Illinois Review

Thorner: Communism overtakes union-controlled government Schools

By Nancy Thorner - 

Some of us are old enough to remember Khrushchev's Message 61 years ago on September 29, 1949.  Khsrushchev served as the premier of the Soviet Union from 1958 to 1964.   Following is his entire quote:

“Your children's children will live under communism, You Americans are so gullible. No, you won't accept communism outright; but we will keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you will finally wake up and find you already have Communism. We will not have to fight you; We will so weaken your economy until you will fall like overripe fruit into our hands." "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

More of you might remember what Nikita Khrushchev said in 1959 as cited below:

Amidst border chaos, new Illinois law ends state partnership with ICE; opens state's door wide to illegal immigrants

AURORA - Monday, videos from Mission Texas showed nearly 1000 immigrants being kept by the Democrat Biden Administration under a bridge overnight. The numbers of immigrants crossing the border is at historic highs. Immigrants are being transported to hotels and bus stations in Texas, and then provided travel to destinations of their choice, a Fox News report showed.

At the same time, Illinois' Governor Pritzker, also a Democrat, signed into law measure that end the state's relationship with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The new laws and an executive order opens Illinois' door to more immigrants that have come across the border illegally. 

Below is the governor's office - and a description of the new laws from the governor office's perspective:

More Gov't Debt As Far as the Eye Can See

The U.S. government will, again, face an official debt limit starting on August 1, 2021, unless Congress once more raises the limit on what Uncle Sam can borrow.

For the last two years, the federal government has been legally at liberty to borrow any amount of money necessary to cover its deficit spending under the Bipartisan Budget Act of August 2019. Unless Congress extends this Act or raises the official debt limit, starting on August 1, 2021 Uncle Sam will only be able to spend what he takes in, in taxes. The thought of living within a balanced budget sends a frightening shiver down almost every politician’s spine. 

In its July 2021 report on the “Federal Debt and the Statutory Limit,” the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) explains that at the time the Bipartisan Budget Act was passed in the summer of 2019, the Congressionally approved debt limit stood at $22 trillion. The Act specified that that debt level would come back into effect as of July 31, 2021, plus any and all additional debt accumulated between those two dates. As of June 30, 2021, the federal government had added an extra $6.5 trillion of debt over the previous two years, bringing the outstanding national debt to over $28.5 trillion.

More HERE

The Revolt of the Unwoke

Three progressive San Francisco school board members are targeted for a recall. A sign of thing to come? William McGurn writes:

If the land of woke has a capital, it’s San Francisco. Which makes it all the more extraordinary that the City by the Bay has now become ground zero for a revolt by unwoke moms and dads.

Part of this is Asian-Americans awakening to progressive plans to sacrifice their children in the name of equity and diversity. Another part is ordinary citizens pushing back against the dividing of America into white oppressors and nonwhite oppressed. Still another is parents and alumni alarmed by the board’s lowering of standards at one of America’s most elite public high schools by elevating race categories over merit.

The Perpetual Emergency

Regular talk of crisis can degrade liberty. Fred Bauer writes:

When John Winthrop warned his fellow Puritans that they were about to enter a “community of peril” in venturing to Massachusetts Bay in 1630, he helped inaugurate an American tradition: the politics of crisis. One of the great paradoxes revealed by American life is that crisis can both invigorate democratic institutions and threaten their foundations.

The shock of crisis can simultaneously inspire feats of grand statesmanship and corrode the norms of a free society. The Constitution—one of the great acts of political engineering and democratic imagination—emerged out of the tumultuous paralysis of the Articles of Confederation. The Civil War secured the Union and extended the promise of liberty, but the wartime federal government cracked down on civil liberties and suppressed some presidential critics. Franklin Roosevelt marshaled a vast “arsenal of democracy” to confront the totalitarian threat, but his administration also pressed the rule of law to its breaking point—with internment camps, invasive state surveillance, and the use of federal agencies to harass political opponents.

Illinois School District Begins Holocaust-Style Policy for Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated Staff

School District 205 Superintendent in Galesburg, IL sent out a very shocking email to staff members this week. Here’s what it said:

“Dear District 205 staff member:

I am writing to you today to make you aware of an option that is now available if you are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. We have purchased ID badges that are yellow for those who wish to be easily identified as having received their full vaccination. If you would like to change your ID from white to yellow, please present your proof of vaccination at the District Office and we will provide you with a new ID.”

Does this at all sound familiar? Does this not sound like the yellow Star of David that Jews had to wear during the Holocaust?

More HERE

New Illinois "Office of Equity" will promote diversity, equity and inclusion across state government

Illinois Capitol Governor's Office

SPRINGFIELD - Just out of the Governor's office this Friday afternoon.  Will work on a response in upcoming Illinois Review stories. At first glance, it appears Governor Pritzker is taking the state of Illinois even further into a Leftist mindset - something that is of no surprise to attentive conservative Illinoisans. Some are seeing it immediately as ushering in a state government guided by the Critical Race Theory so many are opposing in school curriculum. 

This is the Governor's office's release in its entirety: 

Executive Order 2021-16 Advances Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Throughout State Agencies and Public Policy

SPRINGFIELD — Building on the administration’s ongoing work to advance equity and inclusion, Governor JB Pritzker today signed an Executive Order establishing the Office of Equity to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across state government.  By creating a standalone Office of Equity, the Chief Equity Officer will serve as a leader in creating more equitable systems and opportunity for state employees and all residents.

“It’s been the mission of my administration to carry forth justice and equity in all that we do for the people of Illinois,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I’m proud that this Executive Order will help shape a more equitable system of justice that makes our state stronger and expands opportunities for all of our residents. It is a goal of mine for the nation to look to Illinois as a leader in true equity. The action we’re taking today takes us one step closer to that goal.”

Sec of State offices expand services "to address heavy customer volume"

Crowds in line at Lombard IL facility in August 2020 (Star indicates DMV office location in mall)

CHICAGO - Secretary of State Jesse White says they are expanding services "to address heavy customer volume" in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anyone who's had the misfortune to need a visit to your local Driver and Motor Vehicles facility over the last 18 months will likely say this is great, but as typical in bureaucracies, it's months, if not years, too late. Reports are of Illinois residents standing in line up to eight hours and being forced to return the next day to the Lombard Illinois DMV office to get their licenses updated with a required photo. That's been the case since last fall. 

From the Secretary of State's office Friday ... 

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is launching a comprehensive plan to address the heavy customer volume at Driver Services facilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. White’s plan includes two key elements:

• Expanding the appointment pilot program in September to include most Driver Services facilities in the Chicagoland area.

• Expanding remote renewal over the next six months to allow approximately 1 million more people to renew their driver’s licenses and ID cards online, by phone or by mail. Letters will be mailed out to those who qualify beginning in September until the end of February 2022.

Rossi: Significantly More Americans Want Congress to Investigate BLM Riots than the Capitol Riots

By Randy Rossi - 

Rasmussen released a poll on 7/21/2021 that proves that a majority of Americans get the “Big Picture” and understand what is a real threat to our great republic. While 49% of Americans do support Nancy Pelosi’s investigation of the one day “Capitol Riots”, 66% of Americans want a formal investigation of the BLM/ANTIFA riots that caused $2 billion of damage to 140 cities over 200 days. Those riots are the most expensive riots in US history. That means that 34% more Americans want a BLM/ANTIFA investigation vs. the Capitol riots investigation! Yet the Democrat controlled House has not done an investigation of the BLM/ANTIFA riots, while they have started an investigation of the one day Capitol riots. While the initial peaceful capitol protests on January 6 involving over 100,000 protestors were legal and protected by the 1st Amendment, the much smaller violent protests that caused damage to the Capitol and injured several police officers were indeed illegal and those that broke the law should be prosecuted as the law demands. But let’s compare that one day of illegal riots on the Capitol vs. the 200 days of BLM/ANTIFA riots in 140 cities.

St Louis County lifts masks mandate; Illinois gov mandates masks in Illinois government facilities

ST. LOUIS COUNTY - Just to the west of Illinois, across the Mississippi River that is easily crossed on a daily basis, the St. Louis County Council voted this week to rescind a mask mandate 24 hours after it was enacted. 

Explaining his vote to rescind the mandate Councilman Ernie Trakas, R-6th District said, “Too many American men and women have given the last full measure of devotion for us to be cavalier with the very liberty they fought and died to provide. I will not abide any measures that seek to compromise or erode our liberty and freedom.”

This week, Illinois' Governor JB Pritzker issued a statewide face covering mandate for state facilities.  From Pritzker's office:

Thorner: A Stark Report of Biden’s First Six Months in Office

By Nancy Thorner - 

On Tuesday, July 20, 2021, Biden marked his six months as president, which could also mark the worst start of an administration in this nation's history. 

The White House celebrated President Biden's first six months in office by touting his economic achievements and handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Instagram, but commenters appeared to be less than impressed. 

"So we just going to forget that we are on the verge of inflation?" one commenter wrote in a post liked by more than 350 users.

Lockdowns Proved Deadly to Children, Study Shows

Lockdowns, especially in low-income countries resulted in higher mortality among a group rarely considered in the international narrative on COVID-19– children, concludes a report by a prominent economic research organization.

“In lower-income countries, the economic contractions that accompany lockdowns to contain the spread of COVID-19 can increase child mortality, counteracting the mortality reductions achieved by the lockdown,” state the authors. The report, “Intergenerational Mortality Tradeoff of COVID-19 Lockdown Policies,” was published in June by the Massachusetts-based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).  Four of the six authors of the study are employed by the World Bank, the other two are with the National University of Singapore and the University of Michigan, respectively.

To formulize and quantify the unprecedented lockdowns’ effect on child mortality, the researchers built what they call a “macro-susceptible-infected-recovered model” that featured heterogeneous agents and a country-group-specific relationship between economic downturns and child mortality and calculate it to data from 85 countries across all income levels.

The rise of the delta variant in India, Europe, Australia, Israel, and South America and the fact that COVID-19 appears to be bumping up against herd immunity in the U.S gave researchers an opportunity to calculate the human toll of lockdowns. Whether the benefits of such policies outweigh “the accompanying dramatic economic contractions” is what researchers were able to test out, and by extension, whether this path should ever be taken again in confronting future pandemics.

More HERE

Parker: The Perverse Agenda of Black Lives Matter

By Star Parker - 

Since the new wave of race consciousness that has been sweeping our country, precipitated by the graphic video of the killing of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, something very strange has happened.

Somehow, what is perceived as a problem has become widely understood to be the solution. And it is endangering our country.

If there remain citizens in America who, because of race or any other reason, are deprived of the benefits and protections of a free society, we should work to bring those benefits of freedom to them.

The answer is not to abandon the principles that make us a free country.

More HERE

Coalition Calls on Feds to Cease Collusion with Social Media Platforms

'The Biden administration is ripping the U.S. Constitution to shreds. Its assault on America’s freedom of speech is terrifying. It is the hallmark of dictatorships.'

Over 40 conservative leaders have signed on to an open letter led by Media Research Center President L. Brent Bozell in calling on the federal government to cease its collusion with Big Tech. 

The open letter was first published as a Fox News exclusive by Fox News Media Reporter Brian Flood:

“The Biden administration is ripping the U.S. Constitution to shreds. Its assault on America’s freedom of speech is terrifying. It is the hallmark of dictatorships. 

“As a result of the incendiary and dangerous announcements made by the Biden White House last week to censor free speech with the cooperation of social media, we, the undersigned, demand  Big Tech firms immediately and publicly announce that they will not comply with calls from the federal government to censor dissenting viewpoints. Not on COVID-19 and not on any other topic. Furthermore we call on those companies to resist further demands for such outrageous censorship of dissenting voices. 

“The Biden administration is guilty of violating the most basic fundamental principles of a free and open society. President Joe Biden shockingly claimed Facebook is ‘killing people’ because it doesn’t completely censor its site in ways the administration approves. Though he later backed off this claim a bit, multiple members of the administration are moving to quash free speech on social media following that autocratic rationale.

More HERE

Rossi: Shocking New Scientific Proof That Children Don’t Need Covid Vaccines

By Randy Rossi - 

It is absolutely heartbreaking to watch Democrat President Biden, his Democrat “cronies”, and the “Fake News” aggressively attack anybody who dares to question their “pitch” on Covid vaccines and present scientific data that disagrees with them. But some new hard data just came out that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that children under 18 absolutely do not need to be vaccinated and probably shouldn’t be.

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Dr. Marty Makary who is a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote an incredibly informative Op Ed with the title of “The Flimsy Evidence Behind CDC’s Push to Vaccinate Children” that should change any rational person’s opinion on kids needing Covid vaccines. Dr. Makary certainly has impeccable credentials and experience so he should at least be listened to. In his WSJ piece, he reports the fact that according to the CDC, just 335 American kids under 18 have died from Covid. Do the math, 335 US kids out of at least a US population of 55 million kids under 18 have died from Covid which is a death rate of 0.0006%! Ten times more kids have died from suicide and 3 times more have died from the annual flu. Yet we shut down our schools and caused massive academic, social, and psychological damage to those kids for no rational reason. Now many Democrats want all kids to get Covid vaccine shots which cause some heart swelling problems. Where is the logic and common sense?

Cuba Libre: Protestors call for an end to communism and oppression

Cubans are taking to the streets over food shortages and outrageously high prices, calling for an end to the country’s communist regime with mass protests.

“Cuban citizens have taken to the streets across the country for the first time in more than six decades to protest against deteriorating living conditions and the lack of basic goods and services, including medical attention amid increasing numbers of coronavirus infections,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

There have been other protests in Cuba, but this time the Cuban government seems worried. The Wall Street Journal further commented that the “demonstrations are more widespread and larger than ever before … Protesters this time appear willing to stand up against the government.” President Díaz-Canel has called the protests a U.S.-supported conspiracy to undermine and subvert the Communist Party through instability.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s administration has made it clear that the U.S. will not welcome Cuban refugees, thus continuing Trump-era policies regarding restrictions and sanctions against Cuba. Republicans, including Sens. Marco Rubio and Elliot Abrams, want the Biden Administration to support to the Cuban protestors without softening the sanctions against the Cuban government. The actual substance of this proposal is not clearly defined.

Could this be the beginning of the end for the Cuban Communist Party? If so, how can we interpret these events through a theological and moral lens?

More HERE

IL's Kinzinger's hearing appearance: Embarrassing or Endearing?

Tuesday, while serving as one of two "Pelosi Republicans" on Speaker Pelosi's specially-appointed committee looking into what Democrats are calling the January 6th "Insurrection Day," Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger opened his remarks with a slight chuckle, then immediately transitioned to choking up. 

For you, was Congressman Kinzinger's representation from Illinois embarrassing or endearing? 

 

NOW - Rep. Adam Kinzinger goes from laughing to crying in seconds during the "January 6 Select Committee" hearing.pic.twitter.com/KGIu3cH8hr

— Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) July 27, 2021

Feel free to comment below: 

Texas Rep on US House Floor: A crisis at our border, we're playing footsie with mask mandates

Rep. @chiproytx NAILS IT. pic.twitter.com/X2PlSkp6rd

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) July 28, 2021

Liberty Counsel: VA COVID Shot Mandate Violates the Law

The Liberty Counsel, a legal firm that advances religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, and the family through litigation and education, says they are responding for "pleas for help" from Veterans Administration medical personnel in light of this week's COVID-19 vaccination mandate announcement.

The legal group sent out the following announcement late Tuesday afternoon: 

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) sent an email to all employees mandating that all its health care personnel receive the COVID-19 shots. The mandate gives each employee eight weeks to comply, and employees will receive four hours of paid administrative leave after demonstrating they have gotten the shot. 

Since the mandate was issued, Liberty Counsel has received many pleas for help, including doctors, psychiatrists, nurses and other healthcare workers, chaplains, and more. These employees do not want the COVID shots and are afraid of losing their jobs. Liberty Counsel will be representing these VA employees. 

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough announced he will make COVID-19 injections mandatory for Title 38 VA health care personnel — including physicians, dentists, podiatrists, optometrists, registered nurses, physician assistants, expanded-function dental auxiliaries and chiropractors — who work in Veterans Health Administration facilities, visit VHA facilities, or provide direct care to those that the VA serves. 

Shapiro: Lying About ‘Misinformation’ To Justify Tyranny

By Ben Shapiro - 

This week, President Joe Biden was asked whether he had any message for social media amidst a dramatic rise in the number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases thanks to the delta variant. Biden immediately responded that companies like Facebook were responsible for murder: “They’re killing people — I mean, they’re really, look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they’re killing people.” Meanwhile, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said that Facebook had not stopped misinformation thoroughly enough on its platform, calling misinformation a “serious threat to public health.”

None of this is accurate. Facebook is, first of all, a platform; it is not a publication with the same responsibilities of editorial oversight as a publisher. To treat Facebook as such would be to transform its purpose. Furthermore, on a purely factual level, it is simply untrue that Facebook users are disproportionately likely to avoid vaccination — in fact, according to Facebook’s statistics, vaccine acceptance in the United States among their users now stands between 80% and 85%, and 3.3 million Americans have used their vaccine finder tool to seek a location for a vaccine.

So, what’s driving the Biden administration’s finger pointing?

More HERE