GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips - November 24, 2007
GOPUSA Illinois Daily Clips for November 24, 2007 includes news and commentaries on the following topics:
- Republican Party candidates, campaigns, and events
- Republican Party platform issues including limited government, abortion, homosexual activity, immigration, gambling, etc.
- Illinois, Cook County, DuPage County, and Chicago budget problems
and more . . .
DAILY HERALD
-- VERY SAD: Madigan proposes more casinos - AP
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Both Republican leaders indicated support for revamping the board, with specific details to be worked out. A spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, a Greenville Republican, said his caucus has pushed for restrictions such as a code of conduct for board members and a stronger ban on their financial interests. House Minority Leader Tom Cross said he agrees with Madigan that caution is the best approach. "I think you have to be incredibly sensitive to the nature of this industry and I think you need to go almost overboard in making sure that there's no impropriety," said Cross, an Oswego Republican. "I'm 110 percent on board.")
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: 14th Congressional District: Daily Herald blasts Hastert
(THE EDITORIAL: Too bizarre - Editorial In one final sop to his party, Dennis Hastert is likely to leave his U.S. House 14th District seat before the end of the year. That will trigger the need for a special election, likely to be held at exactly the same time the regular primary is held to choose his successor. If anybody doubts why citizens are so fed up with politicians, this is it. They could end up voting four times in less than a year for a single seat. Either finish out your term or quit on a schedule that leaves the field open -- saving us all a lot of money and voting booth aggravation in the process.)
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: 14th Congressional District: Liberal Democrat John Laesch points out that Oberweis Dairy bought out Laesch Dairy nearly a decade ago
(THE ARTICLE: The udder side of race to replace Hastert - Lisa Smith John Laesch isn't running against Jim Oberweis -- at least not yet. While the Democrats are battling Democrats and the Republicans are battling Republicans to seek their party's nomination Feb. 5 in the 14th Congressional District race, Democrat Laesch reached far across the aisle this week to scold Republican Oberweis for his "anti-immigrant" ad campaign. Oberweis, who is more focused on his race against fellow GOP frontrunner Chris Lauzen than a possible race against Laesch in November, blew off Laesch's comments as "political posturing by a liberal Democrat." But for Laesch the fight wasn't merely political: It was personal. Turns out Oberweis Dairy bought out Bloomington-based Laesch Dairy nearly a decade ago. The small home delivery company belonged to relatives of Laesch. Oberweis lemonade is actually Laesch Dairy lemonade, Laesch pointed out as a kind of an aside after his news conference and on the progressive blog Daily Kos.)
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: 14th Congressional District: Kevin Burns releases first TV commercial
(THE ARTICLE: Giving thanks for TV - Lisa Smith Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns released his first TV commercial for his 14th Congressional District campaign on Thanksgiving. The 30-second ad, which will run throughout the holiday weekend, touts Burns' governing experience and ability to build consensus. "I have lowered taxes … created jobs … and made government smaller and more efficient," the Republican says in the ad. The ad will run on ESPN, the Food Network, Hallmark, HGTV, Lifetime, USA , TBS and TNT.)
-- 14th Congressional District: Dilger hearing continued - Lisa Smith
(THE ARTICLE: The Illinois State Board of Elections hearing officer is expected to decide Tuesday whether GOP congressional candidate Michael Dilger can stay on the ballot. Local conservative political operative Jon Zahm, a volunteer on Lauzen's campaign, was one of the two objectors to claim that many of the signatures on Dilger's petition are invalid, putting the Evanston resident below the minimum amount needed to run for the 14th Congressional District. Zahm made that argument Monday at the Thompson Center in Chicago, a meeting the mysterious Dilger attended by conference call. Dilger then called the objections "bogus" in a written response filed Wednesday. Zahm and the other objector have until Monday to file a response to Dilger's response.)
-- Blagojevich, Quinn need to be friends - Editorial
(THE EDITORIAL: With friends like Pat Quinn, who needs enemies? Gov. Rod Blagojevich might be excused for muttering such a question, after the lieutenant governor criticized his administration yet again. Quinn has spent much of the past year staking out positions in opposition to his putative boss, Blagojevich. These differences, while extensive, are nothing compared to what Quinn championed a few weeks ago. He appeared with Blagojevich foe, state Rep. Jack Franks, a Woodstock Democrat, to call on lawmakers to pass a recall amendment to the state constitution. If placed on the November 2008 ballot and approved by voters, this would allow the people to gather signatures and vote on whether boneheaded elected officials should be fired midway through their terms. Quinn denied he was thinking about his unpopular boss, but Franks said in no uncertain terms he wants Blagojevich booted out of office. Blagojevich and Quinn ought to sit down together and talk their differences through, for the good of the administration and the state.)
-- Daily Herald lets Obama rewrite history - Orlando J. Stratman, Lake Zurich
(THE LETTER: In the Nov. 8 edition of the Daily Herald, you did a disservice to your readers. You ran an Associated Press article that essentially became a free ad for Senator Obama for President, in that you quoted Senator Obama directly giving his account of why he failed to have his hand on his heart in the photo taken in Iowa that is circulating on the internet. He said that the photo was taken during the national anthem and not the pledge. That would not explain why the others in the photo all had their hands on their hearts. I did a "snopes" check on the image and found that there was an ABC video taken of the event, not just the still photo. According to the fact checkers, the video shows the opposite of what you quoted Senator Obama as saying. The purpose of the newspaper is to report the news, not provide a platform for an individual to attempt to rewrite history. Yet by not questioning the quotation and running it as stated, you allowed him to rewrite the events -- therefore giving the impression to the reader of your paper that Senator Obama was in fact the victim of a dirty trick, when it is he and the Herald that is guilty of the dirty trick on their readers. You have an obligation to report the news, and if the information you are given from the wire service is wrong, as this was, then you can go ahead and quote Senator Obama, but then provide the reader the facts involved.)
-- Wheaton welcomes season with lights, parade - Jim Fuller
(DIERSEN QUESTION: If the parade had included a live elephant sponsored by local Republicans, would the Daily Herald have allowed Fuller to include that in his report?)
(THE ARTICLE: When Wheaton Mayor Mike Gresk was just an 11-year-old boy he reached perhaps the pinnacle of his holiday happiness when he received a 26-inch Schwinn bicycle for Christmas. It wasn't Lance Armstrong quality, but a pedal-only speed with coaster brakes that Gresk reveled in as much as Ralphie Parker when he finally received his Red Ryder BB gun. The official start of Wheaton's version of holiday excitement began Friday night with the lighting of the Christmas tree and holiday light parade downtown. Spectators huddled along a chilly Front Street at 5:45 p.m. and helped Gresk countdown-5-4-3-2-"Hit it!" as the mayor flipped the switch, uniting beaming holiday lights with red, festive bows on the city's tree. Children then lined the curbs for some traditional holiday parade sights (Mickey Mouse, Snow White) and some less traditional spectacles (the Incredible Hulk). Downtown shops stayed open late as parents quizzed their children about their holiday wish lists. It evoked the question, what does Wheaton's mayor have on his list this year? Politically, Gresk said he wants to see a grocery store stay in the downtown, continued discussion of the redevelopment of the Hubble Middle School site and general economic well-being throughout the city. But what's on the list he sent Santa? Is it an Xbox 360? Perhaps finally an upgrade to that old Schwinn bicycle? "Honestly, I have everything that I want," Gresk said. "What can you get me? Golf clubs or a box of cigars? I don't golf, and I don't smoke. So those would be really, really silly to get me. I have no real burning desire for anything." Gresk said he's instructed his family to make donations to Wheaton-based charities in his name for their contributions to his stocking this year.)
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Ed Michals of Glen Ellyn argues that veterans are victims (SEE WEEKLY STANDARD ARTICLE BELOW)
(THE LETTER: Honor veterans by sparing their lives - Ed Michals, Glen Ellyn Your homeless veterans editorial exposes the crying shame which most cozy civilians are not aware of. That problem increases daily because of political neglect and public indifference. We all are too eager to wave the American flag when Johnny comes marching home to band music. But the forgotten thousands of Vietnam and Iraq/Afghanistan veterans who have been unlucky enough to come home with post-traumatic stress or chronic substance abuse don't get to hear the band play. If our federal legislators allocated about 5 percent of the war expenditures to take care of these unsung heroes, we would all sleep easier. More VA hospitals and local care centers would shelter and rehabilitate these helpless war casualties. Concerned civilians such as local church and veterans posts, plus the American Legion, VFW and other national organizations, are influential enough to solve this widespread challenge. The best way to honor the surviving veterans as the cold weather approaches is to spare their lives.)
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Outrageously, as more and more DuPage County governmental agencies face more and more budget crises, organizations outrageously continue bring in more and more people who demand more and more government services - FROM THE ARTICLE: "On the second Saturday of each month, the parking lot of Family in Faith Christian Church in Glendale Heights fills early. The crowd of about 200 looks like a sampling from the United Nations with blacks, whites, Hispanics, Arabs and Asians of all ages speaking a variety of languages. Their backgrounds may be very different, but they have a common need for the boxes and bags of groceries given away each month by the Northern Illinois Food Bank's mobile food pantry, which rolls in about 9:30 a.m.")
BUSINESS WEEK
-- Proposal would put eye on Illinois casinos - Ryan Keith
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Both Republican leaders indicated support for revamping the board, with specific details to be worked out. A spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, said his caucus has pushed for restrictions such as a code of conduct for board members and a stronger ban on their financial interests.)
NAPERVILLE SUN
-- Furstenau should recuse himself from police items - Editorial
BEACON NEWS
-- Fernando Velaczo-Rodriguez, of Guadalajara, a 33-year-old man from Mexico, has been charged with helping to bring $2.5 million worth of marijuana into Aurora - Matt Hanley
(THE ARTICLE: Felony charge in $2.5 million marijuana bust - Matt Hanley A 33-year-old man from Mexico has been charged with helping to bring $2.5 million worth of marijuana into Aurora. Fernando Velaczo-Rodriguez, of Guadalajara, was charged Friday with felony possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, Aurora police said. Acting on a tip, police staked out a warehouse in the 1500 block of Dearborn Street on Tuesday. Six men, including Velaczo-Rodriguez, were arrested while unloading 144 individually wrapped packages of marijuana, police said. The marijuana was hidden inside watermelon crates, and police believe the 2,580-pound shipment was tied to a large drug trafficking operation out of Mexico. The investigation is ongoing, and it's not yet clear if Aurora was the final destination for the marijuana, Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said. The five other men, who were from Aurora, California and Rockford, were released without charges. Police would not release any other information about those men, Velaczo-Rodriguez's role in the delivery or how the tip came to police. "Due to the sensitivity of the investigation, I can't elaborate," Ferrelli said. The packages apparently were being unloaded at an automotive parts warehouse, police said. "As to why they were delivering (marijuana) there, it's unclear. But certainly that's part of the ongoing investigation," he said. On Friday, Velaczo-Rodriguez was being held at the Kane County jail on $150,000 bond.)
-- Wheaton shelter a second chance for homeless vets - Ron Pazola
(FROM THE ARTICLE: WHEATON -- Greg Wallis had hit bottom, but he remembered a time when he wasn't so out of control. As a staff sergeant in the Army, he counseled soldiers to re-enlist. "I explained the benefits and disadvantages about staying in the Army," he said. "I tried to be honest with people." Although Wallis was in the Army from 1983 to 1991, he decided to leave military life to start his own business. He bought buildings, rehabbed them and sold them for a profit. He did well at first. "I had a family, a nice house, a nice back yard and an in-ground swimming pool," he recalled. But his life eventually spiraled downward. He drank heavily, divorced and ended up homeless. "In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea for me to leave the Army," Wallis said. "The Army is very structured, defined and clear-cut. But the real world isn't always like that.")
WEEKLY STANDARD
-- The Last Talking Point of the Left The vet-as-victim - Dean Barnett
(THE ARTICLE: To celebrate Veterans Day, the Los Angeles Times ran a two-part story on James Blake Miller, the battle-exhausted soldier in the iconic picture of the Battle of Falluja in November 2004. The photograph caught the 20-year-old Blake caked with blood and soot as a cigarette dangled from his mouth. He looked young, but also prematurely old. To many, the picture represents the modern American fighting man--resolute, determined, and much older than his years. Today, Miller is home from Iraq and suffering from a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder. His is a heartbreaking saga, and the Times's lengthy story detailed the efforts of Luis Sinco (the Times staff photographer who took the photo) to help him. Near the end of the story, Sinco quotes Miller's 21-year-old brother saying to him, "I'm glad I didn't join the Marines. I got a nice house, a wife and twin baby daughters, and I drive a Durango that's used but damn near new. You're divorced, drive a beat-up pickup and live in a trailer." His brother said that the returned soldier's "head is screwed up." The Boston Globe celebrated Veterans Day with an editorial titled "When Johnny Comes Home Less." Citing a National Alliance to End Homelessness study, the Globe stated that over the course of a year, half-a-million veterans go homeless. (A subsequent correction dropped this number to 337,000.) The Globe proceeded to expose the grim facts that "Veterans are at risk. Many grapple with traumatic brain injuries, the loss of limbs, post-traumatic stress disorder, and mental illness. Some need to find jobs and housing." These are important stories, and shouldn't be ignored, but it is also hard to ignore the political agenda at work here. Individual tales of heroism don't interest papers like the Times and the Globe; individual tragedies do. Portraying veterans as lost souls is a narrative that is politically convenient. I recently exchanged emails with a colonel in the California National Guard--an attorney when not on active duty--about Bruce Spring-steen's new song "Gypsy Biker." The song portrays Iraq war veterans as gullible dupes who shed their blood while "the speculators made their money," and the colonel wrote: It's this portrayal of vets as burnt-out losers with nowhere to go but out on the open road that gets me. I was in court today, a vet, arguing a million-dollar case, in front of a judge who was also a vet. Vets aren't burned out losers--we're leaders. For every vet with problems--and they certainly exist, though I would guess in percentages far below that of the comparable civilian population--there are dozens of vets out there building businesses, raising families, and leading communities. Many give up weekends and vacations to stay in the Guard and Reserve. But I guess those guys aren't cool enough or useful enough. The stereotypical vet is the burned-out homeless guy with a torn old green field jacket. I say it should be the dad dropping his little girl off at preschool before he goes to the business he built from nothing while fielding phone calls from his Guard unit's full-time staff and driving a car with a trunk full of military gear so that, when the next earthquake or riot hits, he can go out and protect his community--again. Although the colonel was speaking specifically of Springsteen, he might as well have been talking about the entire liberal establishment. CBS News ran a feature story last week that focused on a purported epidemic of suicides among Iraq war veterans. But CBS's report didn't take into account the age of the vets who had committed suicide (they're young) or their sex (they're predominantly male). By comparing them to the general population rather than their peer group, CBS was comparing apples to oranges; the suicide rate among vets in fact parallels that of their civilian peer groups. CBS jumped at a story that supported its agenda on the war. Portraying veterans as victims dates back to the Vietnam era--like so many of the new left's philosophical guideposts. But the Vets-as-Victims theme has recently acquired political urgency. As the facts in Iraq have changed, it's gotten harder to plausibly maintain that the war is a nightmare without end. Iraqi civilian casualties, as documented by the liberal website Icasualties.org, dropped from a pre-surge high of 3,389 per month to 752 in September and 565 in October. November is on pace to have fewer than 500 Iraqi civilian casualties. American military casualties continue to decline. This progress hasn't come without sacrifice, achievement, and heroics. But journalists are mostly indifferent to these aspects of the veterans' experience because they don't square with the narrative of soldiers-as-victims. It's all well and good for the left to stamp its collective foot and insist that success in Iraq doesn't matter, that nothing can wash away George W. Bush's original sin even though Bush won't be on the ballot in 2008. But progress in Iraq makes the issue recede in the public's mind. In January 2007, a Pew poll showed 55 percent of Americans viewed Iraq as "the first news story that comes to mind." In a Pew poll conducted last week that number had dropped to 16 percent. Last week, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi launched their 41st attempt to constrain the war effort by limiting funds. They're no longer talking about Iraq as a disaster but focusing on how expensive the war effort is. The entire Democratic party power structure and its preferred intellectual construct profess a strange indifference to whether or not we succeed in Iraq. Back in 2005, the party wedded itself, for better or for worse, to the unyielding notion that the Iraq war is a failure. With the picture improving, and the election still a year away, they are running out of talking points.)
CHICAGO DAILY OBSERVER
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Russ Stewart discusses the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 8th, 10th, and 14th Congressional District races
