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Things that make you spit out your coffee

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* Earlier this week, somebody in the governor’s office accidentally cc’d me on an e-mail that was meant for a subordinate…

Yes, it helps to email rich miller with our comments re breaking news. He’s at: capitolfax@aol.com

He may or may not use. Not a friend of the house.

I’ve never been a “friend of the house” for any governor, so that made me chuckle and wonder if they have any reporters who can be classified as such. I e-mailed him back and jokingly asked if he knew what he did. His response…

Truth to power

I literally spit out my coffee when I saw that one. Fast-thinking comedy gold, complete with an inside joke. You will recall that “truth to power” is one of Gov. Quinn’s favorite expressions and something I took him to task for in a recent newspaper column.

And, in case you’re wondering, I don’t hold that e-mail against the governor’s office. Things happen, things get said. No biggie. I’m only sharing this with you because I thought it was so funny, not to embarrass anyone.

* In other spit-take news, today’s John Kass column, “Lottery commercial redefines joy in spirit of Chicago Way,” was about a new ad from the Illinois Lottery. Among other things, Kass thought he saw glorified corruption in the spot…

Then comes a revealing voice-over that speaks directly to the heart of The Chicago Way and invokes one of the pillars of Illinois politics:

Cash kickbacks.

“Joy someone with holiday scratch-offs from the Illinois Lottery,” says a narrator. “Who knows? They might joy you back.”

That’s a kickback. You joy me, I joy you. Isn’t that what contractors call it when they’re caught on FBI surveillance tape bringing “joy” to politicians? One famous Chicago politician stored his “joy” in the freezer, right next to the rib-eyes and the lobster tails.

By early afternoon, the Illinois Family Institute had sent out an “E-Alert” about the Lottery ad…

Illinois Lottery’s “Joy to the World” Ad Promotes False Hope, by David E. Smith, Executive Director -Illinois Family Institute

The Illinois Lottery is currently airing radio and televsion ads promoting scratch-off lottery tickets during the Christmas season campaign. The new ad campaign corrupts the traditional Christian hymn “Joy to the World” in attempt to mislead Illinois citizens into thinking that the miniscule chance of winning a lottery prize could buy them happiness.

But even more than that, the song’s deep meaning celebrating the birth of the Savior as it proclaims “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” is being perverted to sell a false hope of a different kind of “savior” — money and the love of it.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to contact Jodie Winnett, the Acting Supervisor of the Illinois Lottery, to ask her to stop misusing the true message of the season to promote its predatory lottery tickets which only push people deeper into debt and despair.

Here’s the ad…

* Meanwhile, in a bizarre turn of events, Rod Blagojevich’s PR firm claims that some congressman in Georgia wants to investigate US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office. From a press release…

In an apparent expansion of a four-year congressional investigation of United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald’s office, a U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee will call witnesses today to determine if the prosecutor’s office manufactured evidence and forced witnesses to lie to obtain a 2003 conviction of a then prominent Chicago real estate developer and attorney.

Actually, the part about the hearing today is not true. At the end of the press release is this notation…

Chairman Johnson is expected to mention the Palivos case [during a hearing today] and Mr. Palivos and his wife, Vicky, will sit in the front row for the hearing. However, the hearing today is about judicial recusals, not prosecutorial misconduct or U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Background on Johnson’s claimed investigation…

After his trial and conviction, Peter Palivos, 51, presented the committee with evidence showing that prosecutors forced witnesses to lie against him or face charges themselves.

“They wanted to frame me to get me to become a witness against George Ryan, but I have nothing incriminating to say against the man,” Palivos said in Oct. 2005.

After hearing the evidence, which includes sworn affidavits from witnesses who say there were forced to lie about Mr. Palivos, three separate House Judiciary Subcommittees asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate “possible prosecutorial misconduct” by Fitzgerald’s office. […]

Palivos alleges that he was convicted on a concocted obstruction of justice charge after he refused to lie for prosecutors in their investigation of former Ill. Gov. George Ryan, who is serving time in federal prison on corruption charges.

Palivos says he was told by federal agent Thomas Heinzer that he would be ‘framed with that crime’ unless he cooperated in the office’s investigation. When he did not, he was subsequently indicted and convicted. […]

Following Palivos’ trial, witnesses gave the House Judiciary Committee sworn affidavits “stating that they were forced to lie and the prosecutors on the case engaged in misconduct” in his case, prompting the committee to expand its investigation. […]

The documents the committee received also contained evidence, which appeared to show federal prosecutors prepared a false affidavit, falsified interview statements, threatened a defense attorney with a trumped-up obstruction of justice charge if he filed a motion, suborned perjury and withheld exculpatory evidence that would have prevented the imprisonment of an innocent man–Mr. Palivos.

Earlier this year, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Courts and Competition Policy, Congressman Hank Johnson wrote: “It appears [Palivos’] case is a good example of prosecutorial misconduct.” You can read that letter by clicking here.

I called the congressman’s office this morning, but haven’t heard back.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 1:45 pm

Comments

But another committee says Rowland did no wrong.

Comment by nobody Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 2:07 pm
I realize that two guys ran onto the field and beat up a first base coach, but John Kass is still the Sox fan I’m most ashamed of.

Comment by Scooby Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 2:10 pm
Scooby, those guys started their day at Wrigley Field. They’re not real Sox fans.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 2:12 pm
Little richie DAley is a much bigger embaressment to the south side and sox fans then any drunken idiots who wander on to the field

Comment by Fed up Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 2:23 pm
IFI, take a breath. We all know what lottery tickets mean to Christmas - a stocking stuffer. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Lottery ad reminds me to thank people that have assisted me and provided really good service over the year. The people who have helped me would prefer cash or gift cards to lottery tickets, but the commercial is a fine reminder that is well within keeping of the holiday spirit… reminding us to think about and be generous to those around us.

And IFI, maybe hearing the background jingle will remind people of the real “Joy to the World”. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Comment by KeepSmiling Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 2:28 pm
Hey, I want to see the Joy Someone ad put to some Muslim Holy music.

Yea, I didn’t think so. Just sayin…..

Comment by Say WHAT? Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 2:29 pm
To Say WHAT: Say what?

What difference is it buying someone a few dollars worth of lottery tickets vs. buying someone a gift they probably don’t even want or will use? Or spending a dollar on a lottery ticket vs. buying a $2 card for someone they’re just going to throw away. At least the lottery ticket gives them a few seconds of adrenaline. Just sayin…

Comment by Anon Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 2:40 pm
Say WHAT??
That might be controversial, but it would be interesting to see both Christian and Muslim reaction.

The Executive Director of IFI claims to boycott stores that ignore or disparage Christmas. Does that mean small business owners of non-Christian faiths need to put up a tree to get his business? Does a clerk really have to say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays to please this guy? http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=34660

Comment by KeepSmiling Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 2:44 pm
The Lottery has been running a version of the stocking stuffer spot for years.

Leave it to Kass to discover it now, as well as — stop the presses — the commercialization of Christmas.

Charles M. Schultz first delivered that message a lot more effectively with “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in 1965. Plus, it has a lot of Brubeck.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 2:49 pm
So exactly what are the parameters for the use of Holiday music? For example may I sing Joy to the world while texting in my car while driving?

Comment by Ghost Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 3:01 pm
==may I sing Joy to the world while texting in my car while driving? ==

NO! But you may text the words to it.

Comment by Anon Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 3:07 pm
Rich,William Ligue took his son on field to beat up the KC first base coach at a game in 2002. His family expressed surprise at his being a a game, saying he wasn’t really a fan. I think you are thinking of two other schlubs who went from Wrigley to the Cell maybe the same year who fell onto the field or something. But it was two separate incidents.

And yeah, Kass is still more embarrassing.

Comment by Cheryl44 Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 3:14 pm
Cheryl44, there were two ball games that day, one at Cub Park and the other at Sox Park. Ligue started the day watching the Flubs and getting drunk with the other schmoes and then headed south.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 3:16 pm
I’ll take your word for it–that was a long time ago. But I think there was another time some other guys started out at Wrigley and ended up on the field at the Cell. They just didn’t beat anyone up.

Comment by Cheryl44 Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 3:24 pm
Except that we know the lottery acts as a regressive tax: that lower income and/or lesser educated people are relatively heavier players (and far more frequently purchase multiple tickets per game — so they aren’t even “buying a lottery fantasy”).

Comment by lake county democrat Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 3:38 pm
Wordsligner….

Not Brubeck - Vince Guraldi

Comment by Deep South Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 3:42 pm
Oh no Fitzy, first the Honest Service provision seems to be going down, and now prosecutional misconduct. These types of charges would make Eliot Ness roll over in his grave.

Comment by Chicago Moderate Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 3:43 pm
I never read Kass because I think he’s horrible. My kindergartner writes better. But for some regrettable reason I read him today even before I saw your item on him. What a mistake that was.

His lack of realistic perspective makes my paranoid schizophrenic friend look normal. His writing style reminds me of Theodore Kaczinski’s.

Your email story reminded me of the time that I mistakenly emailed a state agency director a somewhat angry critique of something he said earlier that day. I meant to type that person’s name in the “subject” line but I put it in the “to” line instead and clicked send way to quickly. Doh! No permanent harm done, I think, he took it stride as you did.

Comment by siriusly Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 3:45 pm
DS, you’re right. Mea culpa.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 3:47 pm
Apparently, WBEZ is no “friend of the house” either.

The Governor’s office is stonewalling a media investigation into the St. Charles juvenile justice facility, site of a homicide earlier this year.

I guess Quinn became so accustomed to positive news coverage throughout the years, he’s forgotten that it wasn’t personal. It’s not the press’s job to be your “friend.”

Its their job to report when you screw up and when you do right.

But if they are trying to make “friends” with the press, stonewalling one of Chicago’s largest and most-respected news organizations is not the way to do it. Especially when that organization is syndicated all over the state.

I hope to hear Amanda Vinicky’s follow-up piece soon.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 3:50 pm
The core of the prosecutorial misconduct issue is the leverage prosecutors have to use the threat of a charge to get someone to roll over on a bigger target. The problem is that to be charged can ruin a person’s reputation and empty their bank account, even if they have done nothing wrong. This could easily push someone to say whatever the prosecutor needs them to say. It’s a good tool that can easily be misused.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 3:57 pm
Kass has only one column subject - himself. Every day is just a variation on that theme.

Comment by Scooby Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 4:01 pm
“The Executive Director of IFI claims to boycott stores that ignore or disparage Christmas.”

What we know as “Christmas” or “the holidays” is actually three overlapping occasions: 1) a religious commemoration of Christ’s birth, 2) a cultural holiday marked by feasting and recreation with family and friends, and 3) a social occasion on which one is expected to exchange gifts and/or cards, similar to birthdays, anniversaries, Mother’s/Father’s Day, etc.

Merchants are primarily concerned with helping people fulfill the social aspect of Christmas, and always have been. I don’t believe it’s their job to “keep Christ in Christmas” any more than it is their job to insure the marital happiness of every couple who receives a wedding or anniversary gift from them, or resolve dysfunctional parent-child relationships among customers who buy Mother’s or Father’s Day gifts from them. That is the job of the individual, the family, the church and other groups set up for that purpose.

If people wish to downplay or refrain from the social gift-giving aspect of Christmas in order to concentrate on the religious and family/cultural aspects, and save themselves money and stress in the process, more power to them. But don’t expect the merchant to do the job for them.

Comment by Secret Square Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 4:04 pm
I thought the lottery ad was merely stupid and a bit obscure, and wondered if that was Donny Bonaduce doing air vibes at the end. Kass makes some good points that the tone deaf agencies (lottery and ad) should have thought through. It may be the worst lottery ad since ‘How to get from Martin Luther King Drive to Easy Street’ billboards.

Comment by walter sobchak Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 4:04 pm
“I called the congressman’s office this morning, but haven’t heard back.”

He announced Tuesday he’s been battling Hepatitis C. That’s probably why.

Comment by T.J. Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 4:10 pm
That lottery commercial is funny … I mean it’s so obviously tongue in cheek. I think when they show that butcher that slices your meat, they were filming at Paulina Meat Market.

Comment by P. Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 4:19 pm
Rich at 3:16, so you’re saying these two started slumming it later in the day?

Comment by RobRoy Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 4:24 pm
Does buying Starbucks coffee act the same as a regressvie tax? At least when I buy a lottery ticket I may get something in return. Let’s follow the bouncing ball…State Tax = Impeachment and deficit, Cook County = Sales Tax Increase, Chicago Tax = corruption and a really ugly Christmas Tree. Lottery wins!!!!

Comment by GetOverIt Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 4:27 pm
Um, no. Typical Cub fans who think baseball games are about partying, not baseball.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 4:28 pm
God I hate that Cubs fan stereotype. Rich, yes there are idiot tourists and frat boys and yuppies at Wrigley. And noone hates them more than the true Cubs fans who have to deal with them a hell of a lot more often than Sox fans do. As a baseball fan who attends both parks every year, I’ve found a lot of drunken young idiots at The Cell too. And there is no place in town with more drunken idiots than Soldier Field on a Sunday.
I’m sure you get a kick out of getting a rise out of Cubs Nation, but come on…you’re better than that. You guys have a ring in the last recent past. Stop playing the bitter also-ran card already.

Comment by NC Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 4:38 pm
===Stop playing the bitter also-ran card already. ===

That’s my main problem with Cub fans. You think we believe you’re superior. Actually, we believe you’re inferior and greatly enjoy rubbing it in your face.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 4:40 pm
Thats the problem with you Sox fans. We do not think we’re superior. There is no need to rub it in our face. Let the ring do the talking.

Comment by NC Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 4:45 pm
Two quick things about Jodie Winnett.

First, don’t forget she’s a Rod guy. Here she is on Rod’s clout list (https://capitolfax.com/cloutlist.html).

Second, you guys do not know how hard it must have been for Jodie NOT to speak to the press. She loves the attention.

Comment by yipes Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 5:05 pm
NC has a point, Rich. You sometimes come off like the big guy at the gym trying to start a fight with everyone because “I JUST BENCHED 350! YEAH!!! WIMPS!!” The Sox are good, Cubs bad. We get it already.

Comment by Lester Holt's mustache Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 5:43 pm
Rich is simply speaking truth to the powerless. Keep it up,Rich, No pain no gain and I know you’re just trying to be helpful.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 6:05 pm
People should come up with a stereotype about Sox fans… Problem is, you just can’t just find any. There sure aren’t any at Comiskey during ballgames.

Comment by aloha Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 6:45 pm
IFI…The False Prophet. Doesn’t God love all (his) children?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 6:50 pm
Sharks in the water, NC?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 7:23 pm
Rich @ 4:40, well there you go, the problem is your hate of the Cubs and their fans has made you delusional.

Comment by RobRoy Thursday, Dec 10, 09 @ 9:01 pm