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Question of the day

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Illinois

* This letter was sent to several Illinois state (not federal) legislators. I’ve redacted names..

* The Question: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve heard anyone say about state government (aside from the above)?

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 11:45 am

Comments

Constituents say the craziest things

Comment by Socially DIstant watcher Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 11:47 am
From the reopening protests a few months ago, that JB is “literally a nazi” because he “forces” people to wear face masks 🤦🏻‍♂️

Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 11:49 am
Oh God.

Comment by Hot Taeks Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 11:50 am
I’m pretty sure that right there is the weirdest. (So far)

Comment by Bruce (no not him) Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 11:50 am
That everything south of Cook county should secede from Illinois.

Comment by efudd Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 11:51 am
It works effectively, efficiently and professionally for the public good.

Ha ha, of course I have never heard that. Just thought with the virus and humidity y’all could use a laugh.

Comment by Al Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 11:57 am
Facepalm

Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:00 pm
Don’t give tramp any odeas.

Comment by Huh? Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:03 pm
The God Bless you at the end was a sweet touch

Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:04 pm
Madigan secretly runs everything and hand picks who wins the Gov’s Mansion.

Comment by Give Me A Break Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:04 pm
Hard to top that one, but some of the John Kass conspiracy theories are right up there.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:07 pm
===I’m pretty sure that right there is the weirdest. (So far)===

I’m going to have to agree.

Comment by Leslie K Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:11 pm
That it’s functional.

Comment by Boone's is Back Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:11 pm
Believe the individual who sent these does not even reside in Illinois…or the Midwest.

Comment by Buford Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:14 pm
That parents “own” their children. Yes, they are responsible for their children, but ownership is specifically prohibited by the XIIIth amendment. Never mind that inconvenience. . .

Comment by Lt Guv Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:17 pm
That all of Chicago’s money comes from Downstate, and that Southern Illinois will flourish if not in the same state as Chicago.

Comment by Floyddog Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:18 pm
Right now, somewhere there’s an Exelon exec saying, wait a minute, that would mean Illinois would have to expand its nuclear capacity. Maybe this isn’t such a crazy idea. Dispatch the lobbyists.

Comment by Leigh John-Ella Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:19 pm
“Our government works should be treated fairly and appropriately; they should have a decent retirement, but not a gold-plated system where they can retire multimillionaires in their 50s.” - Bruce Rauner

Comment by Nick Name Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:20 pm
That 5G is an international conspiracy for mind control.

Comment by walker Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:22 pm
Wait? The State of Illinois has nuclear weapons? Who knew?

Comment by OutHereInTheMiddle Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:29 pm
I love the people who say they don’t have to wear a mask because they know they’re not sick. As if all of a sudden they’re bacteiologists

Comment by Drake mallard Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:34 pm
That it should be run like a business.

Comment by New Commenter Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:50 pm
Not the weirdest but I love the yearly role out by Democratic candidates attacking Republican candidates for wanting to cut social security.

Comment by Nagidam Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:56 pm
Echoing MrJM, above: Kass’ repeated, wild-eyed assertions that Jim DeLeo was secretly running the entire state. Pardon, running “the combine.”

Comment by Linus Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 12:59 pm
Yeah, this is pretty weird.

I really hope the author didn’t graduate from an Illinois school because then I’d feel obliged to say something about the quality of the education they received, oh dear.

Comment by dbk Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:03 pm
===Jim DeLeo was secretly running the entire state===

I talked to John about that years ago. I told him: If DeLeo was running the state, there’d be no war between Blagojevich and Madigan. He agreed. Then kept writing it.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:03 pm
I had a lady call me and tell me that the governor “should be drowned” for allowing vote by mail. Yes. You really read that and I really heard it. It was so specific, I worry about how much time she’s spent thinking about his demise.

Comment by Election worker Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:07 pm
There was a state senator in Nebraska who filed suit against God seeking relief from the capriciousness and devastation of natural disasters and other cruel acts of nature. Sure, it was symbolic, but until this suggestion, it qualified for me as the weirdest thing I’d ever seen in state government.

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:08 pm
Privately a lot of the Democratic legislators agree with me. Bruce Rauner

Comment by Pundent Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:10 pm
Also, I spent the early part of my career answering the phones in a US Senator’s office. It was a crash course in the various areas for which the federal government is responsible. But wow, some of the callers were off the hook nuts. Who calls their US Senator to get a street light fixed?

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:10 pm
Illinois Vs. China, I don’t think that war is going to go how this constituent thinks it will go. Although, seeing Pritzker riding in a tank Dukakis style would be pretty sweet.

Comment by Just a thought Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:11 pm
I was a congressional intern in 1974 in DC. As an intern I had to take the goofy calls. We had a guy calling in regularly claiming the CIA had forced him to take LSD and it ruined his life–wait a minute, that one was appearnly true.

Comment by Madame Defarge Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:23 pm
Just one?

Comment by Ostomie Wedgie Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:27 pm
[paraphrase, gist is correct] “CMS Revolving Funds aren’t tax dollars.” Michael Tristano, then-CMS Director, to Senate Appropriations Chairman Howard W. Carroll.

Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:32 pm
If DeLeo was running the state, there’d be no war between Blagojevich and Madigan. He agreed. Then kept writing it. - Rich Miller

If Kass ever cared about the truth…I couldn’t tell.

Madigan vs. Blagojevich was no match…at all.

Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:35 pm
That state governments are on their own when it comes to international pandemics.

Comment by West Side the Best Side Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:36 pm
brain currently out of order as I just cannot get past that someone thinks the state can declare war…..

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:48 pm
Well if you want to kill millions at least be polite about it. We should probably have Jesse White as our Secretary of State initiate diplomatic talks first.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:54 pm
“I have neat ideas.” Blago and/or Filan

Comment by Chatham Resident Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 1:58 pm
TIL state Reps and state Senators have the ability to unilaterally declare war on foreign nations. I really got to get around to reading that pesky constitution one of these days.

Comment by Commisar Gritty Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 2:28 pm
Heard this a few times, and just shake my head at it…”There’s something about Springfield that makes Chicago politicians become corrupt.”

Comment by JudgeDavidDavis Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 2:33 pm
While this note is obviously nutty, what do people think about more rational and legitimate concerns being raised in Washington (see FBI Director’s recent remarks) about how the Chinese are infiltrating our research universities for espionage and technology transfer. Should we be looking at our vulnerabilities in the University of Illinois system?

Comment by China Hawk Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 2:33 pm
The face covering mandate is actually a test run to see if the government can completely control all aspects of our lives.

Comment by Still Waiting Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 2:37 pm
While in state government I was the lucky recipient of correspondence from folks claiming to be sovereign citizens. The weirdest part was not the substance of the letter, usually asserting the right to travel through the state unmolested or stating that they are not subject to the jurisdiction of the courts or laws, but the bloody thumbprint seal at the end.

Comment by Wonk Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 2:45 pm
The Indiana Pi Bill.

Wikipedia:
The Indiana Pi Bill is the popular name for bill #246 of the 1897 sitting of the Indiana General Assembly, one of the most notorious attempts to establish mathematical truth by legislative fiat. Despite its name, the main result claimed by the bill is a method to square the circle, rather than to establish a certain value for the mathematical constant π, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. The bill, written by the crank Edward J. Goodwin, does imply various incorrect values of π, such as 3.2. The bill never became law, due to the intervention of Professor C. A. Waldo of Purdue University, who happened to be present in the legislature on the day it went up for a vote.

Comment by Jay Kay Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 2:45 pm
Some of Trump’s 19,000 plus lies (over 23 per day on average)are at least equal to this in that they are so easily proven false.

Comment by don the legend Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 2:57 pm
What I don’t understand about the “blame China for COVID” is this:

Let’s assume COVID is a weapon developed by the Chinese military (of course, it isn’t), but if it was, wouldn’t that mean President Trump utterly failed to protect us against a foreign military?

Comment by Hamlet's Ghost Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 2:59 pm
Not the state, but there are some conspiracies on Twitter about how Chicago Police disappear people in the Homan Square facility and sell their body parts on the black market.

Comment by Chicagonk Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 3:12 pm
==He agreed. Then kept writing it.==

This sums up the Kass approach to everything, so well.

Comment by Linus Thursday, Jul 9, 20 @ 4:01 pm