May 25, 2016
“MARGINALIZATION” AFFLICTS OBAMA, EMANUEL, RAUNER
"Marginalization" is the inevitable descent into inconsequentiality and irrelevance, and is every politician's occupational hazard. The trick is to bail (like Rich Daley) before voters throw you out. Obama will be gone in 8 months; the Trump surge is testimony to his failures and marginalization. Chicago's estimable mayor will linger for another 35 months, slowly twisting in the wind -- despised, derided and disrespected. Every problem will be blamed on him. Emanuel is already a Dead Politician Walking. Clinton is tied to Obama, and that marginalizes her it's-time-for-a-woman mantra. She will be Obama, Part II. America wants a competent president, not a symbolic president. Rauner has thus far resisted marginalization, simply by refusing to accept the Democrats' budget. He may be tanking in the polls, but he has kept his word not to raise taxes. Full Article...
May 18, 2016
KIRK IS "GOOD AS GONE" IN 2016 U.S. SENATE RACE
He's "good as gone." Illinois' US Sen. Mark Kirk (R) will soon join the annals of "one-term wonders" (also known as flukes) -- senators such as Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL), George Murphy (R-CA), Robert Taft Jr. (R-OH), John Tunney (D-CA) and John Sununu (R-NH), among others. They bungled their first term, and didn't win a second. A 6-year senate seat affords great potential visibility, instant news media access, vast fundraising capability, and lots of time to entrench oneself. An incumbent only loses due to scandal, demography, an opposition "wave," and/or lassitude. In 6 years, Kirk has neither defined himself nor built a political base; his 2012 stroke didn't help. Polls show him under 40 percent against Tammy Duckworth (D), which puts him on life-support. Duckworth is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mike Madigan and Dick Durbin. She will win easily.Full Article...
May 11, 2016
"STATE OF FEAR" APTLY DESCRIBES AMERICA, WORLD
The premise of author Michael Crichton's powerful 2004 novel, "State of Fear," is that humankind is timid, nervous, fearful, fretful and depressed. They are afraid of crime, weather, terrorism, strangers, pedophiles, job loss, lawsuits, economic collapse and dying...and much more. Fear is the key to societal control and profit. Government and politicians use fear -- of communism, terrorism, environmental degradation -- to keep people docile, and stay in office. They will provide "safety." The media use fear to grab an audience. The lawyers use fear to justify litigation. Academia uses fear to get grants and "study" dangers. Environmentalists use fear to get donations. And the military, and their contractors, need fear to justify an $800 billion budget, and for new weaponry and technology. Crichton's book also debunks "global warming," noting that the U.S. mean temperature rose 0.5 degrees since 1880, mostly in urban areas. And all those weather anomalies -- that's normal. Now there's a new fear, a "disaster" and "catastrophe" in the making: Its called Donald Trump. Full Article...
May 4, 2016
GREEKS, ASIANS, UNIONS BEAT "GREENS' FOR MWRD
There are two kinds of people in Cook County: Those who flush a toilet, take a shower, use a dishwasher and/or fill a sewer. And those who get enriched therefrom. Getting rid of household, human and/or industrial waste, both liquid and solid, is not very glamorous, but it is very profitable. Here’s a multiple choice question: What do you get when you mix “Greens,” Greeks, Asians, liberals, gays, North Shore liberals, operating engineers, Mike Madigan, opportunistic Democratic committeemen, and $500,000?
(a) A posh and trendy bar and eatery on Rush Street where the fare is over-priced and staff overpaid. (b) A lot of mutually hostile people. (c) A big, fat, environmentally-conscious, well-catered wedding. (d) A bunch of people who are ever-so-eager to oversee the treatment of liquid effluent and the processing of solid waste, as long as they’re well-paid and it doesn’t take too much time. (e) Or the competitors in the March 15 Democratic primary to nominate four obscure Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) commissioners. If you answered (a) or (c), don’t read farther. The answer is “E”. Here’s analysis. Full Article...
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