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* I’m heading to Governor’s Day and then the GOP events. Blogging will be light to perhaps non-existent. Monitor our live coverage post while I’m away. As always, please keep your conversations Illinois-centric and be nice to each other. Thanks.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 11:55 am

Comments

Kind of an odd question, but generally how does it work when there’s a situation where the Alderman and their respective Ward Committeeman are political opponents?
I know the majority of the time they are the same person or very close allies, but timing due to having different election cycles can create these.

Comment by CT Resident Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 12:03 pm
I could use a fair corn dog about now….

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 12:03 pm
===how does it work when there’s a situation where the Alderman and their respective Ward Committeeman are political opponents?===

Civil War in the ward.

No great secret.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 12:04 pm
CT Resident - this is why most Chicago Aldermen are also Ward Committeemen. Back in the good ole’ days an Alderman could also more easily reward good political soldiers with patronage jobs. Since patronage jobs are no longer as available, the desire to be the Committeeman has diminished, but many Aldermen still do it for the very reason you’ve brought up.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 12:07 pm
Is that “White Claw” a big hit at the fair?

A game changer?

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 12:24 pm
Because nothing big happens when Rich takes a break. Not since last week anyway.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 12:29 pm
Aldermen that lose usually get the message and don’t run for Committeeman the next year. But Moreno in 1 and Arena in 45 have hinted that they are thinking about running for re-election as Committeeman. In 45 new Alderman Jim Gardiner is definitely running for Committeeman. It’s not clear if Daniel La Spata wants to run for Committeeman in 1 though

Comment by Fax Machine Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 12:42 pm
The Eastern Block.

How do they set up this new state?

What do they name this new state?

State animal? State bird? State flower?

If I’m suppose to take these folks seriously, I need answers.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 12:47 pm
Anybody other than me suspicious on Richs real whereabouts after the earlier picture?

Comment by Blue Dog Dem Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 12:50 pm
A light blog, not dissimilar to a light jog.

Comment by Da Lobsta Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 1:40 pm
So OW, I’m dying to know your opinion. Do you think the reason Pritzker hasn’t hired more mid and upper management in the agencies is to control the patronage machine of Madigan? Or is it simply that he wants to stay lean,…so to speak, on staff? Or nobody wants a state job? All of the above.
If Pritzker doesn’t start to attend to the micro he’s going to squander the Legislative miracles he’s pulled off
Because he can’t execute them

Comment by Honeybear Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 1:49 pm
Dear OW, Confederacy of remaining counties. Lincolnlandia. White Squirrel. Blue Heron. Black Eyed Susan. Reptile will be copperhead. Book will be King James Bible. Will keep you posted as more is learned in barber and coffee shops downstate about “51.”

Comment by NearLakeMattoon Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 1:54 pm
===Do you think the reason Pritzker hasn’t hired more mid and upper management in the agencies is to control the patronage machine of Madigan? Or is it simply that he wants to stay lean,…so to speak, on staff? Or nobody wants a state job? All of the above.===

Without any knowledge of anything pertaining to hires or thoughts to that;

Pritzker is an outsider.

Governors own.

Without any real knowledge of folks, “Crews”, organizations, I’m speculating that the typical “vouch” system isn’t the patronage stylings that this governor’s office is following.

The person(s) who don’t cause governors the most problems are the ones they know. They know each other, good and bad.

The person(s) that lead to real problems at the agency level are the ones that get a side vouch for a favor or a trade that the governor’s folks have no idea about in taking them in,

I was once told;

“It’s not hiring that’s hard. That happens at the pace you want. It’s either dumping or moving problems after you already hired, they get everyone in trouble after”

If Rutan did *any* good, it was the pause and vetting a crew can do before having to eat a bad hire.

I go back too to the thought that is the timeframe of measure… one year.

After a year, it’s the next 3 that matter. The midterm is about that first session in the GA, the re-elect is about the last two years.

You got a year to get it right, a year.

Everyone wants swift restitution. That’s making political thought dictate policy hiring, even if it’s within a patronage framing.

See me in January.

Be well.

OW

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 2:07 pm
- NearLakeMattoon -

While your snark is appreciated, I’m afraid someone is really thinking about.

Is that more comical? It’s close, lol

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 2:09 pm
Right now Justin Trudeau is giving a master class on how to deal with the press after a negative report comes out.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-snc-ethics-commissioner-violated-code-1.5246551

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 2:12 pm
== Lincolnlandia ==

I dunno. Something like Jeffersondavisville seems like a better fit.

Comment by Roman Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 2:24 pm
So, who wins the NL Central?

And Willy, I will have a fair corn dog this evening in your honor.

Comment by Pick a Name Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 2:25 pm
Cozy dogs. The true corn dog.

Enjoy.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 2:44 pm
===So, who wins the NL Central?===

In the end it doesn’t matter. The WC will be Dodgers vs Yanks or Stros. Probably Stros with the added pitching.

St. Louis needed to get better and they stood pat. Cubs cant win on the road. And Milwaukee cant keep Yelich healthy.

Comment by Nagidam Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 2:44 pm
Been at the fair all day, grandson’s birthday.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 2:45 pm
The Cubs are the 9th best team in all of baseball.

Ninth.

Concur.

Astros/Yankees - Dodgers

Probably the World Series

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 2:47 pm
No coverage here of this story? Banner, flags, etc. stolen from GOP tent.

https://tinyurl.com/y4df4l3t

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 2:48 pm
== Astros/Yankees - Dodgers

Probably the World Series ==

-OW-, you are probably right on the matchup … but anything can happen in post season.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 2:49 pm
===anything can happen in post season.===

Agreed.

My perspective is, I’m looking for (a) club(s) that can beat those three clubs 4 out of 7. Tough to see.

Lots of time to find out who gets hot.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 2:52 pm
===anything can happen in post season.===

My gut says Stros over Dodgers in the WC because pitching wins. But man…that Dodgers team is special.

Comment by Nagidam Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 3:08 pm
The Astros pitching, after picking up Grienke, a club needs to find a way to win at least two games against that starting 4. The Yankees can hit, but can they out-pitch in a seven game series?

Love watching the Dodgers go about their business.

To bring this back…

The Cubs should’ve traded Schwarber and Russell before the deadline.

The Sox need to finish strong, maybe get closer to .500 before the season ends.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 3:13 pm
More reason to have a port at Cairo - From an article I just read -

In early June, hundreds of barges full of steel, grain and other commodities floated to a standstill outside Cairo, Ill., located at the confluence of the swollen Ohio and Mississippi rivers. When water levels are too high, it’s not safe to operate locks that lower or raise a boat to get through a dam. Mark Glaab is the facility manager for American Commercial Barge Line. His boats push barges up and down the river.

“I get three or four calls a day,” he says. “People wanting to be able to unload their barges here into trucks or into trains because we can’t go onto the river until the water goes down. I got plants in Chicago running out of product.” Cairo does not have a port, so it’s not possible to offload goods from the barges. It’s often a long waiting game.

Comment by Chicagonk Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 3:30 pm
“No coverage here of this story? Banner, flags, etc. stolen from GOP tent.”

Rich had it yesterday.

Now, have a corn-dog for me.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 3:42 pm
- Blue Dog Dem - Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 12:50 pm:

Anybody other than me suspicious on Richs real whereabouts after the earlier picture?

Are you an Old Dog…too?

Comment by Dotnonymous Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 3:51 pm
What do they name this new state? Dixinois.

State animal? The American Yorkshire.

State bird? The Ostrich

State flower? The European yew

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 3:54 pm
= the reason Pritzker hasn’t hired more mid and upper management =
I think it is hard to see why anyone would want these. You are tier 2, underpaid, and way behind on raises compared to union workers. Seems rough to me.

@OW: I’ll speak for them here. The State will be formed with the DuQuoin State Fair being converted to the State capital because we don’t want any *@^# city to be polluted like Springfield is polluted.
Our new State will be called Freedomland and the first rule in our constitution will expand on the second amendment.
Our second rule in the constitution will be that we will not have the nonsense of having flowers, birds, etc. because we all know that all that pandering is just sucking up to Chicago folk that like making rules for everything because they are pandering to someone who is paying them off.

Lastly, please do not take us seriously. We do not care what people in Oswego think of us. Hence why we are becoming a new State.

How was that?

Comment by R A T Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 3:57 pm
- NearLakeMattoon -

If I wasn’t clear, my apologies, your choices made me laugh. Well done. Hit all the points.

- Roman -, your snark to the moment, good stuff.

“Why can’t - @misterjayem - be touched in his restaurant Quality work?”

===State bird? The Ostrich===

That is called “running a clinic” on pithy satire. Whew.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 4:09 pm
“The Eastern Block.

How do they set up this new state?”

Based on the Old Testament and Book of Revelation (without taking LSD).

“What do they name this new state?”

Illibama (hard to top and h/t to whoever came up with it)

State animal? State bird? State flower?

Something white.

Comment by Grandson of Man Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 4:15 pm
-Mr JM- , I must have missed it. Been really busy and hit n miss on checking in.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 4:24 pm
- Grandson of Man -

Illibama is really tasty too.

The possibilities are “snarkarific”

This new 51st state is truly taking shape.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 4:46 pm
All this 51st state talk. If our glorious representatives, many of my neighbors, and my relatives get their way, and Illibama/Dixinois/Illitucky becomes a reality, I have a question…where can I apply for asylum?

Comment by Don't Bloc Me In Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 4:53 pm
I nominate (North) Decatur for State Capitol.

Comment by Dotnonymous Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 6:23 pm
“Been really busy and hit n miss on checking in.”

Don’t get too busy for that corn-dog.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 6:25 pm
Ok. I can make this snarky comment because if ya ever saw me you would know i could shed 100lbs easy.

But i heard JB won the corn dog eating contest today

Comment by Blue Dog Dem Wednesday, Aug 14, 19 @ 7:42 pm
State f lower for the 51st state? The f lower of the P terocarya fraxinifolia tree. Google it.

Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 8:39 am
So with Allen Skillicorn abandoning running for Congress in IL-14 and in light of Governor Edgar’s criticism of the Springfield “Eastern Bloc” and Skillicorn aligning with the Bloc, and his “Magnificent 7″ promotion, should Allen Skillicorn see a primary opponent in March primary him? Should Skillicorn see a General Election opponent?

Comment by Former Quigley Supporter Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 8:49 am
Do you have a favorite Wordslingerism? Mine is “Not liking the outcome is not the same as ‘ignoring the issue’.”

Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:01 am
===Should Skillicorn see a General Election opponent?===

Friend, it’s a free country.

You wanna take him on, you live in the district… know someone in the district…

Your trolling here.

Do it, or don’t do it, no one needs permission.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:24 am