Archive for February, 2009
February 11th, 2009
Rod Blagojevich was on WLS radio today and made it sound like all lawmakers do in Springfield is party.
Here’s the AP story.
CHICAGO (AP) Ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich isn’t holding back on how he feels about Illinois lawmakers.
Blagojevich says a bunch of them cheat on their spouses, drink too much and blindly follow their legislative leaders because they don’t know what’s going on in Springfield.
Blagojevich unleashed the criticism Wednesday during an interview on WLS Radio’s “The Don and Roma Morning Show.”
It was the latest stop on a Blagojevich media tour that will take him to New York for an interview with Fox News’ conservative talk show host Sean Hannity.
Blagojevich has been shuttling back and forth to New York doing national TV interviews to profess his innocence since his arrest on federal corruption charges and removal from office.
In Wednesday’s radio interview, Blagojevich blasted Democrats for wanting to raise taxes and complained that some lawmakers take their marching orders from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.
February 11th, 2009
The Rockford Register Star Editorial Board will not endorse any candidates in the Feb. 24 primary election. We will make endorsements in selected races for the April general election.
Primary winners in most races face challengers in the general election, so we saw no need to weigh in during the primary.
We still think making endorsements is important, but we want to evaluate candidates during debates, forums and interviews before we make decisions.
We’re also changing our campaign letters policy.
A maximum of two letters about each candidate or ballot issue will appear in the print edition. Additional letters may be published online at rrstar.com.
All campaign letters — published in print or posted online — will subject to the newspaper’s letters policy. There is no guarantee of publication or posting.
All letters must be signed and are subject to editing for brevity, clarity, grammar and spelling. No more than 200 words will be allowed. All letters will be verified; writers must provide a home address and daytime phone number.
We will automatically reject abusive letters, letters to someone else and letters endorsing family members.
We changed our policy because we received a record number of campaign letters last fall and far too many of them were redundant or were orchestrated. Our space is limited and we need to reserve it for unique messages.
Letters may e-mailed to opinions@rrstar.com, mailed to 99 E. State St., Rockford, IL 61104 or faxed to 815-987-1365.
February 10th, 2009
He’s going to be on TV again! When will these media outlets get tired of the Rod Blagojevich show? He hasn’t offered anything new in these talk shows. However, that is one thing he does extremely well — talk!
February 9th, 2009
The challenge to Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey’s candidacy is not unusual. These kinds of challenges have become routine. We’ve seen them many different races. Some folks, like Executive Editor Linda Grist Cunningham, think it’s gone too far.
She’s not alone. There have been a lot of challenges in the Chicago suburbs also. The Daily Herald weighs in.
February 4th, 2009
Kurt Granberg’s out. Pat Quinn has had a consistent message that a professional, “natural resources expert,” should lead the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
I’m not surprised Quinn made the move, but I am surprised he did it so quickly. I thought the budget mess, which now looks worse than ever, would consume almost all of his time.
Whoever Quinn picks will have a lot of work to do to revive an agency that has been cut more severly than any other. Reopening Lowden and Castle Rock state parks would be a nice start.
February 4th, 2009
That’s how Gov. Pat Quinn referred to Rod Blagojevich. Blagoyevich made the TV rounds again yesterday, offering nothing new and insisting he was innocent and would be vindicated.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan was offered a chance to appear on the Larry King show in the half hour slot after Blago’s appearance, but she declined.
“It’s not worth it,” she said. “The more we talk, the more we enable him. We need to put this to rest.”
According to the AP story today, Blago has received some offers for work.
In honor of the governor’s appearance on Letterman last night, how about suggesting the top 10 jobs for the former governor?
February 3rd, 2009
That’s what Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan told me a few minutes ago about her interaction, or lack thereof, with ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The last time all of Illinois Constitutional officers got together was in 2003. Seems to me the highest ranking elected officials in the state should get together regularly to figure out what’s best for Illinoisans, but that’s not been the case.
Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias had never been to the governor’s 16th floor office at the Thompson Center in Chicago until the recent meeting with new Gov. Pat Quinn and other constitutional officers.
“Giannoulias stopped by the governor’s Capitol office in early 2007 to introduce himself after being elected. But since that time, he has not had a scheduled meeting with the governor in either office,” Kati Phillips, a spokeswoman for the treasurer’s office told me in an e-mail. “He has met with staffers like Harris and Filan in our offices, and he has had conversations with the governor at public events. That’s all.”
Blagojevich didn’t deal much with Comptroller Dan Hynes either, which makes me wonder how he would know what the state’s finances were if he didn’t talk to the state’s top two money men. Hynes and legislative leaders met with Blagojevich about four years ago to discuss stem cell funding.
So as Blago continues his media blitz, remember that he’s now talked to national talk-show types more than with the people who were also elected by hard-working Illinoisans.
February 3rd, 2009
The ex-governor calls his impeachment a hijacking as he starts a new round of TV appearances in New York. If you missed the “Today” show, I’m sure clips will be repeated or YouTubed enough for you to catch it. Besides, he’s sure to repeat himself on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Fox’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” and CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman.”
February 2nd, 2009
Rod Blagojevich will appear on the David Letterman show Tuesday night. Post your top 10 Blago jokes here.
The ex-governor also will appear Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show, CNN’s “Larry King Live,” and Fox’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.”
I thought he’d be old news by now, but apparently the TV talk folks think he still has some value to them.
February 2nd, 2009
I’ve seen a quite a few folks, including Mr. Applesauce, say how much they enjoy the E-trade commercials with the talking babies.
I hate ‘em. I find them creepy, not funny.
If you like them, tell me why. I can’t see the appeal, but maybe I’m getting to be a grumpy old man sooner than I should.
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