* You’ll recall that state Rep. Helene Miller Walsh (R-Mundelein) scrubbed her Facebook page of some pretty odd and extremist stuff shortly after she was appointed to the seat. Well, here’s her Facebook page today…
* Under that [now-deleted 911 image was] this text…
Marty N-Eighty to Walsh Freedom Volunteers
The Islamic terrorists attacked the USA and our American way of life on September 11, 2001. Not just New York or the Pentagon or an empty field in Pennsylvania. Their objective was to bring down the federal government and collapse our nation. Now the leftists progressives with the willing assistance of mainstream media and some politicians are continuing on that path by pushing globalism and socialism.
And a lot of our fellow Americans, even friends and family members of mine, are falling for the false promises of socialism and a world without borders. We have seen evil fly planes into buildings full of people going about their lives. But we must be vigilant and fight off those who are intent on bringing down our government and our duly elected officials in far more insidious ways. They come in the form of a pretty young woman or a very old man who has never worked a 9-5 job preaching a form of government that has been responsible for more human tragedy in all of recorded history . Or an eloquent former president who could never utter the words “radical Islam” but had no trouble apologizing for the USA at every world stage. #neverforget #alwaysremember is a battle cry to protect our flag and our nation. God bless America!
Oh, for crying out loud. I’m old enough to remember when September 11th was supposed to be a national day of unity and remembrance. Now, apparently, some people want to twist it to bash the media and warn of a vast internal conspiracy to destroy the nation.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Democratic Party of Illinois interim executive director Rep. Christian Mitchell…
It’s disgusting that Rep. Helen Miller Walsh has chosen to commemorate 9/11 by spreading vitriolic hatred on the internet…again,” said DPI Executive Director Christian Mitchell. “Rep. Walsh is leveraging a day of unspeakable national tragedy to spread conspiracy theories about her political opponents and attack the news media. This is not the first time that Rep. Walsh has pushed extremist rhetoric on social media, but that did not stop Republican leaders from elevating her to a legislative position. We expect more from our elected officials, and the representative should set a better example on a day when all Americans should come together as one.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Rep. Miller Walsh has taken down her divisive post. The person who pointed me to the post in the first place says FB commenters were posting screen shots of their online contributions to her Democratic opponent.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 9:41 am:
The unity felt after 9/11 is now be usurped to divide?
The only comment I have here is this;
I love my country, I love my fellow citizens, we were united after 9/11, my hope is we can regain the unity we had after this terrible, tragic day.
- don the legend - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 9:43 am:
Rich, according to Representative Miller Walsh you have obviously fallen “for the false promises of socialism and a world without borders.”
It’s not too late. You can still be saved if you just blindly follow he who alone that can fix this.
- Driving a car - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 9:44 am:
She is trying very hard to take the title of “Most Insnae in the Walsh family” but her husband will not give up the throne easily.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 9:51 am:
This is the kind of candidate U-line paid $100K+ for? She and Roy Moore both.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 9:52 am:
This is the kind of candidate that U-line paid over $100K for? She and Roy Moore both.
- Skeptic - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 9:55 am:
For my money, no one destroyed the unity more than the W administration. But to the post…with all the yelling about “disrespecting our troops” this certainly disrespects our first responders and all the other victims of that day.
- WSJ Paywall - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 9:55 am:
I’ve stopped seeing these types of things as “extreme.” This is the mainstream Republican Party.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 9:55 am:
–Their objective was to bring down the federal government and collapse our nation.–
No, their objective was to turn over the rock of American society and free the malignant creepy-crawly charlatans and grifters like yourself to run wild and infest and poison the body politic with your fear and racism.
They were wildly successful, thanks in no small part to the likes of cockroaches like you.
Ever feel a twinge of shame cashing those checks, fear-and-hate monger? Or is the love of cheap-hustler money too strong? Beats working for a living, in some circles, I guess.
This one didn’t even have to work for it, she was appointed by a stalwart in the Illinois GOP, the Party of Lincoln.
Last, best hope on Earth.
See you in church, lady.
- Amalia - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 9:57 am:
9-11 has also become–especially on Twitter– a day not just to remember those who died in Benghazi, but to bash Obama for his recent comments which are being mis characterized as saying it was all just conspiracy theories. and, of course to bash Hillary. One soldier who was on the ground in Libya had to delete a tweet where he claimed that Obama did not kill Osama. meanwhile, is there any investigation into the deaths of soldiers in Niger? Cause laughing on a tape….Trump…is not respectful.
- Driving a car - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:00 am:
Helene Walsh this morning while looking in the mirror: “Come on Helene… think… How can I make 9/11 about me?”
- illini - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:00 am:
– “…a vast internal conspiracy to destroy the nation.” –
And exactly which segment of our political culture is doing this right now? Who are the leaders and the enablers? I have my opinion.
- Colin O'Scopy - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:00 am:
Folks like Miller Walsh want to thrash about and condemn the left for being “divisive”. The truth is, they don’t want “unity”.
People like Miller Walsh want to bait their followers with red meat slogans along the lines of saying “leftist politicians” want to “destroy the government by pushing globalism and socialism”.
It is sad because those that can’t differentiate from bombast and hyper-patriotism in God’s name are the ones who are easily duped into doing stupid things as a result.
Shame on Miller Walsh for using the deaths of 3,000 Americans as a rallying cry for her blood-hatred of people who see America differently than she does.
- "Party of Lincoln" - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:04 am:
Honest Abe she is not.
- Montrose - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:11 am:
Yes. The important lesson to learn from 9/11 is that if we give Bernie Sanders the time of day, the terrorists have won. /s
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:12 am:
@Wordslinger- Amen brother, perfectly stated.
=Their objective was to bring down the federal government =
Isn’t this what the Walshies and the rest of the ultra-right wing-nuts want too?
- NIU Grad - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:14 am:
I imagine that when she first steps onto the House floor it will be the most she has been surrounded by diversity in her life…
- Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:14 am:
America is extreme to the point that many right wingers think moderate Democrats are socialists and communists. That’s why there’s always an audience for this nonsense.
- SAP - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:14 am:
For the last decade and a half, I have thought that September 11th should be a national holiday, a day of remembrance if you will. If people are going to use it to lie about and attack their political opponents, forget about it. That is a worse fate than a Presidents’ Day mattress sale.
- Annoyance - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:18 am:
What is happening in America? Remembrance, unity, understanding for all.
“O beautiful for patriot dream, that sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears
America, America, God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea”
- hisgirlfriday - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:24 am:
What a despicable person.
This is precisely what’s wrong with our politics today.
Many Republican partisans today have become so authoritarian in temperament they have no such notion as a loyal opposition having any right to exist. They think preferring Democratic Party policy positions makes one an evil traitor, as Mrs. Walsh apparently does.
This mindset then excuses corruption and graft, supports efforts to make it harder for legitimate voters to cast ballots if those voters aren’t expected to vote the “right” way, and cheers refusals to attempt to work constructively with the opposition to try to solve problems in any shape or fashion.
This mindset has intensified in recent years but is not just a Trump-era thing and I suppose Democrats can be guilty of the same thing.
The difference is there is no equivalent on the D side to the extent of Fox News/conservative talk radio supporting and warping the Democratic Party.
Because of Fox News and the Rush Limbaughs of the world I highly doubt a 9/11 on a President Al Gore’s watch would have resulted in national bipartisan unity.
- Stark - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:26 am:
This individual should not be treated like an “all there” person. Collegiality around you stops when your racism and xenophobia reach joke-like levels. Embarrassing someone of so little thought gets a seat in the Illinois House over thousands of people that actually have something to offer this great state.
- cover - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:28 am:
= America is extreme to the point that many right wingers think moderate Democrats are socialists and communists. =
They even think that of moderate Republicans, if there are any left who haven’t abandoned the party. Sorry, OW, the party of Jim Edgar is long gone.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:39 am:
===…the party of Jim Edgar is long gone.===
Your grab was from - GOM -
Meh, it’s gone today. It’s Trumpism today.
You’re missing the point as so many here are.
The politics of tribalism on 9/11 says far more about those chastising one side or another, than even what Miller Walsh said.
There should be no politics to this day. It’s not Pollyanna or naive, it’s right and just.
No side… should think today is anything other than…
The thousands who lost their lives.
The 40 heroes on Flight 93.
The first responders at the Pentagon, New York, and Shanksville.
- Wait a second - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:44 am:
This woman is an extremist to say the least. But politicians have been using 9-11 and other days of observance to their vantage and as a way of posturing throughout history. Columbus Day, much?
Thanksgiving? Memorial Day parades… Most have never stood ‘On the Line.’ Just another day in the wacky world of politics.
- SOIL M - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:52 am:
You can not end darkness with more darkness. You have to provide light.
You can not defeat division by preaching more division, you have to try to unite.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:53 am:
“But we must be vigilant and fight off those who are intent on bringing down our government and our duly elected officials in far more insidious ways.”
Miller Walsh and her ilk are that statement, and we as voters need to be vigilant and keep people like her out of the halls of office. Hate-mongering will not heal, it just invites further infection.
A reflection for today… A Tower of Voices
https://tinyurl.com/y98cxe6q
http://www.wglt.org/post/carlock-morton-firms-help-create-flight-93-memorial#stream/0
- Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 11:12 am:
I agree with that 09/11 should be a day of remembrance and gratitude. Miller-Walsh shouldn’t have made these comments, but RWNJ’s gonna RWNJ.
- Nick Name - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 11:20 am:
You knew it was only a matter of time before she unleashed the cra-cra again. I’m just sorry it was today of all days.
- FormerParatrooper - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 11:24 am:
I hope it doesn’t take another 12/7 or 9/11 to bring us back together.
- Matts - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 11:26 am:
Put another way, the extremist edges are coming toward the middle. As a vortex does as it swirls downward to hell. What horror could possibly take place that would recreate that (momentary) feeling that we are all in this together, and must support one another? I feel the divide is so great, the hatred so deep and virulent, that we’ll never see a time like that again.
- Bob - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 11:52 am:
I was in New York last month with my wife and two teenage daughters for the weekend. We went to the 9/11 Memorial. I remember all to well the events of that day. Even with that memory, I found the 9/11 Memorial to be very moving. The sense of horror, grief and profound loss that you experience while there can’t really be put into words, but it did create (at least for me) a very emotional and visceral experience. I’d like to ask Ms. Walsh to rethink what it means to “Never Forget” and rather than using it as a platform for her apparent political beliefs, to use it as an opportunity to reflect on the lessons from that day that can draw us closer together as Americans. I think that’s a better way of honoring the memories of the people who lost their lives on that day and their survivors.
- North Lake - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 11:54 am:
Time to donate to Mary Edly Allen.
- Annonin' - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 12:03 pm:
Durkie must be so proud to have this piece of work on his team
- Flapdoodle - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 12:10 pm:
A day of quiet remembrance — yes to that. A young man in one of my courses lost his father in the 9/11 WTC attacks. He was understandably away from classes for a few weeks. When he returned, we talked a few times. His courage and resolve were remarkable. After turning in his final exam, he took a few steps, turned around and said very softly, “Oh, they found my father’s body yesterday.” And then he left.
Miller-Walsh and her ilk are shameless fear mongers, but they will never dim my memory of that young man and his quiet strength.
- Jocko - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 12:18 pm:
==They come in the form of a pretty young woman or a very old man who has never worked a 9-5 job==
As Helene Miller Walsh would say, “But that’s enough about me.”
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 12:22 pm:
===I hope it doesn’t take another 12/7 or 9/11 to bring us back together.===
- FormerParatrooper -
Me too, friend. Me too.
- don the legend - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 1:00 pm:
Trump, Miller Walsh and her ilk can’t even admit that John McCain was an American hero. That’s a heckuva divide to mend.
- PublicServant - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 1:19 pm:
===Trump, Miller Walsh and her ilk can’t even admit that John McCain was an American hero. That’s a heckuva divide to mend.===
Because it would give aid and sustenance to the enemy.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” - A. Lincoln
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 1:57 pm:
What she wrote appeals to a very small group of voters. She’s not very good at this, is she?
Nutty.
- Nobody Sent - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 2:22 pm:
As the kids say, she’s cra cra
- Ill-Will - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 2:37 pm:
To Former Paratrooper and Ow.
Thanks for remembering 12/7 too. A few here will. I’ll be gone as most of us wii, but, 80 ish years from now we’ll we remember? Perhaps.
To the post: I still stunned that she would say this. Stunned.
And I fancy myself a cynic. So it goes.
- G'Kar - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 2:43 pm:
Fwiw, it appears that she took down that post.
- Albany Park Patriot - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 3:01 pm:
This person is not fit for office.
- its politics - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 3:14 pm:
Her views are actually in line with one of the greatest 20th century philosophers, Jean Baudrillard. (of Matrix fame, wrote Simulacra and Simulation)
He wrote extensively in “The Spirit of Terrorism and Requiem for the Twin Towers,” that 9/11 was a symbolic event, intent on disrupting the forces of globalization.
The public universities in Illinois include many globalization theoretical writings, in many of the upper level political science curriculums.
What an unhealthy echo chamber. I doubt, however, that my post will be allowed to see the light of day.
- FormerParatrooper - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 3:20 pm:
OW, a gentleman. I tip my hat to you.
Ill-Will…My Grandfathers both remembered Pearl Harbor, it was their wake up. I learned it from them, 9/11 was a lesson relearned for me. Your generation was the inspiration for mine, Thank you.
Politicians on all sides need to drop 9/11 from their political argument unless they are specifically speaking of how to avert another such attack. This is not a time to use this day to demean the other Party. It is good she took down her post. She should have let her brain edit before she hit post it.
- Pundent - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 3:44 pm:
Some of us see 9/11 as an opportunity for somber reflection. Helene Walsh sees it as an opportunity to spew bile and call out “leftist progressives.” It says a lot about her lack of character.
- Ill-Will - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 4:17 pm:
Former Paratrooper
Agree with everything you say. But I need to clarify something. My father served, I’m an Army brat. Thanks for your service.
I always remember 12/7.
Apologies if my post suggested that.
- FormerParatrooper - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 4:41 pm:
Army brats served too.
- Ill-Will - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 4:54 pm:
To Former Paratrooper
Thanks for the kind words. Oblged
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 10:10 pm:
–Because of Fox News and the Rush Limbaughs of the world I highly doubt a 9/11 on a President Al Gore’s watch would have resulted in national bipartisan unity.–
The Murdochs, who roll among the “liberal elites” of Hollywood, Manhattan and London, are a malignancy on democracy and Western Civilization.
They make their money through outrageous feeding of nativism and racism that appeals to the fears and fever dreams of some of the people, all of the time.
They’re malicious pornographers, abusing the First Amendment for a buck.
You think Rupert and his dingbat sons have any respect for their TV audience? That they hang in the south of France with the likes of Sean, Laura and Tucker?
They laugh all the way to the bank, the way they get over the chumps.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cancer-eating-the-heart-of-australian-democracy-20180826-p4zzum.html
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 11, 18 @ 11:44 pm:
–Thanks for remembering 12/7 too. A few here will. I’ll be gone as most of us wii, but, 80 ish years from now we’ll we remember? Perhaps.–
No worries, mate. We’ll never forget you.
But, today, more than ever, let us not forget Lincoln’s warning:
“From whence shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall some trans-Atlantic military giant step the earth and crush us at a blow? Never. All the armies of Europe and Asia…could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years. No, if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide.”
I feel we take Lincoln for granted, especially here in Illinois, where he’s often depicted as a cartoon character.
But the truth is, he’s in the team picture of the greatest figures in history.
Read Lincoln. Every word. And everything about him. Then apply that knowledge to our times.
- Mama - Wednesday, Sep 12, 18 @ 7:57 am:
Rich, Who is Rep. Miller Walsh’s Democratic opponent?
- Mama - Wednesday, Sep 12, 18 @ 8:14 am:
Rep. Miller Walsh’s hate-mongering got her appointed to the House of Representatives. She got what she wanted - noticed.
- Mama - Wednesday, Sep 12, 18 @ 8:19 am:
Another 12/7 or 9/11 will either bring the USA back together, or it will divide us more than ever - all depending on who the president is at the time. Lets pray that will 12/7 or 9/11 never happen again.