How will you (won’t you) celebrate Obama’s inauguration
2 comments January 16th, 2009
How will you (won't you) celebrate Obama's inauguration?
Posts filed under 'politics'
Blago whistleblower tells all
Add comment January 15th, 2009
Interesting story in today’s Daily Herald:
“Pam Davis believes vengeance has prevented her from building a new hospital in Plainfield.
“The CEO of Edward Hospital in Naperville said Wednesday she believes there are people still influencing the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board who have it out for her because she blew the whistle on a wide-ranging array of corruption within the state agency. Her actions eventually helped lead to the arrest of Gov. Rod Blagojevich as well as several other powerbrokers and government officials.”
Bring on the jokes: Joe the Plumber, war correspondent
3 comments January 8th, 2009
Joe the Plumber, the Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign, says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com, according to this Huffington Post story.
Bring on the jokes about plumbers and reporters. Here’s a headliner from me:
Samuel J. Wurzelbacher: A potty mouthpiece for the right.
(Reuters photo)
Blago playing the race card, and local YWCA workshops
Add comment December 31st, 2008
Rep. Bobby Rush’s comments yesterday are widely seen as “playing the race card.” He said people should not “hang or lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer.” He was referring to Illinois Gov. Blagojevich’s appointment of Roland Burris to fill Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat.
We can all learn how to improve race relations in our own communities and workplaces, and the YWCA of Rockford stands ready to help. Check out the YWCA’s comparatively new racial justice workshops and round-table discussions.
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International shoe-hurling and local wing-pitching
1 comment December 15th, 2008
“This is a farewell kiss, you dog!”
(AP photo)
Muntadar Al-Zaidi, a Cairo-based reporter, yelled those words as he hurled two shoes at President George W. Bush during a Sunday press conference with the Iraqi Prime Minister in Baghdad.
Bush later said he didn’t think one guy throwing shoes represents a broad movement in Iraq. And he also joked: “I didn’t know what the guy said, but I saw his sole.”
Locally, a contentious situation is expected to come to a head tonight, and there could be a lighter side.
There is passionate dialogue going on between WXRX and its listeners and Loves Park city council members over the city likely voting tonight not to let the annual Wing Ding festival happen at Rockford Speedway this year.
The all-day hard-rock music festival the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend draws some 20,000 people, mostly youth. Detractors say the event causes mayhem.
No one is advocating anyone throw anything tonight at anyone else.
But I could see DJ Jim Stone handing a package of uncooked chicken wings to Mayor Darryl Lindberg, saying, “This is a raw deal, man!”
And I could see Lindberg offering Stone a roasted foul, saying, “You cooked your own goose!”
Got any similarly veined one-liners about contentious situations you’d like to invent/share? Be at least half-way civil, will ya?
I’m curious about the technology involved in Blago’s arrest
3 comments December 9th, 2008
Just how were all of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s conversations recorded? The Chicago Sun-Times reports day-to-day conversations implicating the Illinois governor.
Did an FBI agent posing as a janitor have to physically attach a device to Blago’s office phone?
Did an FBI agent posing as a carpet cleaner have to tap the phone at his home?
What about Blago’s cell phone? And the phones of the others involved in conversations?
Or can this all be done with an FBI agent flipping a switch somewhere?
How does such wiretapping work these days?
Yes, you can, President Obama
5 comments November 5th, 2008
Job No. 1 for Obama: Apply the same organization and discipline you employed to get elected in a landslide to turning the economy around in your first term.
You can do it. Yes, you can. And yes, we can help. Lead us like you led your campaign.
What was Biden thinking??
1 comment October 21st, 2008
“What do you do when Joe Biden guarantees an international crisis if running mate Barack Obama is elected to the presidency? If you’re the McCain team you jump on it,” according to this Christian Science Monitor post. (Jake Turcotte illustration)
Does Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama change how you’ll cast your vote?
Add comment October 20th, 2008
Does Colin Powell’s breaking with the GOP ranks and endorsing Obama change how you’ll cast your vote?
Does Colin Powell's breaking with GOP ranks and endorsing Obama change how you'll vote?
Dear Sen. McCain: Sarah Palin’s son isn’t autistic
5 comments October 16th, 2008
Likely conversation between McCain and one of his handlers after last night’s debate: “By the way, Sen. McCain, Sarah’s son has Down Syndrome, not autism, so you might not want to make that mistake again.”
McCain: “Oh. Well, Trig is a special needs child, and that’s the point I was trying to make, that we need to help families with special needs.”
Handler: “I understand that, sir. But it sounded like you didn’t know what you were talking about. And it sounded like you were pandering to voters because everybody today is talking about autism. And it seems like most everybody else knows that Down Syndrome and autism are completely different developmental disabilities.”
McCain: “10-4, my friend.”
Handler: (silently, to himself: “Hope it’s not over-and-out.”)
Here’s a discussion about what McCain said about autism last night.
What did you think about McCain's remarks on autism at the debate?
