Pulitzer at the Trib
ArchPundit
For her work on editorials about the death penalty.
Well deserved.
April 2003
The Problem of Downstate Labor
Is they want coal subsidies. How about instead, an investment program to actually make the educational system in that part of the state an educational system?
Support the Renewable Energy Standard In Illinois
Here. Really, go now.
April Fool’s Day in East Saint Louis
I’ve been trying to put together a list of the best of Carl Officer, but it was done by Pat Gauen
My personal favorite was the day he gathered the press to announce that he was filing a federal suit to stop Gov. James Thompson from using the National Guard to seize the city. When I broke the news to Thompson’s press secretary, I thought the poor man would laugh himself into a stroke. No troops ever showed up.
Or maybe the best was the time Carl began a speech by greeting me from the podium, by name, but then complained the next day to my editor that the resulting story was unfair because he wouldn’t have spoken so candidly had he known a reporter was present.
No, I think it was the opening of an obstetrical unit to help deal with the community’s soaring population of unwed mothers. Carl, a bachelor, publicly announced that he was personally going to start work on populating the place that very night.
Oops, I almost forgot the major MetroLink ceremony where Carl wiped the smile off every face by vowing to block the project because he wasn’t consulted. (Civic leaders unanimously insisted that Carl was invited to every meeting but never once showed up.)
You’ve surely heard about how Zaire un-invited Carl to help fine-tune its government after he announced that he would take his own blood supply, so if he got sick he wouldn’t depend on its "monkey blood."
Perhaps the best was when he got stopped by police doing 108 mph in a Jaguar borrowed from a convicted drug dealer. Carl bitterly denied the cop’s version, insisting he really had been doing 140.
Is there no end to it?
I haven’t gotten to the bodyguard with the Uzi. Or the $2,200 Carl claimed for trips never taken. Or the consulting contract the city council approved for $545,000 but Carl signed for $1.3 million. Or Carl’s hearty endorsement of a $450 million riverfront development plan long after everyone else, including a federal grand jury, figured out that it was just a big scam.
On the one hand: I’m gonna have a lot material.
On the other hand: Roll ’em up.
How Will Blago Get Second Term
The Illinois Circular Firing Squad Team (ICFST) already has a plan. Nominate Patrick O’Malley.
All I have to say is Pretty Please!
O’Malley is a fire-breathing conservative of the none-too-bright category. The base loves him and a big part of his primary campaign was home schoolers. He’s dumb, has a political tin ear, and is a shameless publicity hound. The best compliment I can think of is that he is smarter than Chris Lauzen, CPA.
Did I say pretty please?
The end of the article is a bit better though, with the suggestion that Rauschenberger be a dark horse. Rauschenberger is a serious man and utterly unfit for a statewide campaign. He has the unfortunate inability to lie shamelessly about budgeting. Don’t get me wrong, Rauschenberger is far more socially conservative than anyone I would ever vote for, but he is a serious person. He could mount a real challenge if he were more telegenic and good at gladhandling. He is not.
A Wonderful Little Story on Pension Abuse
Pensions Galore. The problem is that most proposed reforms would limit the vast majority of individuals who don’t abuse the system. Police Officers and other who start second careers deserve those pensions. The politically connected class don’t and George Ryan’s multiple moves to pay off supporters with fat pension assignments demonstrates the way the system can be abused. However, the key to any reform is to limit the worst abuses and not cops and others who work after retirement.
What About Afghanistan?
Apparently there is some dissent on the Afghanistan situation moving along swimmingly. That is quite a swipe at the administration from Karzai’s brother and Jack Kemp.
Can’t Tell a Person’s Wealth By Their Teeth?
Megan McCardle argues this is true in the US, I argue Megan spends too much time with middle class folks.
My wife came home from Target in South City today and was commenting on a Bosnian. I tried out good ‘ole American toothism on the story and was completely wrong. The Bosnian had great teeth apparently. However, the South Side Hoosier (St. Louis speak) in front of her in line had daggers for teeth.
So I struck out there. Then I thought about growing up in a trailer court and, well, we don’t really need to discuss how only a few of us in that park had reasonable dental care. It was quite disturbing and this was, in the relative term, a rather nice park.
Then we can discuss the issue of race and class. While middle class African-Americans (and many others) wouldn’t be caught dead with bad dental care, spend some time in North St. Louis and tell me there isn’t a difference in dental care. Perhaps I haven’t spent enough time in New York City, but here in the Midwest, there are significant differences in the level of dental care and class is the key difference.