Where can you do a charity 5k or 15k run, then enjoy your share of 900 gallons of Hershey's hot chocolate, 200,000 pieces of assorsted Hershey's candy, and 300 gallons of warm chocolate fondue?
At Montrose Harbor, on Chicago's north side, that's where. The Illinois Bone & Joint Institute presents the "Hot Chocolate 15k/5k" on Sunday, November 1 starting at 8:00 a.m. for 5k runners and approximately 8:30 a.m. for 15k runners. All runners are asked to line up at 7:30 a.m. and listen for announcements. Both the 5k and 15k runs start and finish at Montrose Harbor, a beautiful park of Lincoln Park, right on the shoreline of Lake Michigan. (download a PDF race area map). The weather is expected to be very much like today's - perfect for a jog through the park.
Chicago News Bench took these photos of the race site being prepared on October 31.
This video is guaranteed to confuse most liberals. Conservatives will understand it immediately. Brilliant social commentary set to contemporary music, from Macho Sauce Productions.
Producer: Eric Elder Writer/Director: Christian Hartsock Performed by Buddy Sostham Featuring: Alfonzo Rachel Starring: James O'Keefe, Laura Marie, Ryan Sorba, Eric Elder, Jeremy Shelton, Erik Bishop
Things have changed since I wrote "Are Tea Parties Working? (Not Yet)" on April 13, 2009. The Tea Parties have shown that they can directly and profoundly affect local and national politics.
One example, from New York today:Dede Scozzafava, the Republican and Independence parties candidate, announced Saturday [Oct. 31]that she is suspending her campaign for the 23rd Congressional District and releasing all her supporters. (Source) That is due directly to heavy pressure from Tea Partiers nationwide who worked against Scozzafava, a liberal Republican, and for Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate. Tea Partiers and allied bloggers don't care about party labels. They want conservatives with true conservative values. Scozzafava didn't fit that bill. (See NY-23: Behold the power of the conservative blogosphere.)
Bring in supporting factors like Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh, Andrew Breitbart and others and the Tea Party "movement" has come into its own, finally gelling into something not merely cohesive, with a semblance of leadership and organization, but something huge and unstoppable.
Bill Hennessy sums this up well in his must-read October 31, 2009 column at Big Government, titled "New York 23: When a Nation Calls." He notes the huge impact that Tea Partiers are currently having on elections around the country, specifically in New York. There is a very contentious congressional race in New York, and the election is next Tuesday. As noted above in a late-breaking story, Tea Parties have directly affected that election by forcing the withdrawal of the liberal Republican. This sends a very loud shot across the bow of the Republican Party: Tea Partiers will work against so-called Republicans who are not true to conservative philosophy and practice. You better walk the walk, GOP.
"With the fury of Feburary 27," writes Hennessy,"the numbers of Tax Days, and the passion of 9/12, this conservative grassroots army is focused on upstate New York and the race between a Conservative Party candidate, Doug Hoffman and his two left-wing rivals.
This battle pits the people of the Tea Party against both major parties in a fight for the nation’s future .... Before the polls open in upper New York on Tuesday morning, thousands of Tea Partiers from states as far away as California will have had an impact on what might otherwise have been an unnoticed special election. Local Tea Party Organizers across the country are overwhelmed by their people’s desire to help. Hoffman’s offices are overwhelmed with volunteers who are just showing up. (Anyone wishing to help from their own home can go here.)"
Not only elections are being affected by Tea Partiers. One of the stars of the movement is Andrew Breitbart, whose "Big Government" web site broke the now-famous series of videos that showed ACORN workers in several offices giving business advice to two people who identified themselves to those workers as a pimp and a prostitute. Those sessions were recorded by a hidden camera. For more about Andrew Breitbart and those videos, see "Washington Post: ACORN Video Creates New Conservative Star."
The Tea Party movement looms over every horizon today, from coast to coast. To the allies of the Obama-Pelosi King Kong-like regime, with its weekly violations of the Constitution, insane levels of spending and paranoid arogance, the Tea Party movement must look like Godzilla. To those of us in the Tea Party movement who actively oppose Barack King Kong Obama's power grab and lunatic policies, Godzilla is a beautiful sight indeed. Conservative Caps, Shirt and more! Leave a Comment - Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Visit us on Twitter!
Oh, to be a member of the Royal City Council of Chicago. But even Chicago royalty - and those who think they should be treated royally - are challenged now and then. Some of the 50 pompous asses on Chicago's City Council, also known as "crooks" or "aldermen," think they're too damned good for security checks. You know, the same security checks that their subjects must endure when entering many a public building. We've known for many years that most of them are elitist prisses, but their recent whining about being required to walk through a metal detector merely offers reconfirmation.
The Chicago Sun-Times's Fran Spielman (a favorite) reported on this latest examle of pomposity on October 30:
Chicago aldermen with their noses out of joint today demanded to know why they are searched along with the masses at the city’s central headquarters for administrative hearings. Spielman quotes one of the aldermen, an elitist prick who seems to feel that his gold badge magically proves to security guards that he is not bent on committing physical harm with a weapon:
“Why am I searched as an alderman and as an attorney?…I don’t want to be searched going through a city building. There’s only 50 of us and we all have gold badges,” said Ald. Howard Brookins (21st).
Oooooh, not only as an alderman, but as an attorney! With a gold frikking badge! Brookins, however, was not the only pompous ass in the room. Among the others was Her Royal Lowness Carrie Austin:
Budget Committee Chair Carrie Austin (34th) was so “offended,” she warned Bruner what might happen if he fails to “take another look at your policy.”
Pompous Ass Austin actually threatened to screw with somebody's budget just because she was being treated like anybody else entering the city’s central headquarters for administrative hearings. Elitist? Austin's abuse of power and position fits the definition. Hell, she is the definition.
“It’s not a matter of giving anybody any preference. But us that are aldermen—we are the ones who set your budget. If we’re the ones setting your budget maybe we’ll take an adjustment” downward, if the policy is not rescinded, Austin warned.Full article at Chicago Sun-Times...
In other words, bow down to me, commoner, kiss my ring or I shall punish you for your insolence. Well, screw you, Howard Brookins and Carrie Austin, and screw all the rest of the pantloads on the City Council who feel that they're above the law and deserve special treatment. Shove your gold badges up your gold-plated asses, with the pins well extended. Conservative Caps, Shirt and more! Leave a Comment - Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Visit us on Twitter!
Chuck DeVore has written, in my opinion, the definitive explanation of why conservative political bloggers blog. He compares (as have I and others in the past) the modern blogger to past heroes of free speech, people such as Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine, and many of our Founding Fathers. Following are a few excerpts from DeVore's column at BigGovernment.com "These Are the Times That Try Men’s Blogging Souls" (emphasis added):
These are interesting times. Under President Obama and the most liberal Congress since 1965, the United States government is expected to borrow a trillion dollars per year for the next decade while the size and power of our federal government will grow at the expense of our liberties.
In this environment, Democrats in Congress are working on a bill to give President Obama emergency control of the Internet (S.773) which would permit the President to seize control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.
Let me interrupt here and acknowledge the liberal bloggers screaming "What about us? We blog for the same reasons!" Well, yes and no. Conservative bloggers are trying to preserve the freedoms given to us by the Constitution and God. Generally speaking, Liberal bloggers write in an attempt to destroy those liberties - whether they realize it or not. Every time a Liberal blogger writes anything in support of, say, a rebirth of the Fairness Doctrine, they are supporting an erosion of our freedoms. To stay with DeVore's theme of the Franklinesque blogger, the Liberal blogger's analog would be a pro-England writer in 1776 who thinks George Washington is Satan's son and the King was right to raise the tax on tea.
Into this breach come the bloggers. There are about 120 million blogs today. Many of them are political, most are not.
America’s political bloggers trace their heritage, their place in the body politic, to the Colonial era. Most of today’s political bloggers would have been quite comfortable defying the British Stamp Act of 1765, were they around 244 years ago.
Oh, those crazy right-wing "birthers!" You know them, lunatics like me who have the audacity to make the simple request that person show some proper ID to prove that he/she is legally qualified to be, you know, President of the United States of America. We're all crazy, right? Fact is, Barack Hussein Obama has never yet shown us his original birth certificate.
Maybe we are crazy, but then Michelle Obama must be too. She has essentially confirmed our suspicions that BHO might be lying about his origins. I'm not saying he is lying, but we have the right to ask. He has an obligation to answer. As reported by World Net Daily, here's what Michelle has said (emphasis added):
In little noticed remarks, Michelle Obama stated at a public event that her husband's mother, Ann Dunham, was "very young and very single" when she gave birth to the future U.S. president. Her comments further undermine the official story as told by Barack Obama – that Dunham was married to his father, Barack Obama Sr., at the time of birth. The remarks were made by Michelle Obama during a July 2008 round table at the University of Missouri. - Full article at wnd.com...
Isn't that just CRAZY?!? That Michelle Obama MUST be lying! Right? Okay, maybe not, but either she was lying to make a point, or she doesn't know her own husband's past, or her husband has lied to her and she was just repeating his lies. Speaking of lies, didn't Mr. Obama tell us more than once that he was born as a result of his parents meeting in a civil rights march in Selma? Yes, I believe he did. Trouble is, Baby Barack was born four years before that march. Isn't that just crazy?!?
Obama has not proved us crazy yet, however. As Mychal Massie wrote on October 13, "Barack Obama has spent (or had spent for him) at least $1.3 million in legal fees to fight efforts to prove his eligibility for the presidency. Documents that have yet to see the light of day include his birth certificate, his college records and all else that could provide more insight into his past."Full article at wnd.com...
Massie's point is simple: Why the secrecy? If Obama really has nothing to hide, let him allow us to look into his (apparently) embarrassing closet.
The first single from hit album 'Black Holes and Revelations' by Muse. This song is not typical of Muse, really, but it's fun. For great rock videos see Muse's channel on YouTube.
About 5,000 clueless people in Chicago are protesting the eeeeevil banksduring American Bankers Association meeting in Chicago. They're pissed at banks and bailouts, you see, and they're saying nasty things about those nasty, eeeevil bankers. Sadly, none of them are saying anything about the eeeeevil Democrats who set the banks up for their piggish behavior in the first place. And who supported those eeeeevil Democrats? Why, the clueless people protesting the banks! Some folks would call that a circle jerk of sorts, but I don't use such language on this blog. Marathon Pundit has more, plus a good video of screeching witch Anne Burger, the Change to Win chair, and SEIU Illinois chairman Tom Balanoff, an associate of everyone's buddy, Rob Blagojevich.
What was it? We don't know, and that's why they call these things "unidentified" flying objects. It was flying. It is still unidentified. More from Phantoms and Monsters:
At least one witness managed to film the UFO with a camera phone. The UFO appeared to be triangular in shape with three glowing blue lights arranged at sixty degree angles. The craft appeared out of nowhere and floated above the city before vanishing into the night sky. The two unnamed witnesses interviewed in this clip are certain that what they saw and recorded was not of earthly origin. Full Post, with Video....
Was the object from another planet, another dimension, another reality? Or was it simply an unknown craft from right here on Earth? Dunno. You decide.
A funny - and tragically accurate - bit of political satire from the Formerly Great Britain. See more good stuff at the HairyChestnuts channel on YouTube.
From Muse's album "The Resistance," this is one helluva a song to inspire your next storming of City Hall or march on Washington with torches and pitchforks. You can get torches and pitchforks at any Home Depot, you know. More from Muse at their YouTube channel...
Updated, June 9, 2011: Tahawwur Rana was convicted in "one of the most significant terror cases ever tried in Chicago, but the jury acquitted him of the most serious charge — that he aided a plotter in the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks," reports the Chicago Tribune. "Tahawwur Rana, 50, had been charged with helping childhood friend David Coleman Headley in terrorism plots that stretched from the North Side of Chicago to the tribal areas of Pakistan and involved the Mumbai attack as well as an aborted plan to storm a Denmark newspaper office and behead the staff."More about Tahawwur Rana at the Chicago Tribune...
CHICAGO - With Exclusive Photos (below) - A UPI headline on October 20 read, "Raid on Illinois slaughterhouse a mystery." Accounts from locals in Kinsman, Illinois say there were about 100 federal agents involved in the raid, with snipers at the ready and men paraded out of the plant at gunpoint.
The Chicago Tribune pontificated, laughably, that the affair had something to do with immigration. Everyone else felt, correctly, that the reaction was too much for a simple immigration issue. Everyone else was right. Indeed, the owner of the plant, a northside Chicago resident named Tahawwur Rana, has been charged with financing terrorists bent on carrying out operations in Europe. Rana is a Pakistani-Canadian residing in Chicago. The Tribune redeems itself with its October 27 article. An excerpt:
The owner of the plant, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, also of Chicago, was arrested at his North Side home the same day as the raid on First World Management Services in Kinsman, northwest of Dwight. Agents seized records from the plant, as well as a related North Side business also raided the same day, said the source, who is familiar with the investigation. Full article...
The Morris Daily Herald reports that "After more than a week of declining comment, federal agents shortly before 10 a.m. today, Tuesday [Oct. 27], released the details of terrorism-related charges against two Chicagoans. Both David Coleman Headley, 49, a U.S. citizen who changed his name in 2006 from Daood Gilani, and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, also known as Tahawwur Rana, are associated with the Kinsman meat packing plant that federal officials raided on Oct. 18. The arrests involve their alleged roles in conspiracies to provide material support and/or commit terrorist acts against overseas targets, including a Danish newspaper [Jyllands-Posten] that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005." [Emphasis added.]
On October 21, Chicago News Bench visited Rana's home in the West Ridge neighborhood (aka "West Rogers Park"), and also the halal grocery store that he owns on Devon Avenue. We did not contact Rana, but a neighbor said he saw "many FBI agents" in the alleys and on the street at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 18. The neighbor said he counted "29 boxes" being carried out of Rana's house by FBI agents. Rana's house, a run-down hovel with a messy yard and too many satellite dishes on its roof, was dark with all curtains drawn when we photographed it at midday. See our exclusive photo slideshow below.
We then visited the grocery store that Rana owns. He was not in, we were told. Catering to this heavily Muslim neighborhood, Rana's "Chicago Grocers" at 2122-24 W. Devon is halal and zahiba (hand cut according to Islamic tradition). The place was filthy, as you can see in our video here.
West Rogers Park is a den of criminal activity, much of the worst of which is Islam related.This is a fair statement:Rana is a Muslim who was, allegedly, funding Islamic terrorists. West Ridge is also the home of the infamous Sunrise Equities scandal, in which hundreds of investors were ripped off by Salman Ibrahim and his cohorts when they fled the country in the middle of the night. Most of those investors were Muslims and trusted Ibrahim's "shariah compliant" firm to help them make money. Investors were left wondering where their life savings had gone. Ibrahim and his Sunrise Equities conspirators are still fugitives.
I've had the great pleasure of seeing Chicago-based Mr. G and the Mystery Band perform some 20 times or more, and Mr. G solo a few times, too.
If you're a fan of smokin' jazz-blues harmonica, this album is not to be ignored. At last, his long awaited new release, "It's A Mystery,"is NOW available on CD Baby.
The Illinois State Comptroller race has taken an unexpectedly weird turn. One of candidate Judy Baar Topinka's campaign staffers was caught on video assaulting cameraman Steve Ruggiero, who is also the campaign manager of William J. Kelly's campaign. Ruggiero was videotaping Kelly as he spoke to two news reporters on Sunday, Oct. 25. Kelly and Topinka are both running for the Republican nomination. Charges have been filed against the man by the Kelly campaign. Despite the overwhelming video evidence of the attack, some are actually asking, "was it really assault?" Well, yes, it sure as hell was. Watch for yourself :
I respectfully disagree with my friend, the great Warner Todd Huston and his defacto dismissal of the William J. Kelly campaign's accusations of assault against a Topinka campaign staffer. Warner wrote this on his Publius Forum blog on October 26:
When Kelly’s staffer turned his camcorder toward the man the Topinka operative manhandled the fellow’s camera.... But is it really “assault”? I fully agree that the Topinka operative had no business rough housing with the Kelly staffer.... But “assault”? I think Kelly took it a tad too far to actually files charges. It smacks too much of a stunt that way. Kelly has every legitimate reason to use this as an example of the sort of campaign that Topinka is running. But real assault? Hardly. Full Post...
Warner is an outstanding writer, so I was surprised by his own self-contradictions. Before we get into that, however, we should understand the definition of assault:
Assault is an act that creates an apprehension in another of an imminent, harmful, or offensive contact. The act consists of a threat of harm accompanied by an apparent, present ability to carry out the threat. Battery is a harmful or offensive touching of another. [Source]
and
A crime that occurs when one person tries to physically harm another in a way that makes the person under attack feel immediately threatened. Actual physical contact is not necessary; threatening gestures that would alarm any reasonable person can constitute an assault. Assault is often charged with battery, which requires intended physical contact. (See also: battery) [Source]
Assault, then, does not involve physical contact. That's battery. Now look at the video again and watch the man make a threatening gesture that would alarm any reasonable person. I've met Steve Ruggiero and he strikes me as quite reasonable. Ruggiero says he was alarmed. Therefore, assault occured, and it's nicely caught on video in broad daylight.
Back, now, to Warner's self-contradictions. After asking the question "Is it 'Assault'?" Warner wrote that "the Topinka operative manhandled the fellow’s camera" and followed that statement with "But is it really 'assault'?" I'm not sure how one manhandles another person's camera without assault being involved, but the definition above does allow for that possibility. But even without assault, manhandling would be battery. So why does Warner dismiss the Kelly campaign's charges so lightly?
Warner continued with,"I fully agree that the Topinka operative had no business rough housing with the Kelly staffer.... But 'assault'?" Again, what does Warner think assault is? "Rough housing" without assault seems a virtual impossibility. Warner then wrote that he thinks "Kelly took it a tad too far to actually files charges. It smacks too much of a stunt that way," yet immediately contradicts that with "Kelly has every legitimate reason to use this as an example of the sort of campaign that Topinka is running." Well, which is it? If somebody commits assault and/or battery on you, do you have less of a right to file charges just because you're involved with a political campaign? After all that, and after (presumably) viewing the video of the incident, Warner asks yet again, "But real assault? Hardly."
The good folks at the Joliet Tax Day Tea Party are putting on a free event at which the public can meet and question candidates for Illinois Governer. The event "Tea Party Gubernatorial Forum" will happen on Wed. November 4 at DiNolfo’s Banquet Hall, 14447 W. 159th Street in beautiful Homer Glen, IL from starting at 6:00 PM. You're urged to "get there early and meet candidates."
6:00 to 7:00 p.m.: Enjoy live music with T-Bird Huck and Debbie K & Freedom Band will be featured and admission is FREE. There will also be a cash bar for the adults, a slide show and a "Meet & Talk" with the candidates.
7:00 to 9:00 p.m.: The Candidates' "Questions & Answer Forum." Confirmed candidates (so far): Adam Andrzejewski, Dan Proft, Bill Brady, Kirk Dillard, Bob Shillerstrom.
Does Judy Baar Topinka employ street thugs in her campaign? Apparently so, if allegations by her Republican competitor are true. Topinka is campaigning for the Republican nomination in the Illinois State Comptroller race. William Kelly, another Republican hoping to win the GOP nomination, says that "a campaign official, believed to be Topinka’s campaign manager, assaulted one of Kelly's campaign workers. Charges have been filed with Chicago police. We turn now to a press release from the Kelly campaign:
Sunday morning ex-Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka formally kicked off her campaign for Illinois Comptroller at Ina’s Restaurant in Chicago . Her conservative opponent in the February 2nd GOP primary, William J. Kelly, appeared at the kick-off outside with a statement about Topinka. “Illinois voters have already officially and unequivocally rejected Judy Baar Topinka,” said Kelly. “Under her leadership as party head, Topinka single-handedly destroyed the Illinois Republican party. She is definitely not the future of the Republican party or Illinois.”
That, allegedly, is when the rough play began:
Angered by Kelly’s appearance, a campaign official, believed to be Topinka’s campaign manager, saw Kelly outside the restaurant. Kelly was being interviewed by reporters from WBBM and WGN when the confrontation took place. The campaign official yelled at Kelly and shoved a video camera, being held by Kelly campaign manager, Steve Ruggiero, into Ruggiero’s face. Ruggiero is a U.S. veteran, served two tours in Iraq and received two bronze stars. A police report, #HR 607258, has been filed with the Chicago Police department.
Kelly's full press release about this matter is posted at kellytruthsquad.wordpress.com, along with a video of him being interviewed on the street.
As Republican and conservative voters in Illinois consider candidates for this and other state races, it should be remembered that Judy Baar Topinka single handedly destroyed whatever was left of the sorry mess of the Illinois GOP when she was the State Party Chair. Judy "I Brought In Alan Keyes to Illinois to lose to Barack Obama" Topinka does not deserve your consideration. The "crazy old aunt," as some have taken to calling her, gave zero consideration to the future of the Illinois GOP when she made the insane Alan Keyes decision, and she gave no consideration to Illinoisans when she ignored thousands of qualified persons who could have run in Keyes's stead. Whether you vote for William J. Kelly for comptroller or somebody else, just don't vote for Topinka.
This is one of the most amazing web sites - and persons - I've run across: "Musicians for Freedom" by Sharlene Holt, a very talented singer-songwriter, who is obviously very much into politics. She brings her apparent conservatism to the show, but Liberals should not be put off by this: Her music and strong voice are astounding, ranging from alternative rock to great love ballads to... more. You can hear full-length samples of her songs on the "Featured Music" page of the site, and even download them free as mp3 files. Holt is well networked, too, and features great videos and music from other artists. Regardless of your politics, you would be cheating yourself if you don't explore Musicians for Freedom at www.musiciansforfreedom.com.
This amazing political cartoon, in the video below, is as fresh today as it was when it was released in 1948. "Make Mine Freedom" was produced by Harding College, and it explains why capitalism and freedom are important - and gives a dire warning about collectivist, communist, Obama-like practices. (Hat tip to National Juggernaut)
Chicago News Bench (CNB) is exactly three years old next week, and what a birthday present: Half a million hits! To make it even sweeter, we don't fake our numbers like one major local blog that we know of does. Thanks to all of CNB's readers for giving high traffic and a solid "5" page rank. And thanks to my Twitter follows, too: We crossed the 1,000 mark last night. Those are pretty good numbers for a blogger who was called "discredited" by 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore in 2008. So thanks to Joe Moore, and to all of his fellow corrupt and dishonest politicians, for consistently giving me and so many other bloggers such great material to work. Thanks, also, to the Chicago Tribune and to Chicago Magazine for naming us one of Chicago's best web sites, and to the Chicago Sun-Times for picking up our syndication. Special thanks to John Ruberry of Marathon Punditand Anne Leary of Backyard Conservative, for their steady support, links and friendship for three years, and to iOwnTheWorld, a bunch of creative whackos that I've grown rather fond of, for sending me massive hits and much needed laughs over the past year. Conservative Caps, Shirt and more! Leave a Comment - Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Visit us on Twitter!
With the shortage of H1N1 "swine" flu vaccine, Milwaukee residents risked pneumonia standing in the cold rain waiting for their dose.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that "As the Milwaukee Health Department gears up for its first public swine flu clinic Friday, the beginning of what is expected to be the largest mass vaccination in decades, city officials and metro area health departments say they are facing a shortage of the vaccine."Welcome, as the man's sign says, to government health care.
People waiting in cold rain to get a shot that might protect them against a flu bug, all the while risking pneumonia from the weather. People panicking because (gasp!) one thousand people have died nationwide from H1N1 flu. Keep in mind that that's only 20 per state averaged, and that in a normal year some 30,000 people die of a variety of flu strains. To panic over 1,000 deaths so far is absurd, and the picture of government health care in action - long lines, a shortage of vaccination, confusion and inconvenience - is just plain frightening.
No, not the year, the Senate bill that failed on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Senate Bill 1776 was soundly defeated when enough Democrats came to their senses and sided with Republicans to defeat this monstrosity. American Thinker comments on this victory against Obamacare:
So the U.S. Senate failed by seven votes to invoke cloture on Wednesday and push forward a bill that even had Washington Post editorialists gagging on its duplicity. Thirteen Democrats joined all 40 Republicans to reject 47-53 a free-standing Medicare bill, S. 1776, that would have pushed up the national deficit by a quarter of a trillion dollars over the next 10 years. Full Article, American Thinker...
Hello again. I’m Senator Jim DeMint, and this is Freedomcast for October 22, 2009.
You know, the longer I stay in Washington, the more I have come to realize that the problem in the federal government isn’t just the people… it’s the process.
The system itself is so much more powerful than either party or interest group, let alone one president or congressional leader.
In Washington, the rules of the game are rigged – in favor of bigger government, higher taxes, more debt, and the time-honored system of political back-scratching of “go along to get along.”
Fifteen years ago, Republicans – who had been out of power in Congress for forty years – made term limits a centerpiece of their “Contract with America” agenda.
The term limits constitutional amendment ultimately failed, in part because so many new reform-minded congressmen imposed term limits on themselves. After six or eight years, these members voluntarily went home, leaving behind those Republicans and Democrats who fully intended to make a career inside the beltway.
The fact is, party doesn’t matter when it comes to reform. If you want to change the policies, you have to change the process.
That’s why in the next few weeks I will introduce a new constitutional amendment to limit members of the House of Representatives to three terms (which is six years), and members of the Senate to two terms (which is twelve years).
As long as members have the chance to spend their lives in Washington, their interests will always skew toward fundraising, relationship building among lobbyists, and trading favors for pork – in short, amassing their own power.
Since all that power is going to disappear in a few years, anyway, term-limited legislators will be far less likely to make compromises with the system.
Opponents of term limits say that the nation needs wise and seasoned leaders to lead the nation through crises and find consensus on difficult issues.
Well, that’s exactly what we’ve got now… How do you think it’s working out for us?
It wasn’t the “people” who gave us a 12-trillion dollar debt, trillion-dollar deficits, 100-trillion-dollar long term shortfall in Social Security and Medicare, the Wall Street and auto bailouts, and the health care takeover.
It was those wise and seasoned leaders, who enjoy lives of privilege almost wholly immune from the consequences of their policy failures.
Term limits are not enough, of course. I hope my amendment will eventually be ratified, and then followed by other structural reforms to make our public institutions more transparent and accountable.
But term limits are a good start. Because if we really want reform, we all know it’s not enough just to change the congressmen – we have to change Congress itself.
Thanks for checking in. This is Freedomcast, and I’m Jim DeMint.
The original version of the video above was posted on August 3, 1009. It included racist Shirley Phelps-Roper at a demonstration in Chicago. She sang a horrible, anti-Semitic song, with her own terrible - but original - lyrics to the tune of The Beatles' "Hey Jude." This was a news event. Phelps-Roper is a news maker. The video was presented as both news and documentary.
Sony/ATV Publishing complained to YouTube on October 20, 2009, forcing the removal of the original sound of Phelps-Roper singing. That is the equivalent of forcing a television news show to not air a report in which, for example, a US Senator sings a song to the tune of, say, a Beach Boys song. Inclusion of such material, even though copyrighted, is "fair use." Sony ATV Publishing apparently has no respect for fair use of music in news or documentary videos.
But why did Sony/ATV Publishing target MY video? It was only posted for two and a half months, but if you search for "hey jude" on YouTube you find "about 15,100" videos. Some of those are approved, but many are clearly in violation of copyrights. One, for example, shows a baby on a couch singing the original "Hey Jude" lyrics to the actual tune. It was posted by "kladblog" on February 19, 2008. There's also one posted by "fiomily" on August 17, 2007 that shows two young girls doing the same thing. Neither of those is news or a documentary of a news maker, yet they've remained posted far longer than mine was allowed to be. The hypocrisy of Sony ATV Publishing is disgusting - I believe that they targeted my video because it featured a controversial figure singing her own horrible lyrics to a Beatles tune. Is Sony/ATV Publishing afraid of truth? Why do they suppress news, and why are they not playing by "fair use?" In light of this, I urge you to not purchase any products or services from Sony or Sony/ATV Publishing.
More questionable "Hey Jude" (and Beatles) Videos on the web:
A second Philadelphia ACORN sting video (watch it below) was released on October 21. For those of you who just landed on this planet, the ACORN sting videos were made by two young journalists who posed as a pimp and a prostitute as they visited a number of ACORN offices and were given advice on how to get tax breaks, disguise their illicit business and, in at least one case, claim underage girls from another country as dependents. Adam Bitely of NetRight Nation was attended the morning press conference, which Bitely recounts:
"...Andrew Breitbart, Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe released their new video filmed at the Philadelphia ACORN office. Interestingly, it looks like they are taking Media Matters to task for their comments on their work thus far. For those who aren't aware, Media Matters is attacking this courageous film team for releasing these videos. Aside from outrageous claims that they are making, Media Matters appears to be in a close relationship with ACORN."
This is not actually General Patton's speech, of course, but probably close to what he would say if he was alive and a general in the Army today. (Actually, he'd probably be leading a coup d'etat.)
Ethics Alert: Giannoulias Breaks Pledge to Local Radio Station, Takes PAC Money - 10/20/2009
The Illinois Republican Party is blasting Democrat Alexi Giannoulias for accepting third-quarter contributions from special interest political actions committees (PACs) after telling a local radio station he “personally” thought politicians should swear off contributions from special interest PAC-like unions.
As State Treasurer, Giannoulias accepted more than half a million dollars from corporate and special interest PACs since 2006 (detailed in link below). But when he appeared on WLS’ Don Wade and Roma program on July 27, 2009 (see link below - key quote at 4:34), Giannoulias said he would oppose all special interest money, including union support. -------- Alexi: So I’m also proud to be the first candidate running for the U.S. Senate in the history of the state of Illinois not to take money from lobbyists or from corporate PACs…
Roma: In that spirit of swearing off corporate PACs and lobbyist contributions, what about all special interest money, from unions, from trial lawyers, from, zero PAC money, is that something that you think politicians should all do?
Alexi: I personally do. -------- According to the Giannoulias’ third-quarter fundraising report, Alexi for Illinois received $40,350 from special interest PACs -- $30,000 from union PACs alone.
“Like Rod Blagojevich before him, Alexi Giannoulias launched his campaign pledging reform – but his actions speak louder than words,” Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said. “As if gambling away $85 million in children’s education savings while skimming money for his own SUV wasn’t bad enough, Alexi Giannoulias is blatantly misleading voters about his campaign contributions. The people of Illinois deserve better than another politician speaking out of both sides of his mouth.”
Hershey's hot chocolate, 200,000 pieces of assorsted Hershey's candy, and 300 gallons of warm chocolate fondue?
The Chicago Tribune pontificated, laughably, that the affair had something to do with immigration. Everyone else felt, correctly, that the reaction was too much for a simple immigration issue. Everyone else was right. Indeed, the owner of the plant, a northside Chicago resident named Tahawwur Rana, has been charged with financing terrorists bent on carrying out operations in Europe. Rana is a Pakistani-Canadian residing in Chicago. The Tribune redeems itself with its October 27 article. An excerpt:
