A thought or two

4 comments August 26th, 2008

All said and done, Hillary put on a boffo performance, and did what she needed to do, urging the election of Obama, but he ought to be glad he’s not following her tonight. She was good.

I liked this one from Hillary:

Add comment August 26th, 2008

It makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities, because they’re awfully hard to tell apart

Still more Hill

Add comment August 26th, 2008

I ran to stand up for those who are invisible for the last 8 years. Those were the reasons I ran for president, and those are the reasons I support Barack Obama for president. I want you to ask yourselves, were you in this campaign just for me, or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him. Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer and raising her kids, for that mom working and surviving on minimum, for all the people who feel invisible, we need leaders once again who can tap into that optimism and confidence…who can help us, show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity and spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.

Now,this will not be easy, progress never it. But it will be impossible if we don’t fight to put a Democrat back in the White House. We need to elect Barack Obama,… he’ll revitalize our economy, defend working people, and democrats know how to do this, as I recall we did this with President Clinton and the Democrats, and we’ll do it again wtih President Obama and the Democrats.

And even more Hillary

Add comment August 26th, 2008

“Barack Obama is my candiadte and he maust be our president. Tonight, i ask you to remember, what a presidential is really about. When the polls have closed and the ads are finally off the air, it comes down to you. the amreican people, and your lives and your children’s future. for me it’s beena privilege to meet you in hour homes, workplaces and in your communities. … Everyday, america’s greatness is bound up in the lives of the american people.

You made me laugh, you even made me cry. You allowed me to become part of your lives, and you became part of mine. I will always remember the single mom who adopted two kids with autism, she didn’t have any health insurance, she discovered she had cancer. she asked me to fight for health care for her and her children.

I will always remember the young man in a marine corps t shirt who waited montsh for medical care, and he said to me, take care of my buddies., and then please take care of me.

More Hilary

Add comment August 26th, 2008

More Cllinton:
I haven’t fought in the trenches for 35 years … to see another Republican in the White Hosue squander our promise of a country that really fulfills the hope of our people. Nd you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months orendured the last 8 years to suffer thru more failed  leadership.

No way, no how, no McCain.

HIllary : Proud to be here. Time to unite behind Barack

Add comment August 26th, 2008

Hillary Clinton has taken the stage at the Democratic convention. She’s getting an extended ovation amid the background music of “She’s An American Girl” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. At least that’s what I think I can hear beneath the hoopla.

Advance copies of the speech talked about on the networks said this will be a speech that delivers the unity message sought by Barack Obama’s campaign. But at this point, the Hillary ovation keeps on going.

Hillary is now trying to silence them, by starting to talk. “I am so honored to be here tonight.” more cheers. i

“I’m here tonight as a proud mother and proud Democrat, as a proud senator from new York, a proud Aerican, and a proud supporter of Barack Obama.” Cheers.

It us time to take back the country we love, and whether you voted for me or for Barack, the time to unite is now, as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team and none of us can afford to sit on the sidelines.

Clinton Delegate Victory Bell: We’ll back Barack

Add comment August 26th, 2008

Rockford Ald. Victory Bell, D-5th, is a Hillary Clinton delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. As you may know from reading my Tuesday column, other delegates from Rockford believe the  media are hyping the feud angle beyond all belief.

Bell agrees. Here are my notes from our phone conversation this afternoon:

Victory Bell:

“This is, without question, a systematic move on the pat of
the media to cause confusion. I think Hillary has shown she wants to see the Democratic
Party win in November, and any resources she has at her disposal, she’s
encouraging her delegates to support Barack Obama heartily.”

“It really is the case that the media is sensationalizing on
the hype that is around this campaign. I have seen from all the elected officials, whether Hillary
supporters or Obama supporters, as Mayor Daley said this morning, once we go
though the primaries, and somenone gains the votes to be the nominee, the party
then must support that nominee 100 percent.”

“The Clinton floor leaders that
we meet with daily, right after the Illinois caucus meeting, made it very clear
that the Obama delegation had been very sensitive to the concerns that Haillary
has raised, and they have displayed that sensitivity by adding or deleting
certain points in the Rules Committee. So they advised us that we have good
reasons to support the Obama ticket.”

“And the other advice they gave to us, is Hillary probably
will release her delegates, but as it stands now, they may have her go through
the first roll call, which is agreed upon by Obama’s people.”

“I think when the Democratic Party leaves Denver, we’ll be
focused on not allowing the same outcome from this convention as what happened
in 1980 in New York (when Ted Kennedy’s supporters did not back Jimmy Carter’s reelection. Carter lost to Ronald Reagan.)

It’s rcusial to the Democratic Party for us to leave here
unified, prepare to be victorious in November.”

And that’s the word from Victory Bell, Clinton delegate and Rockford’s senior black elected official.

City of Rockford should inform residents about what ordinances are being enforced

6 comments August 26th, 2008

I talked by phone this morning to a woman with a complaint that illustrates perfectly the City of Rockford’s often arrogant treatment of its residents.

This was a mom whose son drives an over-the-road tractor trailer rig. The son, who’s in his late 20s, is on the road constantly and only  home 2 to 3 days a month.

He’d come home after weeks of hauling freight, and was tired. He parked his tractor (not the trailer) in the driveway, close to the house so that it wouldn’t be a nuisance.

At 1:20 a.,m., a “276-to 6′er” (Rockford police officer) wrote out a $200 ticket and attached it to the truck. When the mom called City Hall, she was told that she was supposed to know that an ordinance prevents people from parking big trucks on their residential property.

How, she wondered, are people supposed to know that? Indeed, how were the people with the non-compliant driveways supposed to know they were in violation of a 50-year old ordinance THAT HAD NEVER BEEN ENFORCED!!!!!!!?????????

Now the man has to pay the fine.

If anybody at City Hall reads this, please tell us what else is in your ordinance book that you might decide to enforce? And how are we supposed to know about it?

You might try using your vast public relations infrastructure to inform the public by news release, remarks at City Council meetings,  and redesigning your Web site so that information on ordinances is grouped by topic.. And, you could have one of your lawyers re-write some of the gobbledygook language so that average people can understand it.

Oh, and make sure all departments don’t contradict each other when they give residents information.

Can you hear me now?

First night of convention goes about as planned.

Add comment August 26th, 2008

 Convention line: I thought Monday night’s offerings at the Democratic Convention did what they were supposed to do: Introduce Michelle Obama to the public. She took a softer tone by far than she did on the primary campaign trail, emphasizing her role as mom, wife and daughter and how she’s just the same as you and me.

I think that worked. I’ve talked to Michelle Obama before, in Rockford, and she’s as nice a person as you’d ever want to meet. Unfortunately, the right-wing spin machine has cast her as a dangerous radical who hates America. That would be funny if it weren’t so maddening, because it aint’ true, folks. Any mom or dad would be darned proud of a daughter who turned out like Michelle.

The Ted Kennedy speech was a unifying influence on a party nervous about whether the Obama-Hillary split will truly be healed. (I think this mostly a media-made controversy because conventions no longer have real news to offer.) The buzz all day Monday was that Ted, who’s suffering from  brain cancer, wouldn’t be well enough to speak. But speak he did, and if you didn’t know he was ill, you wouldn’t have known it from seeing him last night.

More Baloney from Governor Baloneyvich

Add comment August 26th, 2008

The Illinois Legislature passed a comprehensive reform measure to bring ethics to all areas of state government. For the most part, it ends pay to  pay politics, which has caused all manner of corruption in Illinois.

But on the last day before the bill would have become law automatically, Governor Baloneyvich vetoed it, substituting instead an executive order that he said would do much the same thing.

However, this is a total sham. The executive order won’t take effect until AFTER the election, and it won’t cover state departments or branches that are not under the governor’s control.

Plus, there are no penalties for breaking this order. So, the governor couild ignore his own ethics executive order and he could not be punished. Nor could anyone else. Plus, executive orders aren’t laws, they can be changed or abolished by whim.

Legislators have vowed to override his veto. They should do so, and as soon as possible. No mor shams from Governor Flim Flam Man.