July 2003

Get Phyllis the OED

ArchPundit July 2, 2003 0 Comment

Schlafly makes another unfortunate appearance ranting about the ERA .

It doesn’t mention women, it only mentions sex. It calls for equal rights according to sex. And that is why it is perfectly obvious that it would require same sex marriage licenses.

If the City Clerk declined to give a marriage license to a man and a man it is self-evident that you have discriminated on account of sex. I was on the platform with the Watergate Senator Sam Irvin (Senator Irvin chaired the investigation of Watergate), who was considered a Constitutional authority when he was in the Senate, and he said, I don’t know any group that the ERA would benefit except homosexuals. Remember the word in the ERA is sex, it’s not women.

Well, no Phyllis, the ERA is referring to this definition from the OED and everyone but you and your lackeys seem to at least understand it,

Either of the two divisions of organic beings distinguished as male and female respectively; the males or the females (of a species, etc., esp. of the human race) viewed collectively.

And let me recommend the OED definition of sex to everyone, their trying to deal with slang in a very uptight OED sort of way is amusing.

The Conspiracy Widens–Tim Johnson and the LCV in cahoots

ArchPundit July 2, 2003 0 Comment

Joyce Morrison tries to argue that Tim Johnson (R-IL 15 is a radical environmentalist. I’m guessing he was too drunk to know which button to push…

Wow that was a cheap shot. But seriously folks, trying to paint Johnson as a radical environmentalist along with Peter Fitzgerald tends to sink ones credibility. You might disagree with some votes of theirs, but neither is the Manchurian Candidate.

Seduction of the Innocent @ Illinois Leader

ArchPundit July 2, 2003 0 Comment

Never a site to leave the 1950s paranoia where it belongs–the 1950s, the Illinois Leaders’ columnist Dan Zanoza takes on Harry Potter and Buffy.

Now taking on Potter as an occult gateway book is likely to get you scoffed at in the Blogosphere, but taking on Buffy? Watch out pal–there is one thing that unites all political persuasions in the Blogosphere and that is love of Buffy.

However, many feel the Harry Potter books are not as innocent as some would like us to believe

…

Children are being exposed to the occult, while naive but well-meaning adults praise the books simply because students are reading. According to this rationale, we should be happy no matter what children are reading, including pornographic material.

…

Today television is inundated with programs like Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and a host of other shows steeped in the occult and certainly targeted at America’s youth.

Some say it’s all fantasy, just good clean entertainment. But it seems many children are taking this so-called innocent flight of fantasy seriously.

…

Adolescents, who are naturally insecure, are experimenting with the dark arts at alarming rates. For example, Wicca clubs are the latest extracurricular fad at many public high schools

Yeah, those Wiccans are taking over…

Edgar Vs. G-Ry

ArchPundit July 2, 2003 0 Comment

Cal Skinner contributes one of the best pieces that disects the differences between how George Ryan and Jim Edgar ran the Secretary of State’s Office. The SOS has long been a patronage offices and there are certainly some skeletons in Edgar’s closet, but ultimately, Edgar put in place a system that didn’t tolerate wide spread corruption in the office.

?We did have corruption in that office,? Lawrence remembered. ?The difference is that we addressed it squarely. We had an Inspector General who was a career law enforcement officer. He was on leave from the Illinois State Police, so if he felt he was being compromised in any way he would not be out of a job. He had the full support of Secretary Edgar.

?I can?t think any agency where there hasn?t been some wrong-doing,? Lawrence continued. ?The key to me is the culture that is set by the elected official. If the elected official doesn?t set the right culture, the wrong-doing is going to go unaddressed and it is going to increase.?

Grosboll revealed that he spent almost half of his time each day as chief of staff ?on personnel and undercover operations, matters involving whether someone in the office was doing something improper, how to handle an employee and getting updates on investigations.

Another key difference was,

Grosboll pointed out a structural difference in the way the two administrations operated. Under Edgar, the chief of staff ran the government side of the Secretary of State?s Office. The political side was separate.

Ryan started out that way with the former IRS district head Ira Loeb as his chief of staff with Scott Fawell running the political end. After about a year, Fawell took control. Loeb got sick. With Loeb?s death, power was concentrated both, in fact, and on the organization chart in Fawell?s hands.

Do NOT CALL ME!

ArchPundit July 2, 2003 4 Comments

For those who want to whine about the do not call registry–blow me. I couldn’t be happier with the Missouri registry to the point that I actually give Jeremiah Jay some credit for it. We get almost no calls except the phone company and I’ve put a stop to those.

This is as it should be–my phone, my choice. Atrios points out how this is actually a market based solution that steps back and defines property rights for phone use. As he also points out, one can then sell their rights to a bidder who wants to call them. I won’t be and I can’t imagine being bothered, but hey that is me.

We have gotten calls for some ne’er do well who passed off some bad checks though. It seems Telecheck hides itself under the name TRS Recovery Services and violates the law by harrassing us to find him despite us having no idea who he is. They threatened the wife with action while she was home alone and then threatened me with degrading my credit history if I didn’t cooperate. Telecheck reps refused to identify themselves to me until I did a little checking with the Missouri Secretary of State and found out who they were. Calls to the Missouri Attorney General, the FTC, Telecheck’s Legal Department and the Better Business Bureau have put a stop to those scumbags though.

Oh, and when you work for a company like Telecheck and I say you–I’m using you as a plural pronoun. Don’t whine that ‘you’ didn’t do anything.

Open Comments- Illinois Senate 2nd Quarter FEC Reports

ArchPundit July 1, 2003 0 Comment

What’s everyone hearing? Is Hynes low? What about the others?

6 1/2 Years

ArchPundit July 1, 2003 0 Comment

Fawell racks up 6 1/2 years in prison, but is it enough to make him crack?

Probably not,

He said he was disappointed former friends had become government witnesses but said they couldn’t withstand the pressure from prosecutors. He said it was easy to make mistakes in politics.

"It’s a pretty rough and tumble business — always has been, always will be," Fawell said. "I wish I could go back and change some of the things I did. But do I consider myself a criminal? Absolutely not."

If he doesn’t crack can they nail Ryan?

Illinois Republican Cattle Call

ArchPundit July 1, 2003 0 Comment

1) Jack Ryan–has money and rumors are Rove is pushing him. Movie Star looks and fits well with the base voters of the Illinois Republican Party. A darling of the Illinois Leader. Where does he stand on O’Hare?

2) Steve Rauschenberger–well liked by most in the party and a direct connection to Hastert. An expert on budgetary issues and working with Grover Norquist’s organization to make Illinois politics nasty. May make the primary nasty between Norquist and Social Conservatives.

3) Andrew McKenna–lots of ties to establishment and plenty of cash from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

4) John Borling–resume alone makes him impressive, but still hasn’t committed.

5) Bob Thomas–why so high? Big Jim is reportedly lining up his SC seat for a former ally meaning he’ll work for Thomas in a campaign. Big Jim still gets things done, but Thomas would have to earn it.

6) John Cox–he announced. Others will overtake him when they announce. Just another way to waste his money, but it keeps political professionals employed.

7) Jim Durkin–has name recognition in the party and acceptable to conservatives–won’t get in if Washington says not to.

8) Tom McCracken–strong DuPage base of support–low name recognition and ties to DuPage machine hit hard by indictments

9) Jim Oberweis–considered liberal on abortion by Social Conservatives. Fuggedaboutit

10) Ray Choudry–who?

11) Chirinjeev Kathuria–a bit of a gadfly. Maybe not a bit.

Great comments…

The Regional Superintendents Hang On

ArchPundit July 1, 2003 0 Comment

Unfortunately one of the more inefficient elements of the Illinois primary and secondary education system survived cuts and will remain in place–Blagojevich failed to eliminate the Regional Superintendents this year.

In most states the jobs such as building inspections and teacher certification are done by a statewide body. Illinois has kept them around as vestiges of the past when travel was difficult and the large number of districts required more local support. Of course, Illinois hasn’t forced enough consolidation either.

Blagojevich’s review of the state educational system may take a look at that however. Currently there are 900 districts in Illinois which is far more than there should be.

Who Won’t Be Considered a Second-Tier Candidate

ArchPundit July 1, 2003 0 Comment

The one who just raised $7 million in the quarter. To make matters worse for the other candidates, money always follows money.

Look for a Chris Lehane smear campaign to be launched against Dean by Kerry ohhhh, let’s say in the morning. I only wonder if it can make the Note in time.