Illinois Review

Post-partum depression and post-abortion depression

by Jill Stanek

Tomorrow in DC there will be hearing in the House Subcommittee on Health on legislation being introduced by IL's own Democrat Rep. Bobby Rush that directs the National Institutes of Health to expand research into postpartum depression and directs the Dept. of Health & Human Services to make grants for services for women with postpartum depression and their families.

H.R. 20 is noncontroversial and is expected to pass overwhelmingly in Committee.

Civic Literacy

By Ralf Seiffe

Dummies who vote are a danger to the Republic.  Those who exercise the franchise without a minimum command of our civil condition cannot make good choices and are susceptible to manipulation.  Our founders recognized this and imposed qualification for suffrage to ensure that only responsible and engaged citizens voted. That’s a good idea--then and now.  Over the years, however, qualifying requirements  have been outlawed by amendment or by decisions in the courts.  Now, new voting technology has appeared which can overcome the legitimate objections to a qualifying test and permit states to reconsider some minimum level of civic literacy for voting.  Here's a thought on how we might do so.

Probing our kids won’t stop outrages

by Fran Eaton

One of my biggest concerns in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy two Mondays ago was that the situation would be used for an excuse to expand mental health screening beyond the current program of screening children ages 0 through 18 and expectant mothers to include screening as a part of the college admissions process.

If guns kill people, then . . .

Hat tip:  IR reader "Jim from South Elgin"

Gallup on Iraq

by John Ruskin

Gallup released its 10 Key Points About Public Opinion on Iraq. They are:

Deja vu: Illinois Among Worst; Trial Lawyers Say 'So?'

by Ed Murnane

It's not the first time -- and it's not likely to be the last time. Another national evaluation of the legal systems -- the systems that determine justice -- in the 50 states has been released and the great state of Illinois ... the "Land of Lincoln," according to our license plates ... ranks near the bottom.

According to a detailed poll conducted by Harris International, Illinois ranks 46th of the 50 states. The only states that rank below us are Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia. Nothing against any of these states but they're not quite the states Illinois likes to be compared with.

Racial Profiling - Liberal Style

by John Ruskin

Notice anything similar between Virginia Tech murderer Seung-Hui Cho and Cary-Grove High School senior Allen Lee? (see right)

The Illinois educrats did. Seems they've been doing a little racial profiling -- and ruining a kid's life in the process.

If you're not familiar with this left-wing miscarriage of justice, check out the following:

The GRT is bad, but 750 is worse

by Collin Hitt

Mike Van Winkle and I finally put to paper our thoughts on House Bill 750 and its ridiculous resurgence as a 'moderate' counterproposal to the governor's "Tax Fairness Plan."  As Rich Miller has reported in the Capitol Fax, there are Republicans who want to vote for 750, primarily because it offers property tax relief.  They should know better, and so should Democrats.

Obama + Rezko + AT&T = $2M

by John Ruskin

Check out the connections between long-time Obama confidant Tony Rezko, major Democrat corporate funder AT&T, the son of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, and a $2 million no-bid contract in Democrat-controlled Chicago.

They don't even try to hide it anymore. | Chicago Sun-Times story here.

Planned Parenthood fights back for business reasons

Rumors are circulating the state Capitol that Planned Parenthood refuses to give up its fight to stop parents' right to know their minor daughters are facing abortions as State Rep. John Fritchey's HB 317 would do.  On Friday, Rep. Bob Molaro (D-Chicago) submitted a motion to reconsider HB 317's 52 to 62 loss.

The War Against Free Enterprise

by John Ruskin

Human Events published their list of the top 10 most politically generous organizations. If you ever wondered why corrupt, unionized labor has such a stranglehold on the Democrat Party and free enterprise, look no further.

What you may have missed over the weekend

Another weekend flew by, and IR contributors worked, pointing our readers to items such as . . .

• Teri O'Brien's Reactive Stupidity in Cary Grove
• Cal Skinner's Walking Over Allen Lee and Be Still My Soul - Tom Cross Running for Governor
• John Ruskin's Nice Ass...es, Government Insurance Results in More Uninsured, The Secret of Happiness, United Methodist Church Endorses Genocide and The War Against Free Enterprise
• and IR editor updates on Gun control controlled in IL House . . . for now and God bless abusive parents who drug their kids.

Walking Over Allen Lee

by Cal Skinner

Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe 18-year old Cary-Grove High School student Allen Lee is so important that his actions deserve to be foisted by the Chicago Tribune on the brains of readers all over the metropolitan area.

Again and again and again. Allen Lee’s essay has been featured on the front page of the Chicago Tribune THREE days this past week.  Does that strike anyone but me as overkill?

Reactive Stupidity in Cary Grove

by Teri O'Brien   

Unfortunately for 18 year-old Albert Lee of Cary Grove, he’s never had some slimy, corner-office dwelling weasel in a position of authority look into his eyes and earnestly say “no, really be honest,” only to learn that, when confronted with those words, telling that person what you really think is precisely the next to the last thing you should do. (The last thing, of course, is to tell the phony jerk “yeah right.”) In Mr. Lee’s case, the authority figure was his creative writing teacher, Nora K. Capron, who told him to turn off his inner critic and write a stream-of-consciousness essay for her class. The result? He was arrested and his enlistment to the Marines was revoked. Kid, I could have told you, and now you know. Talk about your “teachable moments.”

United Methodist Church Endorses Genocide

by John Ruskin

The United Methodist Church (UMC) has just allied itself with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, a pro-abortion alliance that recently came out against the U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the ban on partial-birth abortion.

Given that close to 50,000,000 U.S. abortions have been performed since Roe v. Wade 34 years ago, isn't UMC's alliance with these death merchants the equivalent of the church endorsing the world's greatest genocide?

God bless abusive parents who drug their kids

This great piece from IR friend Chuck Emmert made me realize I was one of those awful parents who "drugged" my kids . . . just like I was "drugged" before them:

The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question:  "Why didn't we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?"

I replied I had a drug problem when I was young.

Democrats' secret weapon

Democrats' secret weapon courtesy of Tribune Media's Wayne Stayskal . . .

The Secret of Happiness

by John Ruskin

Presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards were flying to a convention. Barack looked at Hillary, chuckled and said, "You know, I could throw a $1,000 bill out of the window right now and  make somebody very happy."

Hillary shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I could throw ten $100 bills out of the window and make ten people very happy."

John added, "That being the case, I could throw one hundred $10 bills out of the window and make a hundred people very happy."

Hearing their exchange, the pilot rolled his eyes and said to his copilot, "Such big-shots back there. I could throw all of them out of the window and make 156 million people very happy."

Hat tip to a loyal IR reader.

Gun control controlled in IL House . . . for now

Having experience as a managing editor, it's natural to see a news story and speculate why the story ran and why it ran where it did.  This morning, a story in a northwest Indiana newspaper headlined "The Lowdown on Firearms in Illinois," caught my eye.  The story reminded me of an important heated discussion on the Illinois House floor this week not covered in the Illinois media:  the defeat of two gun control measures,  HB 758 (about private gun sales) and HB 796 (to do with gun dealer licensing).

Government Insurance Results in More Uninsured

by John Ruskin

The Chicago Tribune reports on a report (I guess that passes for journalism nowadays) that finds the Democrat's effort to insure the uninsured has resulted in...more uninsured! Just what the Liberals wanted.

Several observations:

Trojan Horse disrupts college

A suspicious package caused the evacuation of several classrooms at a Des Moines Area Community College this week.

Bomb squads were horrified when they discovered a modern day "Trojan Horse" . . .

Will bash brains for $$

Glenn McCoy for the Belleville News-Democrat . . . Belleville's neighbor Granite City is home to the Midwest's biggest partial birth abortion headquarters -- ironically named "Hope Clinic."

Nice Ass...es

(Chicago Tribune photo by Pete Souza)

CAPTIONS

John Edwards (speaking to his wife): "Did I do a good job mommy?"

Joe Biden (speaking to Obama): "Don't ever touch me you *#^% junior senator"

Chris Dodd (speaking to himself): "Michelle Obama looks stoned!"

Be Still My Soul - Tom Cross Running for Governor

by Cal Skinner

If people can run for president two years ahead of time, why not for Illinois governor three years before the election?

Look at this tid-bit in Sneed’s Friday Sun-Time column, obviously placed by a source friendly to Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross.

You can regale others with his liberal voting record in the comment section. My soul is so aflutter I can’t.

Former IL GOP governor's wife bets on Obama

Yesterday's Bloomberg.com featured a story about a prominent Chicago area Republican investor who maxxed out his $4600 presidential campaign donations to none other than Democrat Barack Obama.  Deputy board chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago John Canning told Bloomberg he's unhappy with Republicans and sees Obama as the strongest candidate in the entire field from both parties.

While John Canning's contribution may be troubling and a big story to Bloomberg, they missed an even bigger headline -- down in the story they mention another major Obama donor, a Chicago publicist named Jayne Carr Thompson.

GRT threatens to push state rep business northward

Governor Rod Blagojevich
207 State House
Springfield, IL  62706

Dear Governor:

In 1997 my wife, my son, and I started a farm equipment business against all logic in the world. “Ag is a faltering economy” I was told. We asked for no perks, we struggled and we made it go. Today we provide fourteen good jobs and each employee is making between $26,000 and $60,000 per year. Each get their health insurance paid and fifty percent of their dependent’s paid. Each has a 401K plan. Not a bad place to work.

Chalk one up for the good guys

By George Dienhart

Today, the Pentagon announced the capture of Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi. Al- Hadi, a high value target, was believed to have been traveling back to his native Iraq to direct attacks against the west. This is yet another victory in the Global War on Terrorism.

Speaking of Obscene Pensions...

AT&T CEO Whitacre may end up being the biggest Pension Pig of all. As an aggressive (and accurate) critic of the obscene pensions showered upon "public servants" (quotes indicate sarcasm & irony), I find corporate retirement packages - along with the often unwarranted 'parachutes' they get for bankrupting their companies - just as vile, but for different reasons. First, get a load of this. A Pension to Retire For: $158.5 Million Plus (subs. req.)

HB 317 aftermath: Focus on helping those who did the right thing

by Fran Eaton

Barring any last minute manipulations by State Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago), HB 317 will remain dead on the Illinois House floor and parents will be rightfully be notified before their young daughters undergo abortions, thanks to a bi-partisan majority of 62 House members yesterday in Springfield who defied threats from Illinois' lucrative abortion industry.

Blogger's Camera Bothers Officials

by Cal Skinner

We have some very imaginative readers. More are beginning to make creative contributions.

This fake ad came yesterday and it was a good thing I was not in a school hallway in Prairie Grove, because I was laughing so hard.  Note the small print: "flash not included."

A sad day

By George Dienhart

Recently, I’ve written about what is wrong with the way Americans are reacting to the War. Some have criticized me for placing the blame squarely on the Democrats shoulders. After today’s ridiculous proceedings in congress, I must ask if the blame doesn’t belong to the left, then where does it belong?

Today the Senate passed a bill calling for a pull out of Iraq. This is the companion bill to the one that squeaked by (218-208) in the house earlier. Today’s tally? An equally close 51-46.

Clean up the pay-to-play system all the way

If Rep. Fritchey truly wants to clean up political corruption, why not take the purification of Illinois infamous pay-to-play political contribution system one more step by banning any state agency, organization or union that hires or represents state-funded employees from contributing to campaign coffers??

Let's see, that would include banning contributions from state employee unions, teachers unions, and any organizations that are recipients of state funds. Sounds fairly reasonable to us.

From today's Daily Herald:

IL House passes Homeless Bill of Rights

If you're sitting in a library, reading this posting because you are homeless and don't have private access to a computer, you should know that today the Illinois House voted a Bill of Rights for you and others who have no place to call home.

In a 77 to 38 vote, State Rep. Wyvetter Young successfully shepherded HB 1878 through the House today.  No one in Illinois may be discriminated against because of their race, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation and now, based on his or her housing status.

This will be interesting to consider whether the Homeless Bill of Rights may be used to demand voting rights for those who have no stable residential address.

Not bad for a Republican white guy . . .

Rosie's final act

Belleville News-Democrat's Glenn McCoy says it all this morning, reviewing Rosie O'Donnell's provocative gesture this week in front of 17 year old girls as the straw that may have broke ABC's back.

Rosie announced yesterday her days at "The View" will end in May. 

Let's hope there's no encore . . .

Texas legislature spanks Gov. Perry over HPV vaccine exec order

The Texas legislature sent their governor a "Take that!" message this week when they overruled Gov. Perry's exec order requiring all 11 year old girls to get the HPV vaccine.  Links of the governor's staff to the vaccine manufacturer were eyebrow-raising and led to the reprimand . . .

Illinois' HPV vaccine mandate faced similar obstacles and the mandate has slowed to encouraging public education about the issue.  But parents should remain on a cautiously-optimistic alert.

Yet Another Black Eye for Cook County

by Tony Peraica

The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) today released a Harris Interactive survey of senior corporate attorneys that ranks Illinois as one of the worst states (46th out of 50) and Cook County as the second-worst county in America for lawsuit abuse.

As an attorney who represents plaintiffs and defendants alike, I find this appalling.

It's no secret that Illinois' Democratic leadership is beholden to the trial bar, and this clout has allowed trial lawyer allies in the legislature to advance an agenda that is hostile to Cook County employers, consumers, and working families.

Impeachment Follies?

by Ralf Seiffe

The mighty Dennis Kucinich has introduced a three-count bill of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney, the attack dog who never barks but intelligently growls.  Assuming the bill passes, one can only feature the scene in the Senate Chamber as the lawyer for the Vice President questions a long list of Democrat senators about their public statements before and after Cheney took office.  Imagine him asking Senator Clinton “Given these voluminous quotes from several years of the New York Times stories, I have to ask, were you lying then or are you lying now--or were you lying both times?”  I nominate Ken Starr.

Munson, Pihos and Sullivan on the fence about parental notification

Three Republican state representatives remain uncommitted on state Rep. John Fritchey's bill (HB 317) that would gut IL's recently enacted parental notification law.  These three are Ed Sullivan (Dist. #51, 217-782-3696), Sandra Pihos (Dist. #42, 217-782-8037 ), and Ruth Munson (Dist. #43, 217-782-8020).

Fritchey continues to water down the bill, but no matter how much he does, it wll still be unacceptable.  Fritchey would never sponsor legislation to infringe on Planned Parenthood in any way.

These lawmakers may complain about calls ("I wish they would just leave me alone on this," said one today), but they need to know the way to avoid our aggravation is to commit to a NO vote.

"Can a Ni**er Kill a Honkie" - N. Giovanni

by John Ruskin

Steve Sailer, writing for FrontPage Magazine, exposes the vile hate that is disseminated as poetry, prose, and college English at Virginia Tech, and a majority of campuses throughout the country. Example: Virginia Tech Prof. Nikki Giovanni, a teacher of V. Tech murderer Cho Seung-Hui. In her poem entitled: "The True Import of Present Dialog, Black vs. Negro" she writes:

Too Charitable to Obama?

by Cal Skinner

When I wrote “Giving Obama His Due,” I based by story on this year’s income tax return. A Tuesday story entitled, “For Obama, charity really began in the U.S. Senate,” by the Chicago Tribune’s Bob Secter today makes it clear that I may have offered too much credit.

Secter looked at income tax forms for both U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Barack (note that I spelled it correctly this time without being reminded) Obama going back to 1997. Obama’s contributions in 1997 appear to be a bit less than 1% of income, with $400 to his church. Durbin’s were a bit below 2%. Secter notes the national average is 2.2%. The Biblical admonition is a minimum of 10%, the tithe.

Is Obama black enough for blacks to support?

Chicago attorney Patrick John opines on the Black community's questions as to Barack Obama's "blackness" . . .

"Is Obama Black enough?  Is he militant enough?  These are some of the questions that Obama’s Black detractors ask publicly.  This is not the first time Obama’s Blackness has been questioned. 

I remember when Obama ran against the conservative Black Republican Alan Keyes for the US Senate seat in Illinois in 2004. Keyes questioned Obama’s ability to understand Black America, given that his father is a Black African, his mother a White woman, and that his upbringing was far from any inner-city experience.

Aborted alive in the UK vs. USA

by Jill Stanek

The British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology published a startling report in its March 2007 issue.

During a 10 year period from 1995-2004, researchers found that 18 of 20 hospitals in a sampled section of the UK committed a type of abortion procedure that resulted in babies being aborted still alive.

Why evangelicals could support Romney

When Mitt Romney came to Illinois a couple of months ago, reports from an inside meeting with a few conservatives revealed a dispute over how the governor handled a same sex union situation in Massachusetts.  Emotions ran high, and one local radio talk show host gave an unequivocal thumbs down on the Romney candidacy.

Seems another viewpoint is developing.  The Romney campaign points out a Mark DeMoss commentary in Tuesday's "The Politico" about why evangelicals could support their man . . .

The liberal position is . . .

Grassroots student effort key in Springfield GOP win

Still flying high, we hear from Aakash Raut, Chairman of the University of Illinois-Springfield College Republicans, about his group's part in local election victories last Tuesday . . .

"It has been one week since Election Day, when Springfield Republicans did better than most had predicted, particularly in the City Council races. For the first time in 12 years, a majority of the City Council will be Republicans; in addition, independent-minded Democrats prevailed in most of the other races, against their party-establishment opponents.

Many people were caught off guard, by the results, in which virtually every competitive race ended in the GOP's favor. One factor which helped provide the difference on Tuesday was a local grassroots student effort, on behalf of the Republican candidates.  Many election observers had not taken this into account, in predicting what the election outcome would be, but after the results were in, some local leaders noted that this factor could have made a pivotal difference, in several of the close races. . .

The following is a report about a lesser-known aspect of the Republican victories one week ago, in the Municipal Elections...."

Present At The Creation

by Ralf Seiffe

Shortly after the Second World War, Americans soured on our relation with the Soviet Union.  Public opinion about the nature of the communist nation had been formed by flawed reportage during the 1930’s.  Later, we were willing to overlook the enormity of Stalin’s evil because they were our ally in the war against Hitler.  Even after the war, a good portion of America’s intelligentsia were still in the Kremlin’s thrall.  Despite the media bias in favor of the USSR, more perceptive politicians began to understand the real danger the Soviets posed.  In response, they created the Truman Doctrine, the object of which was to contain Soviet expansion.  The phrase, “present at the creation” was a badge of honor for those politicians and advisors who developed the policies that created the “Cold War.”

Indicted trial attorney source of near $500K for IL Dems

Metro East area Lakin Law Firm founder Tom Lakin faced federal drug and sex with minors allegations in court Monday. He pled not guilty.

While the illegal activities for which Lakin is facing charges were allegedly going on, he was especially generous to Illinois Democrats. [Lakin (right) leaving the Federal Building in Post-Dispatch photo]

Lakin or his Wood River law firm gave Attorney General Lisa Madigan $5000, her father House Speaker Mike Madigan over $46,000 and the IL Democratic Party of which Madigan is state party chairman over $360,000 -- including one at $150K and another at $100K, leading up to the 2004 elections.

Lakin wrote checks in excess of $75,000 to the Illinois Trial Attorneys PAC and the State Board of Elections lists at least four judges whose campaigns he's funded over the years. 

But he didn't just do state politics. The Post-Dispatch writes:

Major trial attorney falls in judicial hellhole

WOOD RIVER -- The downfall of one of the nation's most litigious and ruthless trial attorneys has taken place in America's lucrative judicial hellhole Madison County -- and the national media isn't paying attention. 

Tom Lakin "retired" and turned over his Lakin Law Firm to son Brad last year, when the feds began snooping around.  From today's STL Today story: 

The allegations grew out of a longstanding investigation into Lakin's activities. He already faces a civil suit on the allegations, and a state criminal investigation is pending. Citing incidents dating as far back as 1998, the indictment claims Lakin provided cocaine to two females, two of them under age 18, transported a male under age 16 to California to engage in oral sex and maintained the Oakley Place address for purposes of distributing and using cocaine.

The charges carry penalties ranging from 10 years to life in prison and fines of more than $3 million, and and the indictment seeks forefeiture of Lakin's former home at 207 Oakley Place in East Alton, where it says some of the crimes took place.

Link: STLtoday - News - Illinois News.

Why didn't City Hall stop Rezko?

Guess . . .

Don't miss Part 2 of the Sun Times investigation of Tony Rezko, Barack Obama's former client and neighbor.  "I didn't know about Rezko's problems," Obama said.  From the Sun-Times story today:

Rezko and Mahru got the loan four months later, and quickly became one of the Daley administration's favored developers. They got deal after deal -- between 1989 and 1998, more than $100 million from the city, state and federal governments and bank loans to rehabilitate 30 buildings in Chicago.

Rezmar was paid at least $6.9 million to develop those apartments.

Taxpayers have lost $5.7 million in grants and loans written off by the Daley administration, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found. Millions more could be written off, based on court records and interviews.

And the IRS has so far demanded that corporations repay $7.8 million in tax breaks they got for investing in Rezmar apartments that failed to provide low-income housing for at least 15 years.

Link: Why didn't City Hall stop him? :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State.