Another DNR political hire
Sunday, Feb 6, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller DNR can’t afford to keep workers on at state parks, but the hiring at the central office continues. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources - you remember, the agency with more than 100 recent layoffs - has a new legislative liaison with a familiar last name.
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Pearson makes a funny
Sunday, Feb 6, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller From today’s Chicago Tribune comes irony as rich as Bill Gates: On Thursday, the Blagojevich administration sent out a news release headlined, “Four State Agency Directors to Visit Springfield.” That would be Springfield as in the state capital.
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Gay rights stuff
Sunday, Feb 6, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller My newspaper column this week is about the state’s new gay rights law and the right wing’s false objection that it infringes on the rights of religious institutions. This is a legitimate question because religious liberty is specifically spelled out in the U.S. Constitution. And it’s also legitimate because if the General Assembly just passed, and the governor signed, an unconstitutional bill on behalf of such a controversial minority, there could be hell to pay at the polls next year. Even though several Republicans voted for the bill, the GOP could use the issue to pound even the Democrats who didn’t vote for it, arguing their party is too radical to be trusted with the reins of government. This will happen anyway, but toss in an outrageous infringement on the freedom of churches and religious institutions, and … oy. Meanwhile, the Southern Illinoisan’s Jim Muir writes about the controversy over a PBS episode of “Buster the Rabbit,” wherein Buster and his friends visit a Vermont family that’s headed by two moms (who are never, by the way, identified as lesbians). What once was considered perverse and bizarre is now considered the norm. And what once was looked at as outlandish, unheard of and over-the-top is now considered to merely be routine. Google “Buster the Rabbit” and Muir’s column is the sixth most popular result, so it definitely got some play on the Internets. Understandably, Muir received several letters about his column, including one from a woman who described herself as a “soon-to-be mother in a same-sex household.” Muir responded to her complaints thusly: This comment is simply another tired ploy by the gay community to liken its cause to the civil rights movement, which is insulting at best and absurd at worst. And let me also say her allegation that individuals have been denied equal rights concerning marriage is unequivocally wrong. […]
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