Illinois Review

The ongoing battle to protect aborted babies born alive

by Fran Eaton

On her way home from Midway, my dear friend Jill Stanek stopped for lunch.  She had just returned from a speaking engagement in Maryland.  The buzz on Capitol Hill yesterday was Jill's weekly World Net Daily column revealing the sad truth that the U.S. Department of Justice is evidently not enforcing the federal Born Alive Infant Protection Act signed into law a few years ago.

Jill was the first nurse to go public with her experience of holding a tiny little boy in her arms for 45 minutes after he had been born alive.  The baby, 24 weeks along, was aborted by his mother who didn't want to carry him to full term because he was diagnosed with Downs' Syndrome.

That day in 1999, Jill Stanek embarked upon a mission to seek justice for those innocent little babies.   It took her to Capitol Hill in DC and several other state capitals, including our own here in Illinois.  A federal law was passed first, and then after a long hard fight, Illinois finally passed a state version.

But Jill is finding that passing laws to stop the injustice was just one tremendous hurdle.  Now she's discovered someone needs to make sure those same laws are being enforced.

Jill's one tough lady.  When she bites into something, she doesn't let go.  She continues fight, after seven long years. As Jill told us about her WorldNetDaily.com piece yesterday, my heart was touched as her eyes welled up with tears, describing what injustice on these innocent little ones continues in America.

Those little babies have been gifted with a warrior to fight on their behalf.  And we have her right here in Illinois. . .  I'm thrilled to call her my friend.

Don't let go, Jill.  Keep fighting.

Illinois Hall of Fame: Daryl Hannah

By Mark Rhoads

Actress Daryl Hannah was born Dec. 3, 1960 in Chicago to Donald and Susan Hannah. Her parents divorced when Daryl was in first grade. Daryl's mother later married Jerrold Wexler who is a successful Chicago real estate investor and president of Jupiter Corporation. Wexler purchased The Drake Hotel in 1979 and his group for many years owned the air rights over the Illinois Central Railroad tracks and many valuable properties.

Counting children from each family, Daryl wound up as one seven girls and one boy. Daryl's uncle by marriage, her step-father's brother, is Chicago native Haskell Wexler who won two Oscars for his work as a cinematographer and was a key mentor for Daryl in the film business.

Daryl attended the Francis W. Parker School, an independedent day school near the corner of Clark and Webster in Lincoln Park. Parker School serves junior kindergarten through the level of high school senior. Two of her classmates were also future actors Billy Zane and Jennifer Beals. Daryl played on the Boys Soccer Team because there was then no girls team at Parker. She studied ballet and also studied acting at The Goodman Theater at 170 North Dearborn Street.

We’ve Done Our Part

By Ralf Seiffe

Editor’s Note: Senate committee hearings on gas prices scheduled for this week were suddenly adjourned for lack of a quorum at the last minute. The following statement was found on the back table of the hearing room apparently left there by a staffer unaware that the hearing would not occur. We are told that these were to be the opening remarks by Ephraim Johnson, Chairman of Oriental Petroleum, more popularly known as OREOil.  Word in the cloakrooms was that the sudden break in gas prices obviated the need for a hearing.

Good Morning Honorable Senators and thank you for the opportunity to present the OREOil story....

Coalition takes schools to court

by Joyce Morrison

At 11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning  (Thursday), in the Jersey County Courthouse at Jerseyville, Illinois, the courts will hear a monumental case that could possibly set a precedent for tax burdened communities throughout the state who are struggling to pay for unwanted new school construction.

Education has been the whip used to raise taxes on both state and local levels,  while they use the excuse "it is for the children." 
The lawsuit is seeking an injunction against the school district and the county clerks of Greene and Jersey Counties to stop the tax extension pertaining to school construction.  Property taxes for the construction of two new schools in Jersey County are scheduled for extension the year of 2008  payable in 2009.
An investigation by Jeff Ferguson, Jersey County Coalition for  Public  Awareness,  found building new schools in Jersey County had little or nothing to do "with the children."    Following the money trail led Ferguson to grants and bond sales that are highly suspicious and it appears it has a lot more to do with money than children.   Ferguson has over a thousand pages of evidence, and if a court does not find in favor of the taxpayers, the justice system is truly broken.
Grants do not cover the whole cost of  school construction and taxpayers are left with an overwhelming debt load.  Between 200 to 300 school construction projects in Illinois are being built - or have  recently been built - which the taxpayers did not authorize. Property owners will be forced to pay property taxes for years for unwanted and un-needed buildings. 

They actually give these people television shows

by Corey Miltimore

Regular visitors to dreckless will be well familiar with our low regard for NBC’s new The Today Show co-host Meredith Vieira. (See “Non-partisan Vieira ‘peeved’ at President Bush,” “Completing the liberal circle,” and “NBC’s idea of diversity.”) Not only do Vieira and her fellow news-readers exhibit appallingly leftist views, they also reveal shocking levels of stupidity when allowed to go off script.

Vieira recently revealed how clueless she truly is when she indicated to viewers that Rep. John Boehner is the current Speaker of the House. Vieira made the mistake on her first day of work as the new co-host of The Today Show in an exchange with Tim Russert.

(For complete dreckless article, click here.)

Ten Ways to Avoid Telling Your Parents You’re Pregnant Under House Bill 955 – The “Parental Avoidance Bill”

Here’s my April 5, 1995, floor speech against House Bill 955, the fake parental notification law that the Illinois Supreme Court is talking about finally writing rules for:

This is definitely a “headline bill” without the substance which is promised. There is secrecy throughout this bill.

There is a court bypass I which there is total secrecy. If you read the language in the bill, which I suspect most of us have not, you will see…you won’t even know how many…reporters won’t even be able to go the courthouse to find out how many people have requested a judicial bypass. It said that the Governor will sign this bill and I guess the secrecy involved is consistent with Department of Public Health’s refusal to release the number of abortions performed in Illinois.

Apologize or die

 

One wonders what will happen to the Washington Post for publishing this Glenn McCoy cartoon yesterday.

Illinois Hall of Fame: Frank Lloyd Wright

By Mark Rhoads

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of most innovative and famous architects of the Twentieth Century. He was surely the most prolific architecht of the Prairie School. He is best known for the Guggenheim Museum in New York. But of approximately 362 known commissions that Frank Lloyd Wright completed in his own lifetime, about 99 of them survive in Illinois.

The Illinois works are mostly Prairie homes, organic residences, Usonian homes that foreshadowed suburban ranch houses, and a few public buildings such as the Unitarian Temple in Oak Park. Most were built during a 22-year period that Wright lived and worked in Chicago and Oak Park from 1887 to 1909. The earliest Wright Illinois home was his own, built in Oak Park in 1889. The last was built in Rockford in 1949. Illinois has far more examples of his work than any other state and they account for about 20 percent of all of his work that remains standing today.

The Wright works in Illinois include 27 homes and buildings in Chicago, 20 in Oak Park, 11 in Glencoe, 9 in River Forest, 4 in La Grange, 3 in Highland Park, 3 in Riverside, 2 in Springfield, 2 in Kankakee, 2 in Evanston, 2 in Wilmette, and one each in Hinsdale, Elmhurst, Kenilworth, Dwight, Belvidere, Flossmoor, Geneva, Batavia, Decatur, Aurora, Lake Bluff, Villa Park, Libertyville, and Rockford.

Fake Parental Notification Law May Be Resurrected

Front page news in the Chicago Tribune today is that the Illinois Supreme Court has finally decided to consider doing what a law sponsored by two local legislators asked 11 years ago.

The 1995 bill asked the Illinois Supreme Court to set rules for special circumstances.

McHenry County’s former State Rep. Ann Hughes, a pro-choice Republican from Woodstock, and pro-life State Rep. Terry Parke (R-Hoffman Estates) negotiated the bill, the weaker of two that passed the General Assembly that one session when Lee Daniels was House Speaker.

One step closer to finally protecting daughters

Finally, after ten years of waiting, the Illinois Supreme Court has decided to write rules to implement parental notification before an abortion is performed on a girl under 18.

Congratulations to Supreme Court Chief Justice Bob Thomas for respecting the balance of power in Illinois.  In 1995, the Illnois General Assembly passed the law, and Governor Jim Edgar signed it.  The ball laid in the laps of the Illinois Supreme Court for over ten years, waiting for rules to be written for implementation and enforcement. 

DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett brought the matter before the states attorneys last year.  He also wrote a letter recently encouraging the Court to consider their unfinished business.

Thomas More attorney Tom Brechja and Constitutional attorney Paul Linton drew up an amicus brief to line out the need for rules to the Court.  Ten organizations signed on to the assessment.

No opposition was filed, according to today's Trib.

But all's not well.  The rules will need to go to pro-abortion AG Lisa Madigan, who could slow down the process.  Yesterday's order does not assign a deadline for the rules.  And the law allows others to substitute for parents and legal guardians.  And we haven't yet heard officially from the ACLU.

IR Candidate Soapbox: GOP Candidate for AG Stu Umholtz

In today's IR Candidate Soapbox, we hear from GOP candidate for Attorney General Stu Umholtz, who says he became interested in politics while writing as an investigative reporter.

Learn more about Mr. Umholtz and his views  . . .

IR Conservative of the Week: McLean County's Lee Newcom

Dubbed by AM 1160 WYLL talk show host Scott Thomas as the "Christian Conscience of Illinois Politics," this week's Illinois Review Conservative Star of the Week is McLean County Recorder of Deeds' Lee Newcom.

There's a difference between being an issues activist and being an elected official,  Newcom said recently.  "And we need both in Illinois politics.  We just need to understand there's an important difference between the two."

Newcom should know.  He was the head of Illinois' Christian Coalition for five years during the state chapter's heyday in the early 90s.  He then was President of the United Republican Fund for several years.  After running a small business in his hometown of Bloomington, Illinois and serving on the county board, he ran for McLean County's Recorder of Deeds and won.  He will face his first re-election bid in 2008.

A husband and father of three, Newcom devotes his little spare time to Boy Scouts, church activities and being a guest on political talk shows.  He's called upon often to be on Bruce DuMont's WLS 890 AM "Beyond the Beltway" and Scott Thomas' WYLL AM 1160 afternoon drive home show.   His perspective usually clearly defines conservatives' views on Illinois politics.

The difference between an activist and an elected official?  To Newcom, an issues activist must be a strong, unbending voice to raise the debate and inform the public.  An elected official may hold those same positions, but should always be reminded that as an elected official, he now represents those who may strongly disagree with him on those important issues. 

Congratulations, Lee.  You are IR's Star Conservative of the Week.  We need your voice and direction in Illinois politics.

'04 Redux

by John Ruskin

Yesterday's news that the latest Sun Times poll shows Judy Baar-Topinka down by 30 points is...unfortunate. True, the methodology of the poll is suspect. And the Topinka campaign has countered that other polls show her down by only 8 to 12 points.

But isn't it interesting what a couple of years can do? Back in 2004, when Judy was state GOP chairman, she was calling for Jack Ryan to be "dumped" from the ticket because he was 8 points down in his race for U.S. Senate. According to Topinka, Jack's single-digit deficit showed that he couldn't win and that he'd be a drag on the rest of the ticket.

Now it seems an 8 point deficit (or more) means you're competitive.

We'll see.

Illinois Hall of Fame: Nancy Reagan

By Mark Rhoads

Nancy Davis Reagan is one of four former First Ladies of the United States who lived in Illinois for more than ten years. The other three were Mary Todd Lincoln, Julia Dent Grant, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Betty Ford was born in Chicago in 1918 but she was raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Madonna Blasphemy is OK with NBC

by Mark Rhoads

According to Drudge Report on Tuesday, Sept. 19,

" NBC has given the green light to include Madonna-on-the-Cross footage in an upcoming November Sweeps concert special!"

"In the show, Madonna, wearing a gittered crown of thorns, descends on a suspended mirrored, disco ball-type cross singing her hit 'Live To Tell.'

"NBC suit Kevin Reilly said Madonna considered the crucifixion a highlight of her show."

"We viewed it and didn't see it as being inappropriate," NBC explained."

Tammy's their girl . . .

Don't miss Dennis Byrne's great piece in today's Trib "Rosie's rant won't work in Wheaton . . ."

Just think . . .Tammy Duckworth's list of contributors include great political opinion makers such as

• Christie Hefner
• Al Franken
• Barbara Streisand and yes,
• Rosie. . .

IR Soapbox: Are We Prepared for a Disaster in Illinois?

Comments about Illinois' disaster readiness submitted for IR Candidate Soapbox by Marc Wiley, GOP candidate for State Rep in the 89th.

**************

IR welcomes statements from General Election 2006 candidates to publish on our Soap Box. Please submit to featon@illinoisreview.com

Muslims kill responding to Pope's accusations of violence?

Think about the irony in this Reuters' report on the Italian nun being slain by Muslim extremists in Somalia . . .

One top Islamist source told Reuters there was "a very high possibility" the attack was linked to controversy over a recent speech by Pope Benedict which angered Muslims who thought it showed their religion to be innately violent.

What are we missing here?

Hat tip to IR reader . . .

Illinois Hall of Fame: Saul Bellow

By Mark Rhoads

"I am an American, Chicago born--Chicago, that somber city--and go at things as I have taught myself, free style, and will make the record in my own way: first to knock, first admitted; sometimes an innocent knock, sometimes a not so innocent."

From The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow, 1953

Author Saul Bellow won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976 and many other national and international book awards for his novels with colorful characters set in the context of Yiddish life in America. His parents emigrated from St. Petersburg, Russia to Canada in 1913. Saul's birth name was Solomon and he was one of four children of Abraham and Lescha Bellow.  His father worked as an importer of onions and Turkish figs.  Saul was born on July 10, 1915 in a suburb called Lachine, that has since become part of Montreal, Quebec.

Missed GOP Turnout Opportunity

An Illinois Review post led me to a Washington Post  analysis of the national Republican Party’s superior voter turnout operation in Minnesota blogger Dreckless.

But no one made the connection between the second sentence in the following Post paragraph about turnout in Ohio and its Protect Marriage Amendment:

Recent history underscores the importance of superior voter-mobilization plans. In 2004, Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) thought that if he received 190,000 votes it would be impossible for former congressman John Thune (R) to beat him. Daschle won 193,340 votes; Thune got 197,848. In Ohio -- the central battleground in the race between Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) -- Democrats met all of their projected vote totals but came up more than 100,000 short.

The Washington Post reporters were not swift enough to figure out that it was probably those who supported the passage of a constitutional amendment who hyped the GOP vote totals in Ohio.

Illinois Republicans have, of course, missed their chance to follow Ohio’s example.

Indeed, its spokesman, too, seems not capable of making the connection the Washington Post writers missed.

Associated Press  reports,

“The Illinois Republican Party had limited resources," said its executive director, John Tsarpalas. "We chose to put our money and time into our candidates' campaigns."

Just following his national example, I guess.

Lovers or haters of cats might be interested in McHenry Couinty Blog's Cat Tax Trilogy.

Despite rumors, Campaigner-in-Chief in demand

Fred Barnes rejects the idea that President Bush's slump has frightened Congressional candidates from hosting the "Campaigner-in-Chief," Barnes' Weekly Standard column colorful description. 

Barnes piece pulls two Illinois Congressional races -- McSweeney's and Roskam's -- into national headlines once again.

The president's second term slump, from which he's only now recovering, triggered the notion that Republican candidates were massively spurning Bush. It was never true. "There are many more [House] members who want the president to come in than he could ever satisfy," says House Republican whip Roy Blunt.

David McSweeney is the Republican House challenger with the best chance of ousting a Democratic incumbent. He's running against one-term Democrat Melissa Bean in a suburban Chicago district. On October 12, Bush will appear in Chicago at a recently scheduled fundraiser for McSweeney and Peter Roskam, who's running to hold the open seat in an adjoining district for Republicans.

"I support the president," says McSweeney. "When he gets out [of Washington] and speaks, good things happen." His opponent has invited former President Bill Clinton to appear in her behalf. "In my district, I'm honored to have President Bush come in," says McSweeney. "I'll take him over Bill Clinton any day."

What words do Liberals like?

By Mark Rhoads

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it  to mean -- neither more nor less."

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that's all."

Maybe you have not read Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass (1871) since childhood or maybe you never read it.  Maybe you think Alice in Wonderland started out as a Disney movie and maybe all you know about Humpty Dumpty is a nursery rhyme that says he fell off a wall and could not be put back together again.  Although Mr. Dumpty is usually portrayed and illustrated as an egg in answer to a riddle for children, a humpty dumpty in 19th Century English slang was a short and clumsy person. If you are not familiar with the lessons for adults in Lewis Carroll, it might be time to read his works to your children just so you have an excuse to read him.

I wonder if Mr. Dumpty were around today, would he be happier as a liberal or a conservative?  If words mean what we choose them to mean, then perhaps Mr. Dumpty would be more comfortable on the liberal side of the spectrum.

     

State teachers and state workers should offer salary cuts if they really care

by Fran Eaton

So the state workers and the state schools' teachers union have decided not to endorse in the race for governor this time around.  AFSCME didn't endorse in 1990 or 1994 (Edgar won both times).  It's a first for the IEA.

Blagojevich is happy with the non-endorsement.  That means union members aren't being told to vote for Topinka.  But it also means the union members are free agents of sorts -- free to support just who they want, if anyone, in the governor's race.

Illinois Hall of Fame: Frances Willard

By Mark Rhoads

Starting in the 1870s, Congress decided that every state in the Union would be invited to place two statues of the state's most honored citizens in the halls of the United States Capitol. In 1893, Illinois dedicated its first statue in the Capitol to honor Gen. James Shields. Shields had the unique distinction of being the only person to ever serve as a US Senator from three different states including Illinois (1849-1854), Minnesota (1857-1858), and Missouri (1877-1878).

For the second entry on Feb. 17, 1905, Illinois state officials and Members of Congress dedicated the first statue to honor any woman in the Capitol, Frances Elizabeth Willard of Evanston. Willard was an educator, author, editor, lecturer, suffragist, and the most famous temperance crusader of 19th Century America.  At the time of her death in 1898, many newspapers identified Willard as one of the most famous women in the world after Queen Victoria. 

An exquisite operation

by Corey Miltimore

Thursday’s Washington Post article entitled “In R.I., a Model for Voter Turnout” contained interesting analysis that gives reasons for Republicans to be both optimistic – and a bit frustrated. It is well worth reading.

The reason for optimism is that the GOP voter turnout strategy that was recently tested in the Rhode Island primary was tremendously successful. The frustrating part about the success of the effort is that it was used to help someone like Lincoln Chafee. (It’s a bit analogous to finding a cure for cancer and then using it to save Adolf Hitler’s life.) Even Democrats acknowledged that the Republican model is far superior to their own, with potentially significant consequences for the upcoming elections. When asked about the Republican GOTV effort, one senior Democrat strategist declared, “Their turnout operation is exquisite. We are not going to match them.”

(For complete dreckless article, click here.)

Illinois Hall of Fame: Ray Bradbury

By Mark Rhoads

"Last week I turned 82. 82! When I look in the mirror, the person staring back at me is a young boy, with a head and heart filled with dreams and excitement and unquenchable enthusiam for life. Sure, he's got white hair--so what!"

-- Ray Bradbury, August 29, 2002

Green Town, Illinois is a mythical place in a Ray Bradbury novel only in the same way that Shermer, Illinois is a fictional suburb in a John Hughes movie. Green Town, Illinois can be visited today. It is called Waukegan. Shermer can also be found. In real life it's called Northbrook.

Ray Bradbury was born in Green Town, make that Waukegan, on August 22, 1920.  From Waukegan to Mars and other worlds is a very long trip covering 86 years so far, but Ray is still excited about the journey.

George Soros Enters Rosie Ranting Contest

If you think Rosie O'Donnell is ranting, just take a look at the CNN clip on You Tube where George Soros tries to defend his comparison of the Bush Administration to both Communist and Nazi propagandists.  His delusions are reaching Michael Moore proportions. Just amazing.

Rather than admit the obvious conclusion that he probably did not actually take the time to write the book with his name on it and hired a ghost writer, George Soros instead allows Wolf Blitzer to back him into a corner where he finally admits that "maybe I did go over the line."

See the Blitzer interview with Soros on You Tube.

Democracy Survives In Mexico

According to the Associated Press on Sept. 15, the tent city erected seven weeks ago on the main streets of Mexico City to protest the election of conservative President-elect Felipe Calderon has now come down.

Despite the fact that the independent election authority delcared Calderon the winner on Sept. 5, the leftist candidate Andreas Manuel Lopez Obrador planned to swear himself in as the shadow president in a street theater inauguration.  Bad idea.  His PRD party started to split and key supporters went on vacation.

Lopez Obrador failed to provoke President Vincente Fox into a violent reaction to the protests.  The patient residents of Mexico City just waited for the protests to run their course.  The slate for PRD leadership that Lopez Obrador wanted in the Congress did not win. Two governors of the PRD party have now recognized Calderon as the legitimate president of Mexico.  The founder of the PRD party has condemned the tactics of Lopez Obrador in an open letter.

Not voting? Fine. . . IR Voter motivator #3

Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them; and as governments are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined too. Wherefore governments rather depend upon men than men upon governments. Let men be good and the government cannot be bad. ... But if men be bad, let the government be never so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil it to their turn. ...[T]hough good laws do well, good men do better; for good laws may want [lack] good men and be abolished or invaded by ill men; but good men will never want good laws nor suffer [allow] ill ones.

William Penn quoted from: Thomas Clarkson, Memoirs of the Private and Public Life of William Penn (London: Richard Taylor and Co., 1813) Vol. I, p.303.

Perfect response to Rosie's Rant

A heads up from an IR reader who comments, "Isn't the 108th district great?"

WFIW-FM - FAIRFIELD, IL - MANAGER'S MEMO  9/15/06

For a moment, consider this comment that was made this week on network television----

"Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam to a country like America."

Wow, what an incredible statement. What an indictment of Christians everywhere. That statement was made by the most recent addition to "The View," a Barbara Walters produced women's talk show. The author was Rosie O?Donnell, gay activist and Democrat. And here's the most remarkable aspect of the
statement…..she really believes it.

Help me here. When was the last time an unstable Methodist took a reporter hostage and threatened to decapitate him?  How many Baptist suicide bombers have we uncovered here in Wayne County? Any Catholics you know planting any landmines around town? How, in a million years, can you link Christians to the Islam-fascists that flew commercial airliners into various buildings on the east coast five years ago?

The most remarkable thing is that Rosie will be back on the air for the next edition of The View. She'll survive because left wingers will rally to her comments and say she has first amendment rights that allow her to spout such junk.

There is clearly a double standard at work here. Remember Trent Lott? He showed up at a birthday part for Strom Thurmond who in the 1940s was a well-known segregationist. Lott said a few nice things about Thurmond and was nearly ridden out of Washington on a rail. All this at the same time that Democrat Robert Byrd acknowledges he had once been a leader in the Ku Klux Klan.

The same double standard is at work here. Rosie can compare Presbyterians to Hezbollah and get a free pass.

Time to send ABC a message. Time to turn off "The View."  Time to show that this IS STILL A CHRISTIAN COUNTRY and we don't take kindly to Ultra-left, anti-Christian, diatribes from weirdo talk show hosts.

I think that says it.

Editor's note:  Amen.  Preach it, brother.

Rosie's Rant

In case you missed it, watch the clip here.

FYI - One of Tammy Duckworth's major donors is Rosie O'Donnell.

You connect the dots.

Family-PAC Endorses Powers for Third Appellate Court

Family-PAC announced today that it has endorsed Judge Michael J. Powers for the Third Appellate Court. Family-PAC is a bipartisan political action committee which endorses judicial candidates who have demonstrated sensitivity to the rights of crime victims, children, and parents.

 “Your past experience as a successful criminal prosecutor as well as your extensive community involvement in your church and your community demonstrate to us that you posses the integrity and values necessary to make an outstanding addition to the Appellate Court in the 3^rd District,” said Paul Caprio, director of Family-PAC.

Click here to view Caprio's full letter to Judge Powers.

Powers, an Associate Judge in Will County, is running for the seat currently held by Third Appellate Justice Kent Slater, who is retiring. He is the only candidate in the race rated "Highly Qualified" by the Illinois State Bar Association.

The Third Appellate District consists of 21 counties, stretching from Will, Kankakee and Iroquois counties on the eastern border of Illinois, along the I-80 corridor to the counties of Rock Island, Mercer, Henderson and Hancock on the western border. The seat of the 3rd Appellate District is in Ottawa, located in LaSalle County.

Embryonic Stem Cells are Fool’s Gold

submitted by Charlie Johnston

Democrats think they have found gold with the issue of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. They may have for this election cycle, but sooner or later the people who are suffering from chronic disease will discover it is fools’gold the Democrats are peddling – and then they will pay a heavy price for their disingenuousness.

Let me tell you about Gina Rugari, originally of Dunham, North Carolina. Gina was born with a rare enzyme disorder that kills most infants before their second birthday. It had killed her brother before her. But with that family history, doctors were able to develop the missing enzyme using umbilical cord stem cells. Gina began school in Cincinnati last fall. She is one of many people who have been helped by over 70 adult and umbilical cord stem cell therapies. Dramatic improvements have been recorded in sufferers of Parkinson’s Disease, victims of spinal cord injuries and many other diseases and injuries.

Walmart: good or bad?

Where do conservatives stand on the WalMart issue?  Support Democratic Chicago Mayor Daley's veto and potentially harm their outreach to Reagan Democrats? 

Gary Varvel's Indianapolis Star cartoon yesterday touches on the heart of the Democrats' dilemma...

Illinois Hall of Fame: Joan Allen

By Mark Rhoads

Tony Award-winning actress Joan Allen was born in Rochelle, Illinois on Aug. 20, 1956.  Rochelle is in Ogle County about 75 miles west of Chicago. Joan attended Rochelle Township High School where she participated in school plays and the music program.  She was voted by classmates as "most likely to succeed." Joan graduated from high school in 1974. 

Joan attended Eastern Illinois University at Charleston for two years where she met future friends and theater colleagues such as John Malkovich who was three years older.  In 1976 she transferred to Northern Illinois University in DeKalb where she was closer to home.  But before she had earned enough credits for her bachelor's degree, in 1977 Joan became one of the early members of The Steppenwolf Theater Company ensemble cast in Chicago.  Other famous Illinois-native actors and founders at Steppenwolf included Malkovich from Franklin County and principal founder Gary Sinese who was born in Blue Island and raised in Highland Park.   

Chicago Planned Parenthood's South Dakota Project

So, what’s in the latest Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area mailing?

Naturally, it’s a pitch for money, but there is also an insert headlined,

A Growing Movement to Ban Abortion

The insert says,

On March 6^th, South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds [R] signed a bill that would make abortion a criminal act. South Dakota became the first state in 14 years to pass legislation directly challenging Roe v. Wade.

Eleven other states—including three of the five states bordering Illinois—quickly followed suit, and introduced bills that would either ban abortion or trigger abortion bans if Roe v. Wade were overturned.

A woman’s right to choose is in grave danger. We need pro-choice supporters to stand strong in Illinois. Please join Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area today!

Illinois’ Fifth District: November's Tipping Point?

By Ralf Seiffe

Several congressional races in Northern Illinois have grabbed national attention and at least two are contests between discernable political philosophies.  Being in nexus with Chicago also means that there’s a heaping helping of our Byzantine politics confirming Tip O’Neill’s observation that “all politics is local.”  In one race, the Fifth District’s pairing of Rahm Emanuel and Kevin Edward White; local conditions could lead to a stunning upset and forestall the Democrat’s plan to take control of the House. 

George Will on Evergreen Park Wal-Mart

Champaign, Illinois-native George Will has an excellent column today about Mayor Daley's veto of the Let's Get Wal-Mart bill and why some far left Democrats are so obessed with campaigning against that store.  The Will column can be found many places including in newspapers carrying the Washington Post Writers group or by clicking here to link to Real Clear Politics.

DuPage County: Politically serene no more

The picturesque landscape of beautiful DuPage County disguises a brutal political battle brewing.  This past weekend, DuPage County Republicans learned firsthand just how serious the Dems are to win in the 6th Congressional race, and beyond . . .

Those at west suburban Winfield's Good Old Days festival and parade couldn't believe their eyes when a busload of parade walkers pulled up and those disembarking were given t-shirts -- half for Tammy Duckworth running against Republican State Senator Peter Roskam for Henry Hyde's open seat and half for Dirk Enger running for Randy Hultgren's open seat against West Chicago Mayor Mike Fortner.

Word is the local carpenters union calls its members almost daily, pushing the guys to put in their time at a Duckworth phone bank, turn in their quota of ten yards for posting Duckworth signs and walking their assigned precincts.  For the union workers, it's not if they want to volunteer, it's when.

Evidently feeling a Democratic sweep coming in the fall, the Dems' apparent strategy now is to redouble efforts and push for a couple of Democratic pickups down ballot. 

Republican seats once comfortable are apparently now getting warm.  As the national $$ and backup forces come in as these races heat up, serene DuPage County is sure to become a bloody political battleground.   

Illinois Hall of Fame: Knute Rockne

By Mark Rhoads

"And the last thing he said to me, Rock, he said, sometime when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go out there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock. But I'll know about it, and I'll be happy."

-Knute Rockne's tribute to George Gipp in half-time speech to Notre Dame football squad in the 1928 game against Army.

Legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne was born in Voss, Norway on March 4, 1888. When Knute was five years old, his father Lewis Rockne was working as a carriage maker in Norway.  Lewis came to Chicago to promote his carriage at the Columbian Exposition of 1893 and won a medal for his display.

Not voting? Fine. . . IR Voter motivator #2

"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote."

George Jean Nathan,(1882-1958) founder and editor of the American Spectator

What a Taxpayer Can Do on a School Board

by Cal Skinner

I am sure most people could give two hoots about the Huntley School District, so I offer this as an example of what can happen when a taxpayer advocate manages to get elected to a school board.

If you are inspired, you can start collecting petition signatures for next April 17th's school board elections on  election day, Nov. 7th.   (I am sure Larry Snow would be willing to talk to you. Call 847-515-2427.)

Snow bird-dogged a falsely promoted 2004 tax hike referendum, then got elected to the school board. He beat the local tax hike committee's favorite.  When the board majority appointed an unemployed fellow board member to a  $101,000 school post, a CPA ally somehow managed to get appointed.

Now, he turns his eye on student performance:

Making those babies cry

Something should be done about the trauma Governor Blagojevich is putting his children through.  Why, it's disgraceful.   

During the past few weeks he's made his little three-year-old cry when he exposed her to mean and nasty reporters at the State Fair.  Now he may have to take away his seven-year-old daughter Amy's $1500 birthday check from a family friend.  It's not Amy's fault the generous check came days after the friend's wife was hired for a state job, is it?

Not to mention, this heartless father plans on continuing this abuse by being re-elected in November.  Something should be done.  Those poor babies.

Urkel website could incite Nerd uprising

"Todd or Urkel, You Be the Judge" is the caption on a new anti-Stroger website graphic indicating the Cook County President race is heating up. 

Democratic candidate for Cook County President Todd Stroger campaign is up-in-arms about the irreverent website www.votestroger.com, and "Democrats for Peraica" are taking credit for it, saying they've "had enough," a Peraica campaign theme.

The "Democrats for Peraica" is part of a loose coalition of unhappy Democrats, Independents and Republicans who, if they can stay together, could pull off the first Republican upset in the Cook County Board presidency in 40 years.

Stroger's backers say in the Sun-Times they suspect the website's really run by Republican operatives.  That may have something to do with www.cookrepublicans.com at the bottom of one of the website's graphics. . .

But the question really should be asked of the Stroger backers, is it really an insult to be compared to a nerd?   

All of you lovable computer geeks with pocket protectors out there, unite!  Fight back!  Have you had enough?

Illinois Hall of Fame: Jim Belushi

By Mark Rhoads

Illinois native actor and Chicago Cubs superfan Jim Belushi is currently the star of According to Jim, a situation comedy now in its fifth season on Tuesday nights on ABC-TV. Jim was born in Chicago on June 15, 1954 and grew up in Wheaton.  He was the third of four children born to an immigrant from Albania, Adam Belushi, and his wife Agnes who was born in the US and who had Albanian-born parents. His brother was the late comedic actor John Belushi, who was five years older than Jim.  Jim was performing on Broadway in a revival of The Pirates of Penzance when he heard about the loss of his brother in March 1982.

Not voting? Fine. . . IR Voter motivator #1

Think no one's ever been bummed out about an election before?  Check this out . . .

Elections belong to the people. It is their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.

Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President

Seven Prominent Conservatives Dis Denny Hastert's Rule

In this month's Washington Monthly seven fairly prominent conservatives, albeit ones who do not serve in office, explain why they would prefer a divided government come January. In Time for us to go these conservatives explain why a "time out" would be better for the long term goals of the conservative movement.

Churchgoers more likely to vote Republican

Are you planning to vote for a Democrat in November?  If so, you probably haven't been to church lately.

At least that's what Gallup poll released last week indicates. 

White frequent church goers are more likely to vote Republican, according to the July/August phone survey of 5000 registered voters. 

One-third of those questioned said they attend church regularly.

UPDATE:  Today, Baylor University released a study indicating that America remains a land of lively faith.  95 percent of those surveyed said they believe in God. 

Evangelical Protestants were more likely to attend church once or more weekly than Catholics or Jews.

Democrats Have a 2008 Green Problem

by Cal Skinner

It looks like the Democrats will have a 2008 presidential problem in Illinois.

The Chicago Tribune actually put everyone on the ballot in its most recent 600-person poll.

That’s as opposed to leaving one who was in disfavor off its poll ballot, as the Tribune did for this spring’s Republican primary election. Then, Andy Martin was not included until he sued the paper.

"Show me your books . . . or else "

by Fran Eaton

Homeschoolers: If someone comes to your door, demanding to see your children's textbooks, kindly but firmly tell them they're out of line and close the door.  It's just that simple.

Home School Legal Defense Association just released an e-lert to their Illinois members, reminding them that school officials have no authority to demand registration or evaluation of their school textbooks.

Truancy officers in downstate Franklin/Williamson Counties evidently believe Illinois law allows public schools to determine whether private schools which meet in the home are offering an acceptable education.

Reminds one of a McDonald's inspector appointing himself to determine whether or not a Wendy's salad is acceptable for consumption. 

As more and more parents remove their children from an atmosphere and curriculum which undermines their root beliefs like the public school system does, this trend of nosy, out-of-line school officials will accelerate if not squelched. 

Add to that state senators such as Deanna Demuzio who want home schools to be more accountable to the state, and we're ripe for another legislative confrontation similar to the one homeschoolers faced in 1999. . .