Illinois Review

Thorner: Patriots Must Stand With President Trump

By Nancy Thorner - 

 

The news media has already announced and anointed Joe Biden as the 46th President. This does not mean he has won. Votes need to be certified by the states. Elections are certified once every vote is counted and all outstanding legal issues are sorted.  And there are MANY outstanding legal issues in this election!

 

There is a deadline for certifying the results of the election, and it varies by state. Most states must be done by the end of November, but temporary restraining orders (TRO's) and injunctions can be issued by judges to override deadlines when there are issues of fact in legal claims and evidence supporting extending the election certification deadlines.

 

As Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz told NTD News on November 17, 2020:  

 

“The president-elect doesn’t get named as president elect until at least he has 270 state certifications of electors, or his opponent concedes. Neither of that has happened as of now.”

 

Dershowitz added: “I think that he is entitled to describe himself as the president-elect. At the moment he’s won 305 or so electoral votes and President Trump is entitled to dispute that. That’s freedom of speech. That’s politics. Neither is entitled as a matter of law or constitutionality to say that they are the president-elect.”

Gary, Indiana: A Sanctuary City No More

On November 16, in a major victory against sanctuary policies, Indiana’s Lake Superior Court struck down an ordinance that the City of Gary, Indiana, had enacted to protect illegal aliens, even ones with criminal records, from federal immigration law enforcement. The decision is a complete victory for the plaintiffs, who are represented by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) and The Bopp Law Firm.

Lawyers at IRLI and Bopp had argued, and the court yesterday found, that the ordinance violates several Indiana statutes prohibiting governmental bodies in the state from refusing to cooperate with federal immigration law enforcement. The statutes, which IRLI had helped draft, require local jurisdictions to cooperate with such enforcement to the full extent contemplated in federal law.

The End of Women's Sports

Selina Soule was one of the top five female high school sprinters in Connecticut... until competing against biological boys changed the game. Now, women aren’t just losing their races — they’re losing their chances to compete at all. Why is this happening? And what should we do about it?

Will Trump ride off into the sunset?

By Victor Davis Hanson - 

I once wrote that whenever Donald Trump exits office, he will likely leave as a “tragic hero.” Over two millenniums ago, the Athenian tragedian Sophocles first described the archetype in his portraits of an angry and old but still fearsome Ajax, and heroic but stubborn and self-fixated Antigone.

In the iconic John Ford Western “The Searchers” and in a host of other films from “Shane” to “High Noon,” we have seen stories of these sorts.

The legalistic but impotent town council, the idealistic but outgunned sodbusters or the incompetent posse in desperation turns to unconventional deliverance. They suddenly need a John Wayne as a scary Ethan Edwards, or a mysterious gunslinger like Shane.

But to call in such Manichaean outsiders is to admit that the status quo of a sober establishment has failed.

Three GOP Lawmakers renew call, "Madigan must go"

PLAINFIELD--The US Attorney’s Office has announced charges against four of House Speaker Mike Madigan’s allies, naming lobbyist Michael McClain, ex-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, and former City Club President Jay Doherty in a 50-page indictment released late last night.

In response to these federal bribery charges, State Representative Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield)—who was the first sitting lawmaker to call for Madigan’s resignation last December—released the following statement:

Back in 2016, a politically-connected coalition of energy industry players rushed a complicated bill to force electric rate increases throughout Illinois. I was staunchly opposed to this bill, for not due to the enormous scale, but because of the process in which it was passed.

That ComEd bailout bill has remained a key part of this ongoing federal investigation, which today seemingly yielded proof of a complex bribery scheme benefitting Mike Madigan. Over his nearly 50-year reign, Madigan has fed and fostered this culture of corruption; ComEd is just one example.

Mike Madigan’s absolute power in the Illinois House has not benefited our state, but rather hurt our hardworking taxpayers. It is his refusal to allow comprehensive ethics reform or answer to the Special Investigating Committee that makes it clear that Illinoisans deserve better.

I was the first sitting lawmaker to call for Mike Madigan to resign, but after today’s news I will say it again: Mike Madigan must go.

State Representative Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa) joined Batinick's position.

"It has been obvious for months now that Mike Madigan is at the heart of the corruption scandal involving ComEd. The latest indictments of four allies linked directly to him make it clear beyond any doubt about his involvement,” said Weber. “Since Madigan still refuses to step down, even though the number of House Democrats who have said they will not support him for another term as Speaker has now grown to fifteen, the Special Investigating Committee must be reconvened to take action. The only way to restore any slight notion of trust in Illinois government is for Mike Madigan to go."

State Representative Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) agreed.

It is clear that if we are ever going to restore the people’s trust in state government, we must have new leadership in Springfield. The people of Illinois deserve better. The culture of corruption has weakened our statehouse. Whether this is more proof of Mike Madigan’s involvement or not, he has led the House and State Government for years – thus, allowing such a culture to exist.

We need change. I am calling on my colleagues from across the aisle to join the House Republicans in our demand for Speaker Madigan’s resignation.

More to come ... 

US Attorney charges conspiracy to "corruptly influence, reward high-level Illinois elected official"

The US Attorney of Northern District of Illinois issued the following statement Wednesday afternoon: 

Former Commonwealth Edison executives, including the former Chief Executive Officer, conspired with outside consultants to corruptly influence and reward a high-level elected official for the State of Illinois to assist with the passage of legislation favorable to the electric utility company, according to an indictment returned today in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

The indictment charges four individuals with bribery conspiracy, bribery, and willfully falsifying ComEd books and records:

· MICHAEL McCLAIN, 73, of Quincy, Ill. McClain worked as a lobbyist and/or consultant for ComEd after serving in the Illinois House of Representatives in the 1970s and early 1980s.

· ANNE PRAMAGGIORE, 62, of Barrington, Ill. Pramaggiore was CEO of ComEd from 2012 to 2018, and later served as a senior executive at an affiliate of Exelon Corp., of which ComEd was a subsidiary.

· JOHN HOOKER, 71, of Chicago, Ill. Hooker served as ComEd’s executive vice president of legislative and external affairs from 2009 to 2012, after which he worked as an external lobbyist for ComEd.

· JAY DOHERTY, 67, of Chicago, Ill. Doherty owned Jay D. Doherty & Associates, which performed consulting services for ComEd from approximately 2011 to 2019.

Arraignments in federal court in Chicago have not yet been scheduled.

15 Democrats now say they will not support Mike Madigan for Speaker in January

CHICAGO - The younger, radically-Left members of the Illinois House Democrat Caucus are one-by-one rejecting longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan as the Feds move to indict numerous political allies of the Speaker.

The number of those turning their backs on the Illinois Democrat Party Chairman and House Speaker that helped many of them obtain office reached 15 Thursday - potentially keeping the Speaker from reaching the needed 60 votes to be re-elected in January 2021. 

Those who've made public announcement they will not support the Speaker in January are as follows: 

• Jonathan Carroll - 57th District
• Sam Yingling - 62nd District
• Will Guzzardi - 39th District
• Kelly Cassidy - 14th District
• Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz - 17th District
• Terra Costa-Howard - 48th District
• Maurice West - 67th District
• Bob Morgan - 58th District
• Anne Stava-Murray - 81st District
• Stephanie Kifowit - 84th District
• Lindsey LaPointe - 19th District
• Deb Conroy - 46th District
• Robyn Gabel - 18th District
• Anna Moeller - 43rd District
• Ann Williams - 11th District 

IL Republican State Rep calls on President Trump to concede to Joe Biden

During a conference call with reporters Thursday on the topic of federal indictments on several allies of Democrat House Speaker Madigan, State Rep. Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) responded to a question asking if President Trump should concede to Joe Biden. 

Wehrli, who lost a re-election bid earlier this month, said "Absolutely..." and compared President Trump to House Speaker Mike Madigan. 

"President Trump and Speaker Madigan should both sail off into the sunset ..." 

Wehrli's full response to the question: 

Wehrli

Lincoln: The Gettysburg Address

 

By President Abraham Lincoln -

November 19, 1863

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

(This is the official Bliss Copy of the Gettysburg Address, taken from a copy in President Lincoln's own hand, in print now for almost 160 years).

For further details, here is the entry on the Gettysburg Address from Abraham Lincoln Online.

IL House Speaker responds to federal indictments of multiple allies

CHICAGO - Wednesday, the feds issued indictments on multiple allies of House Speaker Mike Madigan, and Thursday morning, he issued the following statement in full: 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 19, 2020

Statement from Speaker Madigan
CHICAGO – House Speaker Michael J. Madigan released the following statement Thursday:

The indictment returned Wednesday does not allege any criminal misconduct on my part. I have not been accused of or charged with any wrongdoing.

After a lengthy investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged, but of course has not proven, that certain ComEd employees, consultants, and lobbyists allegedly conspired with one another in the hope of somehow influencing me in my official capacity. Let me be clear: if that attempt ever happened, it was never made known to me. If it had been known to me, it would have been profoundly unwelcome. Nothing in either this indictment or in the earlier filings by the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges otherwise. In addition, nothing in this indictment or in the earlier filings alleges that I did anything in my official capacity related to ComEd’s legislative agenda as a result of whatever internal decisions ComEd made or didn’t make. Any such allegation would be false. If there was an attempt to influence me in my official capacity, it failed, although knowing most of the people who were charged, I doubt there was any scheme as characterized by the government.

Rep. Sosnowski questions Pritzker's latest COVID mitigation restrictions

ROCKFORD – State Representative Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) issued the following statement Wednesday following Tuesday’s announcement by Governor JB Pritzker that the State of Illinois will be placed under Tier 3 COVID-19 mitigation status effective at 12:01am on Friday, November 20:

“There is no scientific data that supports lower occupancy limits or for keeping restaurants closed to indoor dining.  The Governor's own numbers show that there is very little danger of contraction when inside businesses or public buildings.  The Governor’s mitigation policies have proven successful in one aspect, however, and that is instilling fear in Illinois residents.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the statewide COVID-19 recovery rate is 97% and 50% of the deaths have been those living in long term care facilities (75% of deaths have been those over the age of 70).  All life is valuable and should be protected, but we need to have perspective that misguided rolling lockdowns and business restrictions are destroying people’s livelihoods, shuttering businesses, putting people out of work, causing stress on families unable to care for children, increasing depression and other social ills, and ruining educational attainment of our children.

Pritzker imposes new COVID mitigation requirements effective Friday

Gov JB Pritzker - Chicago Sun-Times photo

CHICAGO - Governor JB Pritzker and his administration released yet another set of "mitigation requirements" Tuesday, as the state of Illinois and the majority of the United States appeared to be facing another spike in COVID-19 cases. 

The Illinois Department of Public Health's website explains: 

With a new wave of COVID-19 surging across the state of Illinois and the nation, the state is committed to listening to public health experts and following the science to keep people safe. Tier 3 builds on the Resurgence Mitigation Plan first released in July to suppress the spread of the virus and ensure our hospitals do not become overrun. This new tier aims to limit gatherings and encourages people to stay home to the greatest extent possible, while permitting some industries to remain open at significantly reduced capacities with proper safety measures in place. All detailed Phase 4 operational guidance remains in effect. Where Phase 4 guidance and Tier 3 Mitigations imply different standards, the more restrictive Tier 3 Mitigations will apply. School districts and local officials should follow extensive guidance released by IDPH and ISBE in August and make decisions related to in-person and remote learning at the local level, based on the unique needs of their communities. Child care facilities may continue to operate subject to DCFS guidelines.

Specific guidelines include: 

Beckman: Joe says “Come Together.” His Supporters Beg to Differ

By Hank Beckman - 

Joe Biden’s first public comment upon being prematurely declared the winner of the presidential election was to call for unity.

“To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemies,” he said after media declared him the next occupant of the White House.

He sounded sincere when he said “let’s give each other a chance,” and that it was “time to put away the harsh rhetoric.”

Nice words.

Who doesn’t want the country to come together for the common good, especially after the last four years? The nation hasn’t been this divided since the late 60s/early 70s, when race riots and the turmoil over the Vietnam War pitted races, classes and even family members against one another.

Rep. Blaine Wilhour: Are Illinois Republicans ready to provide the leadership voters demand?

Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Effingham)

Op-ed submitted by State Representative Blaine Wilhour (R-Effingham) -

On Nov. 3rd, voters in Illinois resoundingly rejected the progressive income tax amendment on the ballot despite the massive public relations effort from the Governor who spent tens of millions of dollars telling everyone that only the rich would see a tax increase.

Voters were told to just trust the same politicians who have bankrupted our state with even more taxing authority. In the end, voters decided that the career politicians wrecking our state weren’t worthy of their trust and they voted overwhelmingly against the proposed progressive income tax.

Let’s be perfectly clear:  The defeat of the progressive income tax is a repudiation of the ENTIRE political class. Voters in Illinois are tired of paying the price for the reckless spending of career politicians of both political parties.

Win Or Lose, Trump’s Voter Fraud Lawsuits Will Improve Future Elections

Voter fraud lawsuits will improve electoral integrity. Aaron Poynton writes:

President Donald Trump is being labeled a bitter loser. After a close and divided election, lawsuits have been filed in Pennsylvania overextended deadlines and observers, Michigan over lack of transparency, Georgia over late ballots, and Nevada over machine verification. Essentially, the lawsuits amount to allegations of systemic corruption and voter fraud that could have cost Trump the election.

Yet while even if victorious the lawsuits may not overturn the current projected election results, they will certainly expose cracks in our imperfect system. Indeed, we can move to collectively improve future elections and begin restoring faith and confidence in government and its institutions only if such malfeasance and shortcomings are exposed.

Crisis Looms in Alarmist Science

Climate science is dominated by alarmists addicted to the idea that increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) will cause dangerous global warming. How much warming is thus the central scientific question—a question with significant implications for public policy responses.

This question has been surprisingly difficult to answer, despite 40 years of research, costing tens of billions of dollars. Now the issue is exploding because two different answers are emerging, one harmlessly low and the other dangerously high. This divergence is a crisis for the alarmist community. How they handle it remains to be seen.

More HERE

Dominion software alleged to have tampered 2020 election results

COOK COUNTY - Cook County, the county in which Chicago sits, has been long identified as a county where dead people vote. The Democrats control the city of Chicago, Cook County, and the state of Illinois. It is also where an executive of the Dominion election software told the Illinois State Board of Elections in 2016 that "it is possible to bypass their election software."

FOX Business News' Lou Dobbs shared a video taken at a 2016 board meeting in which Eric Koomer told the board that routine updates are not permissible without the system being re-certified. 

"No we are not allowed to do routine updates without having to go through re-certification efforts, but we do routinely give guidance on how to best secure systems, and also going back again, to the final mitigation against all of this is a robust auditing canvassing process which all of our jurisdictions have implements," Koomer told the board. 

Despite Koomer's assurances, Dominion software updates can take place without re-certification - and that reportedly happened the day before the election.

Sidney Powell, General Michael Flynn's attorney, insists the software was a source of producing fraudulent election results. 

"President Trump won this election in a landslide," Powell told Dobbs in the following interview. 

Will County Board member-elect addresses MAGA Crowd in DC

DC - Over the weekend, Debbie Kraulidis - soon to be a member of the Will County Board and vice-president of national group Moms for America - addressed thousands of Trump supporters Saturday in DC. 

"President Trump, the mommas are with you!" Kraulidis said in her speech. 

President Trump retweeted a clip of the speech later Saturday. 

Di Leo: Odd Votes, Odd Times and the Odds of Vote Fraud

By John F. Di Leo - 

Vote fraud was predicted before the 2020 election, so it certainly wasn’t a surprise to anyone.   

In fact, vote fraud is predicted before all elections, because in fact there IS – virtually undeniably – a great deal of vote fraud in every election in the United States. 

We have a secret ballot, which makes it difficult to build in the kinds of security that we install in every other aspect of our lives.  Did you buy that wristwatch, that overcoat, that bottle of wine? Easy... check the receipt, and there’s the proof.  Did you pay for a Timex but walk out with a Rolex? Did you pay for a polyester windbreaker but walk out with a cashmere London Fog?  Again, the receipt has the details, and your credit card tracks the purchase and ties it directly to you, personally. 

Rossi: We Will Never Forget Your Attacks On Our Values and Our Republic

By Randy Rossi - 

It was absolutely fascinating to watch former Democrat VP Biden speak to the nation as the self-proclaimed winner of the 2020 presidential election and ask for unity and harmony when he becomes president. Equally stunning is watching the “Fake News” pitch the same thing. These are the very same people that screamed at the top of their lungs for four years that Republican President Trump was an illegitimate president who won the 2016 election and defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by colluding with Russia.

They started this travesty even before President Trump was sworn in as president and slandered and distracted this duly elected Republican president for four years through what we now know was the “Russian Collusion Hoax” which was created and paid for by Democrat Hillary Clinton and the DNC to distract the American people from her illegal and felonious e-mail scandal. As more and more proof comes out about significant election cheating and abuse by Democrats, they want us to forget all this and just “be friends again!"

On top of all that, we now know that so called “president-elect” Democrat Biden and his family repeatedly broke the law and abused Democrat VP Biden’s power to make millions of dollars by doing deals with our enemies China and Russia which paid millions of dollars to Biden’s son Hunter and his brother. We also have hard proof that VP Joe Biden got 10% of that money in return for the use of his power of office. But those facts were hidden from most of the American people by the “Fake News” before the election even though the FBI had access to all that data. But that is all OK now, the Dems and Joe Biden want us to forget all this and be friends again!

Thorner: Remaining Passive Not An Option for Patriots

Thousands of Trump supporters gathered in DC this past weekend

By Nancy Thorner - 

As proclaimed at Conservative Treehouse on November 11, 2020:

“Joe Biden is an avatar; a political pawn; a cognitively declining guy who has no idea what is happening around him.  The people behind the Biden campaign, those in real control of what this is about, have not hidden their goals and aspirations. These are not stupid people. They are scheming, conniving, ever-planning, ever-manipulating & Machiavellian types within the political system; lusting for power, influence and affluence."

On October 23^rd those behind the Biden campaign dropped all pretense, when Biden stated openly his intention to control the lives of all Americans using the authority of a weaponized federal government to advance national COVID-19 regulations.

President Biden would be worse than the Obama years of 2007-17 that gave us the lowest growth of any economic decade in U.S. history, all justified with a Scamdemic that even Elon Musk admits is phony: “Something extremely bogus is going on. Was tested for covid four times today. Two tests came back negative, two came back positive. Same machine, same test, same nurse. Rapid antigen test from BD.”  

Are Democrats Cornered in Illinois?

One of the most surprising results of the 2020 election was the defeat, in Illinois, of a state constitutional amendment to permit a progressive income tax. The Graduated Income Tax Amendment would have eliminated the Illinois constitutional requirement that tax rates remain flat across incomes. Its defeat is likely the most important political event for the state since I moved here 18 years ago.

The proposed change in the state constitution was an effort by the dominant Democratic Party to continue its model of high taxes and high spending to support the base of its political muscle—public-sector unions. The party retains control of the legislature and the governor’s office, but it is politically cornered. Legislatively, it faces a choice between a reform agenda that would undermine its political base or a substantial tax increase on every working citizen.

More HERE

Here Are the Lessons We’ve Learned So Far From the 2020 Election

We need to learn from the 2020 elections. Audrey Perry Martin writes:

The last thing anyone wanted in 2020 was a complicated post-presidential election debacle. Unfortunately, a combination of factors created a perfect storm for election chaos this year, and we are suffering in its aftermath.

Although the litigation, audits, and recounts are far from over, several lessons have emerged that, if implemented, could help avoid similar problems in future close races.

First, states should require all absentee ballots be due by the close of polls on Election Day. (Not including military and overseas ballots, which are usually a small number.) This has been the cause of one of the biggest battles of the past few weeks, and litigation is likely to continue.

“We Hold These Truths…”

The American founding still provides answers today. Robert Curry writes:

Why does the Declaration of Independence proclaim “We hold these truths to be self-evident” instead of simply stating that “We believe it is true”?

This is actually a good question. Answering it can teach us a lot about the Founding.

When we recall what the world was like in the Founders’ time, the answer becomes clear. The world in those days operated on the basis of utter inequality. Whether the ruler was a king who claimed to rule by divine right or an emperor who claimed the mandate of Heaven, society was essentially the same everywhere, consisting of monarchs and their subjects, rulers and the ruled. This was simply accepted as the way of things.

Illinois’ COVID fatality rate plummets: Cases skyrocket, deaths down since last peak

CHICAGO - Chicago-based Wirepoints.com points to stats and says COVID fatalities are down dramatically as positivity rates mount once again.

Lost in the attention given to Illinois’ massive spike in COVID-19 cases is the collapse in the virus’ case fatality rate, or CFR. At the height of the crisis in June, almost 5 percent of Illinois’ recorded COVID cases resulted in deaths. But as recorded cases have risen significantly over the past three months and deaths have not, the fatality rate from August through today has dropped to just 0.9 percent.

The latest COVID data is quickly revealing how less fatal the coronavirus really is, and that has major implications for lockdown policies and, in particular, for school shutdowns.

That drop in the case fatality rate reflects a dramatic increase in the number of COVID tests being performed, a significant increase in rates of infection among younger Illinoisans and reportedly better overall treatment of the virus.

Illinois’ CFR is gradually dropping toward what the Center for Disease Control estimates is the virus’ true infection fatality rate (IFR), about 0.65 percent. In contrast to the case fatality rate, the IFR includes estimates of all infections, including asymptomatic cases, not just reported cases.

It’s important to note that the 0.9 percent case fatality rate reported above is an average across all age groups and it’s still heavily influenced upward by the high death rate for those 80 and older. The actual CFR for the younger age brackets is dramatically lower. We break out those numbers in a following section.

More on the topic HERE 

DeVore: Lawful citizens cannot be ordered to stay at home

Rep. Bailey with Thomas DeVore - DailyLine.com photo

SORENTO - Downstate attorney Thomas DeVore represented State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) when he challenged Governor Pritzker's edict to restrict activity after his initial 30 day COVID Executive Order expired, and the governor renewed time and time again. 

DeVore won the case for Bailey as an individual, but the governor continues to issue what many consider unlawful edicts concerning COVID and public health measures. With the COVID positive cases on the rise once again, Pritzker is threatening yet another shutdown to stem the number of cases. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked Chicagoans to stay home more, but did not attempt to demand they go along. 

Pritzker, however, is stronger in his more recent threats of shutting the state down.

The idea provoked a strong reaction from DeVore on his Facebook page: 

I’m going to go ahead and get this out of the way right now. If any of you sumbitches start crying about any “stay at...

Posted by Thomas DeVore on Thursday, November 12, 2020

McDaniel: RNC gathered 12,000 reports of questionable voting incidents

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel reported on the status of the Trump campaign Friday morning with Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo:

MARIA BARTIROMO: What can you tell us about these lawsuits from the Trump campaign, and the -- and the current state of the election?
 
RNC CHAIRWOMAN MCDANIEL: Well, we have nine lawsuits currently, going across the country. We have a recount next week in Georgia. We are going to have a recount in Wisconsin.

But beyond that Maria, we have 12,000 incident reports with over 400 affidavits. And affidavits are evidence, because these are people testifying under oath that they saw in Detroit, ballots coming in, that they couldn't get a clear picture as to where they were coming from. That they saw many being fed into machines, that they were forced to backdate or told to backdate ballots as election workers who were working in Detroit.

All of these things are very, very real, and shows why we can't just move on and close the book on this election, there is a lot more to go still.

Thorner: Battle For White House Continues

By Nancy Thorner - 

 

The November 3, 2020 election continues to unfold as a once-in-a-lifetime event, and perhaps, in the history of our nation.  Traditional hand recount of the mail-in ballots would have Trump easily winning Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania, yet computer voting, just about unknown anywhere else in the world, has gained the upper hand in our nation.

 

Check this website for hundreds of documented cases of vote fraud:  

Government Lockdowns Make Everything a Political “Commons”

Several of the leading European countries are now in the process of implementing a second wave of social and economic lockdowns in the face of new and a rising number of cases of the coronavirus. After bringing their societies to near total halts in the spring of 2020 with lockdowns and shutdowns in the name of “flattening the curve” to not overwhelm medical facilities and, hopefully, stop any further spread of the virus, this new increase in cases has brought about a repeat of the same governmental response: prohibit many human contacts by closing or restricting business activities and ordering people to stay at home.

More HERE

Abundant, Clean, and Safe

If you truly want to save the planet from global warming, there’s one energy source that can do it. It’s not wind or solar. It’s not coal, oil or natural gas, either. So what is it? Michael Shellenberger, founder of Environmental Progress, has the answer in this important video.

Kushiner: Ox for the Taking

By James M. Kushiner, Executive Director, Fellowship of St. James -

Just last week I discovered the 1991 film by Swedish director Sven Nyquist, The Ox. It won the Academy Award for Best International Feature film for that year. It is a powerful study in forgiveness, and much more.

The tale begins on a farm in 19th-century Sweden, when Helge Roos kills one of his landlord’s oxen to feed his family in winter. He and his wife Elfrida try to hide the deed, but things unravel. As they do, both are confronted with temptations.

The Lutheran vicar (Max von Sydow) tries to find both justice and mercy for all. That path is narrow and hard, but in the end, the man and wife find much life—and grace. They and the pastor have borne the yoke and realized a harvest. It’s not a light film, but grace seems to be at work behind the scenes, between the lines, unseen but fruitful at the end.

It's About the States

Even when it's federal, it's still about the states. As we continue to wait for the final results from this year's elections, few organizations are looking at what happened in state legislatures on Tuesday. The Illinois-based Heartland Institute is keeping a close eye on it and planning accordingly.

As reported in Politico, the Democratic Party did not flip any state houses, despite massive spending. That means members of the president's party will be in charge of redistricting and some aspects of the current (interminable) ballot count outcome.

More HERE

And the Election Winner Is . . . Inflation in a Landslide

Regardless of which candidate secures the presidency in the days to come, the administration will have to cope with unprecedented federal debt. This debt will only increase for the foreseeable future, with record-breaking federal deficits caused by mounting pandemic relief and stimulus spending along with diminished tax revenues.

The only available “solution” for the U.S. government to finance such debt and deficits will be through continued massive money-printing, which will inevitably lead to price inflation. How can investors protect themselves?

More HERE

RNC Committeewoman Demetra DeMonte defends Trump on WGN TV

PEORIA - Illinois Republican National Committeewoman Demetra DeMonte has continued to remain outspoken in her defense of President Donald Trump's right to make sure every legal ballot is counted to assure a fair election. 

Due to her letter published on Illinois Review over the weekend, DeMonte was featured on a WGN-TV interview Monday:

Di Leo: Election 2020 and the Allocation of Votes

By John F. Di Leo -

Even if you dislike the results, even if there was massive fraud in multiple states giving you good reason to believe you actually won, you must accept the results that the press has published for those states.  Those states have the RIGHT to allocate their vote however they want, under whatever rules they want, with or without fraud... and you have no right to bicker about it.  You've got to let them.

Why?

Because that's just the way it is.  You have to accept it.

Expanded areas with COVID mitigations take effect today

CHICAGO – Additional COVID-19 mitigation efforts are now in effect in Region 5 (Southern Illinois), Region 7 (Will and Kankakee counties), and Region 8 (Kane and DuPage counties). These regions are seeing a test positivity rate that remains above 8 percent and continues to rise after more than 14-days under Tier 1 mitigations, which exceeds the threshold set for establishing additional mitigation measures under the state’s Restore Illinois Resurgence Plan.

Region 5 has been under Tier 1 of the state’s resurgence mitigation plan since October 22 and Regions 7 and 8 since October 23, after seeing a 7-day rolling average test positivity rate of 8 percent or above for three consecutive days. However, the positivity rate has continued to significantly increase in these regions. Beginning November 11, Regions 5, 7, and 8 will face additional mitigations, such as a tighter gathering cap of 10 individuals rather than 25 and new table caps of six rather than 10 when eating out.

Clinton County Sheriff's office photo goes viral

CARLYLE - A photo of downstate Clinton County Sheriff's detective holding a little one taken into protective custody has gone viral - now garnering almost 10,000 shares. 

"You won't see or hear about this on the evening news but this is something we deal with regularly," Dan Travous - Acting Chief Deputy of the Clinton County Sheriff's office in Carlyle, Illinois wrote on Facebook. "This young child was taken into protective custody early Saturday morning. He was up much of the night and was exhausted." 

Travous wrote that Correctional Officer Litteken spent her own money buying the child diapers, a stuffed animal, and clean clothing, while the photo shows Detective McClaren watching cartoons with a sleeping child in the office's telecommunications center.

Thorner: Election Elites Outed and Shenanigans Exposed

By Nancy Thorner -

The November 3, 2020 election was a total exposure of "Republicans." Except for DeSantis, Josh Hawley and a few others, they either lacked Trump loyalty or were openly hostile, like Mitt Romney who congratulated Biden and wants Trump voters to shut up.

Even while Senator Graham was giving Trump a token $500,000 of his vast campaign funding, he was busy selling out his voters on amnesty.  As to Graham's deception, Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson said that Graham was “happy to sell out his voters with an amnesty deal after he suggested finding 'common ground' with Democrats on immigration.”

It comes as no surprise that former President George W. Bush congratulated Biden on his win, but Bush did say that “Trump has the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges.”  But what about Trump's ally Chris Christie to have done so, even saying that “Trump soon needs to move on”?  This questions how close a Trump ally Christie ever was.

Count Every Legal Vote—No More, No Less

Every legal vote must be counted. Kay Coles James writes:

Conservatives have every reason to be optimistic about the outcome of this election. As we await the results, America needs a secure, transparent, and peaceful vote-counting process. 

Every legal vote must count and every election official has the duty to report all potentially illegal and fraudulent activity in their jurisdictions. The functioning of our republic depends on accurate and reliable election results. The longer the process drags out, the more open it is to fraud and abuse.

Californians Reject More Government

The data emerging from last Tuesday’s election offers a fascinating possibility: Californians are conservatives who think they’re Democrats. Or, at the very least, the state’s electorate is far more complex than politicos understand. (Ballots are still being counted, and these results may change.)

Rating the ballot propositions as either for or against more government, Californians have (so far) voted against tax hikes on business property (Prop 15), against racist affirmative action programs (Prop 16), against limiting the voting rights of ex-felons (Prop 17), and against expanding the prison population (Prop 20). They absolutely crushed rent control (Prop 21), and in voting for Prop 22 they rejected the government’s decision to tell Californians they can’t work as freelancers without approval from Sacramento.

More HERE

Rossi: “The Government You Elect Is the Government You Deserve”

By Randy Rossi - 

Thomas Jefferson nailed it when he said “The government you elect is the government you deserve”. Democracy can only work if a majority of the people do their civic duty and work hard to make sure that they understand the political debates, issues, and candidates before an election so that they can vote wisely and choose good leaders that support their values.

While the results of the presidential election are still being disputed, the fact that the results are this close is a very bad sign that at least 49.9% of Americans have failed to do their civic duty to stay properly informed or their values no longer match the key components of our great republic. At this moment if you believe the election results, Democrat Joe Biden leads in the presidential race. That should scare the heck out of any informed and patriotic American.

First, Democrat Joe Biden is obviously having serious problems with mental acuity which should be a serious concern for any rational American. Who would want a president with early signs of dementia who must stand strong for America facing tough world leaders and potential enemies from China, Russia, and Iran? At the very least, every American should want a strong and bright leader that can stand up for our great country in a tough world.

The Disinformationists

A republic is not just a nation of laws. It also relies on its good-faith watchdogs, such as honest pollsters, the media and bipartisan institutions.

We still didn't know the final result of Tuesday's presidential election as of Wednesday night. But there are lots of reasons to worry that something in America has gone terribly wrong.

Many of the mainstream pre-election polls predicted that Donald Trump would lose in a landslide. He did not -- to the shock of a host of propagandists.

A CNN poll had Trump down 12 percentage points nationally entering the final week before the election. An ABC News/Washington Post poll in late October claimed Biden was leading in Wisconsin by 17 points. That state's voting ended up nearly even. YouGov's election model showed Biden prevailing with a landslide win in the Electoral College. Progressive statistics guru Nate Silver had for weeks issued pseudo-scientific analyses of a Trump wipeout.

Pollsters were widely wrong in 2016. Yet they learned nothing about their flawed methodologies. So how do they remain credible after 2020, when most were wildly off again?

More HERE

IL State Board of Education considers requiring teachers to abandon religious beliefs for new state-mandated teaching standards

PEORIA - What the Thomas More Society considers to be "an unconstitutional and discriminatory proposed rule for Illinois educators" is being considered by the state’s Board of Education.

The rule is one that could "require teachers to violate their conscience in order to obtain or retain their teaching license," the legal group said in a press release Monday.

Thomas More Society attorneys are working with the Pro-Family Alliance to address "the potentially unlawful mandate." The rule, enclosed in an Illinois State Board of Education regulation section titled Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards for All Educators, is a violation of teachers’ rights,"according to Molly Malone, Assistant Director of Legislative Affairs for Pro-Family Alliance.

Update x2 from RNC Committeewoman Demetra DeMonte concerning 2020 election

UPDATE x2: Committeewoman DeMonte is scheduled to appear LIVE on WGN-TV Monday night at 6:32 PM CST.

From Illinois' RNC Committeewoman Demetra DeMonte, as an update to her Saturday night Urgent message: 

The RNC continues to fight for election integrity to ensure that all legal ballots are properly cast and counted. 

Over the weekend, the RNC and Trump campaign filed a lawsuit in Arizona alleging that Maricopa County incorrectly rejected votes cast by in-person voters on Election Day. When a machine detects an overvote on a ballot, poll workers should inform in-person voters of the error and give them an opportunity to correct the issue. Instead, poll workers in Maricopa County pressed, and told voters to press, a green button to override the error. As a result, the machines disregarded the voter’s choices in the overvoted races. The campaign has collected declarations from voters who witnessed the problem and alleges that the problem occurred on a large scale in Maricopa County.

Gov Pritzker self-isolating after possible COVID exposure

CHICAGO — The Governor’s Office was notified Monday of a recent exposure to COVID-19 and as result of that possible exposure is currently conducting contact tracing and following all necessary health protocols from IDPH.

The exposure was the result of an external meeting with the Governor that took place on Monday in a large conference room in the Governor’s Office.

The Governor was tested today and his results will be made public when available. The Governor is currently isolating pending his test results.

Thorner: Part 1: Fight Continues for a Fair Election

By Nancy Thorner - 

President Trump had an astonishing performance that reflected the greatest outward enthusiasm for a Presidential candidate in history.  He easily beat the 2008 totals pf Barack Obama.

In a fair election, without computer vote switching and the greatest ballot stuffing in U.S. history, he'd have easily beaten Biden's vote total. Even the rigged totals show him gaining more votes percentage wise than any other incumbent reelection other than FDR in 1936, Nixon in 1972, Reagan in 1984 and Bush in 2004.

In Florida, President Trump had a firm supporter at the top (Governor DeSantis) who had cleaned out the Democrat fraud machine.  Trump gained more than 22% over 2016 in Florida.   We would have seen similar figures elsewhere if the Uniparty of other states hadn't turned a blind eye to the fraud. President Trump also got the  a bigger Jewish vote in fraud free Florida than Reagan in 1980.

Down ballot was an astonishing tell the Biden numbers were bogus given the Republican gain of House seats and a small gain in the Senate.  Then too liberal California didn't vote for affirmative action. Republicans also won an extra Governor and took over the New Hampshire Senate and House despite losing all New Hampshire Federal offices, proving that computer fraud wasn't sophisticated enough to steal the 300 plus seats of the New Hampshire House.

The “Biden won” roll out was as crude and corrupt as the 2 million votes that appeared after election day.  According to this American Thinker article, overturning this “win” won't be as hard as people think.

COVID-19 Didn't Break the Public School System. It Was Already Broken.

The failure of American public schools. Corey DeAngelis writes:

We are witnessing an exodus from public schools that's unprecedented in modern U.S. history. Families are fleeing the traditional system and turning to homeschooling, virtual charters, microschools, and—more controversially—"pandemic pods," in which families band together to help small groups of kids learn at home.

The result has been an enormous backlash. A recent New York Times opinion article claimed that families forming pods is "the latest in school segregation." Denver Public Schools issued a formal statement in August urging parents not to unenroll their children—even though the district is not reopening its schools in person—because it is "deeply concerned about the pods' long-term negative implications for public education and social justice." Falls Church City Public Schools in Virginia issued a similar statement the next day, pressuring families not to withdraw their children. Administrators were concerned about "pandemic flight" and worried that "an exodus of students" would cause schools to lose money.

Unchecked Blue City Violence Makes Red State Refugees

To fight prejudice, get the bureaucrats out of power. Philip Hamburger writes:

What will come of this summer’s storms has yet to be seen. But one unexpected side effect is that more and more Americans are willing to recognize that our administrative regime is pervasively prejudiced and discriminatory. The unsavory character of the administrative state will not come altogether as a surprise to the readers of this website—or of my scholarship—but for many Americans it is nearly a revelation. Though administrative power is shamefully discriminatory, there has long been a refusal even to discuss this; so the possibility now comes as a surprise.

BREAKING: Urgent message from IL RNC National Committeewoman Demetra DeMonte

PEORIA - Illinois' Republican National Committeewoman Demetra DeMonte reached out to Illinois Review Saturday afternoon with an urgent message for Trump supporters in Illinois. After talking to her RNC contacts, DeMonte says the information Illinois Trump supporters are getting is not sufficient. The media will not help - even Fox News. 

DeMonte's message to Trump supporters:  Keep the faith.  We are going to win!

A Return to Reality

by Demetra DeMonte

As many of you have seen, the fake media is  attempting to prematurely coronate Joe Biden as winner.

Here are the facts where we stand right now.

We are basically in the second inning of a nine inning game.

 

Illinois' COVID costs among highest in US

From The Center Square 

A study shows Illinois has among the highest costs in the country for the testing and treatment of COVID-19.

A recent analysis by QuoteWizard of Centers for Disease Control data on claims reimbursements to health care facilities for testing and treatment of the uninsured ranked Illinois in the top half of the country.

“Essentially how much a state is spending on uninsured people per case, so Illinois was 15th overall for the highest cost per COVID-19 case at $151 per person, per case,” analyst Adam Johnson said.

Other key findings included states are averaging $142 of claim reimbursement per case, and over half of the states with a high rate of uninsured are states with the highest reimbursement costs per case.