Call It A Comeback
The Republicans may have a bigger problem than they think, Steve Rauschenberger, in my estimation the strongest guy to save the downballot races, isn’t stupid and he wants a firm money committment before agreeing to be the nominee (not that it was offered yet).
We’ve been through this dance before when one of many reasons Jim Edgar passed on the race last summer was supposedly a lack of party funds being committed to the race as a guarantee.
Mary Schmich is doing an indepth series of columns on Cabrini Green. Not the giant failure of public housing, but the neighborhood and what it was and is. The first three installments of the current series is amazing.
I spend a fair amount of time analyzing issues of poverty in my professional life and that takes me into neighborhoods as a visitor that most white people simply don’t go. I often forget as I drive somewhere and my passengers start gripping the car door and locking their doors attempting to be innocuous. And certainly there is reason to be cautious in a neighborhood you don’t know, but the overwhelming experience I have in those troubled neighborhoods is one of hope and a sense of amazement at what residents accomplish. That isn’t to take away from the very real challenges that exist, but Schmich’s first three columns really speak to that feeling in a way that is hard to explain.
Maybe if they chose Jerry 1 we could get a really high sloping gallery to the General Assembly chambers.
OneMan continues great coverage of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board scandal, so go see him on the subject, but what the hell is the Governor doing insisting on the power to replace the members when he appointed them all? And exactly how is the second round supposed to be better than the first round?
The Rock n Roll McDonalds is closing and all I’m asking is for the love of God to make sure the replacement’s bathroom doesn’t resemble and overturned outhouse.
Though not Illinois specific is The Moderate Voice. I’ll get him on the blog roll sooner or later here, but I think he has a good post on whether Edwards will be a good pick in the long run.
I sense he’ll be good. For those that hate trial lawyers–remember that people like them a lot in trials (ed. are juries like average voters? good question). I can’t find the post, but Virginia Postrel made this point a long time ago—well actually she has made another post on her front page right now.
That said, Edwards is a natural in a weird way–he can appeal to both the left and the center with his mannerisms and the way he talks. He’ll appeal to white married suburban women and to the near Nader left all in the same speech. Can I explain it? No, but I know it when I see it.
I like him, quite a bit actually though I’d prefer some more experience there like a Bob Graham. But I’m not exactly the target audience. Anyone besides LaRouche with a D by their name would get my vote this year.
He responds partially to McCulloch’s statement from earlier in this post. I link-you decide. I think Jeff and I agree that we both disagree on several issues.
Liberal Agit-Prop directs us to our dynamic duo of Moon-units. Representatives Davis and Crane who introduced the following last year
H.CON.RES.124
Title: Promoting national unity and family renewal.Calls for establishment of a Year for National Unity and Family Renewal to invoke the intercession of God to bring about national unity, national reconciliation, and family renewal in the new millennium.
Can just any billionaire cult leader get a special bill passed?
And hear The Blagorgeous cry for mercy (via Chillinois)
“If you call me back here and disrupt my family life and don’t give me anything to do, and God help you if you call me back here and throw an 800-page budget on this desk and say I have one hour to do it, I’m gonna tell you to take that vote and shove it. Drop the baloney, drop the egos, drop the political games! By God let all of us in that meeting. I’ll guarantee you there’s a half a dozen of us that’ll get you guys to a resolution in about an hour because you’d get damn tired of putting up with us!”
Don’t mess with the hair, man…
I couldn’t have made this up.
WTF?
From a great new blog in Illinois: Chillinois, even better if he wasn’t a Sox fan.
ArchPundit