Happy Father's Day History Lesson from Old Herodatus - Who's Happy?

Happy Father's Day Dads!  I hope you are happy . . .well maybe Dads in Boston might be really . . .pleased, after power playing the Mighty Blackhawks in OT last night.  Pleased, not happy.

Who's happy?  Me.

Why?  I have three kids on the edge of all grow'd up ( 18-27), all gainfully employed, almost out of the house . . .almost.   I have a couple of nickels in savings and enough for the bills in checking.  I have a job that I love these past forty years and remain, I do not know how, in good health.

My kids asked the Hallmark question, " Dad. . . .serious;y; What  do you want for Father's Day?"

I rejoined, "What could you give that I do not already possess?"

They shuddered,  " He's off on his Mr. Hickey act."

"Beloved Fruit of my Loins, Silence and sit!  Long before cable TV, Smart phones and Apps, when Hawks tickets were stocking stuffers for the children of working men, I taught scores of children to read and write and so doing learn the common thread of the Humanities, Faith, and Service," I prologue'd. To continue, " One text I used with my students was Herodatus' Histories.

" That black book with the yellow pages you got in your Dad John in the basement?"

" That very text."

" You gonna talk normal?"

" Not a chance of it.  Book One of that ancient manuscript translated by Aubery de Selincourt, tells of the great king Croesus of the island power of Sardis, Croesus ( like CREESUS in his panst) was said to be the richest king alive.  We, or some of us, say one is as rich as Croesus.  A wise man by the name of Solon of Athens, not yet a great world power, visited Croesus and wowed the crowd royal with his stories and insights.  Croesus asked the much travelled gent, who would be the happiest man alive .  Here is the passage from Herodatus -

 So Solon, . . . .came to Croesus at Sardis.
 Having there arrived he was entertained as a guest by Croesus in the king's palace; and afterwards, on the third or fourth day, at the bidding of Croesus his servants led Solon round to see his treasuries; and they showed him all things, how great and magnificent they were: and after he had looked upon them all and examined them as he had occasion, Croesus asked him as follows: "Athenian guest, much report of thee has come to us, both in regard to thy wisdom and thy wanderings, how that in thy search for wisdom thou hast traversed many lands to see them; now therefore a desire has come upon me to ask thee whether thou hast seen any whom thou deemest to be of all men the most happy."
 This he asked supposing that he himself was the happiest of men; but Solon, using no flattery but the truth only, said: "Yes, O king, Tellos the Athenian." And Croesus, marvelling at that which he said, asked him earnestly: "In what respect dost thou judge Tellos to be the most happy?"
 And he said: "Tellos, in the first place, living while his native State was prosperous, had sons fair and good and saw from all of them children begotten and living to grow up; and secondly he had what with us is accounted wealth, and after his life a most glorious end: for when a battle was fought by the Athenians at Eleusis against the neighbouring people, he brought up supports and routed the foe and there died by a most fair death; and the Athenians buried him publicly where he fell, and honoured him greatly."

"My son, what did Herodatus say to you?"

"Nothing, Wasn't that talks between Croesus and Solon?"

" Yes, as recorded and presented by Herodatus.  Now, what does History, from the Father of History, say to you?"

" A bunch of random stuff that happened."

" Indeed."

"How about that? Now, ask me again, what I could possibly ask for  more that I do not already possess?"

The trio of babes smiled , " We got you a gift certificate from B Dubs."

I could not be more pleased.

John Dunn - President of Western Michigan University - 'He's One of Us!'

“If then a practical end must be assigned to a University course, I say it is that of training good members of society...  John Henry Cardinal Newman, The Idea of a University

College leaders in America are too often anything but leaders.  They seem to be more interested in sucking up to the political and cultural demands of grant making foundations than they are in the students they should serve.

Parents ask, "How in the world will my daughter compete in this world armed with a bachelor of arts degree in Comic Books ( graphic novels) and a minor in gender and identity?"

Woefully, folks.

It is not just the coastal elite universities and colleges that happen to be dominated by stiffs and frauds with advanced degrees.  Inland Seas States are not immune, Minnesota first represented in the US Senate by James J. Shields and home to scions of thick-pawed Swedes and Norwegians offered the follwing from its moss -backed faculty lounges

ST. PAUL, Minn. – There’s a major controversy within the state of Minnesota over how K-12 students are taught U.S. history.
 
Minnesota’s top education officials are proposing new social studies standards that would no longer require students to learn about Martin Luther King, Jr., the War on Terror, the Soviet Union or the importance of patriotism.
 
Instead, students would be required to learn about America’s “institutional racism,” “the rise of big business,” and the problems posed by an “unregulated capitalist economy.”
 
In other words, some want to change the curriculum so history instructors teach children that the United States is a bad country with an evil past.

 Tum delirum esse in Arcadia !  as Publius Virgilius Maro might shout; he's dead white guy. Yes, Brethren and Sistren, stupid is right down the block.  Tread carefully the path to high learning.

My daughter chose Western Michigan University.  Thanks be to God.  All I knew of this school was the fact that Danny O'Brien pitched for the Broncos before playing a few semesters in the pros. Here on the south side of Chicago our kids tend to choose colleges as extensions of the parish grammar school/Catholic high school matriculation.  Go to St. Cajetans (Pre-8), jump to Mother McAuley, or Mount Carmel and then head to the economically sound Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois or Illinois State Universities.  South siders pal-up for life.

My daughter Clare decided upon WMU in her sophomore year despite my cries of " It's Out of State!!!!!!"   I KNOW Dad.

WMU was Clare's first choice and acceptance.  There were others but they went immediately into the basket containing the ads from Miller Appliances/Time-Share opportunities and Obama 2012 solicitations. I am a Bronco Dad!

The Orientation was this week.  This was not my first rodeo.  Eldest child Nora went Western University and Conor went to La Lumiere. Both kids are gainfully employed members of the AMERICAN WORKFORCE. I am blessed.

College and boarding school orientations are as fun as a good gum scraping.  Organized group session, break-out sessions, and group chats raise the many hackles of my simian back.  I am a veteran high school teacher and coach.  High school teacher/coaches are about as well behave in group settings as cops and fireman at beer buffet prepared hosted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Supt. McCarthy. I am an especially bad member of any audience to any presentation not about  sexist or ethnic humor.

The Orientation for in-coming freshmen and parents at WMU was all that and more.  Cross campus walks, PNC banking side-shows, REALLY peppy Bronco WOOOOOO Shouters and more handouts than Jehovah's Witness ladies at the Dunkin Donuts on Wednesdays.

Amid the much expected and necessary organized fun and group Novocaining, emerged President John Dunn, leader WMU since 2007.  Western Michigan University is ranked in top 100 American universities by US News & World Report and Princeton Review. WMU has been so listed for last 22 years; however, President Dunn appears to have captured the soul of school.

President Dunn crashed the student presentation given to parents and incomers on Wednesday afternoon, as the Board of Directors meeting took a short break.  Mr. Dunn is a lively and witty guy without a hint of pretense.   He addressed the families like neighbor who has popped onto the driveway with Mayflower van still blocking the public sidewalk.  "Need any help?  Welcome to town!"

Upon August arrival, Dunn admonished the Young Broncos to not only introduce themselves to, but get to know the most important people necessary to their college lives  - the maintenance crews, the food service people, the bus drivers, the health care nurses, the security personnel, the landscapers and construction crews.  President Dunn explained that everyone on this campus was there to help them and that it was incumbent upon students to get to know those folks,  That, he told the kids, was how to become educated.  Respect for each person's work and life is Dunn's dictum.

I was wowed.  The campus is immaculate and happy people work hard everywhere one turns.  No class war-fare.  Respect.

President John Dunn asked the parents to keep in touch. I asked some the students working off tuition about their President and heard nothing but genuine praise and admiration.  " He's here all the time -literally and always ready to ask about our day."

I read this about President John Dunn's early days on campus,

" On Monday, WMU acknowledged its eighth chapter, formally installing John M. Dunn president, in an inaguration ceremony that heaped accolades on a new campus chief who has quickly become regarded as a tireless worker and approachable leader since his hiring last summer.
"You can feel in the pulse of this university, even in nine months here, that this campus's heart and soul has been reinvigorated by your leadership," WMU senior Chris Praedel described to Dunn and an audience of hundreds attending the ceremony at Miller Auditorium.
He's "one of us" said faculty union head, Paul T. Wilson.

You got that right Mr. Wilson.  He is one of us.  That is the Idea of a University.

Understanding President # 44 - "The White Sox Kid" Sums Him Up.

President Obama is finally being understood by Blue and Red America - there is a vast whiteness, a void, the great empty that is sum total of an entirely imagined man with a Presidential pension and Nobel Prize.

He is the same man that he was in 2009 when he talked about himself as the nation's Chief Sox Fan:



The names Minnie Minosa, Luis Aparicio, Nellie Fox, Billy Pierce, Joe Crede, Frank Thomas, Bo Jackson, Dick Allen could not ring that Pavlovian Presidential Bell.   Obama got a pass on that, because most Americans were too busy listening to Letterman make rape jokes about Sarah Palin's kids.

How should we not be surprised that Man in the Hart Schaffner & Marx rig-outs could answer any question about where he was on September 11, 2012, who wrote the Libyan talking points, where did the IRS get the knackers to open the books on Americans, how many bullets does DHS buy each day, which guns go to Mexican drug cartels, Samantha Powers, how many hours is it from Italy to Benghazi, or what is religious freedom?

I trust government only so much as I trust the people elected to govern.   

Snowden's Sponsor - Treason Training with Glenn

Americans love reporters and detest Journalists in same way that they love and admire teachers and detest "Educators."

There's huge difference reporters go out and get the story and journalists go out create a compelling narrative. Journalism schools have all but killed reporting.  Glenn Greenwald is a lawyer and a journalist who creates the news.  He is the later-day Wizard of Bradley Manning USA, due to the fact that Manning was a property of Julian Assange and Wikileaks.  After the pale prince of whistle blowers was put up in an English manor, all Glenn could do was paper the web with  paeans to Manning;s treason and be the fluorescent light for whistle blowing truths.



Greenwald seems to have gotten his hooks into the GED master spy sometime ago.   I believe we will see Glenn Greenwald to be goad to Snowden's treason in the next few weeks. I do not believe that NSA techno-geek Snowden reached out to Glenn Greenwald, rather Greenwald poached Snowden from a colleague. That's hip.

Treason is extreme and extreme is what being a hipster is all about - obscure, dark, contrarian, androgynous, and well-compensated.  Glenn Greenwald is all of that and change.

Glenn Greenwald wants to be the Hipster Treason Master.  I'll give that to him, for now.

" What's a Whistleblower, Daddy?" Why a Traitor with a Good Press Agent. Now, Here's a Dime - Be Somebody!

22 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6 He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present. . . 7 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus asked him,“Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” . . .Luke 22; 1-48

Judas, Benedict Arnold,  Aaron Burr, Tokyo Rose, Mr. & Mrs. Rosenberg . . .not alot of coins struck in their memory - not even dimes  Here in Illinois, we know about whistle blowers; they are generally Federally flipped opportunists, or the preemptive dime droppers one step ahead of the handcuffs who help the BGA, or local media icons get sensational headlines.

Here in Chicago, one "dimes out" someone,some people in order to benefit financially, or to exact retribution for real or perceived harms and slights, in order to Blow the Whistle on one's enemies.  A whistle blower is a rat, a stool pigeon, a 'disgruntled ( passed over for theft, truancy, or incompetence) public employee.'

The term was an updated version of the practice of 'dropping a nickel' -making a phone call - in order to betray, put on-the-spot, inform and exact annihilation upon a person or persons who have hurt that "the dimer's" feelings.

They are louses.  They are feral creatures who benefit at the public trough, or lard up on larceny until opportunity affords them a sanitary off-ramp from harm.

These days traitors and whistle blowers benefit from the decades long campaigns to dumb down Americans by creeps serving bad agendas.  The Rosenbergs were traitors but Hollywood and the Ivory Tower attempted to treat them as victims, until the Soviet Union collapsed and the Reds published their 'classified materials.'  Tokyo Rose's last years were padded with velvet thanks to President Ford's political need to get out from under the Nixon pardon.

Today, the pasty ectomorph wearing an Army Uniform and beret is hailed as the new Cindy Sheehan


and now we have another whistle blower hailed his equal -



Progressive's love this stuff. Anything that make the compelling narrative a huge cudgel for the exclusive use of our enemies foreign and domestic.

Holed up in a hotel room in Hong Kong, Edward Snowden, 29, said he had thought long and hard before publicizing details of an NSA program code-named PRISM, saying he had done so because he felt the United States was building an unaccountable and secret espionage machine that spied on every American. Chicago Tribune

 So Snowden spilled his guts for his country.    I remember teaching Joseph Heller's Catch 22 about how a WWII Snowden spilling his guts for his country -

But Snowden kept shaking his head and pointed at last, with just the barest movement of his chin, down to his armpit. Yossarian bent forward to peer and saw a strangely colored stain seeping through the coverall just above the armhole of Snowden’s flak suit. Yossarian felt his heart stop, then pound so violently he found it difficult to breathe. Snowden was wounded inside his flak suit. Yossarian ripped open the snaps of Snowden’s flak suit and heard himself scream wildly as Snowden’s insides slithered down to the floor in a soggy pile and just kept dripping out. A chunk of flak more than three inches big had shot into his other side just underneath the arm and blasted all the way through, drawing whole mottled quarts of Snowden along with it through the gigantic hole in his ribs it made as it blasted out. Yossarian screamed a second time and squeezed both hands over his eyes. His teeth were chattering in horror. He forced himself to look again. Here was God’s plenty, all right, he thought bitterly as he stared — liver, lungs, kidneys, ribs, stomach and bits of the stewed tomatoes Snowden had eaten that day for lunch. Yossarian hated stewed tomatoes and turned away dizzily and began to vomit, clutching his burning throat. The tail gunner woke up while Yossarian was vomiting, saw him, and fainted again.

Not the same.

Our pasty ectormorph du jour is fixing to harbor-out in Red China. Good place for him.

A whistle blower is a traitor with a good Press Agent, a website, Commie lawyers, and the soul of a pig or a Progressive.

Trying to ask the difference between a whistle blower and traitor is like asking a set of chopsticks - "Which is the fork?"

Ah, Sure and It's Only a Wee Gun

A 14-year-old boy is accused of dropping a gun in the middle of North Michigan Avenue in the Gold Coast yesterday afternoon, causing a disturbance, police said today. . . .

His mother, who was reached by telephone Thursday evening, said authorities were “wrong” for having cited him and implied they were not going to listen to her son’s side of the story anyway.
“My son’s side of the story doesn’t count,’’ she said. “They’re going to make it whatever they want.’’
After being asked if her son had a gun, she said: “I’m not at liberty to say, you’ll have to discuss that with his lawyer,’’ and hung up on a reporter.

Went something like this, you think?




Talk a laugh! And sure the wee man thought concealed carry had passed. All the other kids got one . . .at least.

Eye Yam Sleepy Lemon Rivers!

Some might say that I am just a mean Old Prique, but I likes my feet wet.

Whoa yeah, oh yeah
Everythin' gonna be alright this mornin'
Oh yeah

Now when I was a young boy, at the age of 5
My mother said I was gonna be the greatest man alive
But now I'm a man, I passed 21
I want you to believe me honey I had lots of fun

I'm a man
Spell M-A child -N
That represents man
No B-O child -Y
That mean mannish boy ...............


Read more: MUDDY WATERS - MANNISH BOY LYRICS






According to this wonderful Blues Calculator, I am become the The Blues Artist -Sleepy Lemon Rivers AKA Clyde Wood, my Porn Star Name: Patrick Francis Hickey

The rest we know . . . .


I'm a man
I'm a full grown man
I'm a man
I'm a natural born lovers man
I'm a man child
I'm a rollin' stone
I'm a man child
I'm a hoochie coochie man

Sittin' on the outside, just me and my mate
You know I'm made to move you honey
Come up 2 hours late
[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/mannish-boy-lyrics-muddy-waters.html ]
Was that a man?

I spell M-A- child -N
That represents man
No B-O- child -Y
That mean mannish boy

A man
I'm a full grown man
I'm a man
I'm a natural born lovers man
I'm a man
I'm a rollin' stone
I'm a man child
I'm a hoochie coochie man

I'm a natural born lovers man
I'm a rollin' stone
I'm a natural born lover
I'm a hoochie coochie man
Well, well

Oh yeah, hey
I'm a natural born lovers man
Well
I'm a natural born lover


Read more: MUDDY WATERS - MANNISH BOY LYRICS

Irish American U.N.Ambassadors - Daniel Patrick Moynihan 1975 and Coming Soon - Samantha Power

 “Am I embarrassed to speak for a less than perfect democracy? Not one bit. Find me a better one. Do I suppose there are societies which are free of sin? No, I don't. Do I think ours is, on balance, incomparably the most hopeful set of human relations the world has? Yes, I do.” 

― Daniel Patrick Moynihan


 I got into journalism not to be a journalist but to try to change American foreign policy. I'm a corny person. I was a dreamer predating my journalistic life, so I got into journalism as a means to try to change the world.

SAMANTHA POWER, Salon.com interview, Feb. 18, 2008

President Obama just doubled-down on folly.  He took Susan Rice out of the reach of Congressional scrutiny for any future transparency over the Benghazi massacres last September 11th with an appoint to White House National Security Chief and the nomination of Samantha Power to replace Rice as UN Ambassador for the United States.

President Obama does not break wind without the full and roaring approval of Valerie Jarrett, White House Ministress Without Portfolio Foreign and Domestic. Ms. Jarrett is a Chicago Slum Property Venture Capitalist and someone the newspaper purse-puppies say is really smart.  Personally, I don't think Ms. Jarrett could make change without a committee of Alumni from University of Chicago Lab School. 

That said, the President trotted out his choices: 

Swell.  Susan Rice will stay hidden but the OXfAM Anti Semite Ms. Power will buck and wing her way through the nomination process.

Ms. Power helped craft the Libyan mess and the subsequent Benghazi massacre.  Ms. Rice talked the talk.

Ms. Rice will do exactly what the Slum Dog Millionaire Jarrett tells her to do, but Ms. Power (Mrs. Cass Sunstein) could be Pandora in pumps for the Administration and world affairs, because she speaks her mind and heart.  Samantha Power is in it only top transform America from a world power and moral force into a pinata for Third World fascists who use the war on genocide in order to annihilate Israel and its allies. Ms. Power's war on genocide is the Wannsee Protocols for the Muslim Brotherhood - stop the killings only if it leads to the killing of Jews.

The Irish are strange creatures - loyal,spiritual,  generous, lyrical and compassionate; Informers, atheistic, petty, bigoted and selfish.  For every Kevin Barry there is a Gypo Nolan, for each Edmund Rice there is a Lord Haw-Haw, for a Daniel Patrick Moynihan, we now a have Samantha Power.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan was the greatest Irishman of the last century, in my opinion, scholar, poet-bartender, patriot, statesman and the greatest orator of the times and the man could work a beer glass.  Most of all, Daniel Patrick Moynihan was Mick enough to able to waltz through a cow pasture on dark night without soiling his brogans.  He like most Paddys knew his meadow muffins from mayonaise.  He was America's Ambassodor to the UN and Israel's champion.

Here is Samantha Power -

Her book A Problem from Hell, will also be the title chosen by her biographer. 

I always thought that Barack Obama was most inadequate to be President.  A back-benching Illinois State Senator should have been the apex of his resume.   The nomination of this pedigree'd Turkey-bird*, Samantha Power, to a UN chair made sacred by Narrow Back Paddy Moynihan's rump is proof positive.

*Turkey-bird - endearing term for for Salt Water Irish, FBI ( Foreign Born Irish) - 'His Ol' man was born in Galway . . .a Turkey-bird,'

Narrow-Back - An empirical observation that Americans born of Irish Descent do not work as hard as their bog-trotting parents - ' See Thim Narrabacks in the Aran Jumpers this time a summer, Declan? Jaysus they're a shower, so.'

Senator Marque Kirque and Rep. Bobby Rush Share a Rest at Ogden Park

Despite different views on how to battle murderous gang violence in Chicago, Kirk, a Republican who lives near Highland Park and Rep. Bobby Rush, a Democrat from Calumet near 35th in the city, agreed Tuesday to work together after meeting for about an hour in Kirk’s suite in the Hart Senate Office Building. . . .Rush said Kirk “and I have agreed to not only work together, he said he will visit Englewood and other communities there. I am looking forward to him listening to young people.” Lynn Sweet

Weeks from now, when Chicago's roiling heat brings feet to the window sills for urban AC, after a stroll through Bobby Rush's 1st Congressional District, I see the pair stretching out on the cool grass at Ogden Park, over by Racine, for much needed rest.


MK - "Bobby. . . ?"

BR - "Yes, Marque Honey . . .you're tired, now, rest up."

MK-" Thank you ever so much for this stroll through the 1st District.  I now really get the African American Experience."

BR - "MmmmmHmmm. Maybe you can have me up in Highland Park"

MK  - " Uh, I'd like to, but I think you'd be uncomfortable . . .people can be so . . .harsh.  Even really comfortable and smug people who watch WTTW. Uh, .........Bobby . . . ?"

BR -" MmmmHmm."

MK- "That lady at Lloyd's Lounge said, 'what I needed was a good bag of Listeners.  What's Listeners, Bobby?  An Audience?"

BR- " No Honey, they's fried pigs ears."



MK-" Gross!  Bobby?"

BR - "MmmmHmmm"

MK - " That lady said I should suck on some Bumpy Face. Is that like Ghetto Kissing?"



BR - "'S'matter You Boy?  Bumpy Face ! Seagrams Gin, Son."

MK - " Should I suck on some Bumpy Face?"

BR - " Lookee here, you can go suck on anything you want, but I AM out of here;  Can't get no kind of sleep with your cryin' -ass white boy Sheeeeeet!  Man up, son!"

MK - "Oh, keep your Old Ghetto!

BR - " No boy!  Take it with you!  They's a bus stop right on Racine."

MK - "  You're nothing but black Redneck!. . . . .Are there GD's ?"

BR - " Ask for the BDKs, . . .better yet, Ask How to get out of The Angawoods . . .that should help."

MK - " Well, I am going! "

BR - " Make sure you got change . . .White Boy! Ain't no MastahCard on the CTA!"

Jazz Vocalist Miss Terry Sullivan - Live in Oak Park's Madison Street Theatre

Gay Marriage - Angry, Hostile and Vindictive is the Only Way to Gay?

Illinois Pan-pest Andy "Smashing knockers" Thayer.  If it's goofy, Andy is out in front.

Only hours after failing to sweep-up enough votes to Redefine Marriage and Make 'Em Pay's (SB # 10), sponsor and architect of both Civil Unions and the failed Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act is being treated with all of the civility and graciousness visited upon Francis Cardinal George by the LGBTQ leadership and men of Boystown.

In more than a dozen speeches Saturday night, activists who fought for months to pass the bill, blamed Democratic politicians for the loss.
"We were working under circumstances where there was a lack of communication from the House," said Anthony Martinez, executive director of The Civil Rights Agenda, who described himself as "incredibly pissed."
Taking much of the heat were House Speaker Michael Madigan and Harris.
"The truth is there is no one to blame except for the person who didn't call a vote," said Lambda Legal's Jim Bennett, chair of the Illinois Unites for Marriage Coalition, of Harris.
Bennett said that accusations that lack of support in the House Black Caucus doomed the bill were unfair.
He further commented on a Windy City Times editorial by Publisher Tracy Baim, which called on Harris to step down as the bill's sponsor and not run for re-election if the bill fails in the November's veto session.
"It's a conversation we should all have," said Bennett, who called the lack of a vote a "profound betrayal." But Bennett said that calls for resignation might be premature, noting Harris's history within the community.
Bennett's comments came alongside a media release from Equality Illinois the same night, stating that the call for Harris to resign was wrong. [The editorial does not call for Harris to resign.] The release condemned his decision not to vote on the bill.
"But Representative Harris has been our stalwart leader in the General Assembly, masterfully leading the way for civil unions, funding for AIDS/HIV services, and other important initiatives impacting seniors, women and children," Equality Illinois said in the statement. "Probably no one in that body ached more than he did in announcing his decision."
Equality Illinois leaders did not attend Saturday night's rally.
Several speakers urged action from grassroots community members, noting that LGBTs had placed undue trust in leadership on the bill.
But despite outrage from many speakers, a solemn and disappointed mood marked the rainy evening protest. LGBT couples stood arm-in-arm together, some of them crying. Others quietly held up homemade signs.

Scores of gay activists - some say 50, but Windy City Times says over 100 - vented in Boystown against Rep. Greg Harris.

Fred Eychaner paid to get Greg Harris' looney bill passed and signed by Gov. Pat " Yes, Sire!" Quinn.  Catholics, evangelicals and African Americans strongly voiced opposition to the legislation that is using Civil Rights as its smoke screen, in order to exercise power over the people of Illinois and the religious faiths and institutions that object to re-defining marriage.  The politics of this demands that there be no such opposition - in thought word or deed - like voting.

Fred Eychaner's Windy City Times trotted out Tracy Baim's Stalinist denunciation of the leading gay activist in Springfield.

The biggest blame has to be placed on the chief sponsor of the marriage equality bill in the Illinois House, Rep. Greg Harris, an openly gay man. If you are out front for the credit when there is victory, you are also out front for the failure. The bill stops there.
Harris made promises he could not keep. In politics, that can be a reason to step down. Harris, who has dedicated his career to LGBT and AIDS issues, deserves the chance to prove his strategy right. If he wins, we all win, and that is all that matters. But if he does not succeed in passing this in the veto session this fall, he should not run for re-election in 2014. To be clear, this is not a call for Harris to resign, but he will have lost the trust of the people he made commitments to, and it is very difficult to lead once that trust is gone.
In addition, Harris should step down now as chief sponsor of this legislation. He has proven he is tone deaf to the wishes of both the grassroots and leadership of this community. They almost all called for a vote "no matter what." Instead, Harris chose to give cover to his political colleagues, rather than follow through on his own on-the-record promise to call for a vote by May 31.
Why did a vote matter now? Because for months, no hard count has been possible on who really was for or against this bill. This limbo caused confusion and depleted valuable resources lobbying dozens more representatives than necessary.
Harris said he has promises from certain reps they will vote for the bill this fall, but we have seen how political promises pan out.
What's not clear is if it would have failed if the legislators had been forced to be on record. Several legislators said they believe some of their colleagues would have changed to "yes"—and indeed in other cities and states this has been the case. With four openly gay and lesbian representatives in the Illinois House as their colleagues, they have a much greater understanding of this battle. ( emphases my own, HARRIS!)

Not Greg, Not Mr. Harris," not thanks . . .just try and get a reservation at Kit Kat, Harris. "

Anger, Hostility and Vindictiveness have been the theme and overall tone of the push for Gay Marriage - the issue, according to Gay Commissars, is not subject to debate.   What's next ?

More anger, hostility and vindictiveness.  Fred Eychaner will get more money from fro Henry Van Ameringen and other members of the American Gay Mafia.  There will be more Gay sit com idols trotted out wearing Paul Simon ties and Pat Quinn will talk about his bruised fists punching out homophobic cops at Stonewall.

Gay Pride Parade will be one angry, hostile and vindictive stroll.  Harris had best blow town.

 

Marriage Won a Close One in Illinois This Week.

Harris (left) is comforted by state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a fellow Chicago Democrat, as he announces he would not call the marriage bill for a vote.Harris' speech was met with a standing ovation, as was another speech by state Rep. Deb Mell, who discussed her marriage to wife Christin Baker. Harris, Cassidy and Mell are three of four openly LGBT members of the Illinois House.

Do I want every person in Illinois to have a happy life?  Why, yes I do.  Do I expect every person in Illinois and points beyond to behave, thinks and aspire exactly as I do?  Good God, no.

I am relieved that I have the right to step out of bed once again on what some people call the 'the wrong side of history.'  I am relieved and very surprised that Greg Harris could not come up with any where near the votes to redefine marriage in Illinois and set the table for lawsuits against my Church and many, many other faiths.  With scads of money and every editorial board in his vest pocket, Illinois Rep. Greg Harris, the LGBT Robespierre of the Illinois Religious Liberty and Marraige Equality Bill (SB 10).  Greg Harris catalogs the power political muscle and money behind this bill which failed to get the votes and turns to Lincoln as hammer.  Rep. Deb Mell catalogs her personal trail of tears and her great marriage as soccer moms, cooks and partners.



Greg Harris helped lead this effort through the Illinois Senate on Valentine's Day and it looked as if the House would fall to the narrative about happiness, civil rights, Stonewall is Selma, Catholics are haters and 'the right side of history'  - "a claim deployed in political debate to delegitimate one’s opponents." Custer told the Sioux that they were 'on the wrong side of history' at the Washita River in 1868.  The Sioux told Custer the same at the Little Big Horn River in 1876 with real gusto. This conversation continued until Wounded Knee in 1890.   History does not have a side, it has only sidelines packed with advocates who dress up in lab coats, take polls and random samplings of like-minded folks and pretend that science proves truth.

Political science is actually a form alchemy - scholars seeking to turn lead into gold or sex into love.  Sex, as I understand it, is a wonderfully pleasant after-effect of the inclination to perpetuate the species.  Sex is no more love than nails and wood are carpentry - Sandra Fluke notwithstanding.

In the case of Gay Marriage the alchemy demands that LGBT be thought of as 'strange fruit'


While African Americans swung in the breeze, Jane Addams accepted a Nobel Prize.  A black legislator mentioned this insulting simile of Gay is Black on So Many Levels and was immediately and wildly ridiculed on the Illinois Progressive lobbyists blog.

Love and happiness very often work in tandem, but not always.  Some people who love very, very, very deeply can be the most unhappy of God's creatures.  Happiness is happiness is hard to get. Ask Anna Karenina, or Jennifer Anniston, or Anthony Weiner.

Marriage is between a male and female and they different for very good reasons.  A male and male can have sex until Bill Moyers makes sense, but they will not procreate.  A male and female who marry may very well have sex once and produce a child of either gender inclined toward same (homo) sex and remain a very happy and loving family.  A male and female may breed outside of marriage and populate the earth with unloved and neglected males and females. A male and a male may bond in a civil union and adopt a child and love one another, but that is not a marriage any more than an abortion is a health initiative.

I do not know how my Representative (Fran Hurley) would have voted, but I do know that my State Senator (Billy Cunningham) voted for this law.  I will continue to send notes reminding Rep. Hurley that I strongly object to this artificial, dodgy and dangerous legislation.  Cunningham does not care about my vote. I object to SB 10 in the strongest possible terms and I refuse to defined by those who push its passage.

Greg Harris will continue lead the LGBT revolution in Illinois - he's paid to do that.  Let's see what history will eventually be written - a law in Illinois that makes war on marriage and religion, or not.

Speaker Mike Madigan Tried, But Goofs Outnumber People in Springfield

The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
Marcus Aurelius 
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/revenge.html#4IuCJtreUYlgdj4B.99 

Mike Madigan had the best plan to save Illinois from fiscal doom with Senate Bill 1.  It was defeated by the Illinois Senate. My State Senator Bill Cunnigham voted NO on this bill.  The Illinois Senate passed the Gay Marriage boondoggle.  My State Senator voted for Gay Marriage and the war on religious conviction.  Bill Cunningham is a goof.  The goofs outnumber serious people in Springfield.  Bill Cunningham again voted with the herd of goofs against his constituents. There are only  few hours left in this legislative session.

Gay Marriage is stalled by the House vote. My Rep. Fran Hurley has indicated that she will in fact for for Gay Marraige and the Illinois War on religious conviction.  It seems that Fran is a goof.  I always found Fran Hurley to be nice.  There are nice goofs. Goofs will do what others prod them to do - Like Billy Cunningham.

Speaker Madigan is anything but a goof.  He is the only adult in Springfield.

The Gay Marriage and Illinois War on Religious Conviction Bill is stalled in the Illinois House.

I wonder what Speaker Madigan* will do.


* From a Towering Goof- "If Mike Madigan doesn't get his house to pass this bill this session, we're going to lay it right at his doorstep," said Andy Thayer, Gay Liberation Network.

Sweet Hickey's Advice on White House Pest Control

The Face Confronting the Baller Obamas Through the White House Screen Door -" Hi, It's Doug!!  Hello?"

Publicly released records show that embattled former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman visited the White House at least 157 times during the Obama administration, more recorded visits than even the most trusted members of the president’s Cabinet.

 



February 22, 2009,

Dear Mr. Sweet-Hickey,

My husband has an employee, Doug Shulman, who visits OUR HOUSE constantly.  He wants an Easter Roll; He has no duct tape; he borrows the hose; Barack's ratchet sets; wants to shoot Horse; drinks all the Blue Moons and leaves some nasty-ass @#$% called Grain Belt; eats whatever is in plain sight without asking a simple by your leave; uses the bathroom and never flushes.  I am at my wit's end with this. Please, help.  The two girls are creep'd out.

I see his face through the screen door and I want to Maya Angelou his ass!

Signed, Michele O. Wash.D.C.

Dear Mrs. O.

Ho, ho. . . slow down and take that cleansing breath. 

It sure sounds like this bureaucrat has gone Full Kramer on you.  That is the price we all pay for being social animals.  Unless you happen to live on a pillar in the desert, or come from Swedan, you are always going to have the neighbors pop in on you and your family.  While it can be frustrating, it can also be very helpful.

Either you must have your husband, the as this man's boss, gently but firmly set ground rules for visits - " Hey Doug, great to see you and all, but call firs . . .really."

Now, that can hurt feelings and may lead to problems in the work place. Here's what I do.  Put the guy to work with something messy. You see, many drop-in types are just people with not much to do, while others are preying on your good manners.  You can not be sure which type this person happens to be.

I suggest this alternative, because it really has worked for me.  I used to have many neighbors pop-in, bang on the back door, or just let themselves in.  Now, I am a pretty lazy guy as well as a very selfish brute to boot. When Paul Vallas dropped in to see if I had any Colander's Greek Spice, I noticed my sink full of dishes.  I gave Paul the Colander's and said, " Hey, Paul.  I gotta run up to Keegan's Pub with Bernard's monthly issue The Piranha.  Do me solid, Paul and nail them dishes for me?"

Paul sent Sharon on tasks after that - that Dutch Babe is tougher than calculus.

Anyway, I learned that by giving my visitors something to do, visits vanished!

Make Doug a part of the solution to some other problems.  Have him get Doug to  replace  a toilet seal, 

That is a pain . . .easy but the seal is tricky and messy.

Doug, boy!  Do me a Solid -Rod out a sewer line, get up on the roof and clean out the leaves and whirlybirds, or replace the attic insulation.  Nothing says, " Last Visit for Me" like an afternoon in hot crawlspace with spunglass.

Have Your Old Man act all helpless, shrug, scratch the back of his head and kvetch with an issue that requires only Doug's expertise and happens to be  so distasteful that he'll think twice about a pop-in visit.

Good Luck!

Mr. Sweet-Hickey

A Musical Interlude and Passing of Time 2009-2013

April 1, 2013

Dear Mr. Sweet-Hickey,

 I apologize for the delay in thanking you for the very best advice on how to handle Doug - the drop-in Kraemer pest.  Barack and I have been so busy killing Bin Laden, getting re-elected and transforming America that I have been remiss in this task. Sorry.

Well, you were certainly right!  Though Doug is a frequent visitor, he is far less creepy because of the tasks Valerie, David, Samantha and I have given Barack for Doug to do.

Doug is on it!  Thank you so much!

Sincerely,

Michele O, Washington D.C.

May 2013,

Dear Mrs. O.,

That, to be of help. I remain . . .

Your Mr. Sweet-Hickey

I Gotta Go Along with Congressman Bobby Rush -Sen. Marque Kirque is an “upper-middle-class, elitist white boy"

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) is highly critical of a proposal by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) for mass arrests of 18,000 Gangster Disciples, telling the Sun-Times on Wednesday that Kirk’s approach is “headline grabbing” and an “upper-middle-class, elitist white boy solution to a problem he knows nothing about.”
One of Kirk’s top priorities is targeting gangs; he has been meeting with law enforcement officials to devise a plan to execute the mass arrests.

Bobby Rush kicked Barack Obama's delicate rump in the race for the Congressional seat still warmed by the Old Black Panther. In the 2000 Democratic primary called out the aspirational and future transcendental mythopoeic Chief Executive who throws a football like Debbie Wasserman-Schultz enunciates, "Barack Obama went to Harvard and became an educated fool. Barack is a person who read about the civil-rights protests and thinks he knows all about it."

Bobby all but called the then Woods Fund Executive emeritus and Illinois State Senator Barack Obama a 'white boy.'   Black columnists of the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times did as much arguing that the jejune Fresh Princeling was no where near 'black enough' to serve the 1st Congressional District. Obama carried the white vote.

I attended the Snow Flake Ball at the Evergreen Plaza prior to the primary and watched Congressman Bobby Rush work the crowd with cheers and beers that would have made Paddy Bauler spring for back-ups. If IL Sen. Obama was present, he must have had a permanent perch behind a balcony pillar down by Carson's.  I voted for Barack Obama to slim avail.

Bobby Rush is established in black Chicago.   He did not get the pencil-neck white vote out of Hyde Park, nor the ham-sized fists of Morgan Park, Mount Greenwood, nor the political elites of Beverly.  Barack Obama has had those votes since 2000 - largely. 

Bobby Rush knows an upper class, suburban elitist white boy when he sees one, as do the ham-fisted cops, firemen, skilled tradesmen and tough committed white teachers and nurses of Morgan Park, Mount Greenwood and Evergreen Park. Sometime after the 2000 primary can of whup-ass was opened on IL Sen. Obama, the Congressional maps were re-drawn and Blue Collar Morgan Park, Mount Greenwood, Evergreen Park, Oak Lawn and etc. were represented in the 3rd Congressional District by Congressman Dan Lipinski.  Beverly west of and north of 97th & Prospect, well.  The political elites are in Dan Lipinski's Congressional District. 

Senator Marque Kirque* is a Republican from the mos def-elite suburb of Highland Park.  He is a U.S. Senate creation of the Roland Burris/Rod Blagojevich Balls Up and the kvetrching and compromise of Federal G-Man Paddy Fitzgerald,  Senator Dick Durbin, former Lt. Gov. Quinn, the old Tom Hynes machine against poor old Alexi Giannoulis - the Greek Obama.

In short, Marque Kirque is more of a Progressive Democrat than  Bobby Rush, because Bobby Rush is actually a working man and I respect that.

That should be enough context and geneology.

Here's the deal, Marque Kirque and Dithering Dick Durbin are senatorial Siamese twins - both fatuous and oily.  Together they came up with a plan for Fitzy's replacement to swoop into the Hood, in its many manifestations with armed ( Homeland Security Mall Cops n'cest pas?) forces and snatch the GDs, The Stones ( aren't they allied to Operation Push?), the Four Corner Hustlers, Mikey Cobras, Vice Lords, Latin Kings and the Hostess Twinkies from our mean streets . . . and do exactly what with them? Send them to Gitmo?  Maybe Dick Durbin and Pat Quinn's Thompson Illinois Pet Farm?  Remember? That was where Dithering Dick wanted to send the Gitmo Guests of the Nation.  Still vacant. Just like Dick.




Bobby Rush knows that this plan is just, well, . . .bone stupid.  Consider the source, Congressman.

Marque Kirque has a great resume and the moral compass of a Hollywood agent. Moreso, Marque Kirque would not know a greasy bag of listeners from a flat jug of bumpy-face, leta lone a porch full of GDs from a Lake Forest LGBTQ Cub Scout Troop.

Congressman Rush will want to have Federal Programs pump millions into the 1st Congressional District to Save the Children, pay Ceasefire, wet the beak of Hal Baskin and other GD retirees.

I say, save our money.

The way to have a safe Chicago streets is easy.

• Have a universal moratorium on any and all Lawsuit Lotto Lawyer ( Peoples Law, MacArthur Center for Making Thugs Rich and Destroy Criminal Justice) or G. Flint Taylor Jon Loevy grifts and gambits
• Return the authority to police Chicago to the Chicago Police Department
• Make thugs pay and not pay the thugs
• Hold judges accountable for multiple felony thugs getting 'benefit of the doubt.'
• Require the Chicago print media to balance heart tugging Yummy Sandifer Sagas with the little Prique's rap-sheet
• Call bullshit on Stats, Studies and Programs that only handcuff the cops and hand felons ammunition

But that's just me.

I can't stand upper-class, elitist white boys either, Congressmen - be they white, black, brown or pink.  I respect the fact that Congressman Bobby Rush (D-1st District) works to not only hold his congressional seat, but actually bring home Federal bacon to the District.  Bobby Rush is a working man.

Marque Kirque is an upper-class, elitist white boy.

*

Tenure [edit]

Kirk was sworn-in on November 29, 2010 as the junior Senator from Illinois.^[38] On December 18, 2010, Kirk voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.^[39] He was one of only two Republicans to oppose legislation to detain American citizens indefinitely.^[40] Kirk sits at the Senate's coveted Candy Desk.^[41]

Infrastructure advocacy [edit]

In his first year in the Senate, Kirk worked along with U.S. Sen Dick Durbin (D-IL) to help mediate a dispute between airlines servingO'Hare International Airport and the City of Chicago in order to Keep the O'Hare Modernization project on Schedule.^[42] It is estimated the project would create 200,000 jobs and add $18 billion to the regional economy when completed.^[43]

Kirk and Durbin also worked together to bring $186 million in federal funds to support improved rail service from Chicago to St. Louis. The money was originally rejected by the state of Florida but reallocated to Illinois.^[44]

Kirk authored legislation, entitled the Lincoln Legacy Infrastructure Development Act, that sought to eliminate barriers and encourage private investment in roads, transit, airport and rail.^[45] Several of the provisions in the legislation would later become law under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (P.L. 112-114), including provisions to eliminate barriers to public-private partnerships for public transportation projects and a boost for the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFA) program.^[46]

Illinois debt crisis [edit]

Kirk appointed a sovereign debt advisory board to help research the unfunded obligations and unpaid bills contributing to Illinois' debt crisis. He later produced a Report on Illinois Debt highlighting the unsustainable debt the state continued to hold and the need for pension reform.^[47] Kirk introduced legislation entitled No State Bailouts, S. Res. 188, along with 14 other US Senators, which would ban federal bailouts of financially struggling states. Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford endorsed the legislation.^[48]

Anti-corruption work [edit]

Kirk and Representative Robert Dold (R-IL-10) introduced bipartisan legislation to expand qualifications for ending federal pension payouts to elected officials convicted of corruption. The bicameral provision expanded current law to include an additional 22 crimes, and the bill was included in the STOCK Act signed by the President in April 2012.^[49]

Same-sex marriage [edit]

On April 2, 2013, Kirk became the second sitting Republican senator to support same-sex marriage.^[50]