* Emotions are definitely running high in southern Illinois over Gov. Pat Quinn’s decision to close some state facilities down there. As I told you yesterday, the Southern Illinoisan reported that Sen. Gary Forby (D-Benton) said he’d like to release the prisoners from the Tamms “supermax” prison onto Chicago streets in retaliation for closing the prison. But nobody covered something else that Forby said…

* If you can’t watch videos at work, here’s what Forby said…

“You know, I’m not real sure, I’ve been hearing it for a long time, ‘Why don’t we do away with Chicago?’ You know, I’m just about there. I’m about ready to just cut ‘em off and push ‘em right out into the water. I mean, Put Pat Quinn on the nose of the boat. Put him right on the nose of the boat, all right, and push him right out into the water.”

The video is courtesy of Illinois Statehouse News.

Discuss.

* Meanwhile, I don’t see a basis for this statement…

[Randy Clark, a lieutenant who has worked at Tamms for 13 years] said he believes southern Illinois is being targeted politically. He said the workers at Tamms are devastated by news of the closure, which could happen Aug. 31.

But…

Phelps noted the two southern Illinois counties Quinn won in the 2010 election were Alexander and Jackson, each of which have a correctional facility slated for closure — the Tamms “super-max” prison in Alexander County and the Illinois Youth Center in Murphysboro. Quinn said he intends to close the Southern Illinois Adult Transition Center in Carbondale, as well.

If Quinn is using politics to target those facilities for closure, then it’s some of the most backwards politics I’ve ever seen. If politics is the reason, then why is he closing facilities in the only Downstate counties he won? Clark’s argument just doesn’t stand up.