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Friday, Jan 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Pauline Phillips, AKA Abigail van Buren, AKA “Dear Abby” died this week. This one’s for her…

My hair’s falling out and my rights are all wrong

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Friday, Jan 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* USA Today looks at the upcoming presidential inauguration…

The group representing Obama’s home state of Illinois expects to draw more than 2,000 to its ball Saturday night — where it will honor Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former Illinois congressman. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, and Rep. John Shimkus, a Republican, are honorary co-chairs.

Dean Franks, a lobbyist for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, is one of four co-chairs of the Illinois State Society’s gala and helped solicit corporate sponsors. He said he avoided seeking any contributions from his association or member companies to avoid appearing to influence LaHood. The companies helping to fund the event are participating “because of their presence in Illinois,” he said. “They can get meetings with these guys whenever they want.”

Corporations helping to underwrite the event include Health Care Service Corp., which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans in Illinois and is the state’s second-largest private employer.

Company spokesman Greg Thompson said Health Care Service also is helping to underwrite inaugural galas for three other states in which it does business, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico, as part of the company’s civic engagement.

Company officials have plenty of opportunities to talk to state and federal officials during the year and don’t need to buttonhole policymakers at events, he said. “We’ve been at the table, and we continue to be at the table,” he said.

For many organizations and lawmakers, the inaugural weekend also is a chance to raise campaign cash.

* Sun-Times…

Gov. Pat Quinn, Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a contingent from the Illinois General Assembly are expected here this weekend for President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. That’s in addition to the Illinois congressional delegation.

Quinn on Saturday will attend the Illinois State Society Inaugural gala–he is an honorary chair of the event–and then moves on to the “Hard Hat Inaugural Ball.”

On Monday, he attends a National Governors’ Association breakfast before the inauguration, which he gets to watch with other governors from a spot on the platform in front of the Capitol. On Monday evening, Quinn will attend an Inaugural Ball.

* The Question(s): Are you going to the inauguration? If so, what will you be doing there? If not, will you watch? Have you ever been to a presidential inauguration? Explain.

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Fitz appointed U of I trustee

Friday, Jan 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* We can probably add this appointment to Gov. Pat Quinn’s efforts to show how he is cleaning up Illinois…

Governor Pat Quinn today announced the appointment of former federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to the University of Illinois board of trustees.

* Quinn had this to say to reporters today…

“I sat down with Patrick Fitzgerald and he said he wanted to get involved in education in Illinois in a way that could help men and women across our state… I think he was looking for an opportunity to serve.”

Chicago reporters love Fitz, and so they tossed Quinn a bunch of softballs about the appointment today…

Click to listen

* Sneed…

Fitzgerald will replace trustee Lawrence Oliver II, who once worked for him as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s office. Oliver, who served on Quinn’s Illinois Reform Commission, was told Wednesday afternoon he would not be reappointed. Disappointed at the nix notice, Oliver — one of the first trustees appointed to the board by Quinn in the wake of the admissions scandal — was not told why he was denied a second term. Oliver told the press he suspected it was because he voted in the 2010 Dem primary . . . and by law, only five Dems can be on the board. Oliver was placed on the board as a political independent, which is ostensibly Fitzgerald’s slot.

Thoughts?

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY: Map stuff, Green’s analysis, Cash

Friday, Jan 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Just show the game

Friday, Jan 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

Thou are not for the fashion of these times,
Where none will sweat but for promotion

* The Olympics have scored ratings gold by emphasizing personalities and personal lives as much - or even sometimes more - than the actual sporting events.

As a result, I have a hard time watching the Olympics broadcasts. I wanna see sports. I don’t care all that much that some athlete overcame [insert disease or setback here] to triumph in sports. I wanna see the action.

Soap operatic back stories now permeate pretty much all sports coverage. Count me as disinterested. Just show the game, for crying out loud.

* Despite my misgivings, this stuff works. How many more people became interested in international cycling competitions because of Lance Armstrong’s astounding comeback from cancer to win seven straight times at the Tour de France? Lots.

It’s just a money thing - a way to induce more people to watch an event that they probably had no interest in whatsoever. I don’t care about Tim Tebow’s religion or political beliefs. I care whether he can perform on the field. But a whole lot of other people do care about his back story, so we’ve been inundated with coverage. I just turn it off.

It’s not like I’ve been totally immune to this, either. I was fascinated by the Tonya Harding drama. But that craziness was directly related to the event. I mean, she had a clearly superior opponent knee-capped in a thuggish bid to win gold. Wow. Now we’re talking my kind of story.

* This Manti Te’o stuff never really interested me. It’s not like I’m heartless or something. I agree that his was a tragic story of loss and heartbreak. Great TV. Saturation coverage. Heckuva drama. And, as it turns out, a total fraud.

There’s no way sports coverage will change because of this scandal. There’s too much money involved. So, now, Armstrong’s downfall allows talking heads to endlessly pontificate about what a bad man he is. Tebow’s lack of talent wouldn’t even rate 30 seconds on local news if he had no back story, but the teevee types love to yap about his future and will continue to do so. And the Te’o stuff is now even “better” TV. Much better.

Rick Morrissey…

We really, really wanted to believe the story about Te’o’s girlfriend, didn’t we?

Better to approach sports with an arched eyebrow. You’ll save yourself a lot of pain.

Better to just forget about this relentless quest for the perfect back story and just show the action. But it’ll never happen. Sports is a big-money soap opera, so the greed heads ain’t gonna change, even though they’ve always ruined everything they’ve ever touched.

42 Comments

You get what you pay for

Friday, Jan 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From WCIA TV…

Viewers asked so we dug deeper. Squeezy “The Pension Python” comes at little cost to taxpayers.

Gov. Pat Quinn’s office created the cartoon snake as part of an advocacy website for pension reform. An open records request to the governor’s office revealed the only new cost for the entire web site was a $23 purchase to reserve domain names at GoDaddy.com.

Quinn’s office says the web site was produced in house and a staffer came up with the concept of Squeezy.

Discuss.

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Weekend gun show under review

Friday, Jan 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* They undoubtedly have a contract and it’s been scheduled for a while, and it starts tomorrow, so canceling now may not be easy, but we’ll see…

At the same time Gov. Pat Quinn is pushing for a ban on military-style, semiautomatic weapons, some of those same guns will be for sale this weekend at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

Advertisements for an event Saturday and Sunday at the state-owned facility indicate that Centralia-based Egyptian Collectors Association Inc. will feature some of the brands that could be affected by a state or federal ban.

The gun show comes to the capital city as officials who favor stricter gun control laws in other states are beginning to debate whether to ban gun shows from public property. […]

Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said Thursday the issue is on the governor’s radar screen.

“This is something we’ll be looking at,” Anderson said.

It’s billed as the largest hunting and trade show in Illinois, so there could be a whole lot of upset people if they cancel this thing.

As always with this topic, take a deep breath before you comment. I have no patience today for craziness.

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