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Illinois react (Updated and comments opened)

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[Comments are now open, but please take a deep breath.]

* Presented in no particular order. Gov. Pritzker…

* Sun-Times…

Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, called it a “horrific act of violence” and said the shooter’s actions “sought to undermine American democracy.” Curran said he’s “thankful that President Trump is doing well and for law enforcement’s quick response to this senseless violence.” […]

State Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Highland Park, who was the lead sponsor for Illinois’ assault weapons ban, echoed that sentiment on X, saying, “Political violence is NEVER the answer.”

* NPR Illinois…

U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, a Democrat who represents much of west-central and northwestern Illinois, said on the social media site X (formerly Twitter) he is “deeply concerned” by the incident.

“In the United States of America, we must always settle political differences with amicable dialogue.” […]

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, issued a statement that “political violence is never acceptable.”

“I’m keeping the former president, the bystander who was tragically killed, and all who were injured or whose safety was threatened in my thoughts,” Durbin said.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said those responsible for the shooting “must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

“There is absolutely no excuse — and no place whatsoever—for violence in American politics, and those responsible for this must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Duckworth said. “I am keeping Donald Trump in my thoughts and hoping he has a swift and full recovery.

* Leader McCombie…

In a statement to the Tribune, Illinois House Republican Leader Tony McCombie said, “today is a terrible day for our nation.”

“The deepening political divide is dangerous and any political violence is unacceptable,” she added. “Gunshots cannot silence our collective need for change. Our thoughts and prayers are with President Trump and others injured in today’s heinous act. We must come together to condemn violence and seek unity as a country.”

* US Rep. Darin LaHood…

I am keeping President Trump, his family, and our country in my prayers following the horrific shooting at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania. I am grateful for the Secret Service and law enforcement who acted quickly to keep people safe.

* Sen. Chesney…

On Saturday afternoon at a rally in Western Pennsylvania, President Donald Trump was injured after gunfire rang out while he was speaking. In response to the attack, State Senator Andrew Chesney issued the following statement:

“There is no place within our political debate for violence against any public official. The assassination attempt on President Trump this afternoon is proof that Trump derangement syndrome is real, and that the radical left will do anything in their power to take him out. President Trump is a fighter, and we wish him a speedy recovery.”

* Rep. Ugaste…

State Representative Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) issued the following statement in response to tonight’s horrific violence at former President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania:

“Today is a terrible day for our nation. Nothing anyone says or beliefs they hold can EVER justify political violence - it is always unacceptable. My thoughts and prayers are with injured victims today, including former President Trump and his family, from today’s horrific act. We must come together to condemn all violence, seek unity and work to do better as a country.”

* Daily Herald…

DuPage County GOP Chairman Jim Zay lamented what he called a “sad state of affairs.”

“It seems like lately if you have a different opinion than someone, you’re the enemy,” said Zay, a county board member. “It’s not agree to disagree anymore. It’s more a fight than it’s ever been.”

Joseph Folisi, another RNC delegate and Trump supporter, said “some people need to ratchet down the rhetoric.”

“I was shocked,” said Folisi, a Schaumburg Township Republican committeeman. “You have to wonder what this country is coming to, really.”

* More…

…Adding… More…

* AG Raoul…

Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued a statement following a shooting that took place at a political rally held by former President Donald Trump.

“There should be no tolerance for political violence and the type of rhetoric that incites it. No one should politicize this tragedy by pointing a finger of blame.

“I commend the men and women of the United States Secret Service for their heroic swift response. This tragedy should be a reminder that we should work continuously to prevent acts of targeted violence. I am grateful to have had an ongoing partnership over the past few years with the U.S. Secretary Service and their National Threat Assessment Center aimed toward training members of the public on how to contribute to preventing acts of targeted violence in schools, houses of worship and other public gatherings.”

* US Rep. LaHood…

Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-16) released the following statement on the assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump and political violence:

“I condemn the assassination attempt on President Trump at his rally yesterday in Pennsylvania in the strongest possible terms and we are grateful that President Trump is doing well. My prayers remain with those at the rally who were injured in this horrific attack and the family who lost a loved one. Congress should conduct a thorough investigation and oversight on the Secret Service.

“Like many Americans, I am deeply concerned by the rise in violence against government officials and candidates. Political violence of any kind is wholly unacceptable and has no place in our country. As we head to November, elected officials, the media, and we as Americans have an obligation to elevate the discourse and lower the temperature.”

* Rep. Niemerg…

State Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) says the hatred and vitriol aimed at President Donald Trump has gone too far in light of the failed assassination attempt at a rally on Saturday.

“We don’t yet know the background of the shooter, which probably means the shooter is a card-carrying leftist. But even if the person is not a leftwinger, there is one thing that is abundantly clear – the individual who shot multiple people at a political rally and tried to kill President Trump is an evil person filled with hate. The hatred for President Trump on social media and in the mainstream media needs to stop immediately because what happened today is the end result of the hateful rhetoric.

President Trump is a candidate for office like any candidate and deserves to be treated as such. The over-the-top rhetoric we see so often in the media and especially on social media is only serving to fuel the kind of horrific violence we witnessed on Saturday. People should be able to go to political rallies without fear of being shot. Presidential candidates should be able to discuss their ideas and vision for the future of this country without being fired upon for simply having an opinion. The violent rhetoric against President Trump has gone too far. The only positive takeaway from today is the resilience of President Trump. He has been impeached, charged with bogus crimes, and convicted on those same bogus charges and now he has been shot but through it all he is still standing.”

posted by Rich Miller
Sunday, Jul 14, 24 @ 1:05 am

Comments

1. I was reading about the incident yesterday morning and started to wonder how long it would take before Biden and the Democratic Party was blamed. And there is was, 2 paragraphs down.

   Comment by Huh? Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 6:55 am

2. Rich, I think some of the politician’s need to hear your pleas to take a deep breath. I mean, “We don’t yet know the background of the shooter, which probably means the shooter is a card-carrying leftist” is just bananas.

   Hinkle shot Reagan because he somehow thought it would impress Jodie Foster. Sometimes crazy people are just crazy. And either way taking more than 48 hours to investigate before publicly announcing a motive is just incredibly normal.

   Comment by Perrid Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 7:12 am

3. Former President Trump was a disaster and will be an even greater disaster if he is elected in 2024. That being said, political violence is absolutely, positively never the answer, and anything remotely close to this should be universally condemned, be it an attempt on an elected official’s life, assaulting the spouse of an elected official, or attempting to storm a legislative assembly. All are undemocratic, un-American, and outright awful and should be blamed across the board by all.

   Biden and the Dems are not to blame for this horrific attempt which outright murdered a father protecting his family. Pointed rhetoric is always tolerable when directed rationally. Immediately blaming the shooter for being a far leftist or decrying that Biden ordered the hit (which, by the way, could be an official act according to the conservative judiciary, right?) is inflaming tensions far more than pointing out the felony count of someone.

   Comment by TJ Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 8:05 am

4. State Representative Adam Niemerg’s statement is disturbing. Like many on the right, it also seems incredibly devoid of self-reflection and acknowledgment of the past statements Trump and other Republicans have made about Democrats and about political violence.

   Comment by Techie Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 8:37 am

5. =And either way taking more than 48 hours to investigate before publicly announcing a motive is just incredibly normal.=

   People have become accustomed to receiving instant information which confirms their assumptions, biases, and prejudices. The bots and bad actors are happy to oblige.

   Comment by Pundent Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 9:02 am

6. =which probably means the shooter is a card-carrying leftist” is just bananas=

   The press releases all condemn “political violence”. Biden and Trump both called for unity, you are the one framing it as a rush to a conclusion that the shooter was a “leftist”. breaths needed for sure.

   Comment by Donnie Elgin Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 9:12 am

7. Reading the responses by the Democratic leaders reminds me of when Reagan was shot. When he went into surgery he said, Lord let this surgeon be a Republican. The surgeon, a solid Democrat, said, “Mr. President, today we’re all Republicans.”

   Comment by Proud Papa Bear Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 9:19 am

8. I am very disappointed with the responses given Sen. Chesney and Rep. Niemerg. Both choose to express hate and contempt for others, rather than lead us to a better place. Perhaps one of the most important lessons a leader can learn is how and when to bridle their tongues. Both of these men need to revisit their reasons for making such posts, and decide whether or not they wish to lead.

   Comment by H-W Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 9:45 am

9. While this is a slow week and we are “toning down” a few lines from the blue print from 2025 should calm us….
   Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership (excerpts)
   The Conservative Promise represents the best effort of the conservative movement in 2023—and the next conservative President’s last opportunity to save our republic.

   No legal entitlement exists for the provision of permanent space for media on the White House campus, and the next Administration should reexamine the balance between media demands and space constraints on the White House premises.

   Chapter 8 Media Agencies (p246)
   Corporation For Public Broadcasting by Mike Gonzales
   A DEMONSTRATED PATTERN OF BIAS Conservatives will thus reward a President who eliminates this tyrannical situation. PBS and NPR do not even bother to run programming that would attract conservatives. As Pew Research demonstrated in 2014, 25 percent of PBS’s audience is “mostly liberal,” and 35 percent is “consistently liberal.” That is 60 percent liberal compared to 15 percent conservative (11 percent “mostly conservative” and 4 percent “consistently conservative”).50 NPR’s audience is even to the Left of that, with 67 percent liberal (41 percent “consistently liberal” and 26 percent “mostly liberal”), compared with 12 percent conservative (3 percent and 9 percent “consistently conservative” and “mostly conservative,” respectively).51 That may be an acceptable business model for MSNBC or CNN, but not for a taxpayer-subsidized broadcaster. — 247 — Media Agencies: Corporation for Public Broadcasting DEFUNDING THROUGH THE BUDGETARY PROCESS Cutting off the CPB is logistically easy. The solution lies in the budgetary process. In 2022, the CPB submitted to the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees its budget justification for fiscal year (FY) 2023. In it, the CPB requested that Congress give it a $565 million advance appropriation—a $40 million increase compared to its FY 2022 funding.52
   -2-
   Unlike most other agencies, the CPB receives advance appropriations that provide them with funding two years ahead of time, which insulates the agency from Congress’s power of the purse and oversight. This special budgetary treatment is unjustified and should be ended. The 47th President can just tell the Congress—through the budget he proposes and through personal contact—that he will not sign an appropriations spending bill that contains a penny for the CPB. The President may have to use the bully pulpit, as NPR and PBS have teams of lobbyists who have convinced enough Members of Congress to save their bacon every time their taxpayer subsidies have been at risk since the Nixon era. Defunding CPB would by no means cause NPR or PBS—or other public broadcasters that benefit from CPB funding, including the even-further-to-the Left Pacifica Radio and American Public Media—to file for bankruptcy. The membership model that the CPB uses, along with the funding from corporations and foundations that it also receives, would allow these broadcasters to continue to thrive. As George Will wrote, “If ‘Sesame Street’ programming were put up for auction, the danger would be of getting trampled by the stampede of potential bidders.”53 Indeed, “Sesame Street” is on HBO now, which shows its potential as a money earner. PUBLIC INTEREST VS. PRIVILEGE Stripping public funding would, of course, mean that NPR, PBS, Pacifica Radio, and the other leftist broadcasters would be shorn of the presumption that they act in the public interest and receive the privileges that often accompany so acting. They should no longer, for example, be qualified as noncommercial education stations (NCE stations), which they clearly no longer are. NPR, Pacifica, and the other radio ventures have zero claim on an educational function (the original purpose for which they were created by President Johnson), and the percentage of on-air programming that PBS devotes to educational endeavors such as “Sesame Street” (programs that are themselves biased to the Left) is small. Being an NCE comes with benefits. The Federal Communications Commission, for example, reserves the 20 stations at the lower end of the radio frequency (between 88 and 108 MHz on the FM band) for NCEs.

   -3-
   The FCC says that “only noncommercial educational radio stations are licensed in the 88–92 MHz ‘reserved’ band,” while both commercial and noncommercial educational stations may operate in the “non-reserved” band.54 This confers advantages, as lower-frequency stations can be heard farther away and are easier to find as they lie on the left end of the radio dial (figuratively as well as ideologically). The FCC also exempts NCE stations from licensing fees. It says that “Noncommercial educational (NCE) FM station licensees and full service NCE television broadcast station licensees are exempt from paying regulatory fees, provided that these stations operate solely on an NCE basis.”55 NPR and PBS stations are in reality no longer noncommercial, as they run ads in everything but name for their sponsors. They are also noneducational. The next President should instruct the FCC to exclude the stations affiliated with PBS and NPR from the NCE denomination and the privileges that come with it.

   Comment by Annonin' Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 10:24 am

10. =I am very disappointed with the responses given Sen. Chesney and Rep. Niemerg=

    Their response seems tepid compared to those of one of Rep. Bennie Thompson’s field Directors…

    ““I don’t condone violence but please get you some shooting lessons so you don’t miss next time ooops that wasn’t me talking,”

    https://www.wjtv.com/news/politics/mississippi-politics/rep-thompsons-field-director-draws-criticism-for-trump-shooting-post/

    Comment by Donnie Elgin Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 11:07 am

11. == you are the one framing it as a rush to a conclusion==

    Guess you missed what two men trying to be Trump’s veep at any cost said.

    Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 11:10 am

12. Insults from Niemerg and other Illinois MAGA’s make me laugh. They accuse others of doing the very thing they do.

    As for the comment the shooter was a leftist, evidence shows that simply is not the case.

    Comment by low level Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 11:21 am

13. Apparently @Donnie Elgin is unclear on the concept.

    Comment by JS Mill Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 11:53 am

14. State Sen Chesney and Rep Niemerg lose the news cycle.

    One worrisome sign, sometimes you can tell right away, but my sense from the news is nobody has a clue yet why this particular shooter attempted this, which will make it all too easy for everyone to paint whatever they wish, if he remains a blank canvass.

    Comment by ZC Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 11:54 am

15. ==nobody has a clue yet why this particular shooter attempted this==

    Exactly. But that unfortunately didn’t stop the hysterics that happened nearly immediately that this was some raging leftist trying to do this horrible thing. They still don’t know anything. Right now it seems like it’s some loner kid with problems. We’ll have to see how it plays out.

    Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 12:26 pm

16. And it worked. Trump picked a guy who blamed the shooting on Biden.

    Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 2:54 pm

17. The USA has gone mad. The division, the distrust and outright lies — law enforcement, schools, news media, municipalities, our government officials, family, friends, and neighbors are so stressed and divided. Never in my life have I seen so much discord ever. It is almost like the Red Scare or Project 2025. I am thankful for this site and the information you put forth. Seems like corporate elites rule it all. Stop the insanity and help one another please.

    Comment by Mister Ed Monday, Jul 15, 24 @ 4:06 pm

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