* The governor made a rare southern Illinois appearance yesterday…

On Monday, Governor Quinn made his first visit to Southern Illinois in almost a year.

The Governor was in Marion breaking ground for new construction along I-57 and touting the jobs it will bring to Southern Illinois. He also used the visit to discuss state issues such as pension reform.

* His excuse…

Quinn said circumstances have pre-empted visits to Southern Illinois in recent months, including in May when he was a no-show to announce an expansion of Aisin Electronics Illinois in Marion. That time, the state’s still ongoing pension crisis was reason enough to stay in Springfield.

* Usually, the governor’s advance staff would avoid photo ops like this…

Oops.

       

41 Comments - Ron Burgundy - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:27 am: “Well if the Land of Lincoln is going into the toilet, I’m at least gonna make sure the toilet looks nice!” - Anon - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:27 am: This is funny. Our local DHS office has horrible bathrooms. No doors on the men’s stalls, no locks in the women’s. Completely trashed. Disgusting. - Sacajawea - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:30 am: “Follow the Leader for Beautiful Bathrooms,” said Quinn, when asked to summarize his tenure as Governor of Illinois. - East Central Illinois - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:34 am: Maybe Squeezy the Pension Python has a brother? Rocky the Roto Rooter Snake Quinn unleashes the sequel! - Mike Weisman - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:37 am: “Breaking ground” my foot. That construction has been going on for at least a year now. This is just campaigning. - Rob Roy - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:39 am: Clueless buffoon. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:41 am: You know, Quinn looks really tired in these pictures. Maybe he really has been working night and day? - Stones - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:44 am: You just can’t make this stuff up! Priceless! - Norseman - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:44 am: We finally see where Quinn can show his leadership abilities. - WhoKnew - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:44 am: OK, but the real question is “Does this I-57 thingy go thru any Soybean Fields?”. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:46 am: –On Monday, Governor Quinn made his first visit to Southern Illinois in almost a year.– That’s just not right. You can do your job from anywhere. A governor should be all over the state all the time seeing what’s going on first-hand and talking to the folks. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:48 am: Finally! Proof! Rod did write the “three letters” and left them in the desk for Pat Quinn… From Rod’s playbook; Governor Blagojevich would hide in the bathroom from staff … Quinn is going around the state…doing what …touting the bathrooms … It was just a matter of time before we saw more and more plays from the Blago playbook … - Dee Lay - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:53 am: To be fair, that was a truck driving by and not sitting behind him the whole time. It happens. - AFSCME Steward - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:54 am: Pat Quinn, in a downstate presser, announces his candidacy for re-relection as Illinois governor, and unveils his 2014 campaign slogan. - Soccermom - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:54 am: I will vote for anyone who will convert the closet and nook in the second bedroom into a nice little three-piece “en suite.” I was thinking subway tile. Not sure how to handle the closet issue — could be sliding doors, or maybe one of those “walk through the fancy closet to get to the bathroom” set-ups. As you can see, I’m still recovering from yesterday’s shock - Soccermom - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 10:55 am: More seriously — this is why it’s a good idea to use advance staff. They notice stuff like this. - Arthur Andersen - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:02 am: His Metro-East stop was pretty pointless as well. What pol goes to see the last girder mounted on a bridge deck? Just get the darn thing finished. - Harry - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:08 am: If he can’t get pension reform, at least he can get you an attractive toilet paper dispenser. - Roadiepig - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:10 am: With that look on his face, it appears he was in need of one of those beautiful bathrooms.. - Aldyth - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:20 am: The most leadership shown by the governor in his entire term. - Small Town Liberal - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:28 am: - Just get the darn thing finished. - Sounds like it’s getting finished to me. Is the Governor supposed to do some welding when he visits capital projects, or are you just whining because you think he shouldn’t get the opportunity to publicize the projects he’s making happen? - dupage dan - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:30 am: Wouldn’t that be more like a “photo oops”? Or perhaps a photo “poops”? Inquiring minds want to know. - Mike Weisman - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:34 am: >>>>To be fair, that was a truck driving by and not sitting behind him the whole time. There is no excuse not to take multiple exposures, esepcially in today’s digital age. - Mokenavince - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:39 am: I give him a pass, he’s still working and not getting paid. More than I can say about the GA. - Been There - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:41 am: ===This is funny. Our local DHS office has horrible bathrooms.=== Well if I see Quinn going into a restroom I am going to take a pass on that one and find out which one Daley is using. - Susiejones - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:41 am: Maybe Squeezy the Pension Python has a brother? Rocky the Roto Rooter Snake Quinn unleashes the sequel! East Central Illinois—That is classic! I laughed out loud when I read it! good job! - Commonsense in Illinois - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:42 am: “Why yes I did approve updating the bathrooms at the mansion…why do you ask?” - Small Town Liberal - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:50 am: - There is no excuse not to take multiple exposures, esepcially in today’s digital age. - This picture appears to have come from WSIL, so take it up with them. Or just get a clue, either works. - Soccermom - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 11:54 am: Yeah, when I went to the actual tape, it was clear that this was one of those unavoidable things - a truck driving by momentarily. - LisleMike - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 12:19 pm: Maybe beautiful restrooms is where he will be able to “push” through some of his ideas for legislation. Perhaps better accomodations will allow him to distinguish **** from shineola. - Rusty618 - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 12:40 pm: Access to his speech in Marion was restricted and not well attended as seen in the many empty chairs there. - Gregor Samsa - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 12:51 pm: “I’m putting my number one guy on the pension problem… and my number two on the budget. Wait, I didn’t…” - Empty Suit - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 2:00 pm: A photo with built in snark, Priceless! - Anon - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 2:17 pm: The perfect backdrop for a leader who is full of *^#%! - Downstate Illinois - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 2:46 pm: Mike, the 6-lane project on I-57 is a new project that starts this month. The redo on the interchange there at Marion, the Morgan Ave. work, and the six-laning of Route 13, have been in the works for a while. The interstate project is the second phase of expanding I-57 to six lanes between I-24 south of Marion to I-64 at Mount Vernon, the busiest stretch of rural interstate in the state. The first phase was the massive headache that’s been going on at Mount Vernon for the last year or two on the stretch of payment that serves both I-57 and I-64. At least Quinn made it before the work actually started. When the Morgan Ave. overpass first opened a few years ago the city had to close it down a week or so later so Sen. Forby could attend a ribbon-cutting to open it. There was an election that year but I’m sure it had nothing to do with the photo op. - Demoralized - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 2:48 pm: @STL: Give it a rest. If you can’t see the humor in the picture then you really need to get a sense of humor. It was a screw up. Acknowledge it an move on for pete’s sake. Enough with the defender in chief routine on this particular subject. - Small Town Liberal - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 3:32 pm: Demoralized - I promise I had a good chuckle when I saw the pic. However, as noted by others, it’s a truck going by, so calling it a screw up is just silly. - Demoralized - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 4:31 pm: @STL: That photographer has skills! - Leatherneck - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 5:59 pm: “If I’m reelected, I will work every day, day and night, to fix the bathrooms in Anon’s DHS building and all other state offices and facilities so they can all be beautiful.” - fake county chairman - Tuesday, Jul 16, 13 @ 8:14 pm: New logo for our license plates instead of land of lincoln. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 17, 13 @ 2:41 pm: - Mokenavince - “I give him a pass, he’s still working and not getting paid.” Probably true if you’d change ‘working’ to ‘campaigning’. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.