- Do you think a special election should have been held to fill this seat?
- What Senator Durbin quoted you as saying about the role of race in the Senate deciding not to seat you does not match some of the rhetoric coming from members of the Illinois congressional delegation. Who is right?
- Do you think the issues surrounding the governor have an impact on your ability to serve in the Senate?
- If the governor is removed from office before you are seated in the U.S. Senate, will you give up your claim to the seat?
- If after you are seated in the U.S. Senate and a special election is held, would you give up your seat to the person elected?
- If you were on this committee would you vote to remove the governor from office?
- Were you surprised it was not the governor who approached you first about filling this seat?
I suspect they are going to ask most of these questions, if not all of them.
— OneMan /
Race Wed Jan 07 2009
Crain's:
"I think all discussion of race is a painful diversion," Rev. Jackson said Wednesday when asked whether he agreed with U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Chicago, that the job should go to an African-American.
"Roland's case is a legal case, it isn't about his race, or gender or religion," Rev. Jackson said. "Does the governor have the power to appoint a successor, yes or no? I think yes."
The veteran Civil Rights activist, whose son, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Chicago, was widely seen as a potential candidate to fill the slot, praised Mr. Burris, a former Illinois attorney general and comptroller. "He's always been an outstanding public servant operating with great credibility," Rev. Jackson said. "There's almost a consensus on his reputation. The issue has been the governor, not Roland."
Hmm, I think we could have used Jackson's input during the whole race-baiting episode. He waited until it looked like Burris might actually get his seat!
— Levois /
Via the Capitol Fax Blog, a concise editorial on the Burris situation:
After Barack Obama's election as president, many names were floated as his possible Senate replacement, but Burris' wasn't among them. Burris wasn't even Blagojevich's first choice after the governor's arrest for trying to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder. Blagojevich first offered the job to U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, who declined. He had better sense than to let Blagojevich use him as a political pawn.
Rich referred to Burris as Blagojevich's "human shield." Zing.
— Ramsin Canon /
When the GOP lost any real influence over the patronage-heavy Cook County Board, it became a necessity for them to hold on to political power in the suburbs that ring the edge of the County if they wanted to stay at a fighting weight statewide. Beginning with the fall of George Ryan, though, their grip on the suburbs has weakened, allowing Democratic candidates to swamp them with votes from the city and inner-ring suburbs.
With the growing unpopularity of the Stroger administration and this vague scandal involving the Governor's office (maybe you heard about it), the GOP is regrouping to take a run at asserting themselves at the county level in Cook. Building a voter base in Cook County could be the key to revitalizing the party statewide. CBS political correspondent Mike Flannery has the scoop:
In just 10 months from now, Republican State Sen. Matt Murphy says he will likely file nominating petitions to run against Democrat Todd Stroger for Cook County Board president. An FBI raid and ongoing investigation at the County Building that may soon produce new criminal charges would be one centerpiece of Murphy's campaign.
Read the whole thing.
— Ramsin Canon /
Chicago Wed Jan 07 2009
If I didn't know for a fact she existed, I would suspect that the Sun-Times' Fran Spielman was a reporting robot. Seriously how does she file so many stories?
Two great pieces, one on the city reversing its much-detested plowing and salting policy:
On Tuesday, the mayor's snow commanders did an about-face on a controversial cost-cutting policy that saw City Hall use less salt, plow side-streets during normal working hours to reduce overtime and skip side-streets altogether after minor snowstorms.
During the "dead of winter," Chicago side-streets will be plowed and salted after every snowfall whether or not it requires overtime.
No more waiting until normal working hours, only to have the temperatures drop and side streets -- along with major intersections around schools -- turn into sheets of ice.
...and another on Mayor Daley making a pretty good argument about the need for direct municipal access to federal funds. In 1984, Jesse Jackson said that Nixon took the power from the cities and gave it to the suburbs, and that Reagan took it from the suburbs and gave it to the states. Not entirely sure what he meant about Nixon, but Reagan's ending of revenue-sharing was probably what he meant by the states. In any case, I don't know why exactly direct management of federal funds by the city is such a wild-eyed idea (and yes, of course we know that the city administration may not have the best record on spending waste, but we are comparing it to Springfield in this instance):
"Mayors are going directly to the federal government. They have to. We can't wait. You can't allow Springfield to take your money, hold the interest, then eventually give it to you in the middle of winter. You'll never get the job done in the middle of winter," Daley told reporters.
— Ramsin Canon /
Column Wed Jan 07 2009
Your cuspid, or canine, before your adult teeth come in, just inside your cheek — so hidden from view — it was the perfect loose tooth. It wouldn't leave a noticeable gap when it fell out, and while you waited for it to do so, you could clandestinely rock it back and forth with your tongue. Even though it hurt — and felt a little gross, the roots sliding against your soft gums — you couldn't stop. The pain — unique, more or less under your control, not enough to paralyze — became mildly addictive. You almost couldn't stop yourself from playing with it, more and more roughly.
That impulse, to enjoy something painful or disgusting or annoying — it's "loose tooth love."
Where does it come from, loose tooth love? Who knows. But it comes in many forms.
I had a roommate who would go crazy whenever this certain breakfast cereal commercial would come on — "Got your fiber?" It was the way the actor said "fiber." He couldn't stand it; it drove him absolutely nuts. Whenever he'd hear it, he'd convulse. But he also wouldn't change the channel. In fact, when it came on, he wouldn't let anybody change it. He had to sit through it, in visible pain. Why?
It's loose tooth love.
Not to be confused, of course, with "loving to hate" something. Loose tooth love is self-inflicted.
Which brings us naturally back to Governor Rod Blagojevich.
Continue reading this entry »
— Ramsin Canon /
See what happens when you stay away from Facebook for a night? You miss an early announcement for a Congressional candidacy.
John Fritchey, State Representative from the 11th District (Lakeview, Bucktown, and Ravenswood) and Committeeman for the 32nd Ward (Bucktown, Ukrainian Village) announced this morning that he also will be running for the seat opened up by Rahm Emanuel's resignation.
As many of us predicted, the opening of this seat is going to create a wide-open race that could have repercussions for city politics over the next couple of years.
Contenders will include Fritchey's neighboring Rep, Sara Feigenholtz, newcomers Justin Oberman and Charles Wheelan, County Commissioner Mike Quigley, likely 40th Ward alderman Patrick O'Connor, and of course attorney and author Tom Geoghegan, among others. O'Connor, if he runs, would likely win the endorsement of the county party, although that's no certainty (nor does it guarantee a win). Feigenholtz and Quigley hold major fundraising advantages*.
Given the presence of Feigenholtz, Fritchey, and Quigley, this race will be won west of Kedzie as those three, among others, split their base vote.
*Commenter John points out that Quigley hasn't raised the money yet, only that he expects to. The misreading is mine, that Quigley meant that he plans to announce he'd raised as much money as Feigenholtz, not that he had yet to raise it.
— Ramsin Canon /
Labor lawyer and progressive writer Tom Geoghegan announced this morning that he will in fact be running for the 5th District Congressional seat opened up by Rahm Emanuel's resignation to serve President-elect Obama.
Geoghegan is engaging bloggers over at Daily Kos.
Geoghegan's entry could bring a little more national attention to the race, particularly from the progressive opinion leaders on the series of tubes we call the Internet.
Here's a sample from Geoghegan's "Issues" page:
"Indeed, all sides, even the Bob Dole Right, could stand a little more class-based politics, a little more Dunlop-type rationality. 'The great thing about class-based politics,' a professor once told me in college long ago, 'is that it's rational.' Instead of the Politics of Meaning, we talk $1.25. The purpose of such politics is not to heat the country up, but to calm it way down. Get back to the America of Dwight Eisenhower, when labor was at high tide and there was social peace. But to get back to that Era of Good Feelings, first we have to remind people, 'You're Being Robbed.'"
(6/23/95 American Prospect)
— Ramsin Canon /
As reported earlier, the Tribune's Swamp blog live-blogged Roland Burris' failed effort to get seated in the U.S. Senate today. Burris was not seated, and thankfully there were no fireworks.
Something eloquent about the closing lines:
Burris got into a silver minivan with Massachusetts plates at 11:03 am EST and drove away. It was an Odyssey.
Hey, could we make this a haiku?
Burris got into
a silver minivan with
Massachusetts plates
At 11:03
am and drove away. It
was an Odyssey.
— Ramsin Canon /
Last week we followed up on County Commissioner Forrest Claypool's claim that the County could sustain services and spending without the heavy borrowing Board President Todd Stroger said would be necessary.
Stroger has responded to Claypool (from the Clout Street blog):
Without the bond issues, nearly half of which would be used for operating expenses, "there's an instant effect that will be felt by people," Stroger countered. "You are going to see something major happen. Court cases will last long. You won't be able to hire a state's attorney or public defenders. The hospital won't be able to hire the doctors and nurses that they need."
— Ramsin Canon /
Check out what Hotline says about the current state drama with regards to Blagojevich's pick to succeed the President-elect in his vacated Senate seat. Of course, it's brief as they cover two other U.S. Senate stories.
— Levois /
Daley Mon Jan 05 2009
Fran Spielman sums up Mayor Daley's year:
The city he has led for 20 years became the center of the political universe -- and the 2016 Olympic front-runner instead of a mere finalist -- after the favorite-son senator he backed was elected the nation's first African-American president.
A month later, Chicago was back to being ridiculed as corruption capital of the world when Gov. Blagojevich was dragged off in handcuffs.
I doubt the Mayor is worried, but some Park Ridge residents are determined to make 2009 not-so-pleasant:
A Park Ridge man is urging the International Olympic Committee to remove Chicago from consideration for the 2016 games.
Arguing the Olympics will only add to the heavy O'Hare air traffic above his neighborhood, Gene Spanos mailed a letter to the committee's headquarters in Switzerland, asking that members meet with Park Ridge residents and also reconsider their decision to list Chicago among the finalist cities.
...and, of course, for Chicagoans, our 2009 will definitely be more expensive:
But with 2009 now in progress, Chicagoans now have no choice but to spend more on certain conveniences.
As CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, the fates give - suddenly lower gasoline prices in the latter part of 2008. But they also take away, if you put your car in most downtown and Loop parking garages.
The city tax is going from $2.25 to $3.
— Ramsin Canon /
Laura Washington of the Sun-Times breaks down the politics behind the "keep-the-seat" pro-Burris forces:
The Burris contingent has a compelling case. The law is on their side, Burris passes the credentials test with flying colors, and the nation needs and deserves a qualified African American in the Senate -- right now, not two years from now.
The preachers are on board. Chicago's powerful cadre of black ministers knows how to deliver their lines with elan. We need a black man in this white, elite chamber. "Amen."
The U.S. Senate cannot represent all of America if 12 percent of its population is excluded from representation. "Hallelujah."
Burris seems pretty confident, announcing that he is in fact the junior senator from Illinois:
"I am now the junior senator from the state of Illinois," he said from the pulpit of a South Side church on what he said was the eve of his trip to Washington.
— Ramsin Canon /
Rick Perlstein, author of one of the best non-fiction books of the last five years, Nixonland, has started a Facebook group in support of labor lawyer and progressive author Tom Geoghegan running to replace Rahm Emanuel in Chicago's Fifth Congressional District. I don't believe Geoghegan (pronounced GAY gin, with hard g's) has officially announced his candidacy, but an ActBlue page and P.O. Box have been set up in support of a run.
If Geoghegan runs, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him garner national attention from progressive activists.
Continue reading this entry »
— Ramsin Canon /
Rep. Bobby Rush (1st) is a guy with many facets. I pass along, without immediate comment, this email from his staff.
Well, OK, one comment: there will be no Will.i.am videos on behalf of this "movement." There is some downright repugnant demagoguery in this press release. That's two comments. Here's a third: Let it go, Congressman.
Fri., January 2, 2009, 2:00 p.m. 773-629-5948
CONG. RUSH ORGANIZES NATIONAL MOVEMENT TO SEAT
SEN. ROLAND BURRIS IN U.S. SENATE
Coalition plans massive support rally on Sunday, Jan. 4th in Chicago
CHICAGO -Today, U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush said he has organized a national coalition to ensure Sen. Roland Burris takes the oath of office next week in the U.S. Senate and he also reissued his call to Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) not to 'stand in the door of the Senate' and block the only African-American member from the legislative body.
Continue reading this entry »
— Ramsin Canon /
