79 Comments - 360 Degree Turnaround - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 4:53 pm: I miss Obama - blue dog dem - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 4:55 pm: I don’t. - Macbeth - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 4:58 pm: I do. - Responsa - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 4:58 pm: There is much complexity to the Charlottesville situation which pitted ugly white nationalists against ugly bat wielding anarchists/antifa. Increasingly we know that the protests were mishandled and public safety was jeopardized in several ways. JB Pritzker should remove himself from this furor in another state. It is not his fight. http://wtvr.com/2017/08/14/aclu-fires-back-at-gov-mcauliffe-after-comments-on-violence-at-charlottesville-rally/ - blue dog dem - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:00 pm: Responsa. You are 1000% correct. - Macbeth - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:00 pm: There’s no complexity. Nazis and white supremiscists and xenophobes are vile. It doesn’t take a “police definition” to excoriate racism and violence and terrorism. - Nick Name - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:01 pm: When you engage in false equivalency, you are part of the problem. Trump is providing cover for neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Rauner is providing cover for Trump. Vote accordingly in November 2018. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:05 pm: ===I don’t.=== I remember John McCain, on the trail discussing respect, for Obama. Barack Obama went out of his way to say that both John McCain and Mitt Romney, whom he disagreed with politically, respected them both and felt the country would have been guided by respectable men. My point? The measuring of those who have won and became our Presidents and those who have run and lost, there was never a question, until now, that we find our country where there is a serious question to the integrity of a man who is now out President that can’t bring himself to understand that condemning what happened Saturday needed parsing in explaining. Now, many can “not miss” Obama, many don’t miss W. either, but never did I worry that either man would be confused about what Saturday was, or worry either man would be confused to the condemning of Satuday by the President of the United States. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:07 pm: Gee, Responsa and BDD, I thought you were supposed to oppose Nazis and the KKK when they’re on the march. They have a pretty clear track record as to what they’re capable of to advance their objectives. What do you guys suggest? Buy them a beer and blow in their ear? - Wensicia - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:08 pm: The ugliness would never have happened had White Supremacists not invaded Charlottesville with weapons and confederate flags. - Jibba - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:08 pm: Why do either of you care whether JBP comments on a national issue? Because it makes a little hay for him by drawing a bright contrast with fuzzy Rauner? - 47th Ward - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:11 pm: The people who are going to such extreme lengths to find fault on “many sides” have lost sight of what the original permit was allowing: a group to protest the lawful removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Lee was a traitor of such magnitude that the Union generals seized his plantation and used it as a burial ground for fallen soldiers, true patriots who have their last measure in defense of the union. Ultimately, if you support these neo-Confederate, white supremacist Nazis, who chant anti-semitic and racial epithets, you turn your back on everything this country stands for. You cannot be a proud American and a Nazi sympathizer. We’ve fought wars to prove this point. - blue dog dem - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:12 pm: Since neither Obama,McCain or Romney ate fiscal conservatives, I don’t miss any of them. - Real - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:13 pm: Pritzker is picking up a lot of support speaking against the Charlottesville situation. He also picked up a lot of support with the Stratton pick. - CrazyHorse - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:17 pm: =The ugliness would never have happened had White Supremacists not invaded Charlottesville with weapons and confederate flags.= A Federal judge granted their request for a rally under the First Amendment of the Constitution. - 360 Degree Turnaround - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:18 pm: I don’t promote eating fiscal conservative’s. It burns on the way down. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:20 pm: I don’t care what Rauner has said, or not said, about this. I don’t like state politicians trolling one another over national issues that have little impact on Illinois. A governor is not a president. JB is trolling and he has made his point repeatedly, ad nauseum since this happened. Rauner isn’t a supporter of vile hate groups on either left nor right. Trump isn’t either. We do not have Confederate statues in Illinois. - Lamont - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:20 pm: If Pritzker gets the dem nomination, he’s going to destroy Rauner in the debates. Rauner will have two retorts to every question: Madigan and “broken”. Pritzker in the meantime will highlight all of Rauners failures and his support for Trump. - Norseman - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:21 pm: Keep it up JB. Rauner has proven to be a coward in all things other than trying to kill unions. - DuPage Saint - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:25 pm: I don’t like Rauner and I don’t like Trump. I consider myself a Republican and not a Dixiecrat Republican. But I am so tired of tying Trump to Rauner. If Rauner by some miracle could fix all that is “broken” and take care of those who need it, give tax relief to those who deserve it, and actually make Illinois “work again” I would vote for him if he married Trump. And same goes on the Democrat side. We are electing a governor not a president. Now if you want to make it Illinois centric: wait for the haters to come out against Pritzger and his running mate. That will be the true test of what I thought was the Republican party of my youth. I find nothing wrong with being a “country club” republican it beats what I am seeing now. - Moderate Condor - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:25 pm: Related–Wirepoints retweeted what appears to be a white supremacist account this afternoon. Trump is emboldening all kinds of people. - Real - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:27 pm: If Pritzker gets the dem nomination, he’s going to destroy Rauner in the debates. Rauner will have two retorts to every question: Madigan and “broken”. Pritzker in the meantime will highlight all of Rauners failures and his support for Trump.==== I agree. Rauner can barely answer direct questions as it is now. Just imagine how it will be for him in the debates and especially if McCann decides to run. - Anon E. Moose - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:27 pm: It shouldn’t take too much political courage to call out protestors waving Nazi flags. Also, I think JB is the exact right person to point this out given his work with the Holocaust Museum here in Illinois. This seems like win-win for him politically. - Chicago 20 - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:28 pm: It will change when the neo-nazis wake up and discover that minorities and immigrants aren’t the cause of their woes. - Real - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:29 pm: Rauner isn’t a supporter of vile hate groups on either left nor right. Trump isn’t either. We do not have Confederate statues in Illinois.==== We don’t know this for sure. The kkk wears hoods for a reason. Btw David Duke said that his group supported Trump. - Jibba - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:32 pm: VM…Wikipedia lists two Confederate statues in Illinois. Just saying. I’m more interested in the vehemence with which people are responding to JB. Shouldn’t all right thinking people everywhere be denouncing white supremacists? Especially those who attack and kill? I’m not saying Rauner is a supporter, clearly not. Just another ham handed day for him. - Roman - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:37 pm: “You really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?” - Trump on taking down Confederate statues. I’d say it stops with secession. Washington and Jefferson, though slave owners, helped create the nation. They didn’t lead a bloody rebellion to divide it. - Pundent - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:37 pm: The reason that JB continues to tie Trump to Rauner is that he believes it’s effective. Ultimately its up to voters to decide how they wish to process the connection between Trump and Rauner. The Republicans have to come to grips with the fact that these are their leaders. And before we say that these issues have no impact on Illinois it’s worth remembering that Rauner had some very clear thoughts on the risks presented by Syrian refuges. You can’t have it both ways. - Pundent - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:42 pm: +Now, many can “not miss” Obama, many don’t miss W. either, but never did I worry that either man would be confused about what Saturday was, or worry either man would be confused to the condemning of Satuday by the President of the United States.= Amen to that. And to Blue Dog, Responsa and others, while I may not have always agreed with Obama I believe he was sincere in trying to make things better. Can’t say the same for the current POTUS. - TinyDancer(FKASue) - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:44 pm: ==A Federal judge granted their request for a rally under the First Amendment of the Constitution.== Marching through the South carrying the Stars and Bars, KKK flags, chanting “blood and soil,” etc., etc.? First Amendment does not protect dangerous speech. (See Schenck v. United States) - Lamont - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:46 pm: Trump got pasted in the Illinois election by Clinton. It’s smart for Pritzker to tie Rauner to Trump, especially when Rauner refuses to answer questions regarding Trump positions on the ACA and other issues. - Lamont - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:47 pm: Silence implies tacit approval. - CrazyHorse - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:48 pm: ==Rauner isn’t a supporter of vile hate groups on either left nor right. Trump isn’t either. We do not have Confederate statues in Illinois.== Agreed. There has been a huge outcry in the recent days for Trump and Rauner to call out terrorism. If I’m not mistaken, didn’t Chicago just name a Street after a convicted terrorist? We’re so infuriated when terrorism isn’t called out by name but convicted terrorists get streets named after them? I’m confused. - Responsa - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:48 pm: @ TinyDancer(FKASue) Skokie. ACLU. Constitution. - Blue dog dem - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:50 pm: Lamont. Not true. - Bret Easton Ellis - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:51 pm: Yes hate speech is protected and if blood and soil is protected I’m sure you are equally offended by chants of violence against cops. Trump spent most of his life as a Democrat, donating to Democrats show on NBC and not once was this specter of racism raised. Now all of a sudden? - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:55 pm: ==We don’t know this for sure.== So publically denouncing these hate grpups isn’t assuring you? WTH supports them? .03% of the US population is a part of these hate groups. They have freedom to be haters. Attacking people doesn’t win them over. The opposite happens. Everyone wants to be heard. Hate groups are enthralled when they make news. It shows that they are heard. They loved these attacks. That’s why tbey held that embarrassing parade. They loved it. Demanding that Rauner denounce the president is trolling. What if Rauner did? JB would still troll him. JB belittles himself demanding that Rauner denounce hate groups exactly as JB would. No one would. No one here at CapFax denounces hate groups the same way, even though they all loath them. What’s next? JB demands that Rauner denounce crimes as much as JB? Its p*ssing contest, not a healthy discussion over Rauner’s failures. - CrazyHorse - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 5:58 pm: ==Marching through the South carrying the Stars and Bars, KKK flags, chanting “blood and soil,” etc., etc.? First Amendment does not protect dangerous speech. (See Schenck v. United States)== Actually that is not correct. See below for most recent SC decision. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/06/19/supreme-court-unanimously-reaffirms-there-is-no-hate-speech-exception-to-the-first-amendment/?utm_term=.8cd03b9b8f05 - wondering - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:00 pm: Do we not consider character in choice of Governor? If J.B. sidef with Kin-Jong Un would that be irrelevant - Shake - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:01 pm: JBs Stratton Pick Was Real Good.. - baloneymous - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:11 pm: getting Rauner to take a stance for or against Trump and his policies and viewpoints is not trolling imo. at some point you have to pick a side, and Rauner won’t even mention Trump’s name. its relevant. people vote up and down the ticket based on a president’s views. people in another state — in our country — were carrying torches and chanting blood and soil. I don’t care if its only .03% of the US population or not. and I don’t care if it was one mile down the street or 1,000 miles away in Virginia. it matters. - Retired Educator - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:11 pm: You know I was beginning to like J.B., but the vitriol is a little bit much. I think I will rethink throwing my vote with someone who exhibits this much anger. While I may not agree with a President (I have lived through many) I have never disrespected the office ot the person holding the Presidency. This was way over the top, and unseenly for a candidate running for the highest office in Illinois. - baloneymous - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:14 pm: and yes it also matters that every day kids and people are killed on the streets of Chicago, and Rahm, the GA, Rauner, Durbin, Duckworth, our IL congressional delegation and Trump are doing little about it. - TinyDancer(FKASue) - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:23 pm: @Responsa Common sense. Chickened out. Marquette Park. - Lester Holt's Mustache - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:32 pm: ==I’m more interested in the vehemence with which people are responding to JB.== Agreed. His comments sure do seem to have touched a nerve with several commenters here. - Pundent - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:33 pm: =Silence implies tacit approval.=. Maybe, maybe not. But it definitely implies cowardness. - Joe Bidenopolous - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:37 pm: As much as I want to agree with Van Man about state folks weighing in of federal stuff, in this case I can’t. Trump is leader of the Republican Party, same as it was for every president before him. As far as I’m concerned, every Republican official has to answer for him. Democrats didn’t elect him, their voters did - baloneymous - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:37 pm: Lester, agree. I also think that since JB is Jewish, that this subject matter touched a nerve in him and rightly so that some people may not realize as well. - Pundent - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:42 pm: Vanilla Man - I’ve got a great deal of respect for you but I’ve got to disagree here. Rauner’s inability or unwillingness to take a position is one of his failings. He could have easily made this a non-issue but chose not to. That says a lot about his character and I wouldn’t consider JB calling that out trolling. - Bret Easton Ellis - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:52 pm: ==Agreed. His comments sure do seem to have touched a nerve with several commenters here.== Or some may just have disagreed with them. But dog whistles are everywhere these days. - Blue dog dem - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:52 pm: VM. I dont always agree with you. Respect but not agree. Your take on this is spot on I wish i could articulate like you. Thanks. I believe you speak for many. - Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 6:58 pm: I respectfully disagree with the opinion that this is not relevant to Rauner and Illinois. In my opinion this is deeply significant, relevant to Illinois and a direct indicator of the governor’s failure to lead. A lot of people are very hurt by the president’s handling of this horrible event, blaming both sides equally. I heard today a sound clip of the white supremacists chanting something terrible about Jews and population replacement. Rauner won’t stand up to Trump. He didn’t stand up to him when health insurance was being threatened, as it still is, with the prospect of over one million Illinoisans losing coverage. He’s not standing up to him or forcefully condemning white supremacy in regards to Charlottesville. Rauner is not going to lead. He’s trying as hard as he can to not harm himself politically with his statements, so he’s evasive and resorts to talking points. He absolutely refuses to talk about Trump and barely mentions his name. People say he needs to focus on Illinois, as does he, but for what? He does practically nothing here except campaigning and trashing his opponents when he needs to work with them. - 47th Ward - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 7:22 pm: Well said GOM. Rauner pretends that Trump doesn’t exist. We deserve a leader not a coward as Governor. - anon - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 7:22 pm: crazyhorse: Hate speech and dangerous speech are not necessarily the same thing. There are limits to free speech. If you threaten to kill someone, or threaten to blow up a local school building, you risk going to jail, even if this is done impersonally by e-mail. - 47th Ward - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 7:32 pm: Blue dog, don’t poke me. I respect Rich and his blog, but you really don’t want me to share my unvarnished opinion of the (stuff) you post here. Tread lightly my friend and go in peace brother. - 47th Ward - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 7:32 pm: And the horse you road in on, too. - Lester Holt's Mustache - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 7:45 pm: ==Or some may just have disagreed with them. But dog whistles are everywhere these days.== It was just an observation. If you’re hearing dog whistles, I don’t know what to tell you. I personally find it neither surprising nor upsetting that a Jewish candidate would go after trump after that vile spectacle of a press conference today, or an opponent who pretends that trump doesn’t exist. - Pundent - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 7:49 pm: It’s a sad day indeed when our President and Governor are more concerned about offending racists then calling them out. - Lamont - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 8:12 pm: I’m beginning to believe that Bruce Rauner is a character in the Harry Potter books. He won’t respond to questions about Trump, aka Voldemort—”he who shall not be named.” - Anonymous - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 8:14 pm: ==crazyhorse: Hate speech and dangerous speech are not necessarily the same thing. There are limits to free speech. If you threaten to kill someone, or threaten to blow up a local school building, you risk going to jail, even if this is done impersonally by e-mail.== Correct. However, Crazy horse wasn’t replying to those examples. The samples given were “Stars and Bars, KKK flags, chanting “blood and soil.” None of which comes close to Clear and Present danger and is protected. - Bret Easton Ellis - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 8:18 pm: Anonymous @ 8:14 was me - Reality - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 8:45 pm: What exactly does Bruce Rauner denouncing the attacks in Charlottesville do? Likely upset a president that could help Illinois is about all I can think of. I’m more worried about the violence in his own state in Chicago that Charlottesville pales in comparison to by count of deaths. I think JB and Bruce should both be giving solutions on that problem since that is actually something both of them could do something about with both their political power and personal wealth. Give me a break on the national stories. - Reality - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 8:49 pm: Why hasn’t Michael Frerichs called for economic sanctions on North Korea due to Kim Jong Un’s actions? - PragmaticR - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 8:53 pm: On one side there is support for lynching, segregation, discrimination, and voter intimidation. A member of this side purposely drove a car into a crowd to kill and injure human beings. I know this act is terrorism regardless of technical terminology. I want my elected leaders at all levels of government to share my clarity regardless of party. It is the most basic test of character. The Governor failed. Mr. Pritzker’s statement is effective because it highlights the Governor’s inability to lead even when it should be so easy. - 47th Ward - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 8:57 pm: I’m just gonna leave this right here. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow-nuHCTA5E - 47th Ward - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 8:59 pm: “You can’t shake the devil’s hand and say you’re only kidding.” - Moe Berg - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 9:11 pm: Illinois is the Land of Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln. The Great Emancipator who gave his life to preserve the union. I’d say the people of our state, its elected officials and would-be elected officials have more than a passing interest in matters of neo-confederatess, neo-nazis, and KKKers, and more than a minimal obligation to speak out. - Ducky LaMoore - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 9:31 pm: I really can’t believe some people, man. Defending Nazis. The president of the United States defending Nazis. We all have a very, very big problem on our hands. Bigger than I ever thought was possible. - Joe Bidenopolous - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 9:44 pm: Blue dog - with all due…you know what? Never mind that. For the love of all that’s holy, drop the “dem” from your name. We don’t want you. One side was composed of white nationalists, kkk, and neo-nazis. The other side is opposed to racial bigotry. If you think those are comparable traits, you have no place in the Democratic Party. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Aug 15, 17 @ 10:09 pm: –Rauner isn’t w supporter of vile hate groups on either side. Neither is Trump..– yeah, Trump was just innocent Encyclopedia Brown on the Case of the Missing Birth Certificate for those five years. He and Sheriff Joe deserve our thanks for their sincere and honest efforts to expose that Obama/Kenya/Muslim truth. That wasn’t racist. And like Pres. Trump said, can anyone really expect to get a fair shake from a judge of Mexican ancestry? That ain’t racist. And like Pres. Trump said, there are good people among the Nazis and KKK. That’s straight out of church. Crazy Horse, you’re a laugh riot, in your own way. Why don’t you review your home movies of the crowds at Trump rallies and tell those knee-slappers about how the president of the United States does not accept the support of racist groups? - Tired teacher - Wednesday, Aug 16, 17 @ 7:22 am: Every American has the responsibility to speak out against hate and bigotry. With our rights come responsibility; silence denies that responsibility. Rauner should have immediately spoken out against terrorism as should all of us. To do less is to encourage the hate and violence. History is replete with examples and lessons; those who do not challenge hate will enable it. - Pundent - Wednesday, Aug 16, 17 @ 7:55 am: Per his usual writing Wordslinger does an excellent job of defining the issues in the proper context. The decision to associate or disassociate with Trump will be a litmus test for all Republicans from Governors down through local boards. In the same way that Raunerites are attempting to reshape the Republican party at the state level Trump is doing the same nationally. The party is now defined by Trump. Get used to it. There is a fundamental question that Bruce Rauner has to be able to answer regarding where his moral and governing compass is aligned. I realize that for many Republicans this is very awkward and uncomfortable. They would rather avoid Trump and the question altogether and brush it off as irrelevant. But as is often said on this board, “elections have consequences”. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Aug 16, 17 @ 8:46 am: You condemn racists. Period. There isn’t any complexity involved. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Aug 16, 17 @ 9:00 am: J.B. ought to run for president if this is his concern. His opponent is Rauner, not Trump. In fact, Trump and Rauner are not allies despite repeated attempts by Illinois Democrats to link the pair. - A guy - Wednesday, Aug 16, 17 @ 9:02 am: ==If Pritzker gets the dem nomination, he’s going to destroy Rauner in the debates== This is severely overestimating Pritzker’s ability to debate, regardless of what you think of the other guy. He ain’t good at it. Not even a little good. JB won’t even destroy Chris Kennedy in debates. If anything, Dan Biss (if he’s still in the mix) will expose both of them. He is good at it. - ZC - Wednesday, Aug 16, 17 @ 9:04 am: We don’t need blanket condemnations of “Republicans” or “conservatives” here. What we need are blanket condemnations of Trump’s words. If Rauner isn’t willing to do that, it says something about Rauner’s own personal character. I truly believe there aren’t that many KKK in Illinois. What is Rauner afraid of, flat out condemning Trump’s particular statement as outrageous? - Anonymous - Wednesday, Aug 16, 17 @ 9:06 am: @Pragmatic R: Learn some American history — tolerance of lynching and discrimination used to be the policies of the Democratic Party at least prior to 1948. The Congressional Republicans were filibustered for seeking to ban lynching in the 1920s. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Aug 16, 17 @ 9:09 am: ===This is severely overestimating Pritzker’s ability to debate, regardless of what you think of the other guy. He ain’t good at it. Not even a little good.=== Where have you seen JB debate? For Congress? That was a long time ago, different issues (state vs. fed/national) and Rauner being an incumbent showed as a challenger that “Pat Quinn failed” is all you need to look better in debates. - Mean Gene - Wednesday, Aug 16, 17 @ 9:12 am: @Anonymous =used to be= As in, no longer. You should also learn history. Specifically, learn about Nixon’s southern strategy. 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