Governor Pat Quinn Hits Up Illinois Exiles in Hollywood

GOV. PAT QUINN, the film industry best friend, will be guest of honor at a Bob Teitel-hosted reelection fundraiser in LA on Friday, March 7, for Hollywood honchos and Chicagoans in the industry. Last March, film producer and Chicago native Teitel held a private reception for the gov in his home.This time, the event will take place in the more casual setting of a cigar bar. Suggested donation last year was $1,000 and presumably it will be the same this time around. 

Gov. Pat Quinn avoids questions abvout giving Dorothy Brown's Old Man six figures of Illinois Buckeens by hiding out in Hollywood.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's re-election campaign is getting an out-of-state boost. 
The Chicago Democrat flew to Los Angeles on Friday for a fundraiser attended by actors and others in the movie industry. 
Quinn campaign spokeswoman Leslie Wertheimer confirmed Monday that Quinn was in Los Angeles for the fundraiser. She said a similar one was thrown in his honor in 2013. 

The  Oleaginous Governor of Illinois makes Convict Governor Blagojevich seem like an ad for the Dry Look. 

Illinois Same Sex Marriage is More Important Than Poor Kids In Albany Park and Everything Else

In his column this morning Mark Brown concludes,

 " One day soon, the Illinois Legislature is going to make it legal for gay and lesbian couples to get married in Illinois — despite the Catholic Church’s opposition.
But there will still be poor kids in Albany Park who need help fixing their bikes.": markbrown@suntimes.com Twitter: @MarkBrownCST

You see the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) cut its grants to the lllinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) because the ICIRR's board of directors was touched by Same Sex Marriage Illinois, a  much broader coalition of money, influence, ink and iconoclasts, to fully support same sex marriage in its fight for immigrant and refugee rights. The Chicago Tribune published a letter that excoriated Francis Cardinal George and CCHD for what it  regards as a heartless neglect of the poor. The letter’s signers were Chicago Aldermen Proco Joe Moreno, Danny Solis, Patrick O’Connor, and James Cappelman; Cook County Commissioners John Fritchey and Larry Suffredin; and Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza - huge Catholics, Huge.  Like the Castro Brothers (Cuba, not Ohio) the signers are all about the Church, poor and really helping folks - Salvation Army and such.

The poor kids in Albany Park got $20,000 in grant money from CCHD.  $ 20,000 would help five poor kids from Englewood get a Leo High School Education.  Twenty thousand bucks is about half a payroll for Leo High Schooll employees every two weeks.  Nothing to sneeze at, $20,000, but the board of Directors of Illinois Coalition for  Immigrant and Refugees Rights (ICIRR) listened to Rick Garcia, Rep. Greg Harris, Personal PAC's and Governor Pat Quinn's Boss Terry Cosgrove appeal to evolved reason.  The Same Sex Marriage Heart trumps all other vessels.

Going from the heart of that meaty criticism, Mark Brown yanks on the heart strings with case-specific philippic aimed at Cardinal George, CCHD and unevolved Catholics in Illinois and it's a good one, worthy of two-hour WTTW special  narrated by the Ann Landers of homosexual journalism -Dan Savage. Here's the Sun Times' pilot



I wonder if Same Sex Marriage Illinois will fund those industrious kid in Albany Park? Maybe a grant from Henry Van Ameringen, Fred Eychaner, Personal PAC Illinois, or Northern trust Bank will ensure that poor kids in Albany Park kept them wheels rolling.

My bet is not.  Why would they apply money meant to secure the doctrine that Marriage is just a semantics exercise toward a non-systemic enterprise operated for the purpose of helping a few urchins?  That is what the Catholic Church is for, after all.

I remember my Mom telling me, Be careful of what you ask for.  No kidding.

Shortly after Same-Sex Marriage Illinois won the Civil Unions battle,  Catholic Charities ended almost two hundred years of care for Illinois orphans and support of childless married couples ( a guy and a gal).   Same Sex Marriage Illinois, a broad coalition of money, influence, ink and iconoclasts, makes the Vatican Bank seem like parish savings and loan during the Depression.  It is powerful and has purchased the legislature ( is that too cynical? Nah.) the Governor, the Illinois Supreme Court, The AG, the Media and people who equate conscience with watching Will and Grace/Glee/Bill Maher and of  course WTTW.

Francis Cardinal George Archbishop of Chicago has been treated with shamefully great disrespect by Same Sex Marriage Illinois, but maintains his dignity and good humor while defending the Church.

It is intellectually and morally dishonest to use the witness of the Church’s concern for the poor as an excuse to attack the Church’s teaching on the nature of marriage.  Four weeks ago, Pope Francis wrote: “…marriage should be a stable union of man and woman…this union is born of their love, as a sign and presence of God’s own love, and of the acknowledgement and acceptance of the goodness of sexual differentiation, whereby spouses can become one flesh and are enabled to give birth to a new life.” In other words, when it comes to marriage and family life, men and women are not interchangeable. The whole civilized world knows that.
Those who signed the open letter in the Tribune proclaimed their adherence to the Catholic faith even as they cynically called upon others to reject the Church’s bishops. The Church is no one’s private club; she is the Body of Christ, who tells us he is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Because the signers of the letters are Catholic, they know that in a few years, like each of us, they will stand before this same Christ to give an account of their stewardship. Jesus is merciful, but he is not stupid; he knows the difference between right and wrong. Manipulating both immigrants and the Church for political advantage is wrong.

The big picture in the matter of Same Sex Marriage Illinois was artfully captured in this paragraph by Tina Korbe in 2011 concerning the Illinois Legislature's Civil Union codicil requiring all Illinois adoption services recognize the sanctity of homosexual couples:

The decision of the Illinois legislature to initiate the requirement in the first place — knowing it would hamstring Catholic Charities, which provides essential services — demonstrates an appalling willingness to allow an adult agenda — the mainstream acceptance of gay behavior — to supersede children’s interests. The spokesman for the state’s child welfare agency has said he thinks the child welfare system Catholic Charities helped to build is strong enough to withstand CC’s departure. But it’s hard to believe the shuttering of so many CC affiliates won’t make the burden of finding a home for children in need even greater.( emphasis my own)

I don't recall Mark Brown or other columnists bewailing the plight of the many hundreds of those young bairns.

" One day soon, the Illinois Legislature is going to make it legal for gay and lesbian couples to get married in Illinois — despite the Catholic Church’s opposition.
But there will still be poor kids in Albany Park who need help fixing their bikes.":

Yep. The Illinois  Same Sex Marriage Coaltion could care less.

Gov. Pat Quinn, Folks! I've had warts go away faster than him.

"When you point your finger at others there are three fingers pointing  back at you . . .unless you are Governor Pat Quinn" said Governor Pat Quinn.

"This is an emergency. This is a crisis. This requires the full attention of those elected to the General Assembly, Gentlemen we must protect our phoney baloney jobs!  I wannna hear a Harrumph!!!!! " Quinn said.

"They cannot take time away and ignore this issue," Quinn said. "The best way to do that is hit them in the wallet. The way I hit everyone else in this State"

This guy kills me . . .not just the State of Illinois.

Marxist Ralph Martire's Progressive Whack-a-Mole Illinois Legislation

Marxist Brother Ralph Martire explains his latest budget wizardry to Groucho Quinn and Harpo Cullerton.


Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, is the only one Pat Quinn goes to for budget advise with the facts on saving us all some money


Get ready, friends and neighbors, Ralph Martire must have had snacks and punch with Dawn Clark Netsch because Ralph's Ist Term Snooze is over! Ralph Martire is the budget architect of Illinois. Splendid job, there Ralph. Ralph is the Chico Marx to Pat Quinn's Groucho. Ralph has been quiet of late, but he is not done. . .not by a Jug full! Nope Jackie Cullerton is fronting for Ralph with a GRADUATED ILLINOIS INCOME TAX!

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- An Illinois budget group wants to change the state constitution so that income tax rates can be based on wealth.
The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability says a graduated rate would tax people more fairly and produce more money for the state's troubled budget.
The liberal-leaning budget group also says it could stimulate the economy by offering tax relief to poor and middle class families.

The same splendid folks who made Religious Liberty a Civil Union are back!

Pat Quinn's budget is as sound as Illinois! But, that's not enough! There's More!

It is so keen that SEIU Illinois ( did they not help create our economic mess? Oh Hell Yes!) is all over it!

Still, Ralph Martire, executive director for CTBA, says that the graduated tax “actually has political legs.”

The reason is that the 2011 income tax increase from three percent to five percent expires in 2015. “They made it temporary and the state knows that they can’t afford to get rid of it,” Martire explains.

So it would be politically popular, Martire contends, to push for a graduated tax: The revenues would stave off painful cuts and the vast majority of citizens would still see an income tax cut.

“There is going to be a lot of organizing in the next couple of years over the need to do this from an economic policy, tax policy, and fairness standpoint,” Martire promises.

Perhaps the most powerful state leader for the graduated tax is Senate President John Cullerton. Cullerton spokesman Ron Holmes notes that the Chicago Democrat was one of 19 to vote 'yes' for a progressive tax in 2008 in the 60-person Senate.

Here it is - No more Flat Tax of 5%. Ralph taking page from our Class Warrior President, formerly Mr. Present of the Illinois State Senate, and offering a 3% to Illini making under $250,000 and a Taxing Something Else for everyone else. Do the Math as Ralph knows you will not - hence his pie-chart piracy, where numbers are a moveable feast.

1. Cut overall state income tax burden for 94 percent of all taxpayers—that means on average, taxpayers with under $150,000 in annual base income would receive a tax cut;

2. Despite shifting tax burden to affluent taxpayers, nonetheless keep the effective state income tax rate for millionaires at just 4.3 percent;

3. Raise at least $2.4 billion annually in new revenue to help eliminate ongoing structural deficits in the state’s General Fund; and

4. Stimulate the growth of at least 36,000 jobs in the state’s private sector through enhanced public and consumer spending. As of August, 2011, Illinois hasn’t replaced 342,000 non-farm jobs it lost during the Great Recession.

Sounds Great! It always sounds great. Trouble is Ralph Martire has masterminded the hole Illinois will be climbing out of until Forrest Claypool gets a job on his own hook.

Ralph operates on the premise that taxpayers never pay enough of the their fair share. Taxpayers are the only revenue Illinois legislators ever consider. The ever popular. . . More!

Ralph thinks like Chico Marx.

http://progressillinois.com/quick-hits/content/2012/02/28/alternative-solution-illinois-budget-crisis

Toni Preckwinkle - Up Next -Burn Bodies and Save Energy: No Stiffs No Morgue Problem

Cook County Morgue, or Green Alternative Energy Source for Toni?

I hear so many gushing Gwens, generally Progressives, say that Toni Preckwinkle will replace Rahm Emanuel as Mayor of Chicago. Would not surprise me in the least. Toni is every bit as smart as Arne Duncan, Mike Quigley, Forrest Claypool and Desiree Rogers.

Cook County Board President Toni has her hands full, at the moment, firing a couple of poor mopes because her morgue is stuffed with stiffs. Stacked like cord wood them cadavers be! Somebody else's troubles! Toni's opportunity!

Toni, who in my understanding of her intellectual depth and breadth, never popped out an original thought in her life, reads from the same play card as President Obama and all of the Hyde Park Mafia - educated, or influenced by, Chicago Lab School and University of Chicago. Toni once read a daffy New York Times piece that slammed Chicago Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow and repeated that single meme ( Bellow is a toxic Racist) chapter and verse to oppose Chicago honoring a home grown artist. It is obvious Toni has never read Bellow. Thus, like our science President Barack Algae Obama, Toni will take a page out of eugenics happy Great Britain's Conservative Party -Sir George Samuel Knatchbull Young, 6th Baronet. You see in the Nation that Stood Alone Against Hitler - Mr. Eugenics Himself -the same dipstick soulless mopes control the media and the message.

The Message from Old Blighty is burn corpses and heat swimming pools!

Sir George Young, leader of the House of Commons, said the proposal to warm a Worcestershire leisure centre with heat from a nearby crematorium was a “groundbreaking scheme”.

He said the Government is considering whether the plan could be duplicated elsewhere in Britain.

“The Government is aware of this particular scheme,” he said. “The Department for Energy and Climate Change will shortly be publishing its heat strategy and this will explore the potential for better recovery and reuse of wasted heat in schemes such as this one.”

He added that he would “die a happier man” if he knew heat from his cremation was warming the waters of a local pool.

Now, here is payoff!

Redditch Borough Council will be the first authority in the country to use a crematorium to heat a swimming pool. Work has already begun on the project, which is expected to be completed this spring. Since the plans were approved in February last year, they have won an award from the Green Organisation.

Oh, Good Show! The move is positively Green Happy! Soylent Green! I'll bet there is not an Imam from Soho down to Brighton who would not love to see this Retro-scheme get all fired up.

Burn stiffs and find a great new source of energy free of our enslavement to fossil fuels! Stiffs are too fresh to be fossils. As President Algae says, "nothing but drilling is off the table!"

Toni! The Tables at morgue are filled! Don't be Fuelish! These stiffs are not yet fossil fuels. Be like Brits; cook cadavers and heat a few pools.

Toni? Toni Preckwinkle! I have set my digital stop watch! Go! I can hear Sneed Now!

Get all those stiffs out of the morgue! Burn 'em! Cook 'em! Convert 'em>! Light 'em up to Light up of Lives, Toni!

Money, Marbles or Chalk, Chicago! I am no longer a betting man, but were I yet a practicising degenerate gambler, I'd a bet a house payment that, in no time at all, Carol Marin, WTTW, NPR and our Room Temperature IQ Editorial Boards will Huzzah Toni's plan to Torch the Stiffs and pave the way for more abortions with help of Boss Cosgrove of Personal PAC. This will be necessary to add as much kindling to the Energy Green Savings dead kids and with the help of SEIU as well, to shift Energy Friendly and Women's Health legislation for Pat Quinn to sign and make Kingsford of old Mrs. Wiesniewski, Mr. Antonelli, and other Blue Hairs in Skilled Care Facilities across Illinois as well as the nameless babies!

That is how smart Toni Preckwinkle is folks.

God ain't making any more land, but we got mortality going for Clean Energy!

Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle will really Cook County and Light Up Our Lives!

The stop watch is a ticking!


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9101874/Minister-praises-plan-to-heat-swimming-pool-from-fires-of-crematorium.html

Gov. Quinn's Personal Pronouns - WE then, and now, WE are THEY.

That is WE in the picture.

“We're not going back,” he said. “They made a choice. Any organization that decides that because of the civil unions law that they won't participate voluntarily in a program, that's their choice.” PaT Quinn the "practicing Catholic" Governor.

I am a Catholic. I work at a Catholic High School. I go to Catholic Mass on Sunday with Catholics; some are rich, some are barely making it financially. Governor Quinn signed legislation that allowed homosexuals ( Lesbian, Gay, BiSexual, Transgender and Questioning) form a civil bond that gives them legal and insurance rights as couples.

Gay couples want children and they want what the heart wants and they want it now; therefore the two thousand year and change doctrines of the Catholic Church need to sit down and shut up. It's a civil rights issue, don't you know?

Nah. It is a political issue all about money coalitions and votes . . .and that is Okay.

What is not Okay, is the high heaping helpings of bullshit that pass for political talking points and modern journalism.


Catholic Charities which has cared for orphans and foundlings in its many manifestations long before Jane Addams set eyes on her two life companions at the turn of the century can no longer take care of children by placing them in homes of "Couples." Catholic Charities places children in homes of married couples. Married couples tend to be, at the moment, a man and woman. Civil Union couples can be two guys, two girls, two trandsgender-whatchmancallems- or two Questioning Persons of like like gender who just don't know, yet, if they are wired Delta 230V, or WYE 208 European.

Catholic Charities took care of kids who had no family - a Mom and Dad - and helped find families for those kids for more than two hundred years.

DCFS will take care of kids who need homes, now; that should give everyone pause.

Governor Quinn, a practicing Catholic ( I never understood that verbal - either you are a Catholic, or not all the practice in the world won't change that) tossed out the pronouns because he signed the law, after barely squeaking by Catholic Bill Brady who would not have signed the civil union law. Pat Quinn took care of the PACS that matter - Planned Parenthood & etc. Quinn's Personal Pronoun PACS it seems - They are WE and Catholics are the THEY. I am a THEY. I voted for HIM -QUINN.

What's the matter with ME; what was I thinking? I thought Pat Quinn was the working man Governor, because the skilled trades backed him. Civil Unions? Abortions? Pat Quinn was all about working people who go to Mass, because Pat Quinn is a practicing Catholic. We was We then and We are They. We (I) voted for Quinn, but now that I am THEY that is all changed. I don't have any money. Terry Cosgrove of Personal PAC/LGBTQ PACs has lots of money. Terry Cosgrove is a solid WE and I am a solid though impecunious THEY. I now understand the Quinn Personal Pronoun.

I now know what a practicing Catholic is - an elected official who could care less about anything.

Catholics, Lutherans and Evangelicals are THEY . . .now. WE was WE then and I voted voted with WE . . .then.

Abortion and Gay Marriage ( Civil Union the sequal)is WE . . . now. WE ARE NOT GOING BACK!!!!!

Nothing there back here any more, Guv.

Death Penalty Ban - It Happened and No Surprise :Same Old Same Old Solipsism.

Pat Quinn signed the death penalty ban yesterday. He was going to do it. Like Civil Unions for same sex couples the corporate media pushed for the GLBTQ Activists is cause to celebrate - The Tribune, The Sun Times, NPR, told you to celebrate no get to celebrating.

You have been told what is Justice. Celebrate.

I was used to think that the death penalty was a bad a thing. I used to argue with people much smarter than me that God did not put Cain to death after the murder of Abel,. How's that for a head scratcher? I really had 'em on the run. The very same manner solipsism appears on editorial pages, columns, and heart-tugging shout-outs on NPR. On all issues.

This is vacuum packed thought - group thought. Here is Justice, We say so; deal with it.

Solipsism comes from the Latin for Self (solus) Alone (ipse) - or in Irish Sinn Fein.
Solipsism gives the individual or the group the full reign of the universe - that is why the young love it. Begin at point A and end at point A - short journey. Mumia is innocent, Burge is a monster, Same Sex Sex is Human Right, Death Penalty is Wrong, only people who listen to NPR are smart, religion causes all of the world's woes, Catholics need to disappear with Israel, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, Michael Moore is not obese - believe it.

Ourselves alone! Yep, and that is what God left old Gramps Cain - alone after his murder of Brother Abel. Solipsism worked fine for the old vegetable grower, now that he busted a cap in the shepherd's ass. Cain begot aplenty and the fine family of man pumped out the blood of Cain's mom and pop - the apple eaters Adam and Eve.

Now, the old death penalty issue did not come on the screen until Moses trotted out the tablets with Old Number 6 - Thou Shall Not Kill Murdering a human being is a capital sin. Jews and Christians had a problem with murder.

Like I said, your humble correspondent had a problem with society putting a murderer to death, until Danny Edwards and Nancy Rish plotted for months to cold-bloodily kidnap, bury and murder Stephan Small - a wealthy Kankakee businessman. Small's neighbor Governor George Ryan was involved and so was I.

A few month before the murder, my wife Mary and I sat on a picnic table with Danny Edwards, who happened to be a cousin of the people throwing a fourth of July picnic in the Kankakee Riverside neighborhood. Danny was celebrated pot-head and loser, whose parents happened to be very nice and good people. Danny imagined himself and projected the image of a drug-kingpin. He was a snotty, simpering and obnoxious jerk. I thought two of his cousins were going to pound him into atoms. Danny departed the party to which he had brought nothing but his stoned to the bone asininities.He had an electricians card, but his real game was dope or so he proclaimed.
Mary and I had met the weasel on a few occasions. Every family seems to have one.

Kankakee is a small town and it is wonderful place to live. People look out for one another. Steve Small was the grandson of an Illinois Governor and heir to a media empire that covered Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. Kankakee had recently become headquarters for the new national tabloid - USA Today. Steve Small was in real estate.

One morning, Mary Jo Warmoth, a wonderful Math teacher at Bishop McNamara, where Mary and I taught appeared shaken to her marrow - Steve Small is missing. Mary Jo and Ray Warmoth were neighbors of Steve Small. Over the next few days the mystery of the cold-blooded and calculated murder unfolded.
Here it is in summary:

Around 12:30 a.m. on September 2, 1987, someone claiming to be a Kankakee police officer called the Small home and told Stephen Small that a burglary had occurred at the Bradly House. Small got dressed and left his home. Around 3:30 that morning someone called the Small residence and told Stephen's wife, Nancy, "We have your husband." Nancy then heard her husband say that he had been handcuffed inside a box underground. Small told his wife to obtain $1 million in cash. The caller directed Mrs. Small not to report the matter to the police. The matter was reported to the authorities, however, and devices were connected to the Smalls' telephone line to record incoming calls and to determine their origins. At 5:03 that afternoon, the same person called again, asking Mrs. Small how much money had been collected. This call was placed from a telephone located at a Phillips 66 gas station in Aroma Park. Edwards was seen there at that time, in the company of a blonde-haired woman. At 5:40 p.m., Jean Alice Small, Stephen Small's aunt, telephoned the Small residence to tell them of a call she had just received. Jean said that the caller had told her that he knew that Nancy Small's telephone was tapped. After telling Jean that the victim was buried, the caller threatened to kill Jean's husband. Nancy Small received another telephone call from the kidnapper at 11:28 that night. This call originated from a telephone at a Sunoco station in Aroma Park, where an FBI agent saw a white male at a telephone, and a blonde-haired woman in a car that was later identified as belonging to Nancy Rish, Edwards’ girlfriend; Rish had blonde hair. The caller played a tape recording of Stephen Small's voice. On the tape, Stephen provided instructions for delivering the ransom. After audio enhancement, a voice in the background could be heard threatening Small.

Tracking and Arrest of Edwards and Rish
Nancy Small received one more telephone call from the kidnapper, at 11:46 that night. The call was placed from a Marathon service station in Kankakee. The caller accused Nancy of having notified the police and refused her offer of the ransom. Minutes later, at 11:50 p.m., an Illinois state police officer saw Rish's car, with its trunk partly open, driving from Kankakee toward Aroma Park. Law enforcement officers then placed Edwards’ home under surveillance. They saw a dark-colored Buick, with its trunk partly open, arrive at the house in Bourbonnais where Edwards and Rish lived. Edwards and a white woman with blonde hair left the car and went inside. Officers carried out a search of the residence later that morning, on September 3, Rish and Edwards were arrested at that time. Later that day, Edwards led law enforcement officers to the site where the victim was buried. There, officers dug up a wooden box and found the victim's body inside. The box measured about six feet long and three feet wide, and was constructed of plywood. It contained a light connected to an automobile battery, a one gallon jug of water, candy bars, gum, and a flashlight. A medical examiner later determined that the victim died of asphyxiation caused by suffocation. The medical examiner believed that the victim would not have survived more than three or four hours inside the enclosed box. The medical examiner noted that the pipe extending from the box into the open air was too long for its diameter to serve as an adequate air-exchange system.

Edwards Trial
The State presented other evidence connecting Edwards to these offenses. On the night of the victim's disappearance, around midnight, a neighbor of Edwards heard Edwards say, "Let's go, let's hit it," get into his car, and drive off. Also, two neighbors of the Small family saw Edwards’ van, or one similar to it, parked in their neighborhood after midnight on September 2. One neighbor also noticed a mid-sized car at that time, heard two car doors slam, and saw the car and Edwards’ van drive away with their lights off. Several witnesses saw Edwards constructing a wooden box in his garage during summer 1987, preceding the offenses here. Edwards gave various explanations for the project, saying that it would be used for a lemonade stand, or by his brother for transporting things, or at his brother's pool in Florida. A neighbor of the Smalls had seen a white van similar to Edwards’ van driving through an alley next to the Small's home about 10 times that summer. While Edwards and Rish were visiting a boat store that summer, Edwards saw Stephen Small leaving the store in a sports car; Edwards was heard to say, "Boy, it sure would be nice to afford stuff like that." The search of Edwards's residence at the time of his arrest turned up a Kankakee telephone book with the name "Small" circled. Edwards' boots were found behind a washer and dryer at the residence, and soil on the boots matched a sample from the location where the box was buried. Soil in Edwards’ van also matched the sample. White caulking material on gloves found in Edwards’ trash had the same chemical composition as the caulking material used to fill in the seams of the wooden box in which the victim had been buried. Edwards' fingerprints were found on PVC pipe and duct tape recovered from the box. A person who owed Edwards money had had a pair of handcuffs stolen from him, and the same pair was later discovered on the victim. Another person who owed Edwards money had had a gun stolen, and it was found by investigators in the countryside near Aroma Park. Edwards purchased a battery that was found in the wooden box. Bolt cutters belonging to a company owned by Edwards’ brother were found at a point between where the box was uncovered and where the victim's car was found, and they could have been the implement used to cut the chain connecting the handcuffs on the victim's wrists.

Edwards Sentence
At the close of evidence, the jury found Edwards guilty of first degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. A capital sentencing hearing was then conducted. At the first stage of the hearing, the jury found Edwards eligible for the death penalty because of his commission of murder during the course of another felony, aggravated kidnapping. [2]

Nancy Rish
On September 2, 1987, during the kidnapping and murder of Kankakee business man Stephen B. Small, the investigation focused on Danny Edwards and Nancy Rish, who lived together in a townhouse in Bourbonnais. On September 4, a search warrant was executed for the townhouse. That evening, Edwards led the police to a rural area where Small's body was recovered. It appeared that Small had been placed in a wooden box which had been fitted with a PVC pipe designed to give him air for 24 to 48 hours. Small's wrists were handcuffed and the box was buried. The coroner later determined that his death was caused by "asphyxia due to suffocation." That same night, the police arrested Rish and held her at the station for questioning. Rish requested a specific attorney, J. Scott Swaim, who had previously represented her, and she was given an opportunity to obtain his counsel. Rish did not know that Swaim was friends with the victim. For the next four days, between September 4 and September 8, the police questioned Rish with counsel present. Eight statements were elicited concerning her knowledge and actions in the early days of September. None of the statements was totally consistent with any other.

Rish Trial
On October 1, Rish was charged by indictment with first-degree murder and aggravated kidnaping for her alleged role in Small's death. On November 2, 1988, Rish was tried by a jury. No direct evidence was presented linking her to the kidnaping or death of Small. However, the State was able to enter Rish's eight inconsistent statements into evidence. Witnesses were also presented who testified that they had seen her at various times with Edwards when he was purchasing some of items that were ultimately found with Small's body. Other witnesses reported that they had observed her at various related locations during the course of the kidnaping and ransom calls. Lastly, the State submitted evidence that Edwards had used their garage to build the box in which Small's body was found. The jury found Rish guilty on both counts, and the trial court sentenced her to a term of natural life imprisonment and a concurrent 30-year term. [3]

Ryan Commutation
On January 11, 2003, Illinois Governor George Ryan, a native of Kankakee, commuted all death row sentences in Illinois to life imprisonment. This act commuted the sentence of Danny Edwards who had murdered Ryan’s next-door-neighbor Stephen Small. This is what Ryan had to say about the Small case at the time of the commutation. “I grew up in Kankakee which even today is still a small midwestern town, a place where people tend to know each other. Steve Small was a neighbor. I watched him grow up. He would babysit my young children – which was not for the faint of heart since Lura Lynn and I had six children, five of them under the age of 3. He was a bright young man who helped run the family business. He got married and he and his wife had three children of their own. Lura Lynn was especially close to him and his family. We took comfort in knowing he was there for us and we for him. One September midnight he received a call at his home. There had been a break-in at the nearby house he was renovating. But as he left his house, he was seized at gunpoint by kidnappers. His captors buried him alive in a shallow hole. He suffocated to death before police could find him. His killer led investigators to where Steve’s body was buried. The killer, Danny Edwards, was also from my hometown. He now sits on death row. I also know his family. I share this story with you so that you know I do not come to this as a neophyte without having experienced a small bit of the bitter pill the survivors of murder must swallow. My responsibilities and obligations are more than my neighbors and my family. I represent all the people of Illinois – like it or not. The decision I make about our criminal justice system is felt not only here, but the world over.” [

Danny Edwards and Nancy Rish willingly murdered a good man, because they could then have more money to expand Danny's drug business. They were not impoverished minority persons. Rish and Edwards did not kill Steve Small in a bar fight. They planned stalked, kidnaped and murdered a man for money without regard for consequences or justice.

Solipsism works great with group thinkers. One world and one answer. Solipsism works great in politics and law - lawsuits. Beat drums loud and long.

There is a reason for human society to execute, not murder, people who slaughter.

I'll celebrate Justice 24/7 - I will not play solipsism anymore. Steve Small smothered to death. Solipsism buries thought.

How the World Wags and We Don't Seem to Mind

Personally, I believe that the death penalty is a very good thing. It is not nice. It is good. It is good, because for ultimate crimes, there must be ultimate consequences.

I did not ask for Charlie Sheen, but there he is; nor, did I ever request Extreme Fighting, Dances with the Stars, TIVO, Cable Rates, Chris Matthews, or Larry The Cable Guy, American Historian.

The world wags because we allow it to do so.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez are trumped by Sister Prejean and Bishop Desmond Tutu, as well as every iconic columnist and mouthpiece in the media; especially Lawsuit Lotto Lawyers.

Governor Pat Quinn campaigned to overturn the Death Penalty Ban by Governor Ryan. However, Governor Pat Quinn loves the Easter Bunny. I backed Pat Quinn and hoped that he would have a successful term as Governor. Not gonna happen.

Pat Quin still hugs the Easter Bunny - Abortion is just dandy, but one must not execute a murderous louse.

I noticed a poll in the Tribune.

Death penalty decision
Should Gov. Quinn sign the bill banning the death penalty in Illinois?

Yes. The justice system is too flawed. (17 responses)

14%

Yes. Capital punishment is wrong. (21 responses)

17%

No. Some crimes and criminals deserve a death sentence. (86 responses)

69%

124 total responses

I am in the 69%, but trumped by the Easter Bunny. Well, perhaps a contemporary and hip-poet can go all Vachel Lindsey on Quinn- 'The Easter Bunny That is Forgotten' or
'The Pigeon I can't Recall' . . ."To live in mankind, far, far more * * * than
to live in a name."

Governor Something 'er Other.



Strap in Governor and get ready for the ride of you life. These next four year are not shaping up to be so hot. Ralph Martire still calls the budget and taxes; the All-Star Lefties seem to motivate your decisions. Well, that's just me. Or is it 69% of Illinois?

Governor Pat Quinn Will Win With the Likes of Him! Keep Scott Lee.

Governor Pat Quinn should keep the millstone Scott Lee Cohen. Do not allow this goof to shift your priorities or message.

1. Keep Scott Lee Cohen in the shadows all through the Campaign for Governor.

2. Hammer away at Kirk Dillard who seems to to be creeping up on Bill Brady and might somehow manage to be the GOP nominee - Bill Cellini's guy is great way to deflect notice of the wife abusing, knife wielding mope. If Brady squeaks in - go Helot Working Stiff Trades Union Regular Guy on Him! Do not get near the Purple SEIU goofs - look how that worked out for Blago. Come to Jesus, Moses, Mohammad and Christian Non-Sectarian with the Operating Engineers, the Electricians, the Pipe Fitters, Plumbers, Hoisters, and independent contractors. Tea Party the Hell out of the GOP!

3. Do not get gulled into a Third Party run - it will be a disaster. Senator Stevenson had a different historical context for doing so.

4. Promise to work to eliminate the office of Lt. Governor. Vow to lower taxes and that will create jobs

5. Work with Speaker Mike Madigan on the Campaign and when you win. Speaker Madigan can only help you turn things around. Only Media Loudmouths hate him.

6. Treat the Media Pundits as they would treat you - and have. Give them short shrift and a wide path on the sidewalk. Treat them as you would a panhandler wearing only jock-strap and snow-shoes. Give the person his/her dignity and a very hale and hearty "Thanks for Stopping!"

7. Come back out to the neighborhoods, small towns, and villages. Ditch the Policy Gurus and University phonies.

8. Give Senator Durbin photo opportunities with you but for God's sake never allow him to speak - for you or about anything. Sen. Dick Durbin is about as voter attractive as Scott Lee.

Voters like you Governor Quinn. I like and admire you - I think that many of your associations with the Progressives are down-right goofy, but you are honest, loyal and smart.

Go Grassroots with the Helots.