Federal Judges and Sound Judgement Not Always a Fit: Foot Loose Hobos in Judge Tharp's Court!

              Mark Kirk's Judge John Jay Tharp (blue striped tie) Hobo Friendly

With seven Hobos scheduled to go to trial in September, prosecutors alleged for the first time this week that the gang was responsible for nine killings as well as countless shootings, robberies and home invasions. No gang has been charged in a federal indictment with that level of violence since the El Rukns two decades ago. Chicago Tribune June 16, 2016

In today's Chicago Sun Times, Jacob Wittich tells us that 'several' Hobos will be in Judge Tharp's courtroom and Judge Tharp does not want them unduly prejudiced by being shackled.  Foot loose!

The Hoboes, not the bindlestiffs of yore, nor Lords of Boxcars, a super group coalition ( Gangster Disciples/Disciples & etc.) of gang thugs are about to be tried in Dirksen Federal Court.

They are wildly dangerous.

Their Hobo associates, who will pack the court, just might be more than mildly dangerous.

The United States Marshall Service asked for permission to shackle the 'several members' ( I am unclear of how many persons constitute a 'several' - more than two, but less than many, I guess) of Hobo coalition, due to manpower shortages, and the danger to the public this gang and their associates pose to everyone.

Well, truth be told,  there are Seven Hobos - a Magnificent Seven - being tried in Dirksen Court. That is seven dangerous persons with seven circles of family and associates.  Sounds like the seven circles of Hell having its day in court.  What could possibly go wrong?  Mark Kirk?


Senator Mark Kirk ( R, Durbin) recommended, President Obama nominated and  the U.S. Senate confirmed by a vote of 86-1 Judge John "Jay" Tharp to the United States District Court for the Northern District. republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah was the only Senator to vote against Jay Tharp.

I would love to speak with Senator Mike Lee.

Mark Kirk has made a national jackass of himself in the United States Senate and he will be soundly defeated by a very weak ( hack) candidate on November 8th.

We have Judge Tharp.

The Hobos will be unshackled. Gee, what could go wrong?

But U.S. District Judge John Tharp denied those requests during a Friday status hearing, claiming the shackles could sway the jurors’ perceptions of the defendants.
“The charges in this case are obviously quite serious, and the concern that the marshals have raised is quite appropriate,” Tharp said. “That said, there’s obvious prejudice that [shackling] inures, and I have to try to balance the rights of the defendants against the legitimate needs of security.”
“What reinforces this is the fact that should the defendants not comport themselves perfectly appropriately at the trial, the prejudice that will float to them from that sort of misconduct will far outweigh the prejudice of shackles,” he continued.
Tharp said it was a “difficult” decision that he will not hesitate to revisit during the trial if necessary.
Tharp also addressed concerns that a guilty plea by one of the defendants could adversely affect the other defendants.

Ask any County Court ( brawlers, drunks, non-political grifters, thieves) veteran about their appearances in the local County Court shackled to other accused after a long night in County.   Yep, shackled for safety reasons - their own and the public.

Shackles like nooses remind us of Roots, Twelve Years a Slave, Ben Hur and Flash Gordon.  We are always reminded that "We are better than that" and "those are not American Values." No, they are constraints. Progressives love their prose purple and their metaphors mixed and Judge Tharp delivers, " . . .  there’s obvious prejudice that [shackling] inures, and I have to try to balance the rights of the defendants against the legitimate needs of security. What reinforces this is the fact that should the defendants not comport themselves perfectly appropriately at the trial, the prejudice that will float to them from that sort of misconduct will far outweigh the prejudice of shackles,”

Ah, yes!  They will rue the day they acted out in Judge Tharp's court!

Judges have great credentials.  Some judges even have common sense.

The United States Marshall Service are ignored by Judge Tharp.  What could possibly go wrong?



Stay tuned.

U.S. Senator Marque Kirque (D.(urbin), IL) Thinks Sean Connery Makes a Nice Field of Dreams as Jim Garrison in JFK

Senator Marque Kirque had a stroke; Senator Dick Durbin is one.  Together, the Archie and Jughead of Our Federal Patrician House would not have the intellectual breath between them to rotate the blades of carnival pinwheel more than three times.

As I said, Marque Kirque had a debilitating stroke and might be forgiven this -

Story by 89 WLS Reporter Bill Cameron(CHICAGO) The flap continues between Alderman Ed Burke and Senators Mark Kirk and Dick Durbin over the senators’ desire to name the ATF building after Eliott Ness.
Burke claims the legend of Ness is a myth. “Eliot Ness never laid eyes on Al Capone. The case against Al Capone was developed by a federal agent in the Department of the Treasury by the name of Frank Wilson. Now if the federal government is looking for a role model to use for a building name, why not Frank Wilson?”
But Kirk is sticking with Ness. “Did you see the movie “The Untouchables?” I think he did pretty well in that movie. As Sean Connery, I thought he was pretty good. I’m going with the Eliott Ness that was in the movie.”
Trouble is, Connery didn’t play Ness, Kevin Costner did.
© Content Copyright 2014 WLS Radio 890AM and WLSAM.com. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

- were not for the fact that Marque Kirque had career in the House of Representatives equal to the above claim.   Pretty easy to mistake a G-Man for a Turkeybird Flatfoot, post stroke I reckon; but a septuagenarian Scottish Actor for Field of Dreams Guy?  J. Edgar Hoover's Nightie, Senator! 

Senator Dick Durbin has not had a stroke but he remains a giant one. 

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]

Project Shield and Cook County - Here's The Grant; Where's the Money

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." Self-audit by Irish soccer genius the late George Best


“When you waste Homeland Security money you are less safe,” Congressman Mike Quigley (D) IL. and Former Cook County Commissioner

Ahhhh! The indefinite pronoun You. An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that refers to one or more unspecified beings, objects, or places. You can mean anyone -even me.

Thus, let's talk about my part in this sordid affair - When I waste Homeland Security money, I am less safe.

I never get my hands on Homeland Security money; I am safe. I am safe because I never waste Homeland Security money. I believe that Senator Marque Kirgue ( R) IL and Congressman Mike "Too Tall" Quigley are on to something ( indefinite pronoun).

Here is the thing, Mike Quigley was a Cook Commissioner through the tenure of Stroger Pere and most of the tenure of Stroger Fil and he made life a bed of nails for both. Nothing got cleaned up, whatever that means, in Cook County government and nothing changed, but the gender and the shoes of the Cook County Board President. During those years of Quigley capers and cavorts, the diminutive plunger tweaked Sheriffs and County Employees and TIFS and managed to get appointed to Congress. Also, during those years, Wee Mike was custodian for the millions of dollars granted to Project Shield - a high tech communications relay for Cook County municipalities and Emergency First Providers - cops, firefighters and EMTs.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle pulled the plug on Project Shield* a few weeks ago.

Wee Mike was with Cook County Board and Kirque was in Congress.

They now are shaking jowls and thundering to the media, "What Happened? Where's the Money

These two lads just dandy little public piglets -Marque and Mike, but that's just me.

Me, I am a simple, quiet, pious man who loves his country and so I read and think about what I have read in order to raise a question or an eyebrow or two about people like Mike and Marque who fervently believe that we citizens are huge dopes. I know that I can be a dope; after all I voted for former Governor Pat Quinn. Early this beautiful January morning I decided to read the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) response to Marque and Mike.

On Page three of the DHS document is a Table -Table 1. of grants to Cook County FY 2003-2009

Table 1. UASI Grant Awards to Cook County, FYs 2003–2009
Project Shield
Total UASI Award UASI Funding UASI Funds Expended

2003 $12,848,927 $12, 399,292 $12,496,924
2004 $16,110,715 $11,303,495 $ 9,730,379
2005 $22,465,000 $15,836,810 $13,867,261
2006 $13,065,000 $5,210,254 $ 3,609,212
2007 $16,548,000 $3,000,000 $ 2,367,876
2008 $15,904,525 $5,331,425 $ 3,567,144
2009 $15,225,309 $5,622,756 $ 0

Total $112,167,476 $58,704, 032 $ 45,638,796
Source: Office of Inspector General (OIG) Analysis of FE

Okay - between 2003-2009 Cook County got between grants and funding a total in the amount of $ 179,871,508, or there abouts and expended $ 45, 638,796 which might leave a husky $125, 232,712. So, if EXPENDED means spent, out of the wallet, somewhere other than here, that must mean that there is a whole pile of DHS grant money somewhere. Don't it?

I gotta believe that the two sinister columns are the funds readily avaiable for use, or looting and that the dexter EXPENDED column represents what actually was used or looted.

Holy David Corzine!!!!

I read this passage again , after I read the conclusion drawn by the audit -

In a letter to the DHS Inspector General, Representative
Mike Quigley and Senator Mark Steven Kirk expressed concerns
about the vehicle used by the President of the Cook County Board
of Commissioners being equipped with Project Shield equipment.
They were concerned that these funds should be used for
emergency responders, not for executive transport.
According to Cook County personnel, Homeland Security funds
were used to retrofit the vehicle with communication equipment.
The rationale for installing this equipment was that the President of
the Cook County Board of Commissioners needed access to
current information to make real-time decisions during emergency
events in the county. We found no specific grant guidance that
would disallow this cost.

Also this tidbit -

Of the 128 municipalities in Cook County, we found that:
• 32 never had equipment,
• 9 left the program after participating in the project, and
• 87 have Project Shield equipment, of which 71 have
vehicle video systems.

We visited 15 municipalities, which included 14 police departments
and 4 fire departments, and found numerous problems, including
equipment malfunctions, unused equipment, and uncertainty on
how to operate the equipment. We could not determine the exact
cause of the equipment problems but noted that many users of the
Project Shield vehicles did not have the necessary training on the
equipment.

The results of our 15 visits identified the following:
• 4 of 15 municipalities returned all of their Project Shield
vehicle equipment,
• 10 of 15 municipalities complained about either a lack of
training or the quality of training provided,
• 7 of 11 municipalities with equipment complained about
current service, and Homeland Security Grant Program Funds Awarded for Project Shield
• 4 of 11 municipalities with equipment were unable to or
unsure how to transmit video from the vehicle to the
command center.
Discussions with police personnel revealed that their primary
interest was to record and obtain video for criminal evidence.
They were uncertain whether they could transmit live video to a
monitoring station, allowing an emergency event to be managed
from a remote location.
We also analyzed trouble tickets (a reporting tool used to track
equipment issues) for the last 3 months of calendar year 2010, and
found that 62 municipalities submitted 122 trouble tickets for
equipment malfunctions, such as the inability to access database
records in the vehicle.

Now the auditors' Conclusion -

Conclusion
FEMA, the State of Illinois, the Urban Area Working Group, and
Cook County did not ensure the effective implementation of
Project Shield. The lack of planning was evidenced by faulty
equipment, questionable locations for the equipment, and inability
to integrate with existing communication equipment. The mobile
video systems were not adequately tested to ensure that they could
be operated effectively during an emergency. Project Shield
expenditures were not adequately authorized, supported, and
verified. The weaknesses can be attributed to Cook County’s
inadequate management of the project, as well as the ineffective
monitoring by FEMA and the State of Illinois.

( emphasis my own)

The Auditors did not use any indefinite pronoun and they used the past tense COOK COUNTY DID NOT ENSURE EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROJECT SHIELD. Mike Quigley was, if I recall, Cook County Commissioner watching every penny from 1998 -2009.
Senator Marque Kirque was . . .well, Rep. Marque Kirque. That was then; this is now?

The lads will employ them indfinte pronouns and this head-scratcher will go largely ignore . . .saving the House of Pain soon to visit Stroger Fil.

Someone will say " You mean Me, too?"

*

Project Shield was previously conceived by Cook County officials and begun in 2004. The objective of the project was to provide situational awareness through audio, video and data communications from police squad cars back to their department headquarters, as well as to the County and to deploy fixed site-cameras at various locations.

Toni Preckwinkle' office June 30, 2011

Quigley was first elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 1998. During his tenure he has gained a reputation as a reformer as he opposed tax hikes supported by Cook County Board President John Stroger, and later his son and successor Todd Stroger. He contended the county could operate more efficiently and he presented reports to support the position. Quigley also challenged the practice of finding jobs for Democratic officials with the Cook County Forest Preserve District