Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Hey You, Illinois Citizen! Are You Angry Enough Yet?

Hey You! Yes, YOU!

Mr./Mrs./Ms. Illinois Citizen:

Has the complete and utter ridiculousness caused by the arrest of Governor Rod Blagojevich, the ill-advised lawsuit by Lisa Madigan, the half-hearted and ill-planned (and unfair to GOP members of the General Assembly) impeachment proceedings run by the House Democrats, the antics of Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn as he jockeys for power, the lack of political will of the Democrats in the GA to take away Blago's power of appointment, the flip-flops of powerful Democrats like Dick Durbin on support for a special election, the internal investigation conducted by Barack Obama's lawyer, and the capper of it all, Blago's appointment of yet another machine Democrat to step into Obama's Senate seat (not to mention the sad and inexcusable injection of racism into the whole equation by Congressman Bobby Rush), got you angry enough yet?

No? How about the fact that in this time of national crisis, when we need good, solid, if not inspirational and awe-inspiring leadership (wasn't that what we were promised), the nation is now getting a lesson in real Chicago Machine politics, and it appears to have rendered the President-elect virtually politically impotent in the face of a crazy governor from his own state that he can't control (or even influence)? Maybe that gets your goat?

Still not mad enough?

Good.

Because when this all gets finished, one way or another, you will be. And, maybe then, it will be time for a change in government in this state.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Equally infuriating is the sad state of the GOP in this state. Your marketing strategy seems to be "they (the Dems) suck worse than we do." Without the recent controversies you would have nothing. Give us SOMETHING! Please!

Anonymous said...

Enough is Enough! Mark Kirk needs to take the initiative to remove the entire GOP leadership statewide and in Lake and Cook County's and get folks in who will take care to elect a Republican Senator in 2010. See Link's comments in the News Sun. We need to run him out on a rail quickly starting with his buddy Dick Hyde and all those who want to bring a casino to Lake County

Anonymous said...

Anon,

As Dana George HW Bush Carvey would say circa 1992 SNL, "not gonna haaapen". McKenna has run this party for 4 years and done nothing with it and won't have anyone to step in anytime soon so stock up at costco because we are going to be in hibernation for awhile. He's Marks butt buddy and a supporter of the thug and traitor Ray LaHood who just quit is party to serve his own interest for team obama.

The greatest piece of comedy I saw this morning was Politico's playbook which noted that Dan Seals is a likely pick for Senate if Pat Quinn is nominated. Because the Pup is half black and has degrees from 2 elite institutions they think he can win statewide. The correct french term for that I think is HA!

FOKLAES

Anonymous said...

No I'm not angry enough yet because I take a little pink pill called O-Hope and it makes the angry man in my head go away - that angry man thinks to much and tries to solve problems and he is bad. But he is gone now and I don't have to think anymore. The media and Hollywood and government do my thinking for me. It's so much easier.

I used to be scared of the future but I'm not anymore because I know government will take care of me. The messiah-elect loves all of us and promised us hope and justice.

I wish you all a Happy New Year and if you have an angry thinking man in your head, just call your doctor and he'll prescribe these great pills. No more thinking - just sit back and enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Yes, I'm angry. Two days ago, I sent a letter to the editors of the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and Daily Herald. It states, "The Illinois legislature should pass a bill which would state that, when a U.S. senator resigns or dies, the governor will appoint a temporary replacement and choose dates for special primary and general elections. If this bill passes, the voters would be able to choose the new senator, and, because of the appointment, our state wouldn't lose representation, while we wait for the special general election."

Anonymous 11:26 poster, how do you expect Rep. Kirk to remove those Republican leaders? I don't think that he has the authority to do that. Who should the new party leaders be?

Phil Collins

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Phil. It's stupid to assign that kind of task to our Congressman. It's not up to him to revamp and re-create the IL GOP. It falls to all of us who care enough about the future to get ourselves organized and begin to develop some concrete plans with muscle behind them. It's not Mark Kirk's sole responsibility to do this, it's OURS. Let's stop all the posturing, the whining, the griping and call some kind of meeting within the next week or so and do something constructive. Let's lean on some of our up and coming men and women in our district and beyond to convene this kind of working meeting. We will never defeat something with nothing. Let's just take the first step forward. I can't think of a better way to begin 2009 than with some real plans for a future for our party and our State.

Anonymous said...

Bull Shit it's not up to Mark to get off his keyster to do something. He wants to be the first GOP Senator to win an open election since 1940, fine, then get in the game. Enough with the goofy model congress nonsense how about a state agenda, and electing some local reps to take out the democrats. How about 5 minutes rebuilding the once vaunted New Trier GOP.

Jan Schakowsky is an incompentent scumbag and as close to a European Socialist as we'll get in America and yet she finds the time and desire to get involved in helping Dan and lots of other nutcases throughout country run for office. Our Republican Congressman who keeps getting passed up for leadership in the House despite stellar fundraising and a great resume, can't be bothered with anything else.

He's in the minority in the House now where his vote isn't needed on anything and in a state delegation where the White House will be tending the interests. Hopefully he'll spend some time doing something other than saving random trees and human rights activists in countries the size of new jersey.

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:58 last year. Let's start 2009 with more than hits on our
Congressman. Bitching and complaining gets nothing accomplished. He's not a committee of one so get over it. To say that his votes and his issues are irrelevant makes me wonder who you are and what you represent. But I want to be more hopeful and optimistic in this new year, want to find those who want to work together to get our tired GOP to wake up and move forward while we have some wind at our backs. If you're serious about helping to organize a lot of like-minded folks, great. If all you want to do is dump on Mark Kirk then peddle that elsewhere. Let's be constructive and productive instead of destructive.

Anonymous said...

This party at the state and national level is in the dumps and why we give Mark a free pass for it is beyond me. The views and values that Mark represents are nearly extinct at the local state and national level largely because he has sat on the sidelines. He runs Mainstreet Partnership which is supposed to represent the views of the party members in mega states like New York, Illinois, and California with a TON of money and votes.

Main Street the moderate GOP organization is less powerful and relevant under Mark's leadership than nuthouses like MoveOn and Code Pink which regularly make a difference.

If Mark had lost in November there would have been no GOP representation for us at any level and because of him there is no apparatus as a way to get it back.

It's a crock and he's accountable not just for his failure to get anything done at the national and state level but for failing to hold collegues like Ray LaHood-a porker, and Denny Hastert who was almost as bad as Blago.