I’m done for the day
Monday, Aug 23, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I just found out that a very good friend of mine passed away. That’s three lost friends since last fall. I need to go be by myself for a while, so I won’t be monitoring comments. Be good to each other. See you tomorrow.
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Question of the day
Monday, Aug 23, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I already posted my newspaper column, but I want to pick out one section for our discussion here…
Meanwhile, it occurred to me as I watched Quinn’s speech at the Illinois State Fair’s Governor’s Day event that the guy wouldn’t recognize a campaign theme if it was bleeding to death on his front lawn.
Voters need simplicity. When they think about a candidate for major office, one word or short phrase needs to come to their minds. “Hope,” “Change,” “It’s the economy, stupid,” “What’s she thinking?” etc.
But Quinn is just all over the place, not only with his attacks on Brady, but in his defense of his own governance. One minute, he’s whacking Brady for not paying his taxes, the next he’s talking about the new jobs at Ford, the next he’s whacking Brady on some social issue or for missing a vote, the next, he’s holding a news conference to sign some obscure bill.
* The Question: What campaign theme would you recommend for Gov. Pat Quinn? Snark heavily encouraged.
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* When we first learned that the Rod Blagojevich jury was deadlocked, I was silently hoping that the holdout wasn’t an African-American juror because I knew we’d end up with commentary like this…
It was no surprise to learn that Jo Ann Chiakulas, the juror who refused to convict Rod Blagojevich of selling a U.S. Senate seat, was an African-American. When Blagojevich was governor, blacks were his strongest supporters. By the end of his governorship, they were his only supporters. In late 2008, Blagojevich’s approval rating was 13 percent. Among African-Americans it was 32 percent.
The headline on that piece was: “How Blagojevich Really Tainted the Jury Pool (Hint: Black Folks Like Him!)”
Nevermind that there were four African-Americans on that jury and only one was a lone holdout on some charges. Nevermind that a poll taken the day after his arrest showed 68 percent of black respondents thought Blagojevich should go to prison, about the same level as all respondents 65 and older. There were other retirees on that jury, and the holdout was also retired, but retirees aren’t the object of attack here. And nevermind that the same poll found that black people and males were just two points apart on whether Blagojevich should resign. The holdout was a female, but there were lots of males on that jury. Also, nevermind that the same poll found that almost half of Illinois Republicans - 46 percent - believed it was somewhat or very likely that President-elect Barack Obama was somehow involved in the alleged Blagojevich crimes. And, finally, nevermind that the poll referenced in that above story showed that barely over half of Democrats disapproved of Blagojevich’s job performance near the end of his career.
No. It’s Chicago, so the race card is obviously going to be played by somebody.
And this is just stupid…
Chiakulas was also a state employee, a toxic combination of liberal leanings that made her inclined to support the governor who signed AllKids and tried to pass the Illinois Covered universal health care plan.
Anybody who wrote that doesn’t know much about state employees during Blagojevich’s reign of error. They despised him. Also, the coverage isn’t clear whether she was a state employee under Blagojevich for very long, if at all.
All that having been said, it is no secret that Blagojevich heavily targeted the black vote while he was governor overtly targeted black jurors after his arrest. His choice of lead defense counsel was probably no accident. But, again, three out of four black jurors voted with the overwhelming majority to convict on numerous counts. Tarring an entire race (or religion, or whatever) for the actions of one person seems more than a bit extreme.
But if you really want to read something extreme, stupid and bizarre, click here. Yeesh.
* Meanwhile, this caught my eye last week…
Defense attorney Terry Ekl, who represented Blagojevich chief-of-staff John Harris, said he was surprised Blagojevich wasn’t found guilty on all counts. “What the defense did was really jury nullification. It was not about following the law,” Ekl said. “They said, ‘Well, it was just talk. He’s broke.’ But, that’s what conspiracy is. Even if he just intended to get something, he’s guilty. You probably had two or three jurors who didn’t understand that even just talking is still a crime.”
I agree. But John Banzhaff, a Professor of Public Interest Law at the George Washington University Law School says it’s perfectly OK…
Although many do not realize it, and judges usually refuse to let defense attorneys argue — or even mention — it to members of the jury, jurors have a legal right, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, to refuse to convict for any reason and all, or for no reason at all. Indeed, under the doctrine of jury nullification, jurors may disregard a judge’s instructions and return not guilty verdicts even if the evidence of guilt is overwhelming.
If a jury finds a defendant not guilty because they believe that the law is unjust, there was governmental overreaching, or simply out of sympathy for the accused, that verdict cannot ever be overturned or even reviewed, and the defendant can never be recharged, even if overwhelming evidence eventually comes to light.
* Related…
* Blagojevich on “Fox News Sunday” with Chris Wallace. Transcript
* Blagojevich to juror: Thanks
* Roeper: Blagojevich too batty even for Comic Con
* Blagojevich pulls in $50 an autograph at Comic Con
* Blago’s Elvis statue now in Sugar Grove
* Kadner: Elvis found inside Blagojevich vault
* Hair-raising drama: Opening of the Blagojevich Vault
* Blagojevich won’t rule out return to politics
* Others in Blagojevich probe await fate
* Blagojevich show on the road again
* Marin: Forget TV: Tell it to the jury next time
* McQueary: My layman’s view: Don’t retry Blago
* Erickson: Blagojevich trial reveals the man’s warts
* Finke: Blagojevich remains a political albatross for Illinois Democrats
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Quinn vs. Brady is deja vu all over again
Monday, Aug 23, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column is a warning to Democrats to start facing reality…
Lots of people are having trouble getting their heads around the fact that Republican state Sen. Bill Brady may well be our next governor. This is, after all, a Democratic state.
But it’s way past time to consider Brady a very real, even likely probability. Gov. Pat Quinn’s poll numbers, along with the economy and the state budget, are in the dumper. Scott Lee Cohen likely will target African-American voters and badly damage Quinn’s chances. The Green Party’s candidate won’t help, either. And almost $2 million spent on negative TV ads attacking Brady on abortion, health care and the minimum wage haven’t yet worked.
I’ve told you this before, but I think it’s even clearer now. This campaign looks more and more every day like the 1980 presidential campaign between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. We have the decent, honest person who can’t seem to run a government up against a conservative guy whom all the liberals love to hate.
Carter, remember, relished the opportunity to run against Reagan because he thought Reagan would be the easiest Republican to beat. Carter and friends vastly underestimated Reagan, believing him to be a telegenic empty suit with an actor’s smile and dangerously out of step positions.
Sound familiar?
And Reagan had to clear a hurdle that Brady doesn’t have to worry about. The nuclear button. Once voters decided that Reagan wasn’t crazy enough to blow up the world, they were more willing to give him a shot at the top office. Whatever Brady does as governor, he probably can’t end civilization as we know it.
But it’s not just current polls, spoiler candidates, a failed paid media strategy and an eery American history parallel that point us in Brady’s direction. The Republicans are surprisingly united behind Brady’s candidacy. That’s something few would have believed the morning after the primary, when the state woke up to discover that Brady led his fellow state Sen. Kirk Dillard - the “regular” Republicans’ candidate - by a tiny handful of votes.
The Republicans have been in disarray since George Ryan’s downfall. Jim Thompson gave a less than rousing speech at the Governor’s Day festivities during the 2002 state fair for fellow Republican Jim Ryan, then ended up co-chairing Democratic victor Rod Blagojevich’s transition team. Longtime Republican moneybags Bill Cellini moved in Blagojevich’s direction almost before the last Republican had filed out of the fairgrounds that year. Four years ago, the party’s right wing ridiculed Judy Baar Topinka’s candidacy, and the party never really unified behind her.
The GOP is fully engaged this time, however. The regulars are almost all on board. The right is pleased as punch that they have one of their own on the ticket. And the moderate Republicans are so happy that their party has a real shot at winning that they’ve hardly spoken a discouraging word.
Their party is hungry for victory, but most did their best at the state fair last week to not show how ravenously starved they really are. Their criticisms were pointed, but mostly measured.
Meanwhile, it occurred to me as I watched Quinn’s speech at the Illinois State Fair’s Governor’s Day event that the guy wouldn’t recognize a campaign theme if it was bleeding to death on his front lawn.
Voters need simplicity. When they think about a candidate for major office, one word or short phrase needs to come to their minds. “Hope,” “Change,” “It’s the economy, stupid,” “What’s she thinking?” etc.
But Quinn is just all over the place, not only with his attacks on Brady, but in his defense of his own governance. One minute, he’s whacking Brady for not paying his taxes, the next he’s talking about the new jobs at Ford, the next he’s whacking Brady on some social issue or for missing a vote, the next, he’s holding a news conference to sign some obscure bill.
The scattershot approach may be satisfying to some partisans, who want their governor to provide as many reasons as possible to support him and deliver as many hits as possible on the other side, but if you can’t tie it up with a unifying ribbon, then this stuff will just go over everybody else’s head. It’s just background noise, and that’s no way to deliver an effective message.
Quinn just hired a new media consultant, so we’ll see if anything changes. If Quinn wants to win, it had better.
* And a campaign roundup…
* Zorn: Trouble for Quinn: Brady’s talkin’ sense
* Candidates for governor campaign at area parades
* PJ Star: Brady’s slogans won’t balance state budget
* Lt. gov rivals make their pitches
* Sheila Simon says state budget deficit demands complex approach
* Rutherford, Topinka want to merge state treasurer and comptroller’s office
* Sun-Times: Time to reform how Illinois picks judges
* 56th District candidates say pension reform top priority
* Rauschenberger calls out Noland for campaign ads
* Fritchey wants surplus TIF funds to go to city’s schools
* DuPage Co. chairman candidates weigh in on water costs
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Morning Shorts
Monday, Aug 23, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune Co. says bankruptcy negotiations have failed
* Study: Black males graduating at lower rates
* Civic group gives CPS budget cool OK
Once a $400 million “partial pension holiday'’ expires in 2014, the system’s teacher pension tab is expected to soar from $196 million to nearly $600 million, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall warned.
* Students lobby to use smart phones in classrooms
* Three cops hit by vehicle, one suspect fatally shot
* City is running out of would-be cops
* Eleventh-Hour Deal Averts UIC Strike
Talks to replace three-year contracts for UIC clerical, technical and service workers had stalled. Service Employees International Union Local 73 was gearing up to begin a three-day work stoppage at the university and its medical center this morning.
* Smaller nonprofits could lose their tax-exempt status
The groups were identified because they failed to file required returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009. Many of them were never required to file tax returns before that because of their size.
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 required all tax-exempt organizations other than churches and church-related organizations to file an annual return with the IRS.
* DuPage Water Commission’s financial fix hits $2 million
* Daily Herald: Commission needs continued auditing
* Belvidere faces $1.1 million deficit in new budget
* Chicago-K.C. corridor ready to roll
It’s a safe bet that 99.99 percent of Chicago-area drivers using I-88 or the Eisenhower Expressway (Interstate Highway 290) probably have no idea that they are on stretches of a new national highway corridor: the 532-mile Chicago-Kansas City Expressway. In the state, it also goes by Illinois Highway 110.
* Nearly 10,000 in 7 Illinois counties apply for flood aid
* Grayslake police making themselves at home in Hainesville
Cost considerations led Hainesville to eliminate its two-year-old police department and contract for service with Grayslake. Hainesville expects to save about $300,000 over the next budget year, which runs to April 30.
* City of Decatur’s tax revenue situation showing some improvement
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*** UPDATE 1 *** From the Bill Brady campaign…
“This is yet another stunning report involving the administration of Governor Pat Quinn. Today’s revelation suggests that on the very day Pat Quinn was confronted with evidence by the Inspector General of an ethics violation, Pat Quinn put his political interests before citizens yet again and fired the Inspector General himself. This disturbing report leads to a myriad of questions that the citizens of Illinois deserve to have answered.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Gov. Quinn’s statement…
“Gov. Quinn has accepted Jerry Stermer’s resignation, effective immediately.
“The Office of the Governor complies with investigations of the Office of the Executive Inspector General and takes its inquiries very seriously.
“Jerry Stermer, who previously led the nonprofit organization Voices for Illinois Children for more than 20 years, has served as Gov. Quinn’s chief of staff since Feb. 9, 2009, at an annual salary of $150,000.
“In the case of the three emails in question, Jerry Stermer himself reported the inadvertent use of his state email account to both the governor’s ethics officer and the Office of the Executive Inspector General in order to allow the OEIG to both investigate and recommend corrective action under the state Ethics Act. Jerry Stermer disclosed the emails to the appropriate authorities in order to address the emails in the most honest and ethical manner possible.
“Gov. Quinn was briefed on the OEIG’s report and recommendations on Aug. 13 and has accepted Jerry Stermer’s offer to resign from his position as chief of staff, effective immediately.
“Ricardo Meza was appointed by Gov. Quinn to head the Office of the Executive Inspector General on August 15, 2010 after a lengthy search process which began in the summer of 2009. Ricardo Meza replaced an inspector general appointed by the previous administration whose term expired in 2008. The replacement was not in response to this or any other specific OEIG report, and these events are in no way connected.
“Gov. Quinn is committed to reforming state government, increasing ethics and accountability. All allegations are taken seriously, and acted on as appropriate.”
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* Gov. Pat Quinn’s chief of staff Jerry Stermer has resigned, but the resignation raises more questions than it answers. Why? This..
Quinn removed [Executive Inspector General James A. Wright] Aug. 13, the same day the governor was briefed by his staff about findings against Stermer by the executive inspector general.
Wright concluded that Stermer “engaged in prohibited political activity” and encouraged Attorney General Lisa Madigan to file a complaint against him before the state Executive Ethics Commission, according to a confidential report written by Wright and obtained by the Sun-Times.
Normally, one would say that this firing of Wright is a blatant attempt at a cover-up. But Stermer actually reported himself to the OEIG…
Stermer, Quinn’s chief of staff since February 2009, actually initiated a complaint with Wright’s office Jan. 12 to report that campaign-related e-mails he sent “inadvertently” last October and December from his state-issued BlackBerry or personal computer may have broken state ethics laws.
“While my intention was not to do anything wrong, I recognized that a mistake was made and quickly disclosed this information to the governor’s ethics officer — a former assistant U.S. attorney — who recommended that I provide the information to the OEIG for appropriate investigation,” Stermer said. “I voluntarily provided the information to the OEIG for investigation, and made it clear that I was prepared to accept the consequences for my mistakes.”
The plot thickens…
The first of Stermer’s alleged missteps came last Oct. 11 in a response to an e-mail sent a day earlier from the Quinn campaign’s media consultant, John Kupper. He wanted to formulate a response to an expected argument from Democratic gubernatorial rival Dan Hynes about Quinn being a “tax and spender,” the Wright report said.
That ain’t much, and neither are the other two e-mails. If that’s really all Stermer did, and if Stermer really did report his own behavior way back in January, then why, all of a sudden, was Wright demanding an attorney general complaint with the ethics commission? It took him eight months to conclude that Stermer was a bad guy?
Still, firing your inspector general the same day he files a report against your own chief of staff - no matter how rinky dink - is a really stupid idea. Wright could’ve been playing some internal politics to keep his job, but that’s the way it goes. Dumping him that same day was truly idiotic.
Also, John Kupper is the “K” in AKPD, which was fired last week as Quinn’s media consultant. Everybody’s going down at once, it appears.
What a great way to kick off the first week after the Blagojevich verdict.
…Adding… Jerry Stermer’s full statement…
“I have offered my resignation as Gov. Quinn’s chief of staff effective immediately.
“Last year, I inadvertently used my state email account to send three emails that the Office of Executive Inspector General later found to be prohibited under the state’s Ethics Act. While my intention was not to do anything wrong, I recognized that a mistake was made and quickly disclosed this information to the governor’s ethics officer - a former assistant U.S. attorney - who recommended that I provide the information to the OEIG for appropriate investigation. I voluntarily provided the information to the OEIG for investigation and made it clear that I was prepared to accept the consequences for my mistakes.
“The people of Illinois must have full confidence in the leadership of their state, and I will not be a distraction in achieving that goal. Gov. Quinn has built his career on the belief that government must be honest and accountable. Today, I am holding myself accountable for a mistake I alone made. I do not want to be a distraction for the governor, the work of his administration and - most importantly - for the people of Illinois. “
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