately cost U.S. taxpayers not hundreds of billions of dollars, but an astonishing $2 trillion, and perhaps more. There has been very little in the way of public conversation, even in the presidential campaigns, about the consequences of these costs, which are like a cancer inside the American economy.

McCain said we could be there 100 years, and he wants to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. That’s a plan for horrible disaster.

McCain is a nice guy. Huckabee is a nice guy. Their policies would tear us apart.

Remember this number?

$9,370,442,189,107.39

That’s our National Debt. If you go to that page now, the number will be higher. That’s George Bush’s legacy. And here’s the price tag on Iraq right now:

The War in Iraq Costs

$499,777,068,876

Illinois has paid the following

The War in Iraq Costs

$27,062,363,778

That money is gone, and we’re not finished yet. McCain has a plan, after all. A Hundred-Year-Plan. We must learn patience, because, one day, 100 years or so down the road, we will finally know peace in Iraq.  Perhaps, too, the entire world will finally know peace.

America will be long gone, of course, probably bought out by Japan and China who currently own much of our national debt.

But there will be peace at last in Iraq.

 

“Shots Fired!”

Posted on by TL

I cannot comprehend what it must be like for law enforcement to hear those words. Especially today, in the aftermath of the NIU slayings, the Lane Bryant/Tinley Park slayings, the Kirkwood City Council slayings, etc. etc.

There has been too much blood shed. And I think it has something to do with us.

Ordinarily, I am not one for trashing the 2nd Amendment. I do not think it would be prudent to do so. I am convinced that the problem is not the prevelance of guns, the easy availability of guns, or anything like that. The problem is that, for some goddamn reason, we are too willing to use guns on each other. We are entirely too ready to shoot each other. And this should worry us all.

Yes, I get what Michael Moore was saying in Bowling for Columbine. You may dislike Michael Moore, but don’t dislike him until you’ve actually watched this film. Citizens in other industrialized countries have guns. People around the world listen to music with very disturbing lyrics, enjoy very violent video games, live in poverty, and sex, yes, they have sex.

But they’re not shooting or killing each other at nearly the rate we are.

So what the hell is wrong with us?

Why can we not handle our guns? Why do we have to shoot each other? Why do we have to kill at such an alarming rate per capita compared to people in other industrialized countries?  Why is the United States of America the least safe place to be on Earth outside of a war zone?

Ordinarily, I’m not for gun control. Guns are not the problem, I’m convinced. People in the United States using guns at the rate we do is the problem. And that’s the problem we have to confront.

I don’t have the answer.

I just know that I knew one of the Tinley Park Five, and her loss hurts me deeply.

We have a problem, and we must face that problem honestly.

Why do we shoot so many people in this country?

So Now Everyone’s Supposed to Hate Barack

Posted on by TL

I don’t get it.

Hillary Clinton wins New Hampshire, and now the left is taking shots at Barack Obama.

I listened to Randy Rhodes this afternoon for a spell on Air America Radio. Always-provocative, fascinating and sensible Randy Rhodes was criticizing Barack Obama, and gloating that Hillary Clinton won — by 3 percentage points.

Hats off to Senator Clinton for a well-crafted victory in the New Hampshire Primary. Senator Obama did sound a bit over-confident, even presumptuous in the last few days, and his, “You’re likable enough,” comment to Clinton in the most recent debate was debasing and should have been beneath him.

But now we’re all supposed to hate Barack Obama? Because of New Hampshire?

Come on, Randy. Lighten up.

I don’t get it.