McHenry County Blog

A press release about Joe Walsh about the two Democrats running to challenge him this fall:

Congressman Walsh: “Was that a Debate?”

My potential opponents debated each other for the first time last night.

The two Democrats who seek to challenge Joe Walsh in the 8th Congressional District were given air time on WTTW Wednesday night. Walsh was excluded because he has "no opponent."

Those voters who base their decision on literature, music and cinema are happy to now know Tammy and Raja’s favorite music group, the last movie they saw and the last book they read. Sadly, for the rest of us, many issues are still unclear.

DOES TAMMY SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT’S BUDGET?

It’s a simple yes or no question. Maybe if Tammy put Chris Matthews’ latest book down or stopped listening to Prince for five minutes, she could let us know her position.

The more I watch their primary unfold, the more I realize that the media and these candidates are not interested in a campaign focused on the issues.

The Saturday Chicago Tribune editorial. Click to enlarge.

Newspaper coverage of Congressman Joe Walsh’s child support payment problems diminished over the weekend.

I could find only two mentions in Chicago’s daily newspapers.

Walsh was ridiculed in the Chicago Tribune on Saturday.  That’s probably the edition that is least read during the week.

The Tribune, of course, did not endorse Walsh and, at best, is Establishment Republican.

Thinking back on the endorsements I received in 16 state rep. elections, I can’t remember one I got when it could have made any difference.

Here’s a taste from the editorial, a suggestion for “an excellent slogan” for Walsh’s next election:

“Joe Walsh: He hates spending his own money, and he hates spending yours.“

A Sunday Chicago Sun-Times editorial page contribution also talks about the 2012 election.

Carol Marin's Sunday, July 31, 2011, column about Joe Walsh's political problems.

Carol Marin, never a friend to conservatives, nevertheless seems to want to provide some “you know what, Walsh might win in 2012, even though he’s been trashed in the media” text she can point to just in case Walsh pulls off what will now be considered another stunning upset upset.

She reprints the front page of Thursday’s Sun-Times (just in case any Sunday readers missed it on Thursday, I guess).

Then she points to the first two words in the headline: “TEA PARTY.”

And, she starts her column,

“Don’t underestimate Joe Walsh.“

Considering the way all but the We Ask America polling firm dismissed Walsh’s possibility of beating Melissa Bean, a Marin favorite, I’d say the senior female opinion-maker in the Chicago area is hedging her bet this time.

Huffington Post reported Saturday that MSNBC’s Laurence O’Donnell has banned Walsh from his program until he pays his back child support.

MSNBC's Laurence O'Donnell announces he won't have Joe Walsh on his program again until he pays the child support he owes. O'Donnell starts by showing the shoot-out between Chris Matthews and Walsh. O'Donnell says Walsh makes no sense. Judge for yourself below.

Northwest Herald Executive Editor Chris Krug thinks pretty much everyone has watched the video above in which Joe Walsh goes toe-to-toe with Chris Matthews.

Krug also weighed in his Sunday.  column.  In view of his being part of the decision-making group that decided to endorse Melissa Bean last year, I find this comment of particular interest:

“So what I am now thinking is that, regardless of what he has done, does, says or might say, there may be room in Washington for Walsh for years to come.”

Are Krug and Marin laying the groundwork to explain a Walsh 2012 victory, however unlikely they think that possibility is?

Carol Marin finally gets it about gun control.

“Words alone can’t stop gun violence”

Carol Marin's Sunday column on Chicago gun violence.

Her three column column would have been more powerful, if she had just quoted Lila Leff, head of Umoja Community Development Corporation:

“I can’t think of a single, solitary thing left to say. Other than little girls should be able to play in the street without getting shot…What kind of grown-ups are we that we can’t even give them that, huh?

“That’s it. Mine would be a short column.”

Now, if that had been put in larger than normal type and surrounded by lots of white space, it would have more impact that Marin’s Sunday Chicago Sun-Times piece, which says pretty much the same thing.

Obviously the grown-ups in Chicago have other priorities than stopping gun violence.

Meanwhile in a related story, I read in Woodstock Advocate that  “The McHenry County Right to Carry Association will meet Thursday, March 25th at 7 PM at the VFW Hall in McHenry. The address is 3002 West Route 120.”

The Association now has over 100 members, Gus Philpott reports.

Looks like the two daily newspaper political columnists in Chicago may be in for a feud.

I looked at Sun-Times columnist Carol Marin’s Sunday column first.  You can tell from the title,

I’m assuming the former Rod Blagojevich fund raiser killed himself, but I guess it’s possible that someone forced enough aspirin down his throat to kill him.

Then I read the Chicago Tribune column by John Kass.

And, having read Marin’s column first, the following leaped off the page:

“In the next few days, some mouthpiece, perhaps even a politician, will start spinning that if the feds hadn’t pressure him to talk, Kelly would be alive.”

Obviously, Kass had not read Marin’s column before he wrote his, so it wasn’t really aimed at Marin.

But the point was made.

It always amuses me when a newspaper or someone like Carol Marin say something like this:

“Money governs in this state. Period.”

Her answer, of course, is to limit campaign contributions.

Allow foreign money to finance campaigns here the way they illegally did Barack Obama’s campaign, perhaps. Nothing like online contributions whose sources are not verified. And a toothless Federal Elections Commission.

Such a scheme would leave Marin and her media buddies with greater influence in elections than they have now.

Thanks, but, if rich people are to have an inordinate say, I’d rather have the media biggies have some competition from people who have earned their money some other way.

More rapid reporting of campaign contributions.

Now, that’s something I could get excited about.

It always amuses me when a newspaper or someone like Carol Marin say something like this:

“Money governs in this state. Period.”

Her answer, of course, is to limit campaign contributions.

Allow foreign money to finance campaigns here the way they illegally did Barack Obama’s campaign, perhaps. Nothing like online contributions whose sources are not verified. And a toothless Federal Elections Commission.

Such a scheme would leave Marin and her media buddies with greater influence in elections than they have now.

Thanks, but, if rich people are to have an inordinate say, I’d rather have the media biggies have some competition from people who have earned their money some other way.

More rapid reporting of campaign contributions.

Now, that’s something I could get excited about.

Springfield Sun-Times Bureau Chief Dave McKenney knows his Illinois crooks.

And their connections.

Know what jumped to his mind when he heard that our Illinois U.S. Senator Barack Obama selected fellow Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware)?

Joe Cari.

The guy who fingered Governor Rod Blagojevich as “Official A.”

Here’s what McKenny writes:

“On the day Cari’s name first surfaced in the federal probe of the state Teachers Retirement System, the former finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee and for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was to have hosted a Biden fund-raiser in Chicago. Cari was a no-show to the July 25, 2005, event.”

It’s not bad enough that Chicago Democratic Party crook Tony Rezko was one of Barack Obama’s biggest fund raiser when he first ran for state senator.

Now there’s a connection to the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate.

What might the Republicans do with this connection?

Well, they could follow the example of Democratic Party gubernatorial primary candidate State Treasurer Phil Angelides. (This is one link you should read. The TV ad template already exits.)

And irony of ironies, under McKenney’s article is a column by a good buddy of Cari, Carol Marin. She still hasn’t apologized for having sung his praises two days before Cari was indicted for Rezko-related corruption.

One final observation.

Have you figured out that neither of the Democratic Party candidates have ANY managerial experience other than their office staffs? (Yes, I’ll admit that GOP candidate John McCain has that same shortcoming.)

Springfield Sun-Times Bureau Chief Dave McKenney knows his Illinois crooks.

And their connections.

Know what jumped to his mind when he heard that our Illinois U.S. Senator Barack Obama selected fellow Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware)?

Joe Cari.

The guy who fingered Governor Rod Blagojevich as “Official A.”

Here’s what McKenny writes:

“On the day Cari’s name first surfaced in the federal probe of the state Teachers Retirement System, the former finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee and for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was to have hosted a Biden fund-raiser in Chicago. Cari was a no-show to the July 25, 2005, event.”

It’s not bad enough that Chicago Democratic Party crook Tony Rezko was one of Barack Obama’s biggest fund raiser when he first ran for state senator.

Now there’s a connection to the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate.

What might the Republicans do with this connection?

Well, they could follow the example of Democratic Party gubernatorial primary candidate State Treasurer Phil Angelides. (This is one link you should read. The TV ad template already exits.)

And irony of ironies, under McKenney’s article is a column by a good buddy of Cari, Carol Marin. She still hasn’t apologized for having sung his praises two days before Cari was indicted for Rezko-related corruption.

One final observation.

Have you figured out that neither of the Democratic Party candidates have ANY managerial experience other than their office staffs? (Yes, I’ll admit that GOP candidate John McCain has that same shortcoming.)