Thoughts, Opinions and Rants

Message to Anti-Gun/Conceal & Carry People

2008-02-15T17:22:00.004-06:00

The message is simple: All of you shut up!

This school shooting hit a little too close to home, occuring at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. It could have just as easily happened at Western, Eastern, UIS, Lincoln Land or even at Macomb High. There is no way to rationalize what happened. It happened. We all must mourn the lives of those killed and find ways to prevent this from happening again. How do we do that? I don't know.

The anti-gun lobby and pro-conceal and carry people have already pounced all over this. Six (and maybe more who knows for sure) people are dead, yet both sides are making them martyrs for their respective causes. These people are SICK. If you are one of those people, you are SICK. Get some professional help. There is a time and place for thoughtful debate on the issue.

Now is not the time. It is the time to remember those who were killed and be a source of comfort to their friends and family.

As We Bring 2007 to a Close...

2007-12-30T17:09:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I went to Decatur to spend the day with my mom, stepdad and family. Those who know me know that I am an uncle several times over (between real and step siblings). I love Christmas time because it is truly a time for kids. It makes me happy to see the kids open presents and watch their eyes light up. I guess I'm getting soft in my old age

One thing is bothering me today. Pakistan. You all know by now that former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was murdered the other day. Did you hear the "official" cause of death? The Interior "Minister" said that she died when she bumped her head against the car's sunroof. Are we honestly to believe that? I guess the lunatic who shot at her AND blew himself up right next to her competely missed his target. I realize there are some people in the world who may believe the "official" version. These are the same people who will vote for Dennis Kucinich I suppose.

OK, two things are bothering me today. Well really three. The third is the fact that the Bears sucked this season, but I'll get over that.

The other thing bothering me has festered for a while. Why do people lie? OK, I'm not talking about Governor Go-blow-a-bitch (he's beyond help and will get his). I'm talking about one's friends. I'm not going into specifics (some of you know what I'm talking about) because I'll get more pissed off about it. Sufficed it to say that I would have been less upset if said friend hadn't lied about it in the first place. Do I hate this person? No, I'm more disappointed than anything else. There's really no way I can hate this particular individual. I guess my feelings were hurt.

Above is my nephew Karter on Christmas Day. Be safe on New Year's Eve. See you in 2008!

Six Months At Least

2007-12-21T22:30:00.000-06:00

I remembered I had a blog after all. It's amazing, I know. I noticed my last posting was in June. Let's recap what happened since then. Not a lot acutally happened, but the year flew by.

I got a promotion effective August 1st. I am now an Office Coordinator. It was a two title bump and a $100 a month raise. We get another 3% raise on January 1st. I may actually break the poverty line at that rate sometime in 2010. I was busy most of August.

Shana, Nicole, McFarland, Little McFarland, Amber and I went to watch the Cubs play the Cards in St. Louis on September 14. We met up with Kennealy and saw the game. The Cubs won that game and the NL Central (only to break our hearts later on but I won't talk about that). After that, we went to the Casino Queen. If you know Kennealy, you have heard that he played blackjack with Alfonso Soriano.

I got iced in on my birthday, but a lot of people called to say hello. I went to Chicago this past weekend to see Phantom of the Opera. I had never seen it, but had heard of the show and was familar with the premise. It was a really good show. I learned a few hours before the show that Duran Duran (to whom I am listening at this moment) was playing that same night. I told Shana that I would go to that show instead. She told me to sleep outside if I did. There was no way I could have gotten tickets to Duran Duran, but I'll be checking Ticketmaster on a daily basis just in case they come back around.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Pack a Bag!

2007-06-14T10:40:00.000-05:00

America’s favorite TV program ended on Sunday night. The Sopranos went off the air after several years of entertaining us. It was more than a program about the mafia. It was a show about family and how the choices each family member makes affects the others around them. The fact that Tony had another “family” only added to the drama.

A lot of people are upset at the ending (or non-ending as some dubbed it). For those less literate, the show ended with Tony, Carmella and AJ sitting in a diner eating onion rings. Meadow, the daughter, was heading into the diner to join her family. I sat on the edge of my seat for five minutes wondering what would happen next. Then the screen went black. Nothing happened.

That’s good. There was no way that David Chase could write an ending that satisfied everyone. Why bother? He left it to us to write our own ending to the program. In my ending, nothing happened. Tony didn’t get whacked nor did the diner blow up. The family ate dinner and went home. Life goes on for the Sopranos like it does for the rest of us.

If the family comes back, they should do it with a movie set six months in the future:

Tony, by this time, has cut a deal with Phil’s crew and has some of the NYC territory. Tony is getting ready to begin his trial with Carmella at his side. Meadow is pregnant (hence the hasty trip to the doctor) while AJ is his normal annoying self. Paulie is in the funny farm after the cat gives him a nervous breakdown and Silvio is out of his coma, ready to fight alongside Tony.

Other than Sopranos, the big talk around the Patch is the ongoing state budget mess. I could spend hours talking about egos and why single party control is a failure, but it won’t fix the mess. Instead, read about the mess and the behind the scene machinations at Rich Miller’s Capitol Fax blog at http://thecapitolfaxblog.com/. I’m addicted to Capitol Fax and know a lot of others that are as well. Join in the fun!

Grad Wrap-Up

2007-05-18T12:48:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was a three day event. Saturday was Kennealy’s graduation. It was also a chance to get out of Springfield for a while. I’m glad I went.

I woke up at 7:30 Saturday morning for no reason whatsoever. Graduation was at 1PM, so I didn’t have to leave town until around 10. I didn’t go back to sleep, so I was up and out the door by 8:20. My mom called my cell phone at a quarter past nine. She was surprised that I answered and was even more shocked to hear I was in Beardstown at the time. She called to tell me that my niece (who was turning one the next day) was out of the hospital and feeling fine. That made me feel relieved and brighten my day.

I called Kennealy from Industry around 10:15 to make sure he was awake. He was (barely) so I told him I would be there in about 15 minutes. I arrived back at Linc/Wash to see the little brother graduate college. Those of you who John know that, with a little more than an hour and half left before an event, he is no where near ready. While he got ready, I ran to the bookstore and went to Walcher’s house for a few minutes.

Walcher and Bridget were also graduating at 1PM, but, for whatever reason, they were ready to go. I stayed over there for a few minutes talking to them, Chris Thomas and Kyle McNeely. Walcher was ironing his gown and getting ready. Of course, he wore his white shirt and that purple and gold tie. Anything else would have been a sacrilege.

I didn’t get the chance to know Bridget well (she arrive a little after I left), but I do know that she is a really sweet girl who will undoubtedly do great things in life. I’ve known Chris Thomas for years. He also will do great things as well, once he takes that sombrero off his head. I met Kyle once before for maybe three seconds, but he is really personable. He likes to have fun and make people laugh. We need people like Kyle in the world.

Back to Washington Hall to check on Kennealy. By now, he was ready (more or less). His mom and sister had come up for the big day. We were running behind schedule slightly and were getting hungry, so we ate lunch at McDonald’s before taking John to Western Hall for the main event. It took an hour and a half (probably less if a certain former SGA President hadn’t “filibustered” on stage), but it was over.

I met the rest of the Walcher clan after graduation. They are really good people. I talked to Walcher’s brother Chris for a while. He told me that he had been up since four that morning turkey hunting. That made me laugh because I can’t picture John Walcher hunting. The mental picture of John wearing camouflage was too much.

After the post-graduation dinner, I went back to Springfield. Sunday was Mother’s Day, so I went to Decatur to visit my mom. My little nephew was in town, so I spent time playing with him. I’m going to be an uncle again in November. I’m starting Christmas shopping as soon as I’m done moving over Memorial Day weekend.

Ode to a Graduate

2007-04-30T10:38:00.000-05:00

Chris Galvin came home on leave and came to Springfield this past weekend. Galvin spent the last 88 days or so cruising the West Pacific’s mean streets. Having him home meant he was safe and out of harm’s way. Shana, McFarland, Ira, Galvin and I went to Lincoln’s New Salem Saturday. It was a really nice day and I enjoyed a few hours hanging out with dear friends. One friend wasn’t there and I wish he had been.

John Kennealy graduates from WIU in two weeks. This is going to be a special day for me because (barring anything going wrong) I will get to return a four year favor. I am looking forward to seeing my best friend walk across the stage. He will finally get the degree for which he’s worked his ass off. I know John is looking forward to May 12th. I’m stoked for him.

I’ve known John since his first semester at WIU when he came to SGA as the very young junior SGA senator from Thompson Hall. In contrast, I was the most senior SGA Senator, the Speaker Pro Tempore and the chairman of the Senate’s most powerful committee (you knew I’d throw that in there). He had the talent and the ambition, but I didn’t see it at first. Why should I? I knew and controlled everything.

I was wrong. 100% wrong. I saw this young man go balls to the wall after the things he wanted. I was impressed. We became friends that semester. Since then, we’ve been through a lot. I watched him become the first freshman in SGA history to chair a standing committee, then saw him betrayed by people he considered friends. He’s won and lost elections, chaired committees, represented students, led a party and then an entire chamber, partied with friends and was always there when the phone rang.

John called me his friend, brother and mentor a few weeks ago. I am honored to be all three of those things.

John is my best friend. I respect him immensely and love him like a younger brother. I’ve said that thousands of times, but it’s true. We fight like siblings and John always knows what to say to put me in my place. We’re polar opposites on some things (baseball being a big one), but are lockstep on so many others. I know that I can trust him implicitly and that his heart is always in the right place.

He has stood right beside me through the good and bad times. I pray that I will always be there for him. As he closes the book on this chapter of his life, a new chapter begins. I’m honored to have been a part of this chapter. I’m looking forward to being a part of the next.

Lyrics

2007-04-25T10:51:00.000-05:00

Everyone is posting lyrics, so I shall do the same (thank Shana if you like!).

Policy of Truth by Depeche Mode
You had something to hide Should have hidden it, shouldn't you Now you're not satisfied With what you're being put through It's just time to pay the price For not listening to advice And deciding in your youth On the policy of truth

Things could be so different now It used to be so civilised You will always wonder how It could have been if you'd only lied It's too late to change events It's time to face the consequence For delivering the proof In the policy of truth

Never again is what you swore The time before Never again is what you swore The time before

Now you're standing there tongue tied You'd better learn your lesson wellHide what you have to hideAnd tell what you have to tellYou'll see your problems multipliedIf you continually decideTo faithfully pursueThe policy of truth

Get Right With Me by Depeche Mode
I will have faith in man That is hard to understand Show some humility You have the ability Get right with me

Friends, if you've lost your way You will find it again some day Come down from your pedestals And open your mouths that's all Get right with me

Life is such a short thing That I cannot comprehend But if this life were a bought thing There are ways I know we'd mend

People, take my advice Already told you once, once or twice Don't waste your energy Making apologies Get right with me

Today, We Are All Hokies

2007-04-17T09:51:00.000-05:00

It takes something so unspeakably heinous to put things into perspective.

Over the course of the past two weeks, I have had Easter dinner with my step-brothers and their awesome kids, bought two CDs at Best Buy, went to Busch Stadium and attended yet another MIG E-Board meeting. Those were fun things.

On Easter Sunday, I took the drive to Decatur to have dinner with my mom, my step-dad and the family. I hesitate to keep using the word step to refer to my step-brothers because I consider them to be my brothers. I haven’t met the oldest because he lives in Massachusetts. My middle step-brother just moved to Cedar Rapids for a better job and the youngest lives in Peoria. I had a great time after dinner playing with my two new nephews (5 years and 6 months) and my new niece (11 months). I have pictures, so ask me to see them sometime.

Buying the CDs is pretty big because I rarely buy music anymore. I really wanted the new Collective Soul greatest hits CD (7even Year Itch: Collective Soul’s Greatest Hits 1994-2001). You should buy it because it is really good (if you’re into mid-90s music). I’ve been listening to it, Depeche Mode and Duran Duran pretty much non-stop since then. I’m sure it’s driving my co-workers crazy.

Friday the 13th saw Shana, Ira and I head to the STL. We drove to the Casino Queen, parked and rode the Metro Link into the city proper. We went to Union Station, fed the goldfish and ourselves. Along the way, Shana suggested that we go to a Cards game. Evidently, she expected me to put the kibosh on that idea.

I didn’t because I wanted to see if Cubs fans didn’t spontaneously combust walking into the stadium. They don’t, but apparently Cubs fans should NEVER attend their first baseball game of the new season where the Cubs aren’t playing. It upset Harry Caray and he rained out the game. We ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory before departing for the Springfield area.

Sunday was yet another MIG Board meeting. I went even though my back was killing me. Looks like things will run well this year.

Yesterday was horrible. The shootings on the Virginia Tech campus jolted everyone back into a reality that we try to forget. There is evil out there in the world; some right in your backyard. I have no idea what snapped in that deranged student’s mind to make him think killing 30 or so people would make things all right. Obviously, he was disturbed but is enjoying a special place in hell.

This is the absolute most inappropriate time to start talking about gun control or conceal and carry, etc. If you’re going to talk about things these things, go elsewhere. For the next few days, we need to be thinking about and praying for the victims and their families. We should also spend time thinking about the people we hold dear and let them know how we feel. Use this time wisely!

Sweepstakes. Win Big Here!!

2007-04-11T08:48:00.000-05:00

It’s Wednesday the 11th. I’m sure you know what that means. If you guessed noting, you were right. If you guessed “it’s time for another exciting installment of this blog”, you were half right. Good for you!

DNA confirmed that I was NOT the father of Anna Nicole’s baby. That’s a shame because I could have used a few extra million dollars. Oh well! It’s my hope that this little girl can grow up healthy and happy and this whole saga is over.

Proctor and Gamble and Staples have removed their ads from the Don Imus show after his insensitive comments. Those who know me know that I am one of the most sensitive people ever (sarcasm here), but I’m perplexed by Imus’ comments. He said “nappy headed hos.”

Now, one thing baffles me about this whole situation and here it is: Has Don Imus ever looked in the mirror? Have you seen his hair? Does this man need to be talking about nappy hair? He’s an idiot America. He’s been an idiot on the radio for 30 years. Move along!

If everything goes well, I will be winging to the nation’s capital in August. I’m looking forward to going. I haven’t been to DC since 1998 and things have changed since then. I haven’t flown anywhere since before 9/11, so I have a little trepidation about that. I could be one of the people driving out there. I lack the patience to do that. If I know I’m going somewhere, I want to get there as soon as I can.

Did you know that Mort Kondracke of the Beltway Boys on Fox News Channel (very good program, you should watch it) was on Nixon’s enemies list? I didn’t until I read something about Kondracke on the Internet. So I got curious. I Googled the list and found it online. Bill Cosby was on the list! Bill Cosby! Why would Bill Cosby be on anyone’s enemies list? He’s not on mine. Mine also isn’t as long as Tricky Dick’s either. The man hated everyone.

Which brings me to the sweepstakes question: Can you name the 20 people on my enemies list? They don’t have to be in the proper order (that changes daily). Tell your friends to join in the fun and email those responses to jwscott72@hotmail.com by April 30th. Thanks for playing! Hint: The creature known as Douchebag isn’t on the list. Only humans are on the list.

Go to http://www.westerncourier.com/BestOf/ and vote for the best of Macomb. It’s the one thing at the Western Courier worth reading!

Updated

2007-03-14T08:37:00.000-05:00

Let’s see. The last time I wrote on here was when the Bears just won the NFC Championship. Since then, a month and a half has transpired and it’s time to update this thing. The Bears lost because Grossman is a brain dead loser and Ron Turner could not coach his way out of a wet paper bag with a giant hole in it.

MIG was held on March 1-4. Kennealy was Speaker (again), Shana was Clerk (again), I was House Chief of Staff (again) and the House was the best chamber (again). It wasn’t much of a contest. Walcher was elected Minority Leader and Calcagno was elected Majority Leader, positions at which they both excelled. The mock impeachment portion of the simulation (which we stressed out about entirely too much) ran like clockwork. Everyone enjoyed it and the Judiciary Committee turned Kennealy’s dream into a reality.

The non-House side of MIG was a disaster. Advisors were sticking their noses into business that they had no right doing so. It reminded me way too much of Dan Maxwell’s “advising” of SGA. Do what Dan said or else was his philosophy. People who should have remained neutral were making very poor attempts at playing both sides. I lost a lot of respect for these “advisors” this past weekend.

Kennealy, Walcher and I went to the Capitol yesterday to hand out the plaques and resolutions from the simulation. We met with the Clerk’s office and Tim Mapes, Speaker Madigan’s Chief of Staff. Mr. Mapes told us a lot about the remodeling and how they took many of the ideas from the Iowa Statehouse (the twin of the Illinois Statehouse). Bet you didn’t know that either!

We had a nice conversation with House Minority Leader Tom Cross in what can only be described as the nicest office I’ve ever seen. It was enormous. Leader Cross is one the most down-to-earth people you’ll ever meet. It was funny when he picked up his phone, dialed a number and asked for a photographer. The photographer was there in less than a minute. I should run for office and become Minority Leader. The office alone would be worth the headaches.

Bear Down, Chicago Bears

2007-01-22T15:19:00.000-06:00

The Chicago Bears are the NFC Champions!

You’ve doubtless heard this a thousand times already, but it bears (get it) repeating. This team is incredible.

I kept flipping back and forth during the first part of the game out of fear of watching a disaster in the making. By the end of the game, I was kicking myself for not entering a drawing for NFC Championship tickets. Like you, I cringed every time Grossman threw a pass. Like you, I breathed a sigh of relief every time a pass was caught. A total dominating effort by the Bears puts us in Miami for the Super Bowl.

Congrats to the AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts. I’m not a big AFC fan, but I rooted for the Colts. Peyton Manning is a phenomenal quarterback and a really nice guy. I met him several years ago via a friend of mine in Indy. He deserves this trip to the Super Bowl and our respect for making it. However, the Bears deserve our cheers on February 4th.

Congrats also go to Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy, the coaches of the two Miami-bound teams. I certainly didn’t know this going into the Bears game (I didn’t watch pre-game), but Lovie is the first African-American NFL coach to take his team to the Super Bowl. History repeated itself four hours later when the Colts won. A great day for America.

Happy 2007!

2007-01-12T14:39:00.000-06:00

I know that it has been a while since I blogged, but it’s been a really busy time for me. Been traveling a bit (Chicago, St. Louis, Decatur) and have been under the weather as well. Hopefully I will blog more in 2007 than the meager 29 posts of 2006. Cross your fingers!

The weather is about to break bad on the greater Springfield metropolitan area (again). I’ve been enjoying the warm weather, but I am not enjoying these ice storms coming through here. I didn’t lose power the last time, so cross your finger that I don’t lose this storm. I’m going to head to the store to pick up some food and hunker down for the weekend. Thankfully, it’s a three-day weekend. This will keep everyone at home and give the city a chance to clean up.

If you are heading back to school this weekend, please drive carefully. The weather is supposed to be nasty all over Illinois and the Midwest. There’s no need to rush back to Macomb, Charleston or Champaign, it will be there waiting for you with open arms when you arrive.

Talk to you soon!!

Post-Election Joy?!

2006-11-08T16:35:00.000-06:00

The election is thankfully over. The Democrats have won control of the US House and will take control of the US Senate when the Virginia recount is finished. When you play terribly, you deserve to lose (remember that Chicago Bears). The GOP hasn’t governed like they should and they deserved to lose. We did and I’m happy that we did.

Why am I happy? I’m happy because now, hopefully, the GOP can have its long-overdue conversation with itself. Now we can decide if we’re really going to be the party of Lincoln or the party of the religious right. People are saying, “Oh, look at the Democrats elected last night, they’re really conservative.” Others are saying, “Oh, well if it wasn’t for Iraq, we’d still be in charge.” Potentially correct on the first one, absolutely wrong on the second one.

I don’t have the first inkling of how conservative Heath Shuler is. All I know about him is that he played QB for Tennessee before Peyton Manning and then had a mediocre NFL career with the Redskins (was he the Redskin QB that head-butted the end zone wall or was that Gus Frerotte? I digress). I doubt any of the new Democratic House members from Connecticut or New York are conservative. I could be wrong.

You’re wrong on the second one because the GOP royally screwed up. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Many base voters were turned off by Abramoff and Foley. More were turned off by this incessant need to ramp up pork barrel spending and create bigger government. Do we need that bridge to nowhere Don Young? We abandoned our core beliefs, so we lost.

Democrats now have their moment in the sun. I wish them all the luck in the world because, quite frankly, they will need it. They have no real ideas, just anger over the war in Iraq. How they will react to being back in power will be telling. They now will have to share in the blame when things go wrong (economy, gas prices, Iraq, hurricanes). Can they handle that?

A couple of things baffle me about this election cycle:

Obama is one of them. He goes to Maryland and tells them not to vote for Michael Steele for Senate because he is African-American. “You shouldn’t vote for someone based on the way they look,” Obama told voters. The next day, he goes to Tennessee and says that he’s “lonely” in the Senate and people should vote for Harold Ford, Jr., the black Senate candidate. Which is it hypocrite?

I am baffled by the feminist who will tout women candidates for every position and claim women can do a better job than mean, but won’t support a woman if she isn’t a Democrat. Hypocrisy at it’s finest. Topinka ran for Governor, but these feminist weren’t out campaigning for her. Riddle me that Batman.

The election is over. I hope you voted. It’s now safe to watch television and answer your phones again. Until March, then it starts all over again for mayor, alderman, city clerk.....

Act Your Age Tuesday Night

2006-11-06T14:41:00.000-06:00

It seems like this election cycle would never end, but it’s over tomorrow. Americans will go to the polls tomorrow to cast their votes for any number of candidates, initiatives and referenda. I hope that everyone takes a few moments out of their day tomorrow to perform your civic responsibility. Many people died to afford you the opportunity to cast your vote. Don’t let their sacrifice be in vain.

Be an adult when the election results are announced. If your candidate wins, don’t go out and verbally assault the opponent’s supporter. I suspect that many people I know will fire off nasty Facebook messages and call people of the other party laughing when his or her candidate loses. When you do, it shows that you lack an understanding of and a respect for our cherished democracy.

People win and people lose, that’s the nature of elections. If you exercise your right to vote for the person that you believe will do the best job, then you are a winner regardless of what the election returns say.

Voting 101

2006-10-17T14:22:00.000-05:00

It took a while, but I’ve been pilloried (on Facebook, go take a look) for my support of Phil Hare for Congress in the 17th District. I was surprised that I wasn’t burned in effigy at the pre-Homecoming tailgating by the College Republicans. We haven’t had a bonfire in a few years and it was a bit chilly. That might have been fun after all.

I take my voting obligation very seriously. Election Day is more than another Tuesday to me. It is the day that we go to the altar of Democracy and honor the sacrifice of those who paid the ultimate price to give us the chance to cast a ballot in a free and open society.

After having willingly served my country for several years, I believe it is important to take a look at the candidate's qualifications and make a determination based on that. Unlike people who blindly follow a party, I don't vote based solely on the "R" or "D" label. In my opinion, when you do vote the label and not the best candidate, you fail in your civic duty at election time.

For far too long, politicians of both parties have taken for granted their base voters. Democrats pander to liberals with Republicans doing the same the religious right. The middle gets ignored. This middle has three options. They can form a 3rd party (see Mr. Whitney polling 9-11% in the Governor's race), be co-opted by one party or just not care. The nation can neither survive nor thrive with a large chunk of the electorate just not caring.

Let’s use an analogy with which some of my readers will be familiar:

Rather than come to a consensus (or leave the issue alone), several (let’s call them Type A personality) SGA senators decided to play R vs. D with renaming New Hall. There were other senators (those who held no strong political opinions on the issue) who were shut out and ignored by these Type A senators hell-bent on getting their way. These senators represent the apathetic vast majority of the student body. That majority (the middle in this case) decided that SGA was more concerned with playing petty partisan politics than deciding issues. This led them to ignore SGA which, in turn, led to uncontested election at a time in the school’s growth where differing voices needed to be heard. Now, these senators are bitching and moaning about living in the mess they created.

To address the specific concern of my Facebook assailant: I live in Congressman Shimkus' district, so my support or lack of support is irrelevant to the election in the 17th CD. I would advise those interested in politics to take some upper level political science classes to get a better understanding of the political world. 122 is great, but it doesn’t even scratch the surface.

As you all know, politics interests me and I have looked at the race. I believe that Ms. Zinga lacks the experience and people skills needed to be an effective member of Congress. Mr. Hare, on the other hand, worked for Congressman Lane Evans for many years. Every time I needed help from Congressman Evans, I got it quickly and professionally. It is constituent support like Lane had that is crucial to the incumbent being returned to office over and over and the hallmark of an effective Congressman. Political scientists call this phenomenon "Member Incorporated".

My first obligation in the political realm is to my country. I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. That did not end when I took off the uniform. That is something I try to do every day of my life. We need to get past this belief that everyone in the opposite party is "evil" or a "bad guy". If we can not get past that, then we’re going to have problems that will be too large to contend with in a divisive and untrusting atmosphere.

Welcome to Springfield

2006-09-12T13:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was 9/11, the fifth anniversary of that horrific day. Despite what you think about the aftermath, you should have stopped for a moment to remember those who were murdered five years ago.

The move is complete. I am now residing in the capital city of Illinois. No Rod, the capital of Illinois is Springfield. Idiot.

Speaking of idiots, my bank is an idiot. They issued me a new debit card Friday. Rather than waiting until I activated the new one, they cancelled my old one. Of course, I discover this at the Olive Garden after dinner with Shana, McFarland and Rothenberg. They thought it was funny, but I didn’t. Hopefully, the new card is in today’s mail.

Another idiot? That Zinga dumbass running for Congress in the 17th. I don’t live in that district, but used to. This woman is plainly a moron. She disgusts me with her attempts to tie herself to 9/11. Every time she opens her mouth, she inserts foot. See her latest snafu here: http://www.sj-r.com/Sections/News/Stories/95656.asp. I’m sure that, once they read this, Veenefreak and Nazi Boy will try to get me taken off the College Republican Facebook group. Again.

Want another idiot? Try every student bitching about Facebook. This new news feed is admittedly creepy, but it’s not the end of the world. This story is everywhere in the news. The Western Courier, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC. OK, the Courier isn’t a real news source (more like bird cage liner), but you get the point. Try focusing on real issues. On second thought, just go back to thinking about your next trip to West Pierce.

My step-brother and wife had their little boy a few days ago. I’m an uncle again. That makes me very happy. Although I haven’t seen him yet, I’m sure he’s adorable and awesome!

Leave Me Alone, I'm Busy

2006-08-29T14:22:00.000-05:00

Update: I am in the middle of moving to Springfield at the moment. This explains the fact that I haven’t posted for a while. I should be done this weekend, so check back later.

Another Vacation

2006-08-10T13:15:00.000-05:00

OK, it’s been a crappy week but I won’t dwell on it. Let’s talk about my vacation from last week.

It started on Tuesday. I was sitting at work Monday wondering what the point would be to coming into the office on Tuesday. I didn’t come in. My traveling partner picked me up in Taylorville a little after 5 PM that evening. It was hot, humid and really sticky outside. The car had A/C so it was nice. After dinner at one of the Steak and Shakes (http://www.steaknshake.com/) in Normal, we headed up I-55 to Joliet. Along the way, Duran Squared ended up in the CD player. If you heathens don’t know who Duran Squared are, think about it for a minute and then come back to reading the blog. After a trip to get five free dollars at the riverboat for signing up for a card (and losing it), it was time to go bed. Here’s a hint: http://www.duranduran.com/.

Wednesday dawned hot and humid (notice the trend). However, Channel 7 (my TV station of choice in Chicago) (http://abclocal.go.com/wls/) said that rain was coming. Since it was so humid, we stayed in the “metro” Joliet area. We dined at Portillos for lunch (http://www.portillos.com/), went to the Joliet Mall and stayed indoors. The Weather Channel said the heat advisory would end at 7 PM that evening. I sat my clock to see if it would. We were sitting in the lovely Joliet Bakers Square (http://www.bakerssquarerestaurants.com/) when 7PM hit, but it did seem cooler when we got out.

Thursday was the highlight of the trip. We headed up the Tri-State Tollway to Naval Station Great Lakes. I don’t recall the Tollway being so crowded, but it had been six years since I headed up old I-294. I went to boot camp at RTC Great Lakes and was stationed at Naval Reserve Readiness Command Region Thirteen (now REDCOM Midwest) in Great Lakes, so this was a homecoming. The base has changed a lot over the past six years. I’ll put a couple of pictures up. Galvin went to boot camp the Friday before, so it’s possible we saw him marching around somewhere.

After getting an awesome tour of the base, we headed towards Wisconsin with a quick pit stop first (ask Shana where we stopped). Shana had never been to Wisconsin. It was only 10 miles, so we went. We bought a Powerball ticket (had I won, you wouldn’t be reading this) and headed to Gurnee Mills Mall. After Gurnee Mills, we went to see Lake Michigan and then to see Ira in Vernon Hills. We got back to Joliet about 10 that evening.

Friday was a quiet day in the burbs. We went to Mongolian BBQ for lunch, then to Orland Park (home of the illustrious Deputy Dawg) to see the malls. We stopped at Aurelio’s (http://www.aureliospizza.com/) to get some pizza and prepare for the main event. At this point, the blog is getting too long. Come back later for the conclusion of the story. Think Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Diatribe

2006-07-22T11:24:00.000-05:00

“Just call him the Diversity Fairy. He waves his magic wand and diversity appears.”

The past week has been interesting. It started off (obviously) last Saturday with a trip to Fairview Heights to get Kennealy and bring him back to Springfield for Sunday’s MIG meeting. As always, my traveling buddy Shana drove (after my pylon incident at MIG, she doesn’t trust my driving). This time, we took her mother’s brand new Corolla (all the more reason not to let me drive). Since we got a later start (and it was completely miserable, hot and humid), we didn’t hang out in St. Louis. We picked up John and came back to Springfield.

In Springfield, I got a hotel room because we weren’t sure where people would end up sleeping that night. We went out to a couple bars, watching Kennealy beat the shit out of Walcher at darts and met up with Jen and Kovats. After a while, we went back to Jen’s to talk. Bedtime was roughly 3:30. Sleeping arrangements you ask? Kennealy stayed at Walcher’s, Shana went home to Decatur to drop off the car and I ended up splitting the room with McFarland. Yes, I shared a room with Scott McFarland and no one died. I know you’re as shocked as I am.

The next morning, McFarland and I went to breakfast. We ran into Mitchell and Meghan Sims, the MIG Chief Justice, coming into Steak and Shake, so we ate together. During the conversation, I discovered that the Diversity Fairy had left Western for Indiana. JB replaces Cavins (they obviously wanted a woman in that spot) and Maxwell leaves WIU. It’s my hope that student activities can survive without the great Diversity Fairy. Yes, I am being sarcastic. This is the best thing that could happen to WIU short of Garry realizing everyone hates him and he leaves town.

MIG meeting happened and we went to dinner. After dinner, Walcher, Shana and I took Kennealy to the train station (since he couldn’t get a ride back to St. Louis). I bought his train ticket because that’s what big brothers do for little brothers. Don’t think I did it for free. I’ll get my money back. I’m cheap remember?

Undoubtedly, any diatribe regarding the President’s veto of the stem cell bill will result in Nazi Boy turning into Veenefreak and he’ll try to get me removed from the College Republican Facebook group. Nazi Boy needs to start dating Bigot Bitch because they are so much alike. You disagree with them; you have to be punished. The President was wrong, but the House couldn’t override so it’s a moot point now.

Besides that, it’s been a regular week. The usual stuff happened. Israel bombs everyone, Springfield gets a hurricane and I do a little work. Yeah, all in all, a regular week. I don’t remember exactly who said that, but it’s funny!

St. Louis

2006-07-05T16:01:00.000-05:00

I’m not blogging about my class reunion. If you want to have as much fun as I had, get your own class reunion.

I had a nice long four-day holiday weekend. Instead of milling about the house, I actually ventured out of town. On Saturday, Shana and I headed for St. Louis. She wanted to go the Science Museum. It was really hot, so the zoo was ruled out. Since Kennealy lives in the area, I called him to make lunch plans. People that get up to go to work every day tend to work up at that same time even on the weekend. We hit the road from Taylorville at 8:45 AM. Along the way, we stopped at the Homestead Rest Area. When traveling on I-55 towards St. Louis and looking for a quick pit stop, I recommend this rest area.

This meant that we got to Fairview Heights at about 10:30, far too early to eat lunch. I was hungry (and had to answer nature’s call), so we headed to the food court. Lo and behold, there was a Chick-fil-a. Mmmmm Chick-fil-a! I haven’t had Chick-fil-a since the last time I was in New Orleans in 1997. It is so tasty. I scarfed down some chicken nuggets.

We met up with Kennealy and headed to the Chuck Wagon for some lunch. After lunch and sitting around talking for about two hours, we all headed into St. Louis. Kennealy, because his plans for the afternoon changed, played tour guide, taking us around downtown on the train. We went by the accursed Busch Stadium and were surrounded by Cards fans heading to the game. I never felt so violated until I actually stepped into a Cardinals Clubhouse store at Union Station. I felt nauseous, yet didn’t burst into flames as originally thought. After spending a few hours with the little brother, I returned home.

Sunday night was the fireworks. Monday was a day of rest (not that I didn’t sleep Sunday away either). Tuesday I went to Decatur to have lunch with my mom, step dad and aunts and uncle. My newest nephew (step-nephew I guess) is due to arrive in early September. The right rear tire went flat Monday night, so I had to get a new one this morning. An hour and a half late for work, but I only have to work two days this week! Friday is my off-day. I’m going to rest during this three day weekend!

Hey, I Actually Blogged

2006-06-28T14:47:00.000-05:00

Now a public service announcement from your friendly blog owner:
Blog Rule #1: This blog is not the place for its readers to perpetuate existing personal vendettas.

Blog Rule #2: Rule #1 does not apply to the owner of this blog or persons who have paid the owner to allow said person to do so. All checks paying for this right must read: “for services rendered.”

The non-Macomb part of my weekend:
Thursday: Amtrak was supposed to leave Springfield at 5:07 PM on Thursday (payday). We left at 5:40 PM. Shana was meeting me at the Joliet train station, so I called her to tell her I would be late. We made some time up on the way, but had to stop for freight trains outside Joliet. After arriving, I lost $8.50 at the riverboat. After that, it was time to do the traditional “train arrived late so we have to eat at Steak and Shake” thing. After dinner, we went back to the Land of Big Ass Windows and went to sleep

Friday: I woke up (for some bizarre reason) at 8:15 that morning. I was quickly entertained by watching the episode of South Park with the shitty wall and damn mongorians. Shana wanted to rent a car for the weekend, so we stopped by Enterprise in Joliet to pick one up. Apparently, Enterprise is going out of business because they had no cars available, even though the website said they did. There was no customer service whatsoever. Instead of calling around to the other 150 stores in the area to get a car (like any good business would do to get a few dollars out of someone), they told Shana that she was SOL. What kind of crap is that?

It was then off to Naperville to eat at Mongolian BBQ (sensing a pattern here?). First, we stopped off at Barnes and Noble. I didn’t buy anything, but did some window shopping. After lunch, we saw the biggest goose in the Chicago Land area try to drown other geese. There was some great graffiti on the sidewalk as well. We left Naperville, picked up my 80 pounds of luggage and headed for Macomb at about 2:30 (slightly ahead of our 3PM scheduled departure).

We drove almost all the way to the I-80/I-74 interchange until nature called. At the next exit, I swore the Dairy Queen sign said left ½ mile of the exit, so we turned left and drove for a ½ mile. ½ mile of the exit to the left is a barn. This is where the ice cream originates, I’m sure. Turning around, we went to Hardees’, returned nature’s call and continued onward to Macomb.

Maybe It IS Who You Blow?

2006-06-13T17:14:00.000-05:00

Can you tell the difference between these two?

Reading through the WIU website today, I came across the story announcing the naming of the new Director of the Beu Health Center. The name looked familiar to me at first, but didn’t throw up any red flags at first. I went back to the story and re-read it.

Sure enough, the new Director is the wife of that useless piece of shit Al Harris, who is the “Assistant Vice President for Student Services” at WIU. More like a leach on the student body. Guess who was in charge of hiring the new Director? You guessed it, that bearded bastard Garry Johnson. Looking further back, there were better candidates being considered. Keeping it in the family, Garry? Surrounding yourself by more weak-minded yes men who will do your bidding? Maybe you’re giving the Harris family a boost in salary now for an increase in retirement benefits later.

The Director of the Beu Health Center is an important job. For many students, Beu is the only place to get medical treatment in Macomb. I pray that Mrs. Harris didn’t adopt Mr. Harris’ “student services” attitude. If she did, students will be buying medication at ten times cost, while she sits behind new furniture every year.

This “who you know” crap is what has Illinois screwed up. Every agency or state institution is run the same way. The important jobs are given to those with the best connections, qualifications be damned. Things need to change. If our “leaders” can’t facilitate this change, we should find someone that will.

I find it funny that WIU (and everyone else) makes these announcements when the students are gone. They must think no one is paying attention and they can get away with it. Does the Board care? I don’t think the students would have given two shits one way or the other. I know that their student government would not have. Guess I’m hoping for something that will never happen.

What a Dick!

2006-06-12T13:51:00.000-05:00

I’ve said my piece about VP Cheney before. He was a fine Defense Secretary and is a loyal VP. However, his usefulness has come and gone. He’s a drag on the administration. He needs to be put out to pasture. I wouldn’t send him out there with a gun though; he might shoot some defenseless farmer. I try to give people a second chance. Then he pulls this shit!

http://www.dailyherald.com/opinion/constable.asp?id=198138

Senator Geo-Karis is a living legend in Illinois politics. She is a class act, always putting her constituents first. I should know; I was her constituent when I was stationed in Great Lakes. While I was there, I had a run-in with a local bank who was trying to charge me for insurance on a car I bought, even after I proved I had insurance through GEICO (the one with the little lizard). The bank wasn’t budging, so I contacted Senator Geo-Karis’ office. I wasn’t expecting anything to happen.

The very next day, I got a call from Senator Geo-Karis. Not her office, the Senator herself. She had the bank president on the other line. I explained my situation to her. While I was listening, she told the bank president “It seems like someone screwed up at the bank. You need to fix this problem today. Fax my office with the information.” The problem was fixed later that day.

It’s people like Senator Geo-Karis who make me believe in politics and government. It’s assholes like Dick Cheney that make me want to vomit. Hopefully, the good in politics prevail!

Revise and Extend

2006-06-10T11:29:00.000-05:00

I got bored with the old set-up, so I revised the lay-out. I extended the links section, hence the title of today's little post. I took out the MIG and SGA links because, quite frankly, they aren't updated enough or correctly (too many mispelled words in the minutes for example) to my liking.

A couple of things caught my attention this week. The first was the death of that douchebag Al-Zarqawi. Betrayed by his own people because they knew they weren't winning, Al-Zarqawi managed to survive 1000 pounds of explosive being dropped on his head before dying. At least he's dead. That's the main thing. A great day for the war on terror!

Democrats have their own problems or else they would have jumped all over this death. I really expected to see Durbin, Schumer and Clinton come out all over the TV saying, "Well, it's nice that he's dead, but Bush lied and still hasn't gotten Bin Laden." Boo hoo! Damn Democrats!

Instead, we have them infighting over the off-chance that they take control of the House in November. God help us if Pelosi becomes Speaker. Even worse would be that crybaby Murtha becoming Majority Leader. I don't like Stenny Hoyer, but at least he supports the troops. With Delay gone, the Democrat's whipping boy will soon be out of sight. We'll see in November just how effective these "party of corruption" binge pans out.

MHS Redux

2006-06-06T14:15:00.000-05:00

June 24th hangs like a dark cloud threatening to envelope everybody in a hurricane-like maelstrom. OK, I’m being overdramatic again. The 24th is the day of my 15-year high school reunion. Every five years, we bring the band back to Macomb for a couple of days. We’re having the reunion during Heritage Days weekend. This is good because a lot of people go home for Heritage Days anyway. This means that (hopefully) more people will attend the festivities.

The actual reunion is planned for the Forum at 8ish on Saturday night. The Forum is the old Illinois Theater. It was turned into a bar after I left Western. That in itself is going to be interesting because I cannot picture anything else other than theater being there. Like any old time theater, there were balconies. The reunion is going to be on the upper floor. More on that situation as it develops

Shana is going along for the ride this year. Actually, we’re taking her car so I’m probably the one taking the ride (I have to pay for the hotel rooms). I am riding the train up to Joliet on the evening of the 22nd. The train is supposed to get there about 7:30 PM. If it gets there on time (or shortly thereafter), I might want to go to the riverboat and donate a couple dollars to the education fund. Friday is a day to play by ear. We might head into the City or go north to visit Ira (if he isn’t on one of his globetrotting adventures). Whatever we do, we’ll head to Macomb that afternoon. Friday night is supposed to be the kick-off of the reunion at the Pace.

I’m looking forward to the trip. It will be nice to see everyone again. I’ve been going through old photos and stuff from high school. I had no idea I kept so much stuff, but I did. I have old Sentinels (the MHS school paper) sitting in a plastic tub. I should see if the school would want them back. I’m not using them.

The picture at the top are the old football bleachers at MHS!

Illegal Protests

2006-05-03T11:55:00.000-05:00

Illegal immigration has to be stopped. The illegal immigrants are a huge strain on our social infrastructure. Taxpayers pay their medical bills, give them welfare and generally take care of them even though they openly flaunt their status. They are no better than the people we have locked up in prison for breaking other laws. Why should we treat them any differently?

Those protests were nothing but a slap in the face of every past immigrant who came to America legally, their offspring (of which we all are) and those waiting to come to America legally. To have these protests on May 1 is a slap on America. Does anyone remember the Soviet Union? May Day (as May 1st was called over there in the bad old days) was the day that the USSR rolled their tanks and nuclear weapons across Red Square to scare the rest of the world. The whole day smacks of communist overtones and so do these protests.

What about free speech? The protesters are not Americans so they don't have the right to free speech. They do not have the right to a free education, free medical care or anything else mentioned in the above paragraph. Every year, we pay millions to educate illegal children. Why? We also give financial aid to people who flunk out of college because they sat around all day smoking pot, falling on and off the wagon, robbing banks, sleeping with their professors and getting incompletes, but I just got tangential there.

I'm sick of this selective interpretation of the Bill of Rights. I’m pissed off at this Spanish version of the National Anthem. The President is right when he says that we need to sing it in English. If you want the rights and privileges of an American, become one the legal way. If you can’t do that, don't bitch when you don't get your way.

Randomness Abounds!!

2006-04-27T11:18:00.000-05:00

No gas price or current state of Illinois government rants this time around. Sorry! I will say that I hope felon George Ryan is being fitted with an orange jumpsuit right now. Let us peruse the news and talk about what else has been happening.

First off, I had to put that picture on here. I did not make this up. Only in NYC!

The big news this week with me was that the Comptroller’s office messed up my paycheck. These are people whose sole job is to send out paychecks. I have been working at the Agency for 2 years, drawing the (relatively) same amount of pay every 2 weeks (we do get raises). How could they mess this up? I don’t know, but I was pissed. Fortunately, our payroll people caught the problem and had the Comptroller cut an additional check to make up the difference. Now I can pay rent.

I just read that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee are recommending that FEMA be dissolved. Keep the word dissolved in mind for later. I agree with this recommendation. It’s bloated bureaucracy at its finest. Tear it down and streamline its functions. When will people learn that government bloat does NOT work?
Read this story at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12505146/

Ground broke today for the new Freedom Tower at the WTC site. It’s been almost five years after that God-awful day. I’m glad to see everyone got together on this project and agreed to go forward. There was so much bickering over inconsequential things that people forgot what a building on that site would mean to the United States. The fact that the new Tower will be 1776 feet tall is even more inspiring. See this story at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12513193/

Tony Snow is the new White House Press Spokesman. The President made a great selection. I think Tony Snow is an excellent commentator and will do an amazing job. His former colleagues at Fox News, however, have irritated me as of late. Specifically, I think they pick these “experts” on their nighttime shows out of a Cracker Jack box. One guy told Hannity and Colmes “within the next five years, a nuclear device will go off in a major US city.” He said this was a fact, not his opinion. WOW!

Western got the mumps last week. Not the whole school, just a student from Lincoln Hall. I called Kennealy to make sure he wasn’t contagious since he lives in Lincoln Hall (and he has to be mentioned in every blog now). He wasn’t. I don’t have to worry about JP getting the mumps because he doesn’t live in the dorms. I told Shana there was another reason he wouldn’t get the mumps, so ask her what my rationale was for that.

The verb “dissolve” will play a key role in a future posting. Keep it in mind and have a nice day!

GUILTY!!!!

2006-04-17T16:54:00.000-05:00

Lying to Press Again, George??

Easter weekend was beautiful. It was a tad bit hot, but perfect weather to do things outside. I went to my aunt’s for dinner on Sunday. A cousin is on the committee to re-write the constitution for his college’s student government. We talked about a lot of things after dinner. Hopefully the three and a half years I spent in SGA at Western gave me some insight.

I was planning on writing a less than pleasant post about SGA on here today, but good news distracted me. This news was surprising to everyone, but a pleasant surprise: George Ryan guilty on all 20 counts!!!!

After those bizarre verdicts in California, I began to wonder if justice was real or just something that we paid lip service to. This verdict proved that justice was indeed real. Ryan is what turns people off about politics. We will have appeal after appeal. His lawyers will claim that he’s old and doesn’t deserve prison, blah blah blah! I don’t care. Ryan deserves every second of jail time he gets (if any) and more. He couldn’t be any guiltier of murdering that family in Wisconsin than if he was driving the truck himself.

In this case, I hope Lady Justice is a cold-hearted bitch and is in a foul mood at sentencing time! Ryan will burn in hell, no doubt about that. Hopefully, he gets what’s coming to him while he’s still among us.

Tornadoes

2006-04-06T23:13:00.000-05:00

I was talking to Kennealy earlier tonight and I promised I'd mention him in the blog. I just mentioned him.

Sunday was a very strange day. It started off cold, then got humid. Around 6:30, we got a tornado warning. I quickly went into the bathroom to wait out the storm. As I walked into the bathroom, the power went off. My bedroom window slammed shut. For the next 30 seconds, all you could hear was the sound of a tornado going overhead. I was scared to say the least.

Once the storm was over, the power stayed off. It stayed off for 2 and a half days. Everything in the refrigerator was ruined. I stayed at home until the boredom got too much on Monday and went to play refugee in Springfield. Fortunately Jen and Nicole opened their home up to those less fortunate (electricity-wise) than they. Nicole is now in Florida and we're waiting for more storms. Hope she has better weather!

Other than a tornado, it's been a very quiet week. Work has been strangely busy. Hopefully that ends soon. If anything exciting with the weather happens, I'll let you know!

Best Wishes Congressman

2006-03-29T11:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, 17th District Congressman Lane Evans (D-Rock Island) announced that he was retiring at the end of this term. Evans has been fighting Parkinson’s disease for some time. Sadly, the disease is winning. Having lived in Lane’s district for many years, I never once voted for him. His stances were not always compatible with mine.

I may disagree with his stances, but I have never once doubted his dedication to his district. When I think of Lane Evans, I think of the word dedication. Any person who has continued to work in a highly stressful job with a debilitating disease for as many years as Lane has is dedicated. People with lesser problems would have run for the hills the first chance they got. Lane Evans did not.

Despite what the media claims, Lane is not a “former Marine”. No one is ever a former Marine. Once a Marine, always a Marine is the saying. As the ranking member of the Veteran’s Affairs Committee, Lane busted his ass on behalf of veterans (I happen to be one) across the nation. The two times that I called his office for assistance; I was helped immediately. I even received phone calls back to make sure I got what I needed. He could have easily pulled a file, found out I was a Republican and ignore my phone call. He didn’t. That is one of many examples of his dedication to his constituents, regardless of political affiliation.

Congressman Evans is one of those few Members of Congress who give the institution a positive image. We will have time in the future to fight over who should go to Congress in his place. That time isn’t now. It is time to thank Lane for his dedication. Thank you Lane for all of your service!

Primary Election Coverage

2006-03-23T17:43:00.000-06:00

I normally post on here at work, but thought better of it for this posting. I'm going to talk about the primary election and be completely partisan.

First off, Blago is in a world of shit. 30% of Democratic voters voted against him Tuesday. That's not counting all the Democrats (and there are a lot of them) that pulled a GOP ballot to vote for JBT (and against Crazy Milkman). Don't know how he's doing amongst the independents in Illinois, but I dare say that there aren't many of them who like the dumb bastard. Couple that to the inevitable indictment(s) coming his way and Rod will be looking for new place to live. Well, scratch that. He never really moved in the first place.

We all knew that JBT would win. The question was who would come in second. Crazy Milkman somehow pulled 2nd place out of his ass. I had hoped Brady would come in 2nd. Is CM bored running his milk empire? I'm pretty egotistical, but never in my wildest dreams would I decide to run for Governor (or US Senate) without any political experience. What is this guy on? Maybe after losing (yet again) this time, he'll realize that Illinois hates him and he'll go away. Aren't all the milk cows in Wisconsin anyway?

I voted for JBT and Birkett and am proud to admit that. The neo-cons are already saying that the race is between two liberals. IDIOTS! The race is between someone willing to make tough decisions and rub people the wrong way (JBT) and someone who is a brain-dead half-witted moron who will irk his father-in-law off but kowtow to his campaign contributors. Four more years of Blago will wipe this state out of money and drive your good jobs across state lines. Then you'll qualify for his free healthcare and $7 minimum wage flipping burgers at Steak and Shake.

Please do what's right for Illinois. In November, vote Judy and Joe.

That Wasn't Fun

2006-03-14T10:16:00.000-06:00

The Bombers lost on Friday night. They played well during the first quarter and kicked it in during the fourth quarter, but just quite put it away. The 14-point loss was not indicative of the game. I told people that I didn’t know any of the kids on the team, but I was wrong. I thought that Dustin Bainter sounded familiar. Sure enough, he and his family went to the same church that I attended during my early Macomb days. Mind you, he was a toddler at that time but it’s a connection nonetheless. No matter how many years you might be away from high school, you always root for your alma mater. Macomb was one of the elite eight and has no reason to be ashamed of a 29-2 season.

The West Wing returned on Sunday night. I was happy that it came back, but the episode sucked. I guess they’re holding off on the good stuff until the end of the season/series. During the show, Channel 17 broke in about a storm near New Berlin. As Law and Order: CI was starting, Channel 17 went to weather coverage because a tornado was coming through Springfield. The tornado completely destroyed parts of Springfield.

It was scary to watch Channel 20 (the Springfield station) show Springfield go completely dark. I thought about calling JP, but realized that he wouldn’t want to talk to me while trees and buildings were falling around him. I went to work yesterday and called him to check on him. We met up last night after work to survey the damage. After driving around town, JP and I went to the 30th floor of the Hilton to get a drink and talk. I call Kennealy and Walcher my little brothers, but I had never really had a chance to sit down alone with Walcher and talk to him. In the midst of complete devastation, one needs to hold his or her friends close.

MIG 2006 Part 4

2006-03-09T11:29:00.000-06:00

I woke up at 7:27 Sunday morning wondering why I was up so damned early. You can bet that I sleep about 12 hours or more each day this weekend. The bills we wanted to veto were sitting on the docket, so I went to Capitol to make sure they got through the General Assembly.

Sitting on the GOP side of the House, I started working on the veto messages while they were debating a bill. I stopped when I realized that they were debating McFarland’s OL. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, so I grabbed a microphone and gave some off the cuff remark about property rights. The House was in overtime session and the bill failed to reach the 3/5-majority threshold for passage. I also spoke after one of the infamous Grandpa and Little Jimmy stories right before the veto session.

The veto session came and went. Did I mention that Speaker K kicks ass? Anyway, he does. After taking pictures in the House chamber, we headed over to the awards banquet. The awards didn’t interest me as much as the banquet because I was starving. I sat with Kovats, Shana, Ira, JP, Mau and Blake. They had pork loin but Ira couldn’t eat it. Go figure that at the end of the day, something would go wrong.

As we were eating, they handed out awards. Normally, they wait until the end but the weather was turning bad north of Peoria. I have no arguments with the awards this year. In my opinion (and my nomination form), Daley College rightfully won Best Small Delegation. This might come as a shock to some of my more close-minded readers, but the past is the past. Whatever happened back then will force some people from Daley to never like me, but I won’t lose sleep over it. Life is too short to do otherwise.

I received the George Perry Award for Outstanding Contribution to MIG. The award and the standing ovation honored me, but nothing could compare to what was next. When the Board approved the Lifetime Achievement Award, everyone knew that Joan Eastlund would be the first recipient. What few people know is that MIG would name the award after her. Past and present Board members were called to the front to present Joan with the now-named Joan Eastlund Lifetime Achievement Award.

Joan has been the faculty advisor from BlackHawk College for years and has put so many hours into the organization. More than anyone else in the organization, she is the heart and soul of MIG. No one is more deserving of this honor than she. As she accepted the award, she was crying. I was crying along with a lot of people in the room. That was the capstone to an extraordinary simulation.

After taking the requisite WIU delegation picture, we stumbled upstairs to hang out. O’Donnell, his girlfriend Jen, Shana, Blake, Galvin, Hughes, Deputy Dawg, Ira and I went to dinner at 7. No one was awake enough to eat and everything was funny. I went to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow at 10:15 and woke up 7:15 for work.

MIG 2006 Part 3

2006-03-08T09:22:00.000-06:00

BOMBERS ON THEIR WAY TO STATE! Macomb High beat Riverton High last night 44-29 in the WIU Supersectional to advance to the state tourney. I can’t gloat too much at work today because Riverton is the home to many state employees. We have 3 more games to go. Good Luck Bombers!

I went with the Speaker’s staff to the Capitol on Saturday morning. I left the Governor in the capable hands of Deputy Dawg. He didn’t have to do anything until the afternoon and I wanted to get over to the Capitol. It doesn’t matter how many times I step on the House or Senate floors, there is still a feeling of excitement. I doubt it would go away if I were elected to the General Assembly.

The morning went by quickly. I was in both chambers to listen to the debate. House debate was far better again this year. As a former Senate Majority Leader, that was disappointing to me. It’s not because McFarland didn’t bust his rump to make the Senate run well because that’s not the case. It was the Senate’s fault. With a few exceptions, it was lackluster. I tagged along with Speaker K, Kovats and Shana for lunch with the House leadership. Whatever the leadership talked about at lunch (I was at another table not paying attention) must have worked because things got more interesting in the afternoon.

By the afternoon, I was feeling the urge to play senator again. McFarland had an OL banning smoking in public buildings in the Senate and he was going to take the floor. I figured why not make this debate fun. I asked the Senate GOP Leader if I could take over the caucus for the bill. He agreed and I had ten minutes to prepare for the debate. I booted Senator Martin from EIU out of his seat (my seat the year I was Majority Leader) and sat down for a minute to get ready. Any delegate who played a legislator knows that it never goes away. Sitting in a chair gets the blood flowing. I was ready.

Everything was running smoothly. Hughes got thrown out of the Senate for acting stupid as planned. Kovats said some stupid stuff, upsetting the acting President as planned. The GOP senators attacked the bill. I had the infamous B-Unit and Vetter (Democrat senators) crossing over to speak against the bill. I had the bill defeated until closing arguments. McFarland explained that he wrote the bill because his father has lung cancer. If that wasn’t bad enough, he started to cry. Whatever momentum I had was gone.

I had to follow that. Regardless of what I said, I’d looked like a jackass if I went negative. I thank Mr. McFarland for his service in the military and let Martin talk about addiction. When I got the time back, I turned it back over to the Minority Leader (the bill was about to be voted on). It passed, but I had my fun. I didn’t know that the fun would continue.

Shana’s mother came down, so I took over as Clerk for a few minutes. The parties were caucusing, so there wasn’t anything to do. The Democrats came back when time expired, but the GOP was still in caucus. Speaker K rang the bell, no one showed up. Another bell. Still nothing. Speaker K had me read the bill and Patton called the question. Republicans came in confused as to why Speaker K was asking for the nays, but pushed their buttons out of habit. Dumb move! The 12 GOP nay votes showed that a quorum was present. The bill passed and the GOP staged a walkout to protest. Fun stuff!

After floor sessions, we went back to the Hilton too tired to move. We ordered Chinese and set out to the Candidates Forum and Governor’s Ball. I went to bed a little after 1 AM.

MIG 06 Part 2

2006-03-07T13:14:00.000-06:00

I went to sleep at 9:30 last night and woke up at 7:30 this morning. This isn’t earth shattering except when you consider that I have to be up and out the door by 7:30 to make it to work on time. You guessed it. I was late this morning. This weekend was exhausting, but it was well worth it.

I left work an hour early Wednesday to ride out to Kinko’s with Kovats. Since I was the Governor’s COS, Kovats felt I should know about the MIG account and who talk to out there. I went, we sat around waiting for legal sized paper then went to the Hilton to pick up O’D. The three of us met Officer Oxley for dinner. After dinner, we went back to the “mansion” and waited for everyone to show up. Around 11ish, O’Donnell, Galvin, McFarland, Shana and I went to Shop and Save on North Grand Avenue. The spookiness of shopping in the ghetto is indescribable. A quick stop at the McDonalds next to the office later and we were back at the Hilton. I stayed up until 3AM.

I woke up at 8:30 on Thursday morning. Why? I don’t know. We didn’t have to do anything until noonish. Shana, Galvin and I went to Kinko’s to pick up the stuff Kovats had copied. I was talking, not paying attention backing out of the parking lot so I backed into a concrete parking lot pylon. The noise was awful, but there was no damage. After registration, Deputy Dawg Ken and I drove O’Donnell to Opening Ceremonies. Lt. Governor Quinn was the keynote speaker. I fell asleep during his speech only to awaken by Kovats kicking my feet. Speaker K was sworn in and we were off.

I had to play House COS on Friday because Kovats had to work (Friday was my day off, I took a vacation day Thursday). Speaker K really didn’t need me because he was kicking ass, so I took the afternoon off. I sat in some Moot Court sessions. I’m a legislature guy and the judiciary baffles me sometimes. I was very impressed with Moot Court. I went to the Senate committees then took over as chair of the House Judiciary Committee for a bill.

Friday evening floor sessions went off remarkably well. If Speaker K had any jitters going to the well, he didn’t show them. Charles Patton was the House Majority Leader and Tristyn Grounds was the Minority Leader. Patton won Outstanding House Member at the end of the weekend. He was districted to the Senate, but moved over when some of the Daley House members couldn’t come down. Good move. He did a bang up job all weekend. I got to bed around 1 PM Saturday morning with the longest day of MIG about to dawn.

MIG '06 Part 1

2006-03-06T11:29:00.000-06:00

MIG 2006 is over! I care nothing for about the Monday morning quarterbacking, petty BS that people write about to make themselves feel important. The only thing I do care about is that the simulation went off very smoothly. There were a couple of problems, but nothing so serious to require the Board and faculty advisors to get involved.

My two little “brothers” kicked major ass this weekend. Sure, I’m biased. A lot of people agree with me though.

JP was elected Assistant House Minority Leader and did an incredible job. He had his “A” game on all the time. He was running around the floor, getting people to speak and making sure they were on book. I wish he had run for Minority Leader. Quite a few people said that JP did a great job.

Speaker K completely dominated the place. He didn’t put up with any crap. He ran that House like he had been born to be Speaker. Faculty advisors said that JVK took to the well like a fish to water. I knew he’d do a great job. He blew past my expectations. Running unopposed, he was going to be re-elected. The fact that he got more votes than anyone running in that election was the icing on a great weekend.

I said this a few times last year, but I am proud of both of them. Next year could see JP as Minority Leader going up against Speaker K. That will be a sight to behold.

More in the days to come.

Goodbye Dick!

2006-02-28T11:55:00.000-06:00

I was watching Fox and Friends this morning before leaving for work. Aside from Tiki Barber guest hosting (and doing a pretty competent job), nothing was really interesting. That was until they reported another rumor about the Vice President resigning. We’ve heard this before (some of my readers are hoping he does), but the way the story was presented makes me believe that this one has merit.

The story (and I forget who it comes from but it’s a magazine) goes thusly. Cheney and Bush are feuding. There is no clear-cut GOP candidate for President. Cheney isn’t running for President. Good thing too! He has heart problems. The Veep has a tendency to shoot other people when he’s out hunting. He and the bird flu share the same poll numbers. Not the most stellar choice.

Cheney (or so this story goes) will resign right after the midterms in November. Why wait until November? The simple answer is that Scooter Libby’s trial is going to start right after that. The Veep is going to be called to testify. Day after day, it will be the same thing. What did VP Cheney know and when did he know it? The White House needs to move on.

My question is: Why wait until after the midterms? Cheney is a huge drag on the Administration (which has many problems). It might be time to start cutting people and re-focus. Everyone will go around saying: “Oh no! If Cheney leaves, who will be President?” The President will be President, move on from your “paranoia”.

I like the Veep. In 2000, I asked myself why he and Lieberman weren’t running instead of Bush and Gore. The VP candidates seemed like better presidential material than the other two. My opinions of both GWB and Veep have changed. It’s time for some changes.

If Cheney goes (and I think he should), Secretary of State Rice should become VP. Who’s left? McCain would never take the VP spot. Frist is the worst Majority Leader I’ve ever seen (and Daschle was a brainless twit). Speaker Hastert is retiring after the 2008 election. Senator Allen of Virginia maybe? The new VP becomes the presumptive GOP nominee in 2008. The only two GOP candidates I’d support (right now) are Secretary Rice or Senator McCain.

It’s time to shake the Administration up. Lame duck is starting to set in and there’s three years left.

Never Outsource National Security

2006-02-23T11:53:00.000-06:00

You know things are turning apocalyptic when I agree with anything that carpet bagging, camera hogging, two-faced senatorial bitch from New York says (or is she from Illinois? Maybe Arkansas? I’m so confused). This plan of the Bush Administration to allow a foreign country to take over our ports is completely absurd.

If an item can be made cheaper elsewhere, then it is better to have that item made there. That’s called outsourcing. Shut up before you get tangential about outsourced jobs. Each of you shops at Wal-Mart. National security is not a tangible item that can be manufactured. National security is not something that can be outsourced.

Too many men and women have died wearing our nation’s uniform over the past 230 years to protect our national security. Nearly 3000 innocent people died that god-awful September morning at that hands of people dedicated to destroying our nation. If we allow this to happen, we are basically spitting on those paid the ultimate price.

McFarland makes a valid point when he makes the argument that we don’t have the luxury of waiting until there’s an ash cloud over New York City again. Things changed on 9/11. Had you told me on September 10, 2001 that 19 sub-human hijackers would take over 4 airplanes and run them into buildings, I’d called you crazy. Crazy was redefined on 9/11. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility anymore. People hate Americans and will do anything to hurt us.

The President is on the wrong side of this argument. I think he knows it and that’s why he’s threatening the veto and the White House is backpedaling. A veto is his Constitutional prerogative (God bless our Founding Fathers). It will be overridden. Speaker Hastert is against him. Senate Majority Leader Frist is against him. Governor Pataki is against him. Everyone should be against this lame-brained idea.

In other news: Bombers are now 25-1. B-PC in the Regional title game on Friday then it’s onward. Hopefully, MIG doesn’t coincide with the state title game. I’ll have to go to Peoria if it does!!

1.68 Million Reasons to Stay In Bed

2006-02-09T16:34:00.000-06:00

Congrats to the MHS Bombers Boys Basketball Team on winning the 2005-2006 Olympic Conference Championship. As of Tuesday, they were 21-1 (11-1 conference) and making the run for State. GOOD LUCK BOMBERS!!

These past two weeks have been very interesting (putting it mildly). I might have gotten about 1.68 hours of sleep this week. Let’s get into it.

We had the last MIG Executive Board meting on the 29th. It was held in the Old Supreme Court Chambers at the Capitol. A lot of people don’t like the room, but I think it’s pretty neat. As nice as the room was, the people in it weren’t.

You guessed it. Baby Killer made his monthly appearance. Instead of obeying what he was told about getting near me, he decided to put his hand on my shoulder. I told him never to touch me again and walked away. I didn’t have times for his lies. We would all have to deal with them later that week. He also decided to stalk his favorite victim. I was ready to call Capitol security to have them escort Baby Killer out of the Capitol.

As the Board meeting wrapped up, an Executive Session was called. It was there that Baby Killer lied about his status as a student at WIU. Having been lied to repeatedly, the Board’s advisors naturally checked on his story. He wasn’t enrolled at WIU in any capacity. Certainly not the independent study status he was claiming. A quick letter from the Provost’s office verified this. MIG had a problem.

Since Baby Killer wasn’t a student, he couldn’t stay as Speaker of the House. Since he couldn’t be Speaker, we needed another one. The Governor had already chosen a nominee for a vacancy in November when Baby Killer first started making rumblings about resigning. He nominated John Kennealy (Skippy from the Christmas card) to be the new Speaker and asked for a vote before the simulation.

Instead of a quick vote, people had to come up with 1.68 million reasons to drag it out. It finally ended yesterday when John was confirmed. I can now finish districting (hopefully tomorrow) and get the schools their roles. MIG starts in 21 days.

I know I will be able to go far beyond my 1.68 hours of sleep before then. I have a three-day weekend this weekend (Lincoln’s Birthday on Monday). This is followed by a three-day workweek and a four-day weekend (Friday 2/17 is my regular day off).

Baby Killer and the White Knight

2006-01-23T08:27:00.000-06:00

Let the lies commence! Campaign season kicked off Wednesday in Springfield with the annual State of the State Speech. The "White Knight", GRod, apparently has a solution for every problem the evil Washington DC has created within Illinois’ border. He’s going to fix health care for veterans, roads, mercury emissions, the business environment, canals, lost kitty cats and cow flatulence.

I have two questions for the "White Knight". First, how are you going to pay for it? You just borrowed 2 billion dollars from the pension fund to balance the budget. Guess I’ll have to work another 5 years more in order to pay for your Presidential aspirations. Secondly, did you work on this stuff in Congress? We already know the answer to that. You did nothing in Congress! You have done nothing for Illinois! It’s time to stop the lies.

I dislike GRod, but I loath baby killers. A good friend of mine recently miscarried her baby. That’s sad in itself, but what’s even worse is how it happened. The “father” (I use that term very loosely because he is sub-human) did not want this child, told everyone that he didn’t want this child, made no effort to be a father to this child but wanted to use it as a way to control the mother. The “father”, who has another child with another women that he never sees or takes care of, made it clear to everyone that the baby was an impediment to his “desire” to be with another women 1000 miles away.

The “father” continually harassed the mother repeatedly calling her, text messaging her (the modern way to stalk her) and showing up at places he knew she’d be at. I have no doubt that all of this was designed to put additional stress on the mother, forcing her to (1) miscarry the baby or (2) come crawling back to the “father”. The “father” got his wish when the stress got to the mother and she miscarried. Now this “man” can run off to this other woman, get her pregnant while he’s sleeping with someone else and start the vicious cycle over again.

Let's hope that this "man" can one day marry the games he plays with other people because that is the only thing he truly loves. No friends (well he already doesn't have any friends), no one to hold when things get bad, just his stupid, bad episode of Dallas insipid games! The "White Knight" will get his comeuppance in November. Let's hope that the "father" in my story gets his a lot sooner!

Stupid Hearings

2006-01-12T15:48:00.000-06:00

Have you been following the Alito confirmation hearings? I wish senators would just send it to the floor and move on. We see Ted Kennedy on TV acting like a complete buffoon. I wonder if he’s drinking again. Feingold, Durbin, Leahy, Schumer, I wish they all would shut up! This is a hearing, yet you’re doing all the talking. Of course everyone’s made up his or her mind on how they’re voting, yet we’re subjected to this farce of a “hearing”.

Obviously Joe Biden has read my mind because he has come out saying that confirmation hearings are a joke. The Senate, according to Biden, should just bring the nomination to the floor and have an up or down vote. Before you start cheering for Biden thinking he received a brain cell or two, remember that he and his fellow Democrats would use the floor debate to smear candidates. That would make filibusters even more likely. Sorry Plagiarizer Joe, we see right through your smoke and mirrors. Cry some more about Gore losing in 2000!

The Senate and everyone else in government need to focus its attention on Iran. A nuclear Iran is downright scary. Iran is “led” by a lunatic who claims the Holocaust didn’t happen and is committed to wiping Israel off the face of the Earth. If Israel feels threatened, they will attack. If they attack, the entire region will blow apart. You bitched about $3 a gallon gas. A war in the Middle East will double or triple that. A cheery election year thought!

I’ve begun the slow process of scanning all of my pictures and storing them electronically. I started with pictures from high school since my 15-year reunion is coming up and they’re doing a slide show. I won’t post any of those particular pictures on here until after I get permission to do so. It’s possible that I’ll do a then and now retrospective. It will be interesting to see how people have changed over the years.

The General Assembly is back in session this week. Your wallet or purse should feel lighter as a result. GRod has decided to expand gambling in the state. Wait a sec! He campaigned four years ago saying he wouldn’t expand gambling. I’d like people to remember this in November.

GRod is also giving a million dollars of tax money to rebuild a burned down historic African American church in Chicago. Why aren’t the separation of church and staters bitching? If my church burns down, will it get a million dollars to rebuild? Is this money constitutional to dole out to a church? Will GRod get more votes by giving this money away? What about the insurance on the church? Tune in tomorrow for another episode of “Watch GRod Spend Our Tax Money Like a Drunken Sailor”

Welcome 2006

2006-01-05T12:42:00.000-06:00

Happy 2006! Hopefully this year will be better than 2005, although it isn’t starting out that way. The mine accident in West Virginia is really a tragedy. It takes a special breed of person to go into a tunnel beneath the Earth and work for 8 hours a day. I know I could never do it, which is strange seeing as how my grandfathers and uncles were coal miners. May God bless those who lost loved ones and may He grant a speedy and full recovery to the gentleman who survived.

2006 is an anniversary year for me. It will mark my 15-year high school reunion. The reunion is already in the works. I don’t want to accept the fact that it’s been 15 years since I left MHS. It seems like yesterday we were flicking pencil into the drop ceiling to see if they would stick and playing spades in study hall. My receding hairline and the fact that some of the kids my mom babysat back then have also left MHS tell me that it has been 15 years.

2006 will also mark the 15th anniversary of my graduation from US Navy Recruit Training Command Great Lakes. That’s boot camp for the less literate of you. In July 1991, I was sent to St. Louis then flown to Chicago to start my naval career. I was planning on four years, but that doubled later on. I remember that first night, scared because I didn’t know what was next. I remember the mid-point and having survived the worst. I remember going to chapel services on Sunday to catch an extra 45 minutes of sleep. I remember graduation day and everyone who made up Company 91-230.

I was stationed in Great Lakes from 1995-1998 before I got discharged. I’m going back to Great Lakes in late spring or early summer to visit and see what’s changed since I left. I know things are different, but I am really excited to be going. I’m sure there will be lots of pictures and stories.

2006 will also see me, barring anything unexpected, in Washington DC for the first time since 1998. There is a wedding in the planning stages out there, so I’ll use that time to do the tourist thing as well. I’ve got old Navy friends from Virginia, so I might look them up as well. 2006 will also be the 15th anniversary of graduation from Storekeeper “A” School at NTTC Meridian, Mississippi. There might be a trip to the South this year as well.

2006 is an election year, so everyone is handicapping the outcome. I’m going to do some predicting as well. I predict that Rod wins the Democrat nomination and Judy Barr Topinka wins the GOP nomination. The GOP will win the Governor’s Mansion in Illinois with a Democrat General Assembly. Nationally, the Democrats pick up a few seats in the US House but not enough to take control. The Senate races will break even this year with no changes in control.