Illinois: The Anus Of The Nation/I See The Bad Moon Arising

Dennis Byrne in the Chicago Tribune about Blagojevich’s appointment of Roland Burris:

“Now, if you think this whole affair had been scripted for the theater of the absurd, you’d be right. Absurd is how Illinois and Chicago politics works. And we have one of the worst governed, most financially troubled states in the nation to prove it–a state, it should be noted–run entirely by Democrats.

You can be forgiven if you think that what we witnessed with the appointment is the result of one man’s pathology, and surely not every pol in the state could be that stupid, insane or destructive. But you’d be wrong. What unfolded on Tuesday is characteristic of how politics here is played. Anyone, including David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel, who are among Obama’s top advisors, are capable of the same kind of goofiness and hardball.

By now, is there a single Obama supporter anywhere who fails to understand why some of us here were so concerned about him in the White House with his Chicago outfit?”

Hoot Of The Day

From J. G. Thayer:

“A few weeks ago, Illinois Governor Blagojevich was recorded as saying he thought he could get at least a million dollars for Barack Obama’s former Senate seat.

Yesterday, he gave it to a man who had contributed about $20,000 to the governor’s campaigns.

I guess this economic slump is hitting everyone…”

Plan 9 From Outer Space

Pat Quinn has cooked up yet another “plan” to replace Obama in the US Senate.

After Blago was arrested, the cry went out by many Democrat politicians, including Quinn, that the people should be “The Deciders” via a special election. Then, after considering the possibility that the seat might be won by a Republican, Quinn and other Democrats decided an election would be too costly and instead, Quinn would be “The Decider”. Reacting to the blowback of outrage that followed this flip-flop, Quinn said yesterday on Meet The Press that everyone would be “The Decider”. Quinn said, should he become governor, he would appoint an interim seat-warmer and have a special election later in the year to decide who would serve out the remaining two years of Obama’s Senate term.

Quinn also promised Blago would be out by Lincoln’s birthday—February 12, although he didn’t explain what Lincoln’s birthday had to do with Blago’s ouster.

But speaking of that ol’ Lincoln magic, the Obama camp announced that he would take the oath of office using the same Bible that Lincoln used at his swearing in ceremony. This Bible has not been used since that time. According to an official on the inauguration committee, the reason Obama is using this Bible is because “The President-Elect is committed to holding an inauguration that celebrates America’s unity . . . and the use of this historic Bible will provide a powerful connection to our common past and common heritage.”

Personally, I don’t get the “connection”—Lincoln’s term in office wasn’t exactly marked by national love, harmony and unity, so except for the fact that Obama wants to further the comparison of himself to Lincoln, I don’t get the point.

And just like Lincoln, Obama will arrive in DC from Illinois by train, although I haven’t heard if he will be in disguise like Lincoln was when he arrived in DC.

So my view is that Illinois politicians using Lincoln for their own purposes should give it a rest—the constant comparisons and invoking Lincoln’s name are becoming trite and over-done.

I would appreciate it if Quinn would leave Lincoln out of the sordid Blago mess and if Obama would actually DO something before he starts comparing himself to Lincoln.

At least we can be sure there will be one way in which Obama will never compare himself to Lincoln—modesty.

Your Tax Dollars At Work

The ethanol industry is a creature and creation of Congress, made to appease both farmers—-especially Iowegian farmers and environmentalists. Ethanol has been subsidized by Congress for twenty years to the tune of 25 billion dollars.

But now that commodity prices are lower and barely cover production costs, many major ethanol producers find themselves at or near bankruptcy; ethanol once cost $2.90 per gallon at the pump and now it is $1.90.

Tough times all around, so what would any government subsidized entity do when hard times come?

Bailout!

Ethanol lobbyists are asking for more free taxpayer money to help them through hard times, and why not since everyone else is doing it?

Unfortunately for government sponsored ethanol, the thrill is gone. It does not improve fuel efficiency and even the environmentalists, who once championed it are now disillusioned, citing “catastrophic environmental consequences with little or no return to taxpayers in energy security or protection from global warming.”

The Wall Street Journal takes this cynical view:

“Ethanol may never be profitable in the real world, but in Washington it’s a lucrative business that provides jobs and votes. Like Fanny Mae nd Freddie Mac, ethanol is a business created by Congress that now has to be bailed out to save Congress from embarrassment.”

In my view, Congress is beyond “embarrassment” and speaking of Congress and lack of embarrassment, our specially selected congressman praised ethanol last week in Decatur at an Archer-Midland-Daniels plant.

Hare, who never met a bailout he wouldn’t vote for will be in the vanguard of even more taxpayer subsidizing of a fuel that doesn’t work and no one but farmers want.

I wonder if Hare even understands the issues, or if he sees his mission as congressman to appease all the special interest groups he can, no matter how inane or counterproductive.

The Boy Can’t Help It

The Hill Blog asked all the freshmen members of congress what they had learned and this is part of what our specially selected congressman said:

“I’ve learned that in Congress, if you don’t ask, you don’t get it. You have to know when to ask and how to ask. Some members will say, ‘Oh you can get away with it, you have a liberal district’, and I tell them: ‘I have 23 counties and 8 of them carried for George Wallace,’ so it isn’t liberal land where I come from.”

Good lord, where to begin? For starters, George Wallace ran for POTUS in 72 and 76, and any honest observer of Illinois politics would acknowledge that Illinois is a deep blue state and is no longer a swing state, to say nothing of being capable of voting for a right-wing extremist like Wallace. Illinois in 1976 was a very different place than Illinois in 2008, and Hare knows this, so why does he try to make the 17th CD something it isn’t?

Further, I haven’t looked it up, but I’m very certain the 17th CD wasn’t configured as it is currently—to favor Democrats.

So while Hare is right that the 17th isn’t “liberal”, at least by San Francisco standards, it was custom made for Democrats.

Either Phil Hare is a pathological liar or he is totally detached from reality—-either way he’s an embarrassment.

Be sure to go to the link and read the whole Phil Phantasy—it reads like one long joke. He says Lane Evans told him the worst that could happen is that he could lose his job as congressman.

What a hoot! About the last 10 years of Evans’ tenure, he was too sick to do the job, yet we continued to elect him.

You can’t be sick enough or demented enough or corrupt enough or lie enough to be disqualified from being congressman in the 17th CD if you are a Democrat—and that’s the sad truth, no matter how much Hare tries to alter reality.

Little Blue Weapons In The Arsenal Of Democracy

Say what you will about the CIA, but when it comes to creative ways to gain cooperation and intelligence, they are peerless.

The Washington Post reports that CIA operatives in Afghanistan have abandoned the traditional pot sweeteners of money and guns because the guns could fall into the wrong hands and a sudden infusion of cash draws attention to the recipient.

Instead, they are offering tools, medicines, surgeries, dental work, visas, toys, school equipment and – - -Viagra.

In many cases where Afghan leaders were reluctant or refusing to assist the Americans, they were suddendly convinced after receiving and using the little blue pills—-especially those leaders who were older and had four wives—the maximum allowed in Islam.

So when it comes to winning hearts, minds and uh, other body parts—it’s better living (and information) through chemistry!

We’re From The Government And We’re Here To Help You

Via Don Surber:

“Back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed. Now we are trusting the economy of our country to a pack of nit-wits who couldn’t make money running a whorehouse and selling booze.”

Saint Peter Don’t You Call Me Cuz I Can’t Go, I Owe My Soul To The Company Store

As I’ve mentioned previously, our specially selected congressman is a big fan and promoter of the card check bill, which would abolish the secret ballot for joining a union and would force binding arbitration on businesses.

But now it appears that Hare is to the left of not only George McGovern, who previously denounced the bill, but also Al Sharpton, who vows to fight the card check bill because it is against the interests of African Americans.

It is easy to see why—blacks fought and died for the right to vote and vote in secret. They also have fought to win a place in the middle class by being businessmen. Why would they promote a bill that would take that away from them?

But it’s not just blacks who oppose card check, 59% oppose the elimination of the secret ballot and 53% oppose binding arbitration and a whopping 81% prefer a secret ballot at their workplace.

Even though their influence outweighs their numbers (Blacks 13% of the population, union members 10%) this will be a classic test for Barack Obama—the unions have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to get him and other Democrats elected, and they will demand their pound of flesh as a reward—but the general public is repulsed by card check.

Hare has his work cut out for him if he wants to appease his paymasters at Big Labor.

I still don’t understand why our Democrat elites chose to saddle us with a congressman who is more radical than George McGovern and Al Sharpton, but this is what we have—a congressman more suited to New York City or San Francisco than to the bucolic 17th CD.

Who do we thank for giving us Phil Hare—and how do we get rid of him?

Fooled Around And Fell In Love

Steven Horwitz at Liberty & Power asks serious questions about the current and future bailout and “stimulus” mania:

I simply do not understand how those who are in favor of giving government all of these new powers because they sincerely believe that doing so will work out the way their blackboard designs intended can keep a straight face. What kind of cognitive dissonance must it take to believe that the people YOU are handing power over to are “not like” Ted Stevens or Rod Blagojevich? How deeply must one be in denial or engage in rationalization to believe that they are “different”? How blind must one be to think that trillions of dollars in bailout money won’t go to the highest bidders ( as the lobbyists line up on K Street. . .) in a process different only in its wink-and-a-nod courtesies than Blagojevich’s auctioning off a Senate seat?

You know, it beats the hell out of me, but I do know it is easy to fall in love with change, even if that change proves to be bad. I used to believe in the power of government to change things for the better, but that was when I was young and dumb.

Partisans still believe, or say they believe, that their party will do better and deliver the goods, but I have been observing government for a long time, and the only “change” is that different pigs get to gorge at the taxpayer’s trough.

History has shown us that a Kenyesian demand side economic policy does not stop an economic downturn. It didn’t work for FDR (WWII brought us out of the 30’s Depression) and it won’t work for Obama.

In times of crises and turmoil, we expect and demand our government to “do” something, but sometimes doing nothing is better than doing something stupid.

Multiculturalism

Bristol Palin’s Future In-Law Arrested” . . . and Caroline Kennedy’s uncle killed a girl and suffered no consequences.

It’s all the same—right?