Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Friday, Dec 17, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Rep. Slone finally gave up the ghost this week (via PeoriaPundit):

State Rep. Ricca Slone is giving up the fight for her 92nd District House seat after a two-day recount failed to turn up any major problems in the city or county election outfits, she said Thursday.

Slone, who lost her seat to Republican Aaron Schock by 235 votes, said “no, of course not” about whether she would ask a judge to order a full recount.

Schock will be sworn in Jan. 12; he said he’s looking forward to putting his legislative office together after the backlash of a contentious campaign that lasted more than a month after Election Day. […]

Mary Harkrader, the former Peoria County clerk who represented Slone, said the only things the group found during the county recount were a handful of ballots that had not been initialed and a few ballot applications that were unsigned by the voters. Those problems were few and sporadic, she said. […]

As for Slone, she is looking for employment and beginning to close down her Peoria office. Though she still is technically the area representative, she advised constituents with problems of any magnitude to call Schock’s office.

Schock doesn’t technically have a legislative office yet, and his soon-to-be hired assistant is sharing Rep. David Leitch’s office. The representative-elect said he would do what he can to help in the interim.

Schock is now in for the ride of his life. The House Democrats will go all out to beat him in two years, and that means running bills at him in the interim that will be tough for him to vote for or against.

For instance, a bill to give unemployment insurance to locked out workers would be greatly opposed by Peoria gargantuan Caterpillar, but 100 percent supported by the by Peoria’s unions, particularly the very strong United Auto Workers.

3 Comments

Fallout

Friday, Dec 17, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Here’s a link to Governor Rod Blagojevich’s new website, “Safe Games Illinois” that I wrote about in today’s Capitol Fax. The site is owned by Jascula Terman, a Chicago PR firm.

The 2003 poll about parental attitudes on media influence can be found at the Common Sense Media website.

Meanwhile, the blogoshpere is up in arms about the governor’s proposal to criminalize the sale or rental of violent/sexual video games to minors.

Most of the blogging is super negative. My favorite headline is Governor Rod Blagojevich Thinks You’re an Idiot on momentago.

Another, from Libertarianism ,and entitled “Dem Rod Blagojevich is villainizing videogames,” is far more strident:

“I hate Illinois Nazis”
-Jake Blues, The Blues Brothers

The Software/Videogame industry has policed itself for years with the ESRB ratings. But the Dems and Repubs (surprisingly it’s the Dems that have mostly been fighting against videogames lately) just don’t trust industry organizations to police themselves. Why? Because if industries police themselves then the government can’t create new bureaus and consume more taxpayer dollars and make politicians wallets fatter by doing a half-[redacted] job of regulating things.

(Except that many, including the governor, contend that retailers aren’t doing a very good job of regulating themselves.)

Some, like brothersjudd take the opposite view.

This is an excellent values issue and one the GOP should quickly swipe.

As I told you in Capitol Fax today, other Democratic governors are reportedly about to jump onto this bandwagon.

8 Comments

Not

Friday, Dec 17, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

These guys wonder why local bigtime media outlets haven’t picked up on this story yet, and suggest I might. Not gonna do it.

Here are some of the operative sentences (emphasis mine):

The Justice Department is considering a request to investigate the disclosure of secrets about an expensive U.S. spy satellite project criticized by some senior Democratic senators, a law enforcement official says. […]

The Justice Department has not yet determined whether classified information was leaked and has not decided whether to investigate, the official said.

The request came from an unspecified intelligence agency. […]

The Senate Ethics Committee might be asked to determine whether Rockefeller, Wyden and Durbin disclosed any sensitive information and should face sanctions, a congressional aide said.

Sorry, but as of now that looks more like a payback leak to a compliant wire service reporter than a real story.

1 Comment

A little help, please

Thursday, Dec 16, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

I received this e-mail today, and she said I could post it here. Anyone know how to help?

Hi:
I couldn’t find a better place to ask this question. I want to do an article on blogging for our local paper, Mt. Zion Region News, but in order to do so I need a Mt. Zion resident to interview. I take it you are not in Mt. Zion, Illinois? Do you know someone who is blogging from Mt. Zion, illinois?

Thanks,

Julie Lauper-Cook

Post your ideas, leads, etc. here.

2 Comments

Hmmm

Thursday, Dec 16, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

This Wednesday article in the Naperville Sun appears to be the source of the Tribune’s contention that Governor Blagojevich postponed his Wednesday announcement of his video game criminalization proposal in order to get as much media exposure as possible. The governor’s office continues to deny that it postponed the event so it could get more coverage.

It was a typical day at the office for Nina Menis on Tuesday.

But then the director of community relations for Naperville School District 203 got a phone call from Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office. The governor wanted to meet with some Naperville mothers and middle-schoolers on Wednesday to talk about the mental and spiritual health of children including their opinions on violent video games.

“We just got the call (Tuesday) afternoon and we told the governor’s staff that we didn’t know what the turnout would be with the holidays, but we were sure we would have people there,” Menis said.

Menis then e-mailed parents alerting them to the impromptu visit from the governor. She also managed to secure a meeting room at the 95th Street Library.

When the stage appeared set, Menis received another call from the governor’s office, saying he had to cancel Wednesday’s visit. Apparently the governor wanted more media coverage.

“He’s now planning on coming Thursday because he wanted to give additional media the opportunity to attend the event,” Menis said.

“He wanted to delay a day so that the New York Times could be here to cover it,” read the District 203 e-mail announcing the postponement.

A representative from the governor’s office told the Sun on Tuesday that the governor had no public appearances planned for today. The representative from the governor’s office would not say why Blagojevich canceled today’s visit to Naperville.

6 Comments

Uncivil behavior

Thursday, Dec 16, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Eric Zorn concludes today’s column about candidates refusing to concede or act politely after a race is over:

Campaigning is often an uncivil sport, in part because voters seem to respond to slashing personal attacks. But, like actual sport, it relies on an overarching and enduring civility.

In short, practical and consistent as they may be, [Alan] Keyes and [Phil] Crane should be ashamed of themselves for forgetting their good manners.

Good jab, Eric. My only problem with the thesis is that Alan Keyes had no decent manners to forget. Keyes began, ran and finished his campaign as perhaps the most uncivil major-party, statewide general election candidate this state has ever seen.

Gracious concession requires that a politician recognize and bow to the people’s will. Alan Keyes believes he is the instrument of God’s will. Therefore, no concessions are necessary because he did as instructed.

Phil Crane’s heavily Republican district insulated him from the people’s will for so long that he believed he owned the seat. In situations like Crane’s, opponents are viewed as thieves who want to steal an owner’s most cherished possession. Nobody ever thanks a thief for a job well done.

I agree that more civility would be a good thing. But Keyes and Crane (and state Rep. Ricca Slone and several others this year) are clueless about the concept. Good riddance to all.

5 Comments

Mr. 27% Re-Emerges

Thursday, Dec 16, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

Alan Keyes rationalizes his pathetic loss to Barack Obama in a recent speech in Decatur (via the freshly returned Archpundit):

And in our public and political life, that means taking a stand that is consistent with truth, and doing it whether we win or lose, doing it whether we are praised or blamed, doing it whether we are accepted and received or reviled and despised, even by those who profess to share our Christian faith.

Because at the end of the day, thatâ€™s not what matters. We canâ€™t look around and worry about whoâ€™s with you. â€œWhoâ€™s with me on this? Nobody with me, I guess Iâ€™ll back out. Whoâ€™s with me on this? Nobody with me, I guess Iâ€™ll stand somewhere else.â€ No. You canâ€™t do that. You canâ€™t worry about whoâ€™s with you. You can only worry about whether youâ€™re with Jesus. And if you are, then it doesnâ€™t matter whoâ€™s with you because if Heâ€™s with you, then thatâ€™s enough–and it will prove to be enough.

Christ doesnâ€™t count, the Lord doesnâ€™t count the way we do. We see this in the Scriptures. We enter on the scene weâ€™d think this big old army of 30,000 is better than an army of 3,000. We think that an army of 3,000 is better than an army of 300. Is that the way the Lord thought? No. The Lord saw the army of 30,000 and said, â€œNo, thatâ€™s no good.â€ He saw the army of 3,000 and said, â€œNo, thatâ€™s no good.â€ Got down to 300 facing the tens of thousands, and He said, â€œYes, thatâ€™s about right.â€

I’m not quite sure how you’d write an outlook like that into Illinois’ election law, however. For the foreseeable future, 27 percent will lose to 70 percent.

2 Comments

Trib finally catches on

Thursday, Dec 16, 2004 - Posted by Rich Miller

It only took them two years, but the Tribune is finally breaking the code.

Blagojevich, who has tried to craft a populist image, will ask the legislature Thursday to make it a misdemeanor for retailers to allow anyone younger than 18 to walk out of their stores with violent or sexually explicit video games. […]

The new initiative by Blagojevich fits a pattern the politically ambitious Democrat has established of trying to create a national buzz for himself by championing causes with surefire headline appeal.

The most prominent of those causes has been his running battle with the Bush administration over its objections, on safety grounds, to the importation of lower-cost prescription drugs. He also has sought permission to buy flu vaccine overseas and has launched a push to purge Illinois schools of junk food.

Blagojevich is scheduled to formally unveil his video game proposal at a news conference in Naperville, where more than a dozen mothers of children in middle school will serve as a backdrop.

Officials with a Naperville school district said the governor’s office asked them to arrange the event for Wednesday but then postponed it for a day, in part to accommodate more national media coverage. The governor’s office denies the claim.

More analysis here.

8 Comments

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