And Now... To Wag The Dog.

Now it's all absolutely crystal clear. I'm now completely convinced that the current "crisis" between Congress and the White House is only part of another game that we've seen played over and over again.


Step one is to create a crisis. Let's allow a company based in a country that supports and harbors terrorists to bid on the port operations at six of our busiest ports. Aha! The scheme is hatched.

Step two is to create a sense that Republicans really know what matters to everyday, run-of-the-mill Americans, and that they are the ones to provide us with secure borders and ports.

Step three is to create a situation so outlandish that absolutely every American must believe in what its Congressional leaders are committing themselves to. Hint: It needs to be a slam-dunk, but that shouldn't be so hard. The world is only black and white, after all.

Step four is to create a bad guy; some disposable entity that already lacks the support of the nation, and needs just a bit more to push it out into the deep water for good.

Fristy says he'll "introduce legislation." Hastert now says he "favors a moratorium" (big words, little real words, typical).

It took these guys a week to even speak up, which should be a pretty good sign that they're getting their heads together with yet another plan to pull their asses from the fire.

Wowee. Golly. The President fires back that he'll "veto any legislation" that scuttles the current plan, that the company has been fully vetted. The President has not vetoed a single piece of legislation to date. He doesn't need to because they're all carefully crafted and orchestrated. Just like this one.

Here's another reason I'm convinced it's all a game. While both the President and Congress are very unpopular at this point, the GOP has everything to lose by losing the House. Who cares about Bush? If they can hold the House this fall, there's no impeachment. They're unlikely to lose the Senate. If they start shitting on Bush, it doesn't matter. They might be able to use it as a wedge issue against Democrats in the fall.

Hey, I've seen crazier Rovian scenarios play out in the past five years.

So Fristy Hastert can do whatever it wants on this one.

I'm leaving on a flight tomorrow, with a long pair of scissors and a small aluminum hairspray canister in my bag.

They're both now legal to carry onto the plane.

Who cares? This is all just a big fucking joke to these guys. It's not real at all.

So Don't fall for it.

Now That We've Heard From Fristy...

When will we hear from Hastert on the takeover of six major U.S. ports by a UAE-based company?

Fox News says that Heavy D and Boehner are hunkered down, getting ready to "apply some muscle" to the Bush administration on the subject.

Right. More like taking polls in one room, and keeping touch with Tom DeLay in another to figure out what to do.

If Hastert and Boehner are working on this, why in the Hell has Hastert been absolutely silent so far?

I realize that the Speaker doesn't represent his district "by tradition," and that he doesn't really know what happens at a major port unless some lobbyist lackey sends the word in via a Hastert staffer.

Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert, the titular head of the United States House of Representatives, is a piss-poor excuse as a representative of anything but the special interests of his political buddies.

Hastert Statement on Impeachment.

Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert is on the record, along with Boehner and other prominent Republicans, on the subject of impeachment.

The fact of the matter is that Hastert lied to his constituents when he told them right up until the vote that he was undecided on the matter. All the while, he was assisting Tom DeLay in rounding up and walking the real undecided members of the House through the House Cloakroom, where DeLay had set up an "evidence table."

Why Should I Believe Anything From This Man?

And why in the world would I believe this story about the U.S. being "on the verge" of energy breakthroughs?

As long as we're giving tax breaks to people who buy gigantic, wasteful vehicles, with nowhere near the reward for those who buy energy efficient models; as long as governments at every level continue to buy these same inefficient models; as long as governments at every level continue to build structures that suck energy resources out of the community and drive up the cost of government, I don't believe anything associated with Bush's energy "initiatives."

Just more smoke and mirrors.

As we've come to expect from his pattern of lies, this will continue for a period of about three months after the State of the Union Address. Hastert will likely throw in some token nonsensical bill that is either as black and white, and politically-charged, or politically-charged and

In the Grip...

In the grip of the fat hand of power and corruption.

Take your pick. It could go either way.

Look Out, It's The Morons Again.

It appears that the Moron Contingent has invaded the Chicago Tribune's DC-based newsblog.

Frank James did, I think, an excellent job explaining in his piece why the press has to fight to cover Dick "Dick" Cheney. But the comments are filled with astonishingly stupid statements and outright apologies for Cheney's actions.

Guess it's time to start checking the death statistics in the U.S. I'm wondering how many registered voters drown while holding their mouths to the sky during rainstorms.

Jesus Crimony.

WWCD?

What Would Cheney Do?

That should be the question we ask ourselves, moving forward. I believe in moving forward, but there are still things about this story that nag at me.

When the story broke the next day, for instance, Ms. Armstrong said at first she thought Cheney had suffered some sort of heart ailment when she saw the security detail moving in.

Why then, is Dick "Dick" Cheney insisting Katharine Armstrong was the best person to talk to the media... based on the fact that she witnessed the entire event. She obviously did not if she had some misconception about Cheney's condition, unless he fell to the ground after firing the shot (which he didn't mention).

She doesn't give that impression, either. She says Cheney remained "close but cool." Now, I believe that. Look at all of the sundry carnage he's created, and without a flinch!

Later, the rest of the hunting party that didn't decide to cram into the ambulance (Cheney's excuse for not going to the hospital) sat down to dinner at the Armstrong ranch. Probably had a nice quail dinner. Personally, I'd recommend a delicious Madeira marinade, (although this is a much easier recipe) then serving the game birds with a nice Semillon, a Sauvignon Blanc, perhaps. This is an excellent, reasonably priced label, btw, and I'm not paid to make the recommendation. Nosir.

Oh, maybe a Beaujolais Villages or perhaps a Merlot? Then again, you could serve a decent Pinot Noir with about anything and no one would complain! Well, let's talk recipes and wines some other time.

But who has time to make all these decisions at such a time? Armstrong said Cheney's demeanor at dinner was very worried about Harry Whittington.

I think if I had shot my "friend" in the face with any weapon which would require flight to the emergency room, I would find myself eating jerky and soft drinks from the God-Damned hospital vending machines. If able to eat at all.

So there are still questions... Such as What Would Cheney Do under the following circumstances.

Kid Cheney
You're a college student, albeit a very poor one. And no (heh!) I don't mean lacking funds (if you know what I mean). You're a major league asshole, some might say, and have a couple of DWI's under your belt. And you're a terrible student. Let's say you're an "F" average.

But there's a war on, and it threatens to draft you into the ranks of the awful little people who serve their country when called upon. You have a couple of choices, now. Think about this carefully.

You could just try harder. You know, hit the books. You could ( * gasp! * ) just enlist and buck up. Hell, if you enlist, you'll probably be able to finish in some kind of Army school and end up with an Engineering degree or something.

Or you could simply marry your sweetheart and get her knocked up right away. Hey, you might only be a few years away from your first heart attack! Go for it! Right?

WWCD?

Drive-By Cheney
You've been drinking. OK. So you had a beer with lunch (but, uh, that was five hours ago). Now it's rush hour, and you're really into a news story that's on the radio. You turn a corner, and you're blinded by the sun. When you hear a thump, its seems like you've run over something. When you pull over to check the tires, you notice a body in the street.

For whatever reason, maybe you're the Vice President of the United States, and you've had four heart attacks, and you like to take a little nip now and then (which might not be so good for the ticker). Maybe you just have an ambulance and your own private staff of EMTs. Whatever. Do you send them on their way with the body and drive off?

Maybe it's better if you just kind of play it low-key. Have your secret service detail tell the police to just go fuck themselves or something if they come to the door. You've got to have time to pull yourself together, for Christ's sake. You're very worried.

Besides, there's a wonderful dinner waiting for you at home. Wines and everything. And you've already checked in with the boss.

WWCD?

Nuclear Cheney
This one happens over a period of time. So you bet your ass you've been drinking.

The price of oil continues to climb and the limp-wristed "conservationist" types (you know what I mean) keep insisting on the nonsensical notion that we're going to run out of oil. That's a laugh, but not the point. Ha!

Your former employer is already doing great after you've left them (with a considerable financial stake in the outfit, I might add). Your current connections are about to get them off the hook -- while appearing to hold them to account -- on a laundry list of asbestos claims, and you've been able to secure billions of dollars worth of work for them. So you're keeping the momentum going, anyway. Which is good, because as an oil services company, they're going to be stuck when the old tap runs dry. All of this diversification makes it look as though you believe the aforementioned LWC's.

Ahem...

So now "you" have crafted a new energy policy after having a number of secretive meetings with secret energy industry executives. And if you want to know who they are, go fuck yourself.

Executive Privilege, you assholes.

So a couple of years after you make building new nuclear power plants in this country for the first time since Three Mile Island the centerpiece of a new energy policy, a couple of them (not really very far apart) appear to have leaked several hundred thousand gallons of water contaminated with radioactive tritium.

WWCD?

If you start thinking inward, and wonder what you might do, you flunk. Take your conscience out of this. Loser.

You'd better bet your answers would be different from Dick "Dick" Cheney's.

50-Mentum.

So much for Big Mo and Little Mo. Here's 50 MO. And it ain't "Joe-Mentum" that put the Boy Ingemunson story as the banner story in this week's Kendall County Record. It was 50-Mentum.

The data has been available for a couple weeks, but made the paper today (Monday night is the deadline -- I posted Monday afternoon).

Tony Scott has a nice, balanced piece on the fundraising with all donor information. The Oswego-Sentinel/Record stories are posted seven days after publication. You'll see it here next Friday.

If you're in Kendall County this week, pick up a copy of any of the Record Newspapers while you're here (anywhere you can buy gasoline or food, I think). Scott does an excellent job on his beat, and it's a nice little paper worth supporting.

When Owning Your Household Budget Isn't Enough.

Today's Chicago Tribune reports that Exelon Corporation is now poisoning Grundy and Will Counties with radioactive tritium leaks from its Braidwood and Dresden nuclear power plants.

Let's build more nuclear power plants!

When we talk about campaign finance reform and lobbying reform, my own opinion is that these two wholly crooked operations are inextricably woven together. And this is the kind of thing that reform must wipe away forever.

The Great Gingrich Swindle lives on in the fat, pounding hearts of thieves like Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert and his ilk. Tax cuts for the wealthy are going directly into the pockets of those who have the power in government. That's the game, folks.

Talk About Loaded...

This "answer" by Cheney in today's hard-hitting (almost) real-life interview with Brit Hume, the worst television anchor in the history of the universe, is absolutely loaded. I'll just punch in my comments in italics.

CHENEY: Well, I still do. I still think that the accuracy was enormously important. Only now it's a gas, because I was secretive, as usual, and you know how much I enjoy fucking with people. I had no press person with me, I didn't have any press people with me. Only EMTs, who travel by ambulance with me wherever I go, which should be somewhat alarming to you, because it should well illustrate how much I've been lying about my overall health for years. I was there on a private weekend with friends on a private ranch. So fuck you. The trip was none of your God-Damned business. In terms of who I would contact to have somebody who would understand what we're even talking about, the first person that we talked with at one point, when Katherine first called the desk to get hold of a reporter didn't know the difference between a bullet and a shotgun -- a rifle bullet and a shotgun. It was a nameless, faceless, even imaginative kind of person that I use to illustrate my points quite often, Brit. It didn't happen. And there are a lot of basic important parts of the story that required some degree of understanding. ...for instance of what kind of baby-eating, uncaring monster I really am. And so we were confident that Katherine was the right one, especially because she was an eye-witness and she could speak authoritatively on it. And I personally knew she'd hold our story together. She probably knew better than I did what had happened since I'd only seen one piece of it. The piece shining in the glimmer of late afternoon sunlight that was coming off of my friend Harry's face.

Cheney Interview Transcript...

This just in, in segments

CHENEY: No. It was partly that. It was partly — also, it had to do with — he is the kind of individual who will make those kinds of charges and then come after you as though he's your best friend. And I expressed, in no uncertain terms, my views of the — of his conduct and walked away.

CAVUTO: Did you curse at him?

CHENEY: Probably.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Do you have any regrets?

CHENEY: No. I said it, and I felt that...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: So let me understand, he comes up, he sees you, Mr. Vice — he's all nice, shakes your hand. And then what do you do, let into him?

Cheney goes on for a few minutes next, then says this:

And I informed him of my view of his conduct in no uncertain terms. And as I say, I felt better afterwards.

CAVUTO: All right.

Uh, oh... Wait a minute. This is the transcript of the exclusive interview he did with Fox after he told Sen. Patrick Leahy, "Go fuck yourself."

Has anybody heard? Did Cheney shoot anybody while he was at the Fox studio today?

Hastert Talking Out of Both SidesOf His Big Fat Mouth.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert, Drinker of Oil, Whore, Sandwichandcoffeegetter of the CEOs.

Guess this is what he was talking about when he and others stood in front of a service station in DC and talked about bringing gas prices down for consumers.

This is not serving anyone but Hastert and the moneyed bastards that feed him.

Thoughts on the Katrina Report.

I'm wondering tonight whether or not the damning Katrina report to be released tomorrow by a special House committee will be readily available. It's certainly not being hyped, as it should be, on the house.gov site.

I seem to remember the shameful hyping prior to the release of the Starr Report, and Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert's site's spinning eyeballs and star-bursts pointing to the links upon its surprise release to the public.

This time is different, though. This is government doing the very hardest thing it can do: evaluating itself critically. And this time, there is nothing but shame and outrage.

Will Hastert make a statement tomorrow? Doubt it. He hasn't said a God-Damned thing so far (not that it would make a headline if he did). This is a guy who's made a career of lying low, and when saying something, saying nothing at all.

A nice little dose of leadership would be nice right about now.

Liberated Quail Hunting, The Sport of Queens.

Not the kind you find trolling Broadway. The Queens of historical significance. The Queens of England, for instance, love hunting quail. The 28 gauge shotgun does not have as much kick or powder as any other hunting rifle, which makes it a popular ladies sport.

Enter Dick "Dick" Cheney.

Cheney prefers what's technically known as "liberated hunts," which is what he was doing this past weekend at the Armstrong Ranch. That's where sometimes hundreds of fowl (bred specifically for this purpose) are turned loose and slaughtered by the hunting party.

I say slaughtered, because as many of my friends who hunt have told me, because the fowl, once released in this strange territory and terrain, are often confused and disoriented in their new surroundings, thus making them easy prey.

That's why when Cheney and Scalia were hunting together a few years ago with a party, Cheney was famously credited with shooting more than 70 quail. Close to 500 were released for the hunt; more than 400 were slaughtered. What's more, as many mallard and pheasant were also released and slaughtered.

With all that game flying about, why, one could even do it drunk. Which leads me to the theory that the Vice President was drinking during the hunt, and continued to drink that night, which is why he was under wraps.

Cheney's a drunk.

We know that he has the "disease of Kings." How fitting that he enjoys the sport of Queens, as well.

"Mike" Chertoff: Meet My Expectations.

Leave government forever.

Chertoff and Cheney both are playing it low-key today, just what we've come to expect from our responsive, grown-up led government.

Yesterday, Chertoff talked about "what we need to do... moving forward" with DHS and FEMA to prevent another Katrina-like show of government complacency.

On September 2, 2005, I said all I probably need to where this incompetent bastard is concerned.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Happy VD, Dear Hearts.

Twenty-Eight Yards.

Not only was Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert's buddy and mentor, Dick "Dick" Cheney hunting illegally when the "accident" occurred Saturday, the victim was only about 90 feet away (or less) when the Vice President of the United States of America pulled the trigger.

Jesus.

My fucking driveway is 90 feet, and I'd hate like hell to have to shoot someone out of anger at that distance. That would be like killing the mailman in my neighborhood.

Then again, Cheney uses a Girl's Gun when he hunts.

What a Complete and Total Asshole.

Major League, Minor League, Big Time, or not. Big Dick Cheney is a complete and total asshole.

Since you can't say that at the Chicago Tribune's D.C. Bureau Blog, I'll say it here (as if it needs to be said out loud anymore today).

It appears that Cheney's license and stamps are now at issue down in good old Texas.

This Is How It Works In Kendall County.

People outside this county often ask me, what it must be like here in order for a guy like Denny Hastert to rise to the position of U.S. Representative. The House Speaker thing is spelled D-E-L-A-Y.

Here's how it works here.

Someone close to the Speaker was arrested for a DUI recently. Phones rang. Police procedures were not followed. The "Strong Smell of Alcohol" is noted on the paperwork...

But there was no breathalizer. No "blow test" was done.

The case was just thrown out.

When you're connected to Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert and his friends, the local authorities respect your place in society.

Others were not so lucky over the holidays.

The Rise of Boy Ingemunson.

Well, well. Dallas Ingemunson's little Boy wants to follow in his father's footsteps. And Daddy sure is piling on the cash. Not his cash, though. That's not the Republican way we've come to know and love.

It's other people's money. To the tune of more than $113,000 at year-end.

Boy's opponent for Kendall County State's Attorney in the March primary is an assistant State's Attorney in the Kendall County State's Attorney's office and has already received the endorsements of most of the county officials, notably Treasurer Jill Ferko, who beat the "establishment Republican" candidate in 2002.

If the money spent so far is any indication, though, Ingemunson's family pursuit of power means they'll stop at nothing to win.

As a Democrat, I'd like to see at least one D in Kendall County government (which would be a first in history, honestly). But as a spectator in a race where there is no Democrat with the nerve to run, I'm backing Weis.

And opposing Dallas Ingemunson, Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert's original benefactor.

Fire Fran Townsend.

First of all, the president's Homeland Security Advisor is terrible in front of a camera. Second of all, she's conveying the message that the post-Katrina problem was local, and those who didn't get out of the way were their worst enemy.

Don't point fingers and lay blame, she says.

Take a clue from your own "Disparage Others After They Disparage You" playbook, honey.

That's a stunning jacket, by the way, isn't it?

Scott McClellan: Voice of Experience.

From the Voice of Experience category today, Scott McClellan recaps on the way Dick "Dick" Cheney and his staff decided to handle press coverage of his accidental shooting of a hunting companion and campaign donor over the weekend:

``I think you can always look back at these issues and look at how to do a better job,'' McClellan said when asked if he was satisfied how the situation was handled.

Wow. I've got to keep that one in my back pocket for when I need a lame excuse.

Fox Will Be Fox.

I love the titles under the talking heads on Fox today:

"Cheney Not First VP to Shoot Someone"

"Gerald Ford Said To Be Dangerous On Golf Course"

"VP Aaron Burr Shot Alexander Hamilton In Duel"

OK. OK. How about some more? How about...

"Nixon Was Also Drunken Lunatic"

"Elder Bush Shot By D.C. Mistress During Eighties"

"Quayle Never Shot By Anyone"

Chicago Tribune Readers Say the Funniest Things...

The comments field on the Cheney story is simply dripping with my tears of laughter.

One genius says:

Give me a break this is so stupid. If the guy died then it would be a big deal but the guy is not that injured. Im not even Republican and think people are making a big deal out of this because they have nothing else to do but come up with ways to find wrongs. Far worst things have gone unreported through many Presidents including Clinton.
Posted by: Scott | Feb 12, 2006 10:19:56 PM

You know, Scott is absolutely right. The guy is only in the intensive care unit this morning, and expected to be released today, according to CNN.

Jesus. This is such a big deal! The guy was only in intensive care for two days.

And Scott is right. Far worse things have happened.

President John Tyler's cabinet was nearly wiped out by cannon fire during a drunken party to christen the USS Princeton, and history books don't even tell the story!

Cheney apologist sure has a funny ring to it, doesn't it?

And If You're Still Up...

Check out "CNN Presents" at 1:00 a.m. Central Time, Monday.

I'm watching 'Dead Wrong:' Inside an Intelligence Meltdown now, and it's absolutely spellbinding.

Sobering Numbers.

Ilona has a great read over at Soapblox/Chicago with some sobering statistics about U.S. casualties in Iraq.

Just as she leads with "three cheers to Esquire" magazine for the story, I say Three Cheers for Ilona.

She's just started a blog, btw. The latest on my blogroll. Check it out.

She has a snappy-looking blog template, too, albeit the wrong color.

Dick Cheney. Gun Owner. NRA Member.

Shoots his quail hunting buddy's face off.

Jesus.

More than wondering if this is "Cheney's Chappaquiddick" (as it happens, the incident was reported a day after the real-life event), I'm wondering just what the hell you say to your friend after you've "peppered him pretty good" (yuk, yuk) about the face, neck and chest with your fucking shotgun.

How about these:

"Hope your your fucking face grows back..."

"Sorry I shot your face off..."

"Hope you're back hunting quail with us really soon..."

"Thanks for your campaign contributions, sorry I almost killed you..."

Look at these guys in the picture. What the hell are they thinking? "Oooooo. It's a gun! Gosh, it's beautiful." What the hell is it with these guys?

Losing Support, Hastert the Weak Caves on Patriot Act.

Another sign of disarray among the GOP House ranks, Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert waited a full day after the White House and Senate Republicans announced their agreement on changes in the Patriot Act before giving it his blessing for the House.

If anyone needs more proof of disarray and weakness among Republicans, I don't know what it form it would come in to make it any clearer.

Here's a Topic for a New Senate Hearing.

Why is Norm Coleman such a prick?

Coleman is trying to out-lawyer Michael Brown, who has already revealed that the White House knew the severity of the destruction in NOLA after Katrina and did nothing.

It's All Over, Except For The Crying.

One of Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert's mentors, Dick "Dick" Cheney, really has his dick in the wringer tonight.

CNN is reporting that Scooter "Scooter" Libbey told the grand Jury that he was "authorized by his superiors" to leak classified information.


The National Journal goes a step further and puts the finger on Cheney.

How un-American is that, anyway? To have the Vice President of the United States authorizing the dissemination of classified information to the news media in order to destroy someone's credibility?

Let's hope Patrick Fitzgerald doesn't fall for the Nuremburg defense ("I was only following orders") and starts piling up the indictments.

Any chance we could see a "Vice President Denny Hastert" soon?

HaHaHahahahaha. Not a fucking chance!

CNN Finally Reporting My Sept. 1 Report.

When I reported to you, gentle readers, on September 1, 2005, that "Haley Barbour is a Lying Sack of Shit," Katrina was a fresh breeze still blowing up our skirts (not at all unlike what Haley Barbour does for a living).

CNN's Internet Reporter, Abbi Tatton, reported on the blog report today (not my blog, of course) but another blog with the NOAA storm path prediction model graphic I selected that week.

...proving once again that I am smarter than the average bear.

I Guess You Could Say That.

Incredibly, or maybe not so incredibly, this is the image I came up with moments ago while doing a Google image search for "bush speech" to go with the previous item.

Also less than incredible is the fact that the link comes from a soldier's page at Fort Bragg's site.

I never really thought about it, but I guess one of the president's speeches is kind of like having to watch a spindly dog try to fuck a monkey.

I'll never look at it any other way again.

Ruling With The Iron Grip of Fear.

One thing about this president is clear as a tinkling bell on a winter morning: George W. Bush and his incompetent tribe are such simpletons, you can always see the next move coming.

Today, we learned about a terrible plot, thwarted by a "southeast Asian nation," to use Asian shoe bombers to take over jetliners and fly them into buildings in L.A.

That's making a nation gripped with fear almost forget the false alarm in the Russell Senate Office Building last night.

Hastert Rewards DeLay With Cherry Post.

This is simply incredible. Instead of being banished after an indictment for money-laundering, among other charges, DeLay is now on the committee that will provide the oversight for the Justice Department's investigation of Jack Abramoff.

Batshit Crazy.

That's a term my father used to use for when things go really, really wrong. (That's two reallys)

I had my own encounter (the first and only, thank Gog) with radical fundamentalist Islamists when I was in college.

Not long after the hostages were taken at the US Embassy in Tehran, a group on my college campus sponsored a public meeting to discuss the situation from the perspective of followers of Ayatollah Khomeini.

What I witnessed that night was the craziest thing I've ever seen. It still stands today as my benchmark under the heading "Totally Batshit Crazy, Out of Fucking Control."


I noticed that several of the leaders of the group that sponsored the event were obvious imports. It was obvious because they made no secret of the fact that they were new to the campus, they wore jackets of other universities.

Before the meeting even started, there was bickering going on between factions of Iranian students. The opening speaker started off by issuing a tirade against the Shah. Certainly not a problem among the dozens of U.S. students attending. But the reaction to everything by the speaker met with constant heckling and shouting from a group of Iranian students who opposed the Ayatollah's return to Iran.

Before long, the long dufflebags I observed in the AV room adjacent to the stage in the auditorium where the meeting took place, were unzipped and pipes and baseball bats were being used on anyone and everyone in the room. I ran out like a chicken. No kidding. I wasn't going to get my brains beat out for being curious.


My "fight or flight" instincts prevailed. What I gained from that encounter is still a salient message today.

These guys probably didn't take dufflebags full of pipes and baseball bats to their meeting because they feared for their safety. They came loaded for bear. They felt they had been oppressed under the Shah, and in fact, they were.

But that didn't give them the right to beat the living hell out of anyone. I'm not sure, but I don't think there's anything in the Koran about justifying violent public outrage for, well, anything.

Nor does it give the people the right to make fun of or denigrate someone else's beliefs.

Here's a simple rule that's prevented me from going totally Batshit Crazy from time-to-time.
Don't get all wrapped up in your religion as if it's more important than anything else in the world. Someone else might have the same idea, but about a set of beliefs that's a little different from yours.

We have plenty of examples of this in our own culture. Let's not be stupid.


Oh, yeah. There was justice that night. The Office of Public Safety and the local police came and beat the living hell out of everyone remaining at the scene and put them all in jail for being Batshit Crazy In Public. I think that was the statute, anyway.

"Book of Daniel" Online...

This could be the start of something big.

While I was out (actually, I think right before I was away), NBC announced it was cancelling the new series "The Book of Daniel" because of low ratings and the public outcry the program stirred.

Don't believe for a minute it was ratings. "Cheers" had terrible ratings, but executives believed in the product and found ways to make it run on top for 11 seasons.

As the product of a Protestant household, and the former frequent date of a few "PK's" in my younger days, I don't think there was anything wrong at all with the program. It tells it much like it really is... in the real world.

Of course, "the church" today -- however you construe that term -- wants it all. Don't question the doctrine, the dogma, the belief in magical powers and all.

NBC has since announced that it will stream the final, unaired episodes of "The Book of Daniel" at nbc.com.

Do yourself, and the future of media, a big favor. Go over to nbc.com and view the final episodes. Then follow up with a letter to the network. Tell them you'd like them to resurrect (no pun intended) the series and offer it strictly over broadband and through iTunes.

You'll be helping to shape the media of the future. Where loudmouth assholes like Radical Fundamentalist Cleric James Dobson and his crew have no say in what you want to buy from the media.

Garrison Keillor.

Just read today's column in Salon or in print.

Keillor is undeniably one of the great voices of our time.

Not One Balanced Budget.

For those of you who have friends who like to argue with us "tax and spend Liberals," here's a factoid for you to kick around.

George W. Bush and the Gingrich-DeLay-Hastert Congress have not given you one, single balanced budget. Ever. Period.

What they have given you, however, is a national debt that will swell beyond $12 Trillion by the time Bush is gone in 2009.

What the...

Can someone explain how in the world the unemployment rate dropped 2/10 of a percent with 193,000 jobs created last month?

I'm on free wireless for a little while longer (another advantage of visiting Charlotte). Wish I had time to find a Robert Reich commentary somewhere.

What??

Did anyone hear Bush's Porter Wagoner quote earlier today in Nashville?

How cool would it have been to give a State of the Union speech in a Porter Wagoner outfit?

Jesus. How fucking insane is that?

GOP "Morning After" Screwing.

With George W. Bush's "major speeches," it's always worse the morning after, when the whole crew takes the "message to the people."

Here comes the real screwing. Don't buy it.

Here's the lyrics to the theme song:

Shake it up, shake it down
Move it in, twist it round, disco lady
Shove it in, pull it out, slide it in round about, disco lady
Jump on top, then go down
Astro-Glide all around, disco lady

Coverup: Kendall County Accident.

If you were involved in an accident in Kendall County on New Year's Eve, I would like to hear from you.

Same goes if you know someone who was in an accident; if the vehicle was struck by a pickup truck, please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Please don't drink and drive.

Cheers!

GOP Lie Machine Revs Up for More.

This seems to be everywhere today, which is part of our problem.

In our retail and services economy, media players lick their chops for nonsense like this.

And all it does is feed the juggernaut and propel us into a new round of senseless ad wars.

How many billions of dollars do people have to spend before we, as a nation, as the most powerful economy in the history of the world, realize the waste of it all?

Why in the world would I -- if I were a GOP supporter -- spend my money to spread this message around?

The "middle class tax cut" would easily be eaten away by such frivolous spending in our household.

And why would I not see that only those with money and a lust for power would play a part in this ugly game?

He Forgot About Mars.

The President of the United States would not forget a plan like Mars. Nosir.

If you're going to re-hash five years of nonsensical speeches made for TV, you should remember Mars.

Note to CNN:

Jesus Crimony. Fire JC Watts.

Who on planet earth had the idea to hire him as a "political analyst" in the first place?

If he has something important or some perspective to add to the discussion, that's one thing. Puking out talking points is another.

Start over.

Summary of Tonight's SOTU.

The Classic Rock side of me says go with Three Dog Night.

The angry part says go with the Rollins Band version, which is just so much more fun.

If you don't have iTunes, please get it. It's so much fun.

The title of both, and the one-word summary of tonight's speech:

Liar.

Nearing My Summary of the SOTU Adress.

The Temptations, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Ball of Confusion.

OK. I just can't do it anymore...

I've finished the text of Chaucey Gardener's speech.

Nothing but a bunch of corned beef hash from March 19-20. Leftovers. Re-hashed shit that's just bad for you.

Most of the proposals are either laughable, or are completely unworkable.

This is a great line: "...For all Americans, we must confront the rising cost of care, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship and help people afford the insurance coverage they need."

Notice how he's going to help you "afford the ...coverage." Sounds like more HMO/Medicare coverage to me.

Chauncey's energy challenges are so great at this point that developing the technology to generate ethanol from wood chips in six years is like a farmer asking for rain some time in the future.

This president has so badly miscalculated, so badly managed, so badly led, so badly prioritized that we will likely take a generation to fix the damage done.

Cutting the Deficit in Half by 2009.

What Mr. Chauncey Gardener means by that is that instead of overspending us into oblivion by blowing $400 Billion Dollars past what we take in in taxes each year, he'll only blow past it by about $200 Billion by 2009.

OK. Maybe $250 Billion. Nobody's perfect.

More emptiness.

Bush Calls for Renewed Patriot Act.

I think this calls for the Stones.

Leadership?

This president wants to talk about leadership?

We gotta get outta this place.

Cindy Sheehan is Arrested at Capitol.

Dirty sons of bitches.

Whiskey River, Take My Mind.

Tonight's Theme: Music.

With my occasion now over, and this looking like a big night for the Democratic message, I've decided to set a cheery tone tonight with posts that use either a song title or lyric. I'll try to link them to iTunes whenever I can.

Oh, yeah. This should make up for all the nasty stuff last night.

Bush's Buddy.

Wonder if the president will bring this up tonight.

Good old Vladduhmurr. I'm glad George W. Bush was able to look into his soul and see this coming.

A Large Vessel of Emptiness.

While the press is waiting breathlessly to find out who will sit on either side of Lorr Bush tonight (it is rumored, alternately, to be Mrs. Alito or someone who has a business in the energy sector), let's take a moment to reflect.

Try to list as many of the empty challenges Bush has issued to Congress in his past four addresses (no fair if you copy and paste the text of all four speeches).

To round out the emptiness in this vessel, now list all of the "hard work" that Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert has done to make things better for all Americans in his time as Speaker.

Bush Fatigue.

Even the White House got a bad case of Bush Fatigue while preparing a story for the website.

Looking for information about the tonight's State of the Union speech, if you follow the "more information" link, you get a canned piece about the history of the annual address.

WH Insiders Release SOTU Practice Tapes.

You get just enough of the flavor of tomorrow night's speech from this. Surprisingly, a number of speakers were at the dry run.

Sheesh. This is sickening. Playing the terror card.

And This God-Damned Sonofabitch...

Would have been blown out of his fucking house slippers if Al Gore had rightfully occupied the White House.

Instead of taunting us with, "Missed me..."

Presidential transition taken into account, a Kerry White House might have gotten the job done by now.

Don't even fucking get me started.

And this crazy motherfucker would have had his limbs run through a fucking chipper before being sealed into a septic tank on a small farm in southern Illinois to be shat upon by the well-fed brasseros eating black beans, rice and molé three times a day.

I'll tell you what the God-Damned State of the Union is...

Celebrating Lie Fest Eve.

Sorry about the anger, gentle readers.

H is a bit hot under the undies tonight (relax) over revelations today that we were all right about the Beirut bombing link to Reagan's utter stupidity (uh, and the intelligence of electing a career mediocre actor as POTUS).

I'm just waiting for some smug little Dorkville creep to say something snotty at the bar tomorrow night, as the SOTU plays, like "Get over it..."*

I have just fucking had it.

Start your protest tomorrow night.

*I am not watching this little bastard's speech. We have a function at a restaurant Tuesday night in Kendall County, and yocals will undoubtedly be at the bar whooping it up.

Don't Confuse The Two.

This one is a Lying Motherfucker, not the Lying Cocksucker mentioned in the previous post.

Wonder if this one will lie some more and deny Weinberger's de facto indictment of Reagan on the Beirut bombing.

Jesus. Next we'll probably find out North and Reagan are linked to drugs, or something totally insane, like the introduction of crack cocaine to the U.S. drug market.

Fucking Lying Mobsters: The Reagan Years.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Who Ya Think's Gonna Sit With Lorr?

Miss Eleeto, 'course.

Jesus. I hope she doesn't start bawling.

Are we expecting anything other than something just below mediocre, anyone?

I'm not giving him that much credit, this time around.

NOLA.

I had to send my images to someone who actually knew how to use Quicktime, so these images have been delayed for quite some time. I know I've received plenty of emails asking when the images would be up. Hopefully, starting now.

A once-beautiful and unique American city is wiped out. As I mentioned Saturday night, I looked at these for the first time on the plane and had hoped to post Sunday.

Unfortunately, time, and my software got away from me. Photoshop exploded and refuses to re-install, and I did not have a "photo stitcher" program with me.

Here's the first panorama (you need Quicktime for this).

There are two shots in the middle of all of this mess that were ignored by the software (for whatever reason). You get the idea.

That is, indeed, a barge on top of at least one house on the far right. The house is literally under the bottom of the barge, and not at all visible. The barge apparently came through the levy breach and is sitting clear of the levy itself.

Notic that the only buildings that still stand (everywhere you pan here was once homes and trees) are next to the barge. Ironically, winds and water blew well past the barge and protected these two structures.

This was shot one month ago. The devastation is just breathtaking.

Hastert's $Trillion Medicare Nightmare.

The corrupt practices that were honed to perfection during the Gingrich-DeLay-Hastert reign of terror were at their zenith in the passage of the Medicare Part D Nightmare that has just now been unleashed on seniors.

The only two questions that remain are:

"When will the criminals in Congress be held accountable?"
"When will the Medicare program that's been horribly broken by Hastert and his cronies be fixed?"

An excellent compilation of information that may get you thinking about these questions is here.

Steve and I may not see eye-to-eye on a couple of candidate issues, but this is a must-read for everyone.

The Hastert-Menard Link.

Word comes to me that Mr. Menard, who owns the Menards chain of home improvement stores, is very close to Mr. Hastert (Massuh Hassut, I've decided to call him). In fact, I'm told they have vacationed together.

Little wonder then, that the Hastert Highway, which Denny has been pushing for his political cronies since he first got into the state legislature, has a final plan that goes right next to the Menard's warehouse in Plano.

What great planning!

Calling All Accident Victims.

If you were involved in an accident in Kendall County on Christmas Eve, I would like to hear from you.

Same goes if you know someone who was in an accident; if the vehicle was struck by a pickup truck, please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Please don't drink and drive.

Cheers!

Say Helloooo to Denny.

This is not the first time someone from His Fatness's address has visited. Nor is it the first time today.

Say hello to the USS Hastert, the worst Speaker of the House in our history, everyone!

Kendall County Clerk Interprets His Own Law.

It appears that last Friday, as Ruben Zamora supporters spread out all over the district to verify voter registration information, they were not welcome to access this public information in Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert's home county.

A campaign insider shared this, among other interesting things:

The county clerk would not let our supporter check the files without a "court order." ... Every other election office opened their doors and were very gracious. (Aurora, Kane County and Dekalb) There were 58 voter registrations to be checked (in Kendall) but we did not need them, after all.

So maybe Kendall County Clerk Paul Anderson can explain why he violated the law by not allowing inspection of these public records?

Voter registration is, in fact, a matter of public record. It is open for inspection at any time (except during the month prior to an election day) during the county clerk's regular business hours.

As a matter of fact, Zamora only needed to issue a "written request" to keep Anderson and his deputies at work until he was done, whatever that entailed.

That is the law in Illinois. Check it out.

Harry Truman.

It's time for one of my favorite quotes, although the actual phrasing varies, depending on the person who tells recounts it. Truman was talking about Nixon, at the time.

You can fill in the blank yourselves, gentle readers:

"___________ is a shifty-eyed goddamn liar. . . . .He's one of the few in the history of this country to run for high office talking out of both sides of his mouth at the same time and lying out of both sides”

I take great offense, btw, at the historically inaccurate spelling of the term, "God-Damned."

The Name Game.

Springer On The Radio had a very funny parody song of "The Name Game." It still makes me laugh.

This name game is pretty serious, though.

See, you have all of these Feeleys. First, there was Bridget, who requested copies of Zamora's petitions under the name Bridget Stencel. Anyone can request copies of petitions. Not so remarkable unless you add in the timing of the request.

Then Patricia's name shows up on the Laesch campaign as its treasurer. And, of course, if you've been keeping up with what I've already tipped you off about in the Kendall County petition challenges, there's Jim Feeley, the Sergeant of Arms of the Kendall County Central Committee, who objected to at least one petition of the 11 committeemen that were thrown off the ballot a few weeks ago.

Ah, remember those were "Progressive Democrats" who filed objections to the Democratic candidates for committeemen in 11 precincts.

And Jim Feeley is a "Progressive Democrat" in Kendall County, which meets, oddly enough, on the same night, at the same time, as the Kendall County Democrats. Very odd for a group supposedly promoting the Democratic party to have such a regularly scheduled conflict. And how very odd for an officer in the regular party to make a commitment to both groups.

And John Laesch, who I understand does not attend Kendall County Democratic Party meetings, also is one of these "Progressive Democrats" in Kendall.

Take a look at their candidate list here. Odd, how slanted it is toward PDCKC members; plain old Democrats have nothing in the information field next to their names.

By now, you're wondering the same thing as me: not whether or not Jim Feeley can be at two meetings at the same time, but how he and his wife (who are well-connected Democrats with ties to Chicago Alderman Richard Mell, the governor's father-in-law) and their daughter, Bridget, got involved in all of this without thinking that someone would notice.

Now, this pair of Ducos. I sure would like to know if one used a party organization to simply tout the other's boss for a cheap endorsement, while Ruben Zamora would be presumably flopping around trying to save his campaign and pay his attorney fees. And it sure would be interesting to hear why at least two prominent members of the Laesch campaign, one Mr. Duco included, attended the petition challenge hearing before the Kendall County Elections Board.

Oh, yes. There's just one more thing, as Columbo might say. Those papers filed in Kendall County at the same time the objection went out on Zamora were all notarized by one Patricia D. Feeley. So all 11 of the candidates can look no further than the Feeleys to thank for the challenge, which took 11 regular Democrats off the ballot in favor of these "Progressives."

How convenient all of this is.

So. Here We Are.

We are now at the intersection of Conjecture and Incredible Coincidence.

Both campaigns verified that the email was authentic. The Zamora campaign asked pointedly if anyone from their campaign had shared it. The answer is "no."

John Laesch responded by offering me a good schooling in public relations. In that email, Laesch states, "I did write the e-mail, but I don't think that it is in anyone's best interst to get this information on the streets."

Thanks for the lesson.

And of Zamora, Laesch also says, " If you take every race in 2002 and 2004 and compare three factors (money raised, total votes and % increase), you will learn quite a bit. Zamora did OK for the amount of $ he raised. Prior to my stepping in this race, he had not yet raised $5K and probably would not have done too much better than last time (we will never know).

"I believe that bringing to light the issue of ethics in public forum does not help our party or Zamora's future poltical (sic)ambitions."

That was interesting. We will never know? Sounds pretty sure. Pretty cock sure.

And bringing to light the issue of ethics? Come now. Let's turn for a moment to a different ethical question for a moment.

What if a candidate received an endorsement, then the endorsement was withdrawn? Wouldn't an ethical candidate want to clarify the situation for the same public which had received their press information about said endorsement?

Here's another bite of a followup email from a source close to the Laesch campaign:

Interesting that he hasn't retracted the story about Laesch getting a PDA endorsement. PDA cancelled plans to endorse Laesch when it turned out that the local chapter which voted for the endorsement had never had a public meeting and had ignored numerous emails asking for the meeting times and locations.

Who, I inquired, would be responsible for such a gaffe?

When I directed an email to the contact for this PDA group for clarification, I received the following terse response:

...Our chapter of the PDA, which is the Progressive Democrats of the 14th Congressional District, did endorse John Laesch and that endorsement is not, nor will it be, withdrawn. Many members of our group are currently working with the Laesch campaign and we will continue to do so. The state chapter of the PDA, Progressive Democrats of Illinois, has decided not to endorse a candidate in the primary for the 14th congressional race. The national chapter is currently deciding whether to endorse, and if so who to endorse. I hope this will clear some points up for you, let me know if you have any other questions.
Jessie Duco

Now the coincidences are stacking up, I thought. So I sent another email back to Jessie Duco, which read, essentially:

You didn't really answer my question. Perhaps it's better if I pull a quote from another email I recently received about John Laesch's candidacy:"

( see above quote )

Is this true? If it is, are you planning to respond somehow? If it's not, why would someone say that about an endorsement by a Democratic group?

One more question -- Are you related to Matthew Duco, John Laesch's communications director?

That email hasn't been answered, yet. If you're out there, Jessie, I'd still like to know.

Meet Joe Stupec.

Joe Stupec's letter to Hiram Wurf was sent to me within about an hour of my request for information and clarification of the issues. Mr. Stupec also followed it up with an addendum, which updated this letter (sent to Wurf on Jan. 20), and answered a couple of my questions, however indirectly.

Dear Hiram:

I've read your insightful comments regarding Mr Zamora's campaign and I must say I agree with them. I've chosen you to be the first to get this update because I believe you to be very fair and honest.

I thought you'd like an update on today's hearing but first some background on me if you don't mind.

I have never (I'm ashamed to say) been involved in politics before but the state of the nation has deteriorated to a point where I can no longer sit on the sidelines with a clear conscience. When I was looking around for a candidate to back, my logical choice was Rubin Zamora. I voted for him last time, he's from my town and I had heard him speak on Air America's Mike Malloy show. My decision was made until I heard John Laesch also on Malloy's program. To reconfirm my decision I wrote a few e-mails to John because my main concern is with church/state relationships. Since John touted his Christian background I thought I'd test him on that issue and he came through with flying colors as far as I was concerned. He invited me to a get-together and my wife and I attended. We felt very comfortable with his team and so we decided we'd cast our lot with John. I had nothing against Rubin, and still don't, it just worked out that way. Essentially a flip of a coin. So I guess that made me a "Laesch supporter" although I considered myself merely a Democratic supporter. This occurred around Thanksgiving time of last year..

Ok, I'm getting to the "challenge". I would go to Laesh's office from time to time and from the beginning the emphasis was on getting signatures for John's petition to get on the ballot. There was never enough and they were collected until the deadline. In addition to collecting signatures, much time was spent verifying signatures to be sure they were of registered voters, proper signatures and addresses and anything else to be sure the lists were valid. To be honest I don't know the exact number of signatures collected. After they were submitted I never asked. I would guess 3000.

As any efficient organization should do, I believe, when it was learned that Rubin only submitted 1,332 signatures it wasn't rocket science to think it a good idea to verify his names to be sure he was over the 863 minimum to actually be on the ballot. Not expecting to get the results we did, to my surprise we found more than enough names to show that Rubin was sloppy enough to not verify his signatures to guarantee his viability or he just decided to submit what he had in the hope that nobody would notice. So there you are, I did notice and so I was faced with the question- What is the right thing to do? This was in no way a "fishing expedition". The audit was done professionally with full confidence that the challenge would be vindicated as we had enough to show he was below the minimum. There's no way I would have challenged Rubin if he had been above the minimum. What would be the point? I decided the best thing to do was to file the objection and let the Board of elections decide. When I decided to get into politics I had no idea I'd be faced with such a conundrum but I'm determined that everything must be on the up-and-up no matter who's campaign or who's party I find problems. I haven't seen or heard all of the vitriol that has been generated but the fact is that the challenge has been vindicated in that as of today's hearing Rubin was shown to only have 837 valid signatures with 20 more still under review. That means that 495 or 37% of his signatures were not valid. Again, that is as of 3 pm today.

I'm writing this before the final decision takes place this Saturday at 2pm because Mr Zamora has been given another bite of the apple and he has until then to try to resurrect enough of the now rejected signatures to get himself above the minimum number of 863. That's 26 people he has to find to get notarized statements from that they are, in fact, the proper person at the proper residence. I have no doubt that will happen. Rubin has 2 high powered attorneys and they won't allow anything else to happen. I wish him luck.

Here's a scary thought which helped me decide to go forward. What if there had been no challenge, Rubin advances beyond the primary and then the Hastert campaign found out Rubin wasn't a valid candidate?

Here's the headline:

BREAKING NEWS: IT'S BEEN REVEALED ZAMORA DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH SIGNATURES TO BE ON BALLOT. HASTERT DEMANDS HIS WITHDRAWAL FROM CAMPAIGN!!

So there you have it.....the rest of the story. No fishing expedition, no secret plot to remove a perfectly good Democratic candidate from a ballot, no trying to give John Laesch a free ride to the general election and certainly nothing personal on my part against Rubin. In fact as of 3pm Saturday the pall of illegitimacy should be removed and we'll have no fear of it being used against him. I feel I've done him a service although he may find it hard to see. I've already told him that if he's successful in the primary that I'd be calling him to ask how I could help. You see I have my sights on Dennis Hastert, not Rubin Zamora and I hope he realizes that. It sounds hoaky but whoever gets past the primary is going to need, every last friend and Democrat to defeat the Republican. I'll watch the primary with interest knowing I cannot lose it no matter who "wins" it.

Thanks for your time. I hope you can pass this along to help cool this environment and get our eyes on the prize again.

Joe Stupec

Admirable, at the same time, incredibly naive. You can draw your own conclusions. Everyone who is interested in what happened is entitled to an explanation, whether you see a connection to Laesch or not.

On a personal note, you should be aware that Mr. Stupec is in his sixties. While he has opened this can of worms himself, please respect his privacy and leave him alone.

The glowing truth of the matter is that no one's numbers are questioned unless the petitions are found by the SBE to be inadequate, or if someone challenges them. And again, there's the timing of things that begs the question, "was this orchestrated somehow?"

Whether he was talked into it or not, Mr. Stupec's naive approach to the perceived "problem" with Ruben's candidacy did no one any favors.

Mr. Laesch, however, indicated before the challenge was decided by the mediator, and since, characterized Zamora's as both "illegal," "unethical" and "fraudulent," and told me in an email recently that the petitions were under lock and key by Mr. Stupec and Patricia Feeley.

There's that name again. Feeley.

Was Laesch Behind Petition Challenge?

Ruben Zamora's supporters jumped at the fact that no one has been shy about describing the objector to the petitions, Joseph Stupec of Aurora, as a Laesch supporter.

Laesch, himself, refers to Stupec as a "firm supporter."

But try to connect Mr. Stupec to the Laesch campaign, and you get flat denials. And some confusing information.

Clint Raulsten, who posted (in peace) a number of outrageous comments at SoapBlox/Chicago, had plenty of details for a guy who wants to claim he's not in on the objection. In fact, Raulsten stated a number of times that his candidate had actually wanted a Primary race, and thought it would be good for the party.

That, however, would seem to be counter to information that's since been shared with me. The following is Laesch's response to a representative of Progressive Democrats of Illinois, who sent the campaign an email asking why he was challenging Zamora's signatures.

It's important to note that I did not receive any information from any of the recipients of this email. No one from either campaign has supplied me with information. All of the recipients I queried did authenticate it, however.

From: "John Laesch"
To: xxxxx
CC: xxxxx
Subject: RE: Signatures challenge
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006 23:55:53 -0600

xxxxx,

Thank you as always for your support of Progressive causes and candidates. Perhaps PDI members are working for the wrong candidate.

I have not challenged Ruben's signatures. Joe Stupec, a firm supporter, has issued a challenge. After the challenge was filed, I took the Christmas holiday to review Zamora's signatures personally and compare them to a voter file (this consumed a week of my valuable time). Zamora does not have enough signatures to get on the ballot and there are clear signs of unethical signature gathering procedures. There are near-full pages all written in the same handwritting. This is illegal, unethical and not representative of our party. I will furnish copies of these petitions to you if you wish.

With all due respect to Mr. Zamora, we need to do better.

I am supporting Stupec's challenge based on ethics. I don't understand how someone who has been running for Congres for the past two years can fail to get on the ballot and a guy who has been campaigning for 4 months can:

- Collect 1925 signatures
- Raise more money
- Earn more endorsements
- Earn national media (and we'll do it again here shortly)

I don't care if the challenge goes forward or there is a primary - I plan on going to Washington in Jan 2007. I have a brother stationed in Iraq and betting on a Zamora for Congress effort is not good enough. If your brother was in harms way, I promise that you would not bet on a guy who gathered a mere 87,000 votes and 600-some signatures in front of grocery stores.

Zamora is diverting my time and resources away from a real race against DH. If you want to see a liberal Democrat defeat the Speaker of the house, then I would like to welcome you aboard.

Respectfully,
John Laesch

Now, there's plenty in that email that is important. First of all, you can see from the tone in this that Laesch is not at all happy about having a "diversion" in March. The followup thread to this email reveals that Mr. Laesch is rattled by questions about the challenge. More on that later.

Second is the outright claim of support for the objector's challenge, which would mean Mr. Raulsten was lying on behalf of his candidate (not a good idea). Make what you will of the rest.

Now, what about timing? Laesch claims he "took the Christmas holiday" to review the petitions himself, which should raise eyebrows. What Laesch (a son of missionaries) defines as "the Christmas holiday" is open to speculation. It would appear to be, perhaps, weekend-to-weekend since he says it consumed "an entire week of (his) valuable time."

When you consider the fact that the petition challenge was filed on the Tuesday after Christmas, that would not be a good thing for Mr. Laesch, as his campaign manager also said Mr. Stupec came to them after filing the objection.

It would appear that the claims distancing the campaign from Mr. Stupec's objection don't add up.

Laesch Will Have a Primary Opponent.

Whatever you make of the challenge to Ruben Zamora's petitions, one thing is all but certain. We will have a Prmary race in IL CD 14. This is the first in (my) memory for the Democratic party in this heavily and reliably Republican district.

How exciting. There are two Democratic candidates vying for the right to challenge the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

That's the fight we need to take back to the Republicans, I thought. Remember Tom Foley and the whispering campaign about his sexuality? Republicans used a lie about Foley to not only take control of the House, but to defeat Foley in his home district. It was a humiliating experience for all Democrats.

Let's get Hastert, I thought. This is exactly what we need I thought. No whispering campaigns, though. We don't play that game. We'll sing in unison and raise the volume during the Primary.

At the very least, this might generate some great national press attention.

But all of that changed around 1 p.m. on December 19. The filing deadline was about 4 hours away when a copy of Ruben Zamora's petitions was requested by someone named Bridget Stencel of Chicago.

This caused a great deal of confusion for some time, because no one in the Blogger Intelligentsia could locate a Bridget Stencel at the address on record with the objection. Someone pointed out, however, that a Bridget Feeley shows up at the North Francisco address on file with the Board of Elections.

Remember that name, Feeley. It's important.

No matter the name, many Zamora supporters and plenty more Democrats wanted to know who this person was who requested the copies of the candidate's petitions. Everyone wanted to know who Joe Stupec, the challenger, was.

Above all, everyone wanted to know about their affiliations. When Joe Stupec turned out to be a Democrat, and a supporter of John Laesch, the questions boiled down to one word: What?!

The Challenger Speaks!

After receiving a couple emails earlier today from the person who challenged Candidate Ruben Zamora's petitions, I now have a better picture of the challenge.

Thanks to Mr. Joe Stupec, the challenger, for responding with so much information, and so promptly.

More later. I need some time to sort through all the info.

There is plenty more that's already written for the blog (it needs to be checked thoroughly before posting), and now there's more still after hearing from Mr. Stupec.

BULLETIN: Hastert, Cronies Invent Perpetual Motion.

It's true! Unlike the hundreds of others before them, Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert and his corrupt cronies have invented the first Perpetual Motion Device. The device can be found working today -- and quite well, at that -- in the nation's capital.

For centuries, inventors, dreamers and assorted kooks have gone so far as to give their lives attempting to perfect the Perpetual Motion Machine, or create a free energy source.

Hastert and other Republicans in the U.S. House have done it in about a decade. Here's how it works.

The "K Street Project," born in the mid-90s, was the embryo for the device. Staff from Congressional offices and families alike are mingled with their counterparts in the Washington lobbyists, thereby creating a permanently established source of fuel for the device.

The fuel is further manufactured in and of itself by the sources indicated above, then those same fuel sources, as well as the Congressmen themselves, return to their home districts and convince state and local governments to join the device.

This joining of energy source particles is handled mainly by both unwitting and corrupt county boards who are convinced at some point that they must employ one of the lobbying firms in order to get whatever it is they need by their Congressmen.

Incredible, isn't it?

There's one catch. Since taxpayers are paying Congressmen, and paying the expense -- at least in the long term -- for lobbying activities over the past 10 years, and are also now paying for their local and state governments's lobbying bills, it is unknown whether this source of income is inexhaustible.

Laesch Connections Run Deep.

John Laesch, candidate for IL CD 14, has connections that run pretty deep. Among endorsements the first-time candidate has garnered: AFL-CIO, UAW and PDA (Progressive Democrats for America). You don't get endorsements without trying hard.

And he has a pretty impressive organization, with names that are linked to all kinds of other powerful organizations like the DFA, and Richard Mell the powerful Chicago 33rd Ward alderman (and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's father-in-law). You need connections like those when you're a candidate for the U.S. House.

But it appears the Laesch campaign may be trying some things too hard.

Laesch's opponent in the March Primary, Ruben Zamora, has run against Hastert once already. And Laesch and his campaign people have been harshly critical of Zamora, mostly in private, for a number of things related to his virgin run for office (Zamora got his name slated on the November ballot after no Democrat could be found to run in the March Primary).

Laesch has a track record, of sorts, as the campaign manager for Dr. David Gill's 2004 run against Tim Johnson in IL CD 15. Some Zamora supporters pin Gill's loss on Laesch, which is hard to prove. After all, Laesch was not the candidate. And so it goes.

When Zamora's petitions were challenged a week after filing, some Zamora supporters cried foul, and on SoapBlox/Chicago, Laesch's Campaign Manager, Clint Raulsten, vehemently denied a purported connection to his candidate. With some interesting details thrown in for good measure. In other posts, including this one, Raulsten gave plenty of details.

So it was no surprise to me that a number of people began privately sharing information with me, your humble blogger, after a casual mention that for someone with no connection to the petition challenge, he was sure looking as guilty as a character in a Columbo episode.

The information I have makes a number of connections to this petition challenge, and others.

Fate Smiles At Destiny.

Someone sent me an email today with that in the signature. That's Natalie Merchant, don't you know.

What a fitting bit of irony.

Until now, I've shared clips from the Zamora campaign, and nothing from John Laesch's camp.

That is about to change, and it may come as no surprise that at least one of the camps doesn't think it's beneficial to have this little behind-the-scenes view of John Laesch out in the public eye.

It seems, after all the ballyhoo of denials that the Laesch campaign was not supporting the challenge to Zamora's campaign, there is plenty of information that doesn't support that defense.

Stay tuned.

Visit Ellen.

I added Ellen of the 10th to the blog roll some time ago, then forgot to share.

If you're not reading Ellen Beth Gill's blog now, take a look at this.

We're thinking along the same lines, it seems.

Gonzales: War-time Spying Legal.

Wait just a minute, there, Generalissimo Electrocuto Gonzales. Just because you say it's legal doesn' t give you the final word on the Presidential Decree to Spy on Americans. The Attorney General of the United States is not charged with the responsibility of interpreting the law; your job is to uphold it.

Pot smokers: You're screwed under the Generalissimo's fiat. Rembember that thing we've been spending money on for 25 years? The War on Drugs?

War on Drugs, War on Terror, War on the Constitution... Whatever.

Bird Feeding Facts.

Anyone know the principal difference between cardinal feed and woodpecker feed?

One is mostly nuts.

Avian fact for the day.

Zamora Is In.

Just received from the Zamora campaign:

Good news!

There will be a congressional primary on March 21. The voters will have a choice.

We received the official recommendation from the hearing officer late Monday evening. The petition challenge was not sustained. We have enough signatures to stay on the ballot. The recommendation is official, pending the State Officets Election Board ruling on Friday.

A huge thank you to all of you who signed affidavits, who collected affidavits, and who pitched in to help us gather the evidence we needed to prove the validity of our petition signatures. Thanks to all of you who were willing to help, but could not reach me (due to the incorrect phone number listed in a previous email). Thanks for the outpouring of support. I am truly humbled.

Now, it's time to work on the good stuff, getting our message out to the people of the 14th District. This is why we fought the petition challenge instead of folding. There are people out there who need representation. The disadvantaged and marginalized people may have had their signatures challenged as invalid, but they are a valuable part of my campaign.

There's more at the campaign's website.

"Earmark Reform" Only Part of a Gigantic Problem.

If it didn't total more than a Trillion dollars since the Gingrich-Livingston-DeLay-Hastert juggernaut first breathed life in 1994, this would be funny.

I would say it's only a tiny part of the problem if a Trillion dollars was not such a nebulous, mind-boggling number to the likes of me.

The issues that make up the ClusterFuck Estate created by Gingrich (and today promoted by his stooge and understudy, Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert) are manyfold. Each is so gigantic in girth alone it's a nearly insurmountable obstacle.

Multiply the length and depth and scope by the sheer weight of it, and you can clearly see it will be a miracle if any re-incarnated Bill Clinton can ever save the economy, our public policy principles and the public's trust in government.

Not that that wasn't the goal all along -- to utterly trick the public into believing once and for all, as the GOP crudely and cynically continues with Katrina response, that government is not the answer.

No, friends: this is the message Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert and his puppeteers want you to believe. Because that message of fear and failure is the foundation for the rest of their plan to de-construct government and the Federal institutions Liberals have proven necessary to keep equality thriving in our society.

Put all of these things together, and you have a lot of campaign issues, based simply on current events. I don't need to qualify any of these items; every one turned out to be a cynical joke, or an utter failure.

• Social Security "reform"
• Medicare "reform"
• Campaign Finance "reform"
• Corporate "reform"
• Securities Industry "reform"
• Cutting Taxe for Growth
• Right-sizing Defense
• Operation Iraqi Freedom
• Afghanistan
• North Korea
• Iran

Now we're about to get sucked into a whole new, distracting whirlpool of deceit, called "Earmark Reform," and "Lobbying Reform," and "Tax Reform," and "Pension Reform."

All the above problems can be summed up in two words: Republican Party. Because no one can blame a single Democrat. No one.

Nothing has even gotten to the floor of the House unless Denny Hastert saw in the final analysis an overwhelming, Republican-only win that showed Democrats to be "the other side."

Democrats have been the slaves on Hastert's Plano Plantation.

Why does Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert hate our Constitution and the uniquely American principles of justice and equality for all citizens so much that he would carry the banner for these criminals?

Excrement? Meet Circular Fan!

Here we go with the CNN / Time / AOL story. Trickling out now...

Ah, Clarity...

I've been sitting on a plane (what seems like) most of the day. Funny thing about being chained to your laptop for so long.

Sometimes you tend to see so many things in life, I dunno... so much clearer.

Going to be an interesting week for Democrats in IL CD 14, let me tell you.

Very interesting.

Did I mention it's a great day to be a Liberal in Kendall County?

Novak: Hastert and Earmarks Root of Corruption.

"Believe it or not," as the handsome Jack Palance once intoned.

Here is something I never thought I'd see. The rats are now turning on the ship's captain to gnaw his legs off before the ship sinks.

The handsome, cap-toothed, foul-tongued Robert Novak says he agrees with John McCain that earmarks are behind the corruption of lobbyists.

Does Novak not know about the quarter-Billion-dollar boondoggle Hastert earmarked for us, in the form of the "Hastert Highway?"

As I've said recently, if you want to keep talking smack and at least help me make part of my point, I won't disabuse of your own nonsense.

Dan Bartlett is a God-Damned Liar.

Notice how Bartlett this morning danced around the issue by trying to refute something no one has even hinted?

No one has concluded that Bush and Abramoff are "doing something nefarious together." That's one of Bartlett's trademark tricks.

It is an outright lie, however, that Bush "doesn't have a personal relationship with him (Abramoff)." It is widely known that they are connected, and that the WH not only said recently that there are no pictures of the two together, but that Bartlett and others tried desperately to prevent both discovery and publication of the photos we now know exist.

And where's Denny in all of this? Up to his fat little neck!

Hastert Pressured to Step Down.

And it's happening regularly, from what we hear.

Hastert, who has been virtually invisible under the leadership of DeLay and Gingrich, has been able to fly low below the radar of the press. But now that other notable Republicans and his own hand-picked committee chairmen are being indicted, the feeling is that it may not be long before "the coach" himself is tarred by the scandal. By association alone.

And with the press having found their both their testacles and scrotums intact in the past few weeks*, and with it getting so close to a vote that could decide Hastert's future as Speaker, there are some who would rather The Large One take a pass this time.

And where is the greatest pressure coming from?

Right at home. At this point, however, everyone knows there's no way for Hastert to either step down, withdraw his name for Speaker, or otherwise shrink from his position without making the GOP look even worse.

*Rumor has it that Tim Russert also recently found his ass, but the find was disqualified when it was learned that he used both hands.

Zamora's Challenge Not Yet Over.

Insiders tell me this evening that Ruben Zamora's petition challenge went well yesterday.

Volunteers poured in Friday to help, and it appears that nearly all the information was accepted by the mediator.

A few outstanding issues were expected to be decided on by the mediator (most likely) early tomorrow.

"Democrats" challenging the petitions of Democratic candidates.

Nice, isn't it?

The Laesch campaign, for the record, has vehemently denied they had anything to do with the challenge.

Odd, I find it, that so many have now related to me the fact that there were Laesch supporters at a hearing two weeks ago in Kendall County, where "Democrats" (who call themselved "Progressives") had the petitions of 11 Democratic candidates for precinct committeeman thrown out.