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I truly hate this US Senate race

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Illinois

This came to mind when the senator currently holding her seat, Mark Kirk, said Barack Obama was “acting like a drug dealer in chief” and Kirk’s opponent, Tammy Duckworth, called the remark “unhinged,” which Kirk denounced as an attack on all stroke survivors everywhere.

“For people that have strokes, they can make tremendous comebacks,” Kirk said.

Some can. Others can be gravely impaired. Which group Kirk belongs to is open to debate. He claims he is recovered enough to do his job though, it seems, not so much that he can be criticized without immediately ducking for cover behind his disability.

You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t both insist that you are a fully capable, functioning adult ready to perform your governmental duties then collapse weeping and pointing at your boo-boo when someone says something mean about you. […]

The question whether his stroke incapacitated him further is one the electorate is allowed to ask. I sat next to him at the Dante Awards a year ago May, and while I didn’t give him a physical, he seemed pushed to the limits of his endurance by the demands of eating lunch. This, I hasten to say, is not an indictment of all people who have had strokes everywhere, but an observation specific to Kirk on a certain day.

While I agree with much of what Steinberg wrote, Kirk has trouble eating because he can only use one arm. So, that hit was not cool.

* Tribune…

Democratic U.S. Senate challenger Tammy Duckworth has fired back at Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, suggesting her opponent was hiding behind his stroke and calling that “shameful.”

The comment, made while campaigning in Decatur on Thursday, came a day after Kirk accused Duckworth of mocking stroke victims when she characterized him as “unhinged” in a Tuesday speech.

The story so far: Duckworth was referring to Kirk’s likening of President Barack Obama to the nation’s “drug dealer in chief” for a $400 million payment in January’s Iran prisoner release deal. Kirk suffered a major stroke in 2012, and Duckworth assigned a term to him defined as “mentally deranged.” Kirk then said Duckworth was “so desperate to run for office that she would denigrate any stroke victim in America and make fun of them, and that’s awful.”

On Thursday, Duckworth was asked about Kirk’s statement. “Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, his irrational comments pre-date his stroke,” said Duckworth, referring to a string of Kirk exaggerations that came to light before the November 2010 U.S. Senate election. […]

“The fact of the matter is, he’s not been able to accomplish much of anything from before he had his stroke. And for him to use his stroke as something to hide behind is really shameful because there’s a lot of people — you know, neither one of us are victims. We have both recovered from disability. And to hide behind that, your ineffectiveness as a senator, behind that, is pretty shameful,” she said.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:14 pm

Comments

Kirk would have made the comment if he hadn’t had the stroke.

Comment by Cheryl44 Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:21 pm
Much like the presidential race. 12 million people in the State of Illinois and this is the 2 best choices we got?

I think we need to change to election system. Choice A
Choice B
None of the Above.

If None of the above gets the majority then we start over and choice A & B can’t run again. It’ll never pass but it’s a great idea!

Comment by BIG R. Ph. Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:26 pm
===If None of the above gets the majority then we start over and choice A & B can’t run again. It’ll never pass but it’s a great idea!===

Agree on both counts.

Comment by Cubs in '16 Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:31 pm
===it’s a great idea===

This is not a sophomore dorm room. Put out the joint and move along.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:32 pm
My complaint with Mark is he got some great medical care, at taxpayer expense to help him recover.

But he, like all Republicans, feel that most Americans should not have any sort of healthcare.

So glad that Trump has exposed the Republicans for what they are. And I get alot of amusement watching Paul and Mitch squirm because they have endorsed the guy.

Comment by Doug Simpson Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:38 pm
This race has devolved and Steinberg, as he often does, disguises a talent for writing with an irresistible urge to be a jerk. That’s something he just can’t recover from. A shame really. He’s now an angry drunk who doesn’t drink.

Comment by A guy Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:40 pm
I think we should settle this by wheel chair race. Send them up the big slide at the fairgrounds and see which one glides the farthest. Let Big Jim start the race too.

That’s got to be more entertaining than a debate, and just as good a predictor of who’d be the better Senator.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:44 pm
===My complaint with Mark is he got some great medical care, at taxpayer expense to help him recover.===

Kirk pays taxes too.

===But he, like all Republicans, feel that most Americans should not have any sort of healthcare.===

ALL Republicans feel this way huh? wow

Comment by Cubs in '16 Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:45 pm
I think this is similar to when the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out that tweet about Duckworth not “standing up” for veterans.

It’s a case of a poor choice of words diminishing the serious content of the message.

Simply put: This Senate Race is disturbingly amateur hour.

Comment by Chicago_Downstater Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:47 pm
“ALL Republicans feel this way huh? wow”

Yup. They do.

Comment by Doug Simpson Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:55 pm
Voters will have to hold their noses before casting votes for either US Senate candidate. Ugh.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:56 pm
Steinberg did deliver a few marks which were critical of Duckworth in the same article as to her record as an administrator and adding that she would not be a nominee absent her military record.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 2:58 pm
===I truly hate this US Senate race===

LOL. Best title to a post yet.

Comment by Boone's is Back Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 3:58 pm
The individuals in the senate race are next to irrelevant. With the utter disintegration of bipartisanship, all you’re voting for is what party you want controlling the senate, blocking/confirming justices, blocking/passing legislation, etc. I couldn’t understand the thinking of someone who would vote against party in this race because they were offended or otherwise disliked something about the individual.

Comment by lake county democrat Friday, Aug 26, 16 @ 4:43 pm