Dennis Byrne's Common Sense on the Mosque at Ground Zero

One of the best lines of dialogue in James T. Farrell's Chicago masterpiece -Studs Lonigan occurred in the first book of the trilogy Young Lonigan.

In one of the pool hall scenes Lonigan and the Hoods hanging out at Bathseller's Pool Hall are razzing one of the younger guys. The kid has had enough and he pathetically commands, "Keep Your Old Pool Hall."

Barney Keefe wags back, " No. Take it with you!"

Similarly, Dennis Byrne offers a very nuanced suggestion with regard to President Obama's favorite Mosque - The Cordoba House at Ground Zero.

The Constitution, law and tradition prohibit government from dictating where a denomination can build its house of worship. It's so enshrined in the law that the Supreme Court has decreed that government can't prohibit American Indians from smoking hallucinogenic peyote as part of a religious rite. Thankfully. We've already had enough of government prohibitions on expressions of faith, from the presence of a cross on isolated, public property, to public schools erasing references to religious holidays.

Yes, houses of worship located even on private property are not exempt from zoning laws. And government can take property owned by religious dominations if it serves a clear and compelling public interest and a no "less burdensome" alternative to achieve this public good is available.

But the Cordoba House has passed those tests. It doesn't violate local zoning or landmark ordinances. And being insensitive — as the imam surely is — is hardly sufficient legal grounds for blocking the construction of a house of worship. Let's be honest: the opposition to the mosque is fueled by discrimination against this religion. It's so obvious that any attempt by any government to stop the mosque surely is a loser. If Catholics, Protestants or Jews wanted to build there, we wouldn't be having this debate.

So, conservatives, let's leave the wailing about the imam's insensitivity to liberals, for whom it is the highest of offenses. Let's not waste our breath hoping that a government you believe should be limited would step in and do something about it. Such an expansion of government powers would eventually and surely turn against you in unforeseen ways.

Give Rauf his victory, if he must have it. It'll be hollow because the mosque's presence will stand as a concrete reminder of our devotion to liberty and acceptance of its costs. Erect a plaque outside proclaiming, "This mosque brought to you courtesy of America's dedication to freedom." The mosque will stand for all to see as testimony to Rauf's rigid and Procrustean version of Islam. Certainly, he and Islam will be the losers.

Absolutely! All of the Obama Cheerleaders, like Jonathon Alter and Mark Halperin, have been churning out Harper Lee Heart-tugging appeals to the Founding Fathers' Writ since President Gaffe-o-Matic Obama uttered his warm embrace of New York Mayor Bloomberg's Hagia Sophia West . . .and began the long walk back.

Have a Mosque, Rauf, by all means.

Great thoughts, Mr. Byrne!

President Mosque Backer Obama Falls to New Low - He'll Go Much Lower BTW

President Obama is now at the lowest approval rating of his young Administration - he has been One Gaffe, One Bow, One America Apology, One Race Baiting Teaching Teachable Moment, One Waffling, Multi-Vacation Disaster after the next - there will be many more to come.

Barack Obama was an Illinois and US Senate back-bencher crafted by Hype and Spin Merchants. He could have been a statesman had he stayed home, run for governor and actually really accomplished something. Rather, he ate up the flattering and transformed it into very sad hubris.

The poor man is so inept, that his Progressive base has already turned on him. They were going to do so anyway, but even a Progressive waits until the last legislated morsel has been gobbled up . . .until now. They are already attempting 2012 damage control.

Fact -

In the United States, politics pivots around the allegiance of the middle class, even as its identity has changed from yeoman farmers and mechanics to store clerks, office workers, x-ray technicians, and small business owners. They are, in Bill Clinton’s words, “those who work hard and play by the rules.” They are the central characters in a populist rhetoric that goes back to the early republic. It depicts the middle class as embattled and threatened either from forces below (impoverished immigrants, welfare cheaters, ghetto rioters) or above (Wall Street speculators, state bureaucrats, K Street lobbyists). Populism can be embraced by Glenn Beck or Tom Harkin. It is intrinsically neither left-wing nor right-wing.

President Obama allied himself with Progressives who have hated the American middle class from the get-go, ( Sinclair Lewis e.g.) especially ACLU, SEIU and Planned Parenthood. These are your base, Mr. President, and they are coming after you.

Tea Party People, disenchanted Democrats like me and Republicans are not your enemies, Mr. President. You are your own worst enemy, Sir, as well as the folks who crafted your compelling narrative and biography.

President Obama Job Approval
Polling Data
Poll Date Sample Approve Disapprove Spread
RCP Average 8/5 - 8/15 -- 44.4 50.6 -6.2
Rasmussen Reports 8/13 - 8/15 1500 LV 43 56 -13
Gallup 8/12 - 8/14 1547 A 42 49 -7
FOX News 8/10 - 8/11 900 RV 43 49 -6
CNN/Opinion Research 8/6 - 8/10 1009 A 47 51 -4
NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl 8/5 - 8/9 1000 A 47 48 -1

This will go lower than Hollywood's standards for good taste and judgment.

My Zsa Zsa Moment - Ivan Kenessey's Wine Celler in Hotel Belmont 1981

I was saddened to learn that iconic Hungarian beauty ZsaZsa Gabor has asked for the last rites of the Catholic Church.

ZsaZsa and her sisters Eva and Magda took America by storm in the1950's and introduced the sobriquet 'Dah-Ling! ( Darling)' to public discourse.

The three Hungarian beauties sang , sort of, but were very easy on the eyes with robust physical constitutions that defied the assault of not just years but decades.

They were and remain eternal beauties.

Here in Chicago, another eternal beauty was Ivan Kenessey. Ivan Kenessey owned Kenessey's Wine Cellar in the Hotel Belmont at the corner of Belmont and Sheridan.
It was probably the last Hungarian restaurant in Chicago, though there remained some Mom and Pop operations in South Chicago along Exchange and 95th Street and few in Hegewisch. Kenessey's was magnificent - Veal Paprikash, Hungarian breaded schnitzels, pork loin topped with letcho ( a sweet pepper, onion, and sausage Hungarian bruchhetta, or salsa that was great on its own or larded onto Hungarian bread) and home made cheese spreads of every texture and range of spice. Kenessy's cheese spreads were gifts of the Holy Spirit. There was a wonderful imported beer selection as well. Ivan Kenessey was a beaut! Tall courtly, witty, generous, and the greatest host this side of Reilly's Daughter owner Boz O'Brien.

The Gabor sisters hit Kenesseys's hard every time they played the Drury Lane, Empire Room, Arie Crown Theatre, or Orchestra Hall. Victor Borge was also a frequent Kennessey guest.

My late wife Mary - then Mary Cleary -worked for Ivan. Mary and the two Oak Park Sisters Morrissey, Barb and Jaimie lived in an apartment run by Barry Management at Pine Grove and Belmont, from 1980-1982. Mary and I had been dating since 1978 and our Kismet-like meeting at Leo's Riverside Tap* on the mighty Kankakee River at Station Street. I fell madly in love and Mary tolerated my advances. Persistence pays off . . .well it worked out for me anyway.

Mary worked for Coldwell Banker in the Old Standard Oil Building and also for Ivan Kenessey. Mary was a superb waitress, which probably made her such a great Art teacher two years later. I was teaching and coaching at Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee, Illinois. After my duties for the week, I would drive my 1967 Velveeta Cheese Box Yellow Plymouth Valiant to Chicago and scout out a free parking space near the apartment and pop over to the Hotel Belmont and wait for Mary's shift to end - usually about 11:00 PM on Friday's.

I always liked to get there early - if I am on time, I am fifteen minutes late - and shoot the breeze with Ivan, about Jane Byrne, Bobby Douglas and Joe Kapp as the greatest running quarterbacks, cooking, foreign beer, history, music, Georg Solti -a celebrated resident Magyar and Mary. On this Friday, Mary was absent. Mary cracked Ivan up. " Coach, Mary told me that she was hit by a car while riding her bike to work. I thought this strange as Mary lives one hundred yards from here, but? Her Mother called here and I told her that Mary had been hit riding her bike, 'That girl does not have a bike, Ivan. She was probably at a bar with her two pals.' Your girl is a delight!" Yep, a yarn-spinning, shift ditching, fun-drinks with the girls, delight. This time she was caught. Didn't seem to make no never mind to Ivan Kenessey.

In walks the ZsaZsa Gabor! Ivan glides to the beauty and gives her regally jewelled and manicured digits a courtly kiss on the knuckles and sweeps the beauty wearing a blue raincoat and scarf to a table in the corner and joins her. They sit like teenagers cooing over one another in a 1950's malt shop. After about ten minutes, Ivan waves me over. I knot up the tie that I am still wearing from a Friday's classes at Mac and brush off the crumbs attendant to my meal time ministrations and try to summon up a bon mot, witty acknowledgement, or courtly blessing - I got nothing. I make my way over to their table without knocking over chairs, coat racks, or guests and stand there grinning like the yokel I be. " ZsaZsa, this is my very good friend a high school teacher, Mr. Pat Hickey." At seventy something ZsaZsa Gabor was a riveting beauty with the skin and clear eyes of seventeen year old. I drank in the whole package, but managed to say, " Miss Gabor, it is a genuine pleasure to meet you and you are more beautiful than . . ." Her mouth opened in genuine embarrassment and I was treated with " Why thank you Dah-Ling!"

That was something. I bowed my way back to my table and waited for Mary to show up and tell Ivan about the trauma of the bike accident. Ivan never even hinted that he had caught his feckless waitress in the act of blowing off her shift. I had that pleasure. God Bless Ivan Kenessey!

God Bless you and welcome you, ZsaZsa!

* I tended bar at Leo's Riverside Tap a gorgeous Limestone building with a magnificent red-polished wooden bar, during the summer months. One evening at closing-time an enchanting tall red-head in an SIU Saluki T-shirt and chinos made her way to me - " Ow have two Jackencokes ena beer." Pulling myself to my fullest height, I cocked an eye-brow and rejoined "You're Shut off Ducky! Closing time in ten, anyway."

"Ducky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. . .you . . ."

There followed a string of maledictions, threats, obscenities that won my heart forever!.

The People of The Book and Genuine Muslims Can Go to Hell - President Obama

President Obama drove the last nail into his Presidency. President Obama took the advice of the "principled left" - the loud, obnoxious, privileged, affluent, and villainous people who demand legislation on everything and do nothing good for any human person - from the womb to grave.

70% of the American people believe that the Cordoba Initiative triumphalist thumb in the eye of America is unethical ( should not be considered) and blasphemous.

Toad-eaters like Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the legion of Journolist hack writers and editors who greased President Obama's election with smarm think this is good,as do the Communists, Socialists and Anarchists whom President Obama traditionally protests too much - "They are not the folks I know" - believe this to be a wonderful thing. Giving America a hot-foot and a kick in the nuts is always a very Progressive hug-able moment.

Seven out of ten Americans -People of the Book ( Jews and Christians) and genuine Muslims, atheists, agnostics and the odd Wiccan believe that American values are not tested by a Wahabist Imam, whom Obama made legit with a State Department portfolio, and his Saudi bankers.

“This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are.” President Obama praising the Cordoba Initiative -the Mosque at Ground Zero.

Nonsequiturs abound!

Here is a balanced perspective from a Muslim -

I was born in pre-revolutionary Iran. My family led a largely secular existence -- I did not attend a religious school, I never wore a headscarf -- but for us, as for anyone there, Islam was part of our heritage, our culture, our entire lives. Though I have nothing but contempt for the fanaticism that propelled the terrorists to carry out their murderous attacks on Sept. 11, I still have great respect for the faith. Yet, I worry that the construction of the Cordoba House Islamic cultural center near the World Trade Center site would not promote tolerance or understanding; I fear it would become a symbol of victory for militant Muslims around the world.

Neda Bolourchi whose mother was murdered by Islamist terrorists on 9/11.

President Obama, an Illinois back-bencher, is athe worst President in American History - white, black, Gay, Breeder, Male, Female, Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim or Mason. Barack Obama has nailed down the absolute last place in history as an American President, for history.

This is a good thing, Americans, because, when that Mayflower Van pulls up to the White House in 2013, not only will President Obama be packed up with the linens and knick-knacks, but the principled left as well.

As soon as GE and the other corporate weasels understand that American anger has wallet consequences, the tone will change. Again mean spirited, abortion-happy, Hegelian totalitarians will be ignored or least giggled upon once again. The batteries will be removed from the megahorns; Praise be to God.

May the principled left enjoy the quiet of the very, very, very private life.

The Principled Left . . .and other Oxymorons

While waiting to pick my daughter Clare up from this afternoon's Mother McAuley Sophomore Class Walk-thru, I thumbed through the pages of the Washington Post - honor bright.

I found this piece by the socialite Katrina Vanden Heuvel. That is a handle right out of Henry James or Gilligan's Island.

Ms. Vanden Heuvel is New York gadabout flitting from every fab event-to-MSNBC-to -Planned Parenthood do's and also is the owner, editor and publisher of the The Nation - the far left's magazine of note - founded by abolitionist and featuring every Hegelian bug-eyed shouter since 1865.

Progressives are the American Far Left - not liberals per say; rather, revolutionaries with trust funds.

My people could never afford to be radicals, as they were and are too busy working.

Katrina Vanden Heuvel offers this giggle -

When Barack Obama embarked on what most political insiders saw as an audacious campaign for the presidency, the question was whether a newly-elected senator from Illinois could entice Democrats to consider a contender other than a former first lady who proposed to be the first woman president and a former nominee for vice president who was saying important things about the growing economic divide in America. What ultimately won him the Democratic nomination in 2008 was a decision by the principled left -- professional and amateur -- that the one leading candidate who had expressed blunt opposition to the war in Iraq before it began had shown better judgment than Hillary Clinton or John Edwards.

( emphasis my own)

You see President Obama is being tossed under the wheels of the very bus that he so deftly pitched Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Billy Ayers, Van Jones, Desiree Rogers, General McCrystal, ad infinitum. President Obama has proven to be a very weak sister and feminists hate weak sisters. Well, last week, Robert Gibbs, Obama's Press Spokesman, said what every one in America already knows - Progressives will stab you in the back and never ever shut up. The sad fact of the matter remains that we the citizens allow America to become a mandarin operation. Progressive are the American mandarins -little powerful loudmouths and bullies. They don't lend a hand in a crisis they demand action and usually from lawyers. Progressives tend to be the Mandarin Policy wonks, academics, pie-chart hustlers and hereditary political icons ( be they an Illinois Simon, A Universal Kennedy, a Chicago Daley, A Racial Jackson, or an Andy Stern) and they have, with the help of a very supine media, become Our American Mandarins.

Clowns that used to be laughed out of the smoke filled rooms in better days, are now foisted on the voter.

Policy over politics has been the destruction of American government. When Americans have had enough they’ll let the mandarins know about it.

That is what the Principled Left is all about - maintaining the divisions and grabbing power.

The Principled Left is like German Humor,Cool Jazz,Simple Interest Loan, Progressive Thought, and such.

You see, I have yet to meet or experience the Principled Left. Would they be. . . John Edwards? Nancy Pelosi? Billy Ayers? Noam Chomsky? Maxine Waters? Planned Parenthood? ACLU? Principled like MSNBC? The Journolists? Ezra Klein? Jan Schakowsky? Rod Blagojevich? Daily Kos? Betray Us? Moveon.org? SEIU? Madarin Andy Stern?

Like I said Katrina Vanden Heuvel is a howl. Nice is have a hobby.

Friday Night Noise - Kinks: Set Me Free

Gotta love Ray Davies - Neil Young with a sense of humor.

God Send Grace to The Wheatley Family and All Firefighters- St. Florian Be With You!

Christopher Wheatley, 31, died early Monday after he fell several stories on the scene if a West Loop restaurant fire.

Wheatley's funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. at St. John Fisher Church, 10234 S. Washtenaw Ave., Chicago. But first, friends, family and fellow firefighters will hold a prayer service and a procession, and then Wheatley's body will be taken to the church in a Chicago fire truck.

May St. Florian* Patron of Firefighters give you strength and the peace that comes with it.

Firefighter's Prayer of St. Florian

Dear God, Through the intercession of our patron, Saint Florian, have mercy on the souls of our comrades who have made the supreme sacrifice in the performance of their duty, and on all who have gone before us after years of faithful discharge of their responsibilities which now rest on ourselves. Give us Grace to prepare each day for our own summons to Thy tribunal of justice. Into Thy hands O Lord, I commend my spirit. Withersoever Thou callest me, I am ready to go. Merciful Father of all men, save me from all bodily harm, if it be Thy will, but above all, help me to be loyal and true, respectful and honorable, obedient and valiant. Thus fortified by virtue, I shall have no fear, for I shall then belong to Thee and shall never be separated from Thee.

Amen.

Florian lived in the time of the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian, and was commander of the imperial army in the Roman province of Noricum. In addition to his military duties, he was also responsible for organizing firefighting brigades.

The Roman regime sought to eradicate Christianity, and sent Aquilinus to persecute Christians. When Aquilinus ordered Florian to offer sacrifice to the pagan Roman gods in accordance with Roman religion, he refused, and cheerfully accepted the beatings of the soldiers, who used clubs, spikes and fire to torture him. He was executed by drowning in the Enns River with a stone tied around his neck.

Later a woman named Valeria had a vision in which she saw him; Florian, in this vision, declared his intent to be buried in a more appropriate location.

Chicago's Joseph Epstein Skewers the New York Times

Perhaps one picks up all newspapers in anticipation and puts them down in disappointment. But the New York Times, at no extra charge, also leaves one feeling one lives in immitigably dreary times, and it does so daily. I don’t need it.
America's Montaigne*, Joseph Epstein, gives the Gray Lady New York Times a full length mirror.

However, like the murderous egomanical Norma Desmond of Sunset Boulevard, the New York Times will merely demand "All right, Mr. Pulitzer, I'm ready for my close-up."


Gray Lady! Didn't You Used to Be Someone?

The New York Times used to be called the Gray Lady of American newspapers. The sobriquet implied a certain stateliness, a sense of responsibility, the possession of high virtue. But the Gray Lady is far from the grande dame she once was. For years now she has been going heavy on the rouge, lipstick, and eyeliner, using a push-up bra, and gadding about in stiletto heels. She’s become a bit—perhaps more than a bit—of a slut, whoring after youth through pretending to be with-it. I’ve had it with the old broad; after nearly 50 years together, I’ve determined to cut her loose. I have decided, that is, to cancel my subscription to the New York Times. For so many decades the paper has been part of my morning mental hygiene. Yet in recent years I’ve been reading less and less of each day’s paper. Most days now I do no more than scan the headlines on the front page, check the sports pages for the pitchers in that day’s White Sox and Cubs games, then flip over to the Irish sports pages, as the obits have been called, to see if anyone I know has pegged out.

Chicago has given us so many great prose writers -Joseph Epstein, John Kass, Dan McGrath & etc - we are blessed.

Joseph Epstein's full essay is linked - click my post title.


*http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/montaigne/m-essays_contents.html

Essayist Francois Quesnel (1533-1592) "Montaigne" - "The question is not who will hit the ring, but who will make the best runs at it."

Klassic Kass! Zagelian Monotony and Big House Tamales!!!!

Every Chicagoan knows that when you go to Chris, Jimm and Gus's Big Baby Breakfast at the corner of Whipple and Wherever and you order eggs in any manifestation - Scrambled ( if a suburban tight ass), fried, omeletted, poached over hash, or boiled ( Irish female octogenarian), you get double or triple your order.

Thus, if you feel like two or three fried eggs, sunny side up, order ONE.

Greeks always give more.

John Kass hit one to the long fences today in covering the Fire-in-the-Kitchen at the Dickerson Center- the Blago Deadlock Mystery.

Here's your order, Honey! First you get some cold tomato juice with a dash of Tabasco and lemon -

After listening to all those the TV talking heads breathlessly speculating on the jury's recent cryptic note in the case of former Gov. Dead Meat, the big issue remains unanswered:

Is Rod Blagojevich going to be making those Big House Tamales crafted with ingredients from the federal prison commissary for the next 7 to 10 years, or isn't he?

Good start - now, look at the heaping and steaming platter!

Despite all the theories tossed about after the jury delivered the note Wednesday to U.S. District Judge James Zagel, here's the thing.

Nobody knows what it means. I don't. Rod Blagojevich doesn't. Certainly the lawyers don't.


"We don't know what it means," said Michael Ettinger, lawyer for Rod's brother and co-defendant Robert Blagojevich. "The judge doesn't know what it means. I assume they are hung on my client, but I don't know."

So nobody knows. And you don't, either, unless you're a juror, and if you are, then you better stop reading this right now or Judge Zagel will get medieval on you.

So after getting all high and mighty and criticizing my TV colleagues for speculating, it would be most unfair for me to engage in speculation.

Hash Browned Prose -Crispy!

In the annals of human history, there have been only two times that the impish grin has been wiped completely from the face of Rod Blagojevich.First, there was that time when the FBI called him about 6 a.m. to tell him they were coming through his bungalow door to arrest him. And he thought it was his good buddy, then state Sen. Jimmy DeLeo, D-How You Doin?, making a practical joke.

Jimmy? Is that you? Jimmy?

No, it was Rob Grant, the special agent in charge of the Chicago FBI office.

And the second time the grin was wiped off was Wednesday, when he got the call to get down to the courthouse immediately because the jury had something to say.

By the time he arrived, he had been able to force at least half the smile back on his face. Walking past reporters, he wisecracked, "Missed you guys."

But inside, without a jury to play to, the infuriating grin was gone. Instead, he patted his head a number of times, running his fingers over the back of his prodigious mane. But nervously, not like Mr. Cool

This is huge platter with good stuff that will stick to Chicago's ribs cascading over the edges! Good Lord, I'm sweating like a whore in Church, but I gotta keep going! This stuff is great! I'll walk it off later! I'm still working on this, but you can start working on the bill.

After the eggs and spoon vitals, Murial, dig into the meat on the Dead Meat Saga -

Zagel said he would ask the jury for clarification, and that he'd tell them it was possible for a jury to return a unanimous decision on some counts but not others.

Lawyers were told to return to court at 11 a.m. Thursday. That's going to fuel even more speculation by us gum flappers who don't know any more than do you.

Notwithstanding the "deliberated without rancor" line from the Perry Masons on the jury, Zagel had kind words for the panel.

He told the lawyers that the jurors were "exceptionally disciplined" and that he hadn't once heard them fighting in the jury room.

The remark about not hearing them fight was delivered in the well-known dry Zagelian monotone — which can be earnest or witheringly sarcastic, depending on his mood. And that fueled even more guesswork.

Does this mean they're getting along, so they're about to convict? Or is it that they're so angry with each other that they've stopped talking altogether, the way my wife gets when we're in the car and I've just said something really stupid?

How in God's name anyone would go to a milky, insipid, and stingy source for news-commentary or breakfast, other than a heroic Greek, is way beyond me.

Mickey D's addicted Chicagoans passed on a great Greek in 2002 and we settled on former Governor Dead Meat.

Great thought and soul breakfast John Kass.

Blago Walks and Sam Adam Eats and Sleeps - Tamara Holder Had it Right All Along.

Chicago Attorney Tamara Holder and me have thought that the case against Blago was never glued all that well.

As I said two weeks ago, "Tamara Holder is long-in-the legs and smarter than the Medill School of Journalism - I think that they are on the money - Blago will walk because Fitzy can not Show Us The Money!"

Back in June during the trial the Tribune Editorial Board sic'd their business dude on Tamara Holder over her sound thoughts on the trial -

The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, Boys and Girls! Trib Ed Board packed with Disc Jockeys, Ladies Who Lunch, Real Estate Barons, and Really Earnest NPR Listeners and the noted Business Writer and Medill School of Journalism Graduate and Business/Law Ink-Slinger Ameet Sachdev wanted to smear attorney and journalist Tamara Holder. Why?

Why does the Tribune do what it does?

Anywho, I saw the web edition ( saves me some dough-ray-mee) but a pal tossed me the print copy of the article attacking Tamara Holder's coverage of the Blago Trial in Huffington Post, which I thought was about the only accurate piece in that comic page. Low and Behold! The Chicago Tribune Editorial Masters and Ameet Sachdev reveal that "Jessie Jackson" is implicated!

I know that Congressman Jesse Jackson is named for his Old Man -Rev. Jesse Jackson, but I had no idea that young Ms. Jessie was involved in the Illinois Blagojevich Fire Sales.

A guy once told me, "Hickey you spell well." I told him that I was a well speller from way back - got cuffed and whacked daily by the Sisters of Mercy for my not well spelling.

I blog fast sometimes as I need to get to Leo and do real work by 6:30 AM. Spell checker still requires a wide-awake look see.

That Tribune Editorial Board! Talk a Laugh! Next, they will tell folks that Tamara Holder looks like Ward Bond.

I love Ward Bond, but . . .

It looks like Blago walks and his lawyer gets to snack and nap again. Blago is a smelt that got away from Fitzy's harpoon. Smelt tend to do that.

Four Sisters Deliver Four Babies Within Four Days - Planned Parenthood and ACLU Will File Suit?

One Chicago family received an exciting gift this past weekend when four sisters each delivered babies within days of each other.
Three of the sisters, Lilian Sepulveda, 27, of Franklin Park; Saby Pazos, 29, of Bellwood; and Leslie Pazos, 24, of Stone Park gave birth to healthy babies on August 6 and 7 at Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park.
Their fourth sister, Heidi Lopez, delivered a baby in California two days later.
Dr. Jean Alexandre, Jr., an obstetrician/gynecologist on staff at Westlake Hospital, delivered the three babies this past weekend, according to a press release.

Well done girls! This makes the Abortion Happy Harpies Nuts! Thanks be to God!

It is very unusual but wonderful at the same time," Alexandre said. "They all were healthy."
The family said that the timing was unplanned.
"We are all surprised and shocked," said Ruben Sepulveda, one of the fathers. "It's just a blessing that everything is fine and we are happy that we are here."
All four babies are healthy, and Sepulveda looks forward to their first birthday party.
"We have to plan it," Sepulveda said. "Something big for all of them."

God Bless You All!

Free Housing Hostilities - No Tea Party

Thousands of people looking for Section 8 Housing outside of Atlanta got out of control -
" It is the plan we have in place!" Love it! One big government.

Felecia McGhee told the AJC she arrived around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. She said the major problem began when people started breaking into the line and officials started moving the areas where they were handing out applications. She said she saw at least two small children trampled when the crowd rushed the building where the applications were to be handed out.

This is no Tea Party - someone explain this incident to MSNBC.

East Point Police Sgt. Cliff Chandler said most of those treated were suffering from heat-related illnesses. He did not have a total number of people treated but knew of at least a half-dozen cases. He said a toddler was treated earlier in the morning for "some type of seizure." He estimated the crowd at 8,000 to 10,000.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Mike Petchenik said fights were breaking out and police had to stop people who were storming the door.

Channel 2 reporter Tom Jones said, “There are thousands, I mean, thousands of people here. I’ve seen people fall out from the heat.”

No injuries were reported but an East Point police officer was treated for heat-related problems.

By late morning the crowd had thinned considerably and people were walking up and getting their applications without delay. But just before the 1 p.m. deadline, a line of about 200 people had formed. Shortly after 1 p.m., several people ran across the parking lot to get in line but were told by police that the line was closed.

Emergency personnel brought in a pickup truck full of bottled water and were handing it out to the crowd.

A sign on the door of the office explained that only applications were being handed out.

"The housing authority will be issuing applications Wednesday, August 11, starting at 9 a.m. Everyone in line by 1 p.m. on the 11th will receive an application. ... No Section 8 vouchers are available at this time. There are no public housing units available at this time. You're applying for the waiting list only."

The Housing Choice Voucher Program, called Section 8, subsidized the rents of low-income families living in apartments and houses that are privately owned. The federal program makes up the difference in rent that the poor can afford and the fair market value for each area.

The federal government has specific standards for its subsidized properties but at the same time landlords are assured an income.

Only families with incomes no more than half the median income for the area qualify. The median income for the East Point area is less than $32,000, according to Census data. It is up to the renter to find a place that meets HUD standards, which includes being 90 percent to 110 percent of the “local fair market rent.”

On second thought, never mind. MSNBC is still blaming the 8 white people murdered by the black beer thief in Connecticut for that shooting.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpps/news/national/Hundreds-Hope-for-Federal-Housing-Assistance-20100811-am-sd_9118102

Illinois Fatuous Ninny - Ralph Martire Explains That the Taxes He Demanded Of Illinois Pols and Got Have Nothing to Do with Our Debt!

Illinois is in the jackpot it now enjoys because Dawn Clark Netsch and every other Goo-goo syrup-dripping phony and Marxist-in-Demo-Drag bully ragged gutless elected officials into more Taxes. More Taxes for -
1. The Children
2. The Hungry
3. Old Folks
4. Pensions
5. Fish & Sierra
6. Green Everything
7. Stan Ikenberry and Chris Kennedy
8. Assorted Race-baiting scams
9. SEIU
10. HI -Speed Rail Adventures of the Future!

These stupid and wasteful measure that did very little good were pie-charted by Ralph Martire - the most dangerous dweeb in Illinois.

Today, Ralph whines that Pensions are a symptom and not a cause -

That’s because the state’s outsized pension debt is actually a symptom of the state’s fiscal problems — not their cause.

Let me explain. For decades, annual state revenue growth has been insufficient to cover the growth in the cost of providing the aforesaid core public services, adjusting for just inflation and population growth. So for decades, legislators and governors engaged in the irresponsible fiscal practice of diverting revenue that should have been used to make pension payments, to instead cover service delivery, effectively using the pension system like a credit card.

As noted in a recent letter issued by the Chicago Federal Reserve Board, it is this decades-long failure to make employer contributions to the pension systems, coupled with asset losses caused by the recent recession, that in fact created the state’s huge unfunded liability. To be clear, the unfunded liability was not caused by generous benefits, high costs or even high head counts. But facing that reality is uncomfortable for politicians because it points the finger directly at them — and their irresponsible fiscal stewardship.

So, rather than honestly confront their own fiscal mismanagement, many politicians find it more convenient to demagogue this issue. And what better way to distract voters than by telling them the problem can be solved by switching from the state’s current defined benefit system to a 401(k)-styled defined contribution system — just like many voters have in the private sector. This has the advantage of sounding reasonable because it appeals to voters’ own personal experiences. Now, that may be good politics, but it’s horrible policy.

Right Ralph they are a symptom of Stupid Progressive and the hired Pie-Chart Pirates like you.

Thanks for Clearing things up.

If I were Bill Brady I would say Ralph Martire every third sentence.

If I were Governor Pat Quinn I would say "Ralph Martire is now a resident of Utah! I helped Ralphie pack!"

Blago Mouthpiece Sam Adam, Jr. Offers Free Exclusive Interviews at Will County Fair in Peotone! Nah, Read Natasha Korecki!

I have been worried that attorney Sam Adam, Jr. has been put off his feed and is losing sleep with guilt - guilt over maybe not having giving Milarod his props in court. Sam seems a mere shadow of his former self.

I have been worried, as well, that perhap I have not really, really, really tried to make my children proud of me by becoming a reality show contestant. I am down to three meals a day and seven hours of sleep.

Sam Adam, Jr. has granted a number of "exclusive' interviews to a number of "exclusive" intellectual giants like Elizabeth Brackett of WTTW - Winnetka Talks to Wilmette. However, Guilty Sam might wish to spread the love and offer -

Sam Adam, Jr. Esq. - Exclusive Interviews

Ride The Sam Adam, Jr. Blago Truth Tour - $ 83.00 per minute - You'll know what's what and I'll sleep and eat better.

At the Will County Fair in Peotone!

Will County FairDate:8/29/2010 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. - View More Dates Address:710 S. West Street Peotone, 60468 - Adult Activities, Children's Activities, Festival Description:The Will County Fair offers a variety of entertainment, activities, competitions, and vendors for visitors of all ages.

Be sure to visit the Forest Preserve District's booth in the Exhibit Building to collect information about all that the District has to offer.

Visit the Will County Fair Web site for more information.

Rube Hickey, nailing the first of many Elephant ears, "Hey, that ain't free!"

Sam Adam, Jr., still fasting and sleepless, " Move it along, Son! The offers Free! Fee is not Free, Dr. King rode a lunch counter for your sins and all our sins!!!! I will go to jail rather than contemptuously take less than the posted $ 83.00 for this exclusive free offer! Truth, Son! Truth! Now, move it along!"

Rube Hickey, " Mike Flannery said the same thing! Dang! Still, that's a hull lot of corndogs! Good luck, Counselor."

For real Blago Straight Dope - go exclusively to Natasha Korecki!
Click my post title for a real reporter.

Charlie Rangel Goes All Blago - Veiled Threat, to Colleagues?

Charlie Rangel was always kind of a cartoon character to me. He reminded me of a wildly antic video game icon running hither and yon to various news media outlets and letting out with NOOYAWKEE English about . . . whatever.

Recently, the same media mopes, who have tried to turn Ted Kennedy into Benjamin Disraeli and present Bob Byrd as anything but a Grand Cyclops Pork Hustler right out of a Coen Brothers movie, now cast Charlie Rangel as Audie Murphy in the role of Dr. Martin Luther King playing Ghandi.

Rather, Charlie Rangel chewed the scenery as former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on the floor of Congress, yesterday. Get this from the Denver Doric Column Building hack Dana Milbank -

"You're not going to tell me to resign to make you feel comfortable," Rangel informed his Democratic colleagues. "And for those who disagree, I'm sorry, but that's one thing you can't take away from me."

Midway through the diatribe, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left her seat and walked to the back of the chamber. When Rangel finally finished, a few dozen Democrats -- mostly members of the black caucus, New Yorkers and liberals -- stood to applaud. Most Democrats -- including Rep. David Obey (Minn.), the man who was leading the teachers-and-cops bill on the floor -- sat in silence. Democratic members, approached by reporters for comment as they left the chamber, looked stricken. . . "You're not going to tell me to resign to make you feel comfortable," Rangel informed his Democratic colleagues. "And for those who disagree, I'm sorry, but that's one thing you can't take away from me. . . Rangel rambled through the allegations against him. Fundraising with official letterhead: "Grabbing the wrong stationery." The center named after him at the City University of New York: "A broken-down building." The office in the rent-controlled apartment: "The landlord has said he didn't treat me differently." The unpaid taxes on his Caribbean vacation place: "You'd have to be a tax expert" to get that right, said the deposed chairman of the tax-writing committee.

The diatribe was directed mostly at his own side of the aisle, where "no one is coming forward saying Rangel is not corrupt." He said he was told that his colleagues "all love you . . . but they love themselves better." He mocked those who turned against him for political expediency: "Do what you have to do."

Repeatedly, he dared his colleagues to vote on his fate. "Are you going to expel me from this body?" he demanded. "Are you going to say that while there's no evidence that I took a nickel, asked for a nickel, that there's no sworn testimony, no conflict, that I have to leave here?"


The angry lawmaker left his colleagues with two words: "Go home."

Dana Milbank, a huge Obama-bot and former MSNBC Tool-shed member, is like a tiny moral plastic wind up mouse scurrying around the kitchen floor - he never knows where to plant his feet and take a stand.

Charlie Rangel on the hand is a Harlem Hustler who defeated Adam Clayton Powell another Golden Gooser back when I was starting high school. Charlie Rangel knows where every unsucked, let alone unplucked bone is tossed in the House of Representatives and he has been insulted by the very people who demanded that he 'get it done for the people!'

Seems to me that Charlie is holding many decks of cards more than the idiot savant for Governor of Illinois and Charlie is not staring at a list Federal charge. This is politics baby!

Charlie will rat out rats, like Charlie says, "all love you . . . but they love themselves better." More better.

Our Violent Media Menace -Won't Somebody Think of the Children?

"Journalism school leaves these people ill-prepared for life in conventional society," explains Egrub. "They see typical American people expressing normal opinions, and it causes confusion. In time, they become boiling cauldrons of paranoia and rage. This triggers a 'fight or flight' reaction, and sometimes they simply lash out." from Media Violence Project



Well, I've been to twenty-eight county fairs and as many hog-call contests, but I ain't never seen nothing like this!

Journalists are trending to be a very violent and menacing demographic. Perhaps that is why they tend to focus attention on police officers.

This is something - as a journalist would say . . .chilling.


Reader, prepare to be chilled!

Statistics of Shame
Accounts of media psychopathy, while widespread, have until now been largely anecdotal. In order to provide a more focused and systematic study of the crisis, Iowahawk researchers set out to identify and tabulate criminal arrests and convictions of current and former journalists. While by no means comprehensive, this 10-minute project yielded a grim picture of a once-proud profession now in the grips of tragic, drunk, violent, child-raping rage.

The stories cited in the opening paragraph, while instructive, are by no means isolated. Google searches return hundreds of crimes attributable to workers in America's media industry, and millions of pages containing the terms "journalist" and "murder." They are as shocking in their detail as they are in their number.

While some journalists' alleged offenses are limited to propery crimes and theft -- such as Redwood City (CA) radio reporter Joe McConnell and Former Detroit TV Reporter Suzanne Wangler -- often they take a darker turn, resulting in public endangerment. Current and former journalists seem particularly enthusiastic about driving the nation's highways and streets in drug and alcohol fueled stupors. Among the journalists arrested or charged with DUI offenses since 2000 include Salon and Guardian columnist Sidney Blumenthal, Chicago TV news anchor Walter Jacobson, Kansas City TV reporter Steve Shaw, Nashville newspaper columnist Brad Schmitt, Albuquerque Journal reporter Chris Vogel, Rocky Mountain News editor Holger Jesen, New York Post Columnist Richard Johnson, Idaho State Journal columnist Brady Slater, Tampa Tribune editor Janet Weaver, St. Petersburg Times reporter Eric Robert Gershman, and Lexington (KY) TV reporter Angelica St. John.

How many unsuspecting American motorists and pedestrians remain at risk from alcoholic media professionals is still a matter of scientific conjecture, but one thing is certain: journalists can be even more deadly outside their cars. Often the journalistic gateway to violent behavior begins with stalking and trespassing -- such as has been alleged of People magazine reporters Jeffrey Neal Weiss, and, in an unrelated incident, Don Sider. But sometimes, as in the case of MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, serial stalking behavior goes unpunished and the perpetrators go on to seek more serious thrill-crimes. Journalists recently charged with violent offenses include New York Times reporter and alleged batterer Michael Katz, British reporter Ben Stubbings, and . . ., charged with striking a police officer.

Often, the objects of journalist rage turn out to be the perpetrator's own family and loved ones. For example, in 2005 Chicago Sun-Times Columnist Neil Steinberg was charged with domestic violence for striking his wife in an alcoholic rage. But this tendency obeys no gender, as evidenced by domestic violence charges against female newspaper editor Rebekah Wade, and Tampa reporter Roxanne Evanina, charged with domestic battery for spraying bleach into her boyfriend's face.

But the Americans most vulnerable to attacks from media sociopaths are its smallest. A shocking number of journalism-related crimes involve child molestation, child pornography, and internet stalking of minors. Journalists recently charged with sickening crimes in this category include Arizona newspaper editor Lindsey Stockton, Arkansas radio reporter Charles "David" Ballard, New Orleans Times-Picayune reporter William Kalec, Washington DC TV weatherman Bill Kamal, and Noel Neff, former editor of the children's magazine Weekly Reader.

In recent times, the national journalist crime spree has taken an increasingly deadly turn. A typical case in point is former Savannah newspaper reporter Donald Lowery, charged with robbing a bank with a sawed-off shotgun. Sometimes arrests are made before bloodshed, such as in the case of Oak Ridge (TN) newspaper reporter and alleged murder plotter Michael Frazier, and former San Francisco AsianWeek columnist Kenneth Eng, arrested for threatening a Virginia Tech-style massacre at a New York University commencement. All too often, though, the warning signs come too late. Recent years witnessed several journalists arrested on murder charges, including longtime Hartford Courant reporter Gregory Robertson and Missouri radio host and reporter James Keown, charged with fatally poisoning his wife by spiking her Gatorade with antifreeze.

To help better understand the growing threat of journalist crime, the Iowahawk investigation team compiled the following statistical chart.

I am sure our Progressive media icons will take this fine presentation in the spriit it was offered and with the their usual grace and fine manners.

Cuius regio, eius religio - Obama's Religion is Vague - Bridge Builder To Build Gay Bar for Islamist Homosexuals Nex Cordoba Crowd's Ground Zero Site

Cuius regio, eius religio - The Religion of the King is the religion of the State

Since the Obama White is recognized in Europe as the Ancien Regime and FOTUS Michelle as the new Marie Antoinette, this may be a Progressive Kingship of sorts.

As President Obama is a Progressive, the official religion of America, Constitution not-with-standing, is Secular Progressive Non-Sectarian.

Atheist, Homosexual, Feminist, Abortionist, Vampire and Veggan are one in the Spirit and One in the State.

Catholics, Evangelical Protestant, devout Christian, religious Jew and honest Muslim need not apply.

That said, a bridge builder, whom NYC Mayor Michale Bloomberg and that fatuous idiot Capuchin who stood with the Islamist-Bridgeman Mayor at the site of the MSNBC sanctioned Ground Zero Cordoba Mosque and Community Center, should be hugged - comic and serious bridge-builder Greg Gutfield.


“So, the Muslim investors championing the construction of the new mosque near Ground Zero claim it’s all about strengthening the relationship between the Muslim and non-Muslim world.

As an American, I believe they have every right to build the mosque – after all, if they buy the land and they follow the law – who can stop them?

Which is, why, in the spirit of outreach, I’ve decided to do the same thing.

I’m announcing tonight, that I am planning to build and open the first gay bar that caters not only to the west, but also Islamic gay men. To best express my sincere desire for dialogue, the bar will be situated next to the mosque Park51, in an available commercial space.

This is not a joke. I’ve already spoken to a number of investors, who have pledged their support in this bipartisan bid for understanding and tolerance.

As you know, the Muslim faith doesn’t look kindly upon homosexuality, which is why I’m building this bar. It is an effort to break down barriers and reduce deadly homophobia in the Islamic world.

The goal, however, is not simply to open a typical gay bar, but one friendly to men of Islamic faith. An entire floor, for example, will feature non-alcoholic drinks, since booze is forbidden by the faith. The bar will be open all day and night, to accommodate men who would rather keep their sexuality under wraps – but still want to dance.

Bottom line: I hope that the mosque owners will be as open to the bar, as I am to the new mosque. After all, the belief driving them to open up their center near Ground Zero, is no different than mine.

My place, however, will have better music.”

A Religion of Peace and Tolerance? No sweat! Let the Conga Line Begin with me!

This is Homiletics? Father Larry, Spit it out before you choke on it.

In Today's Sun Times commentary, evidence of the weak-sister priesthood that has infected my Church since the 1960's is laid out by one such clerical cupcake and presented below.

An Oak Park stiff-collar offers a thick tongue into his own cheek, Praise Jesus, in what might appear to be a satire - shades of Flecknoe here Father! Father Larry responds to hyper-feminist Catholic Carol Marin - our NBC/WTTW icon.

Carol Marin belongs to a closed-society of well educated, well-heeled Catholic women who rail against the Boys Club of the Catholic Church - Down with the Rock of Peter! Up with Barca Lounger of Pauline! Women must be priests! Why? Just because.

The nuns of whom Carol and gals speak are not the cloistered saints of the Poor Clares, but the badly dressed mannish sixty somethings driving Nissans from Hyde Park to their personal ministries - not teaching in schools, or mending the sick, but show-up jobs as community activists. Too many of these starchy women have done just a swell job of scaring off the faithful. One such local nitwit, Sister Quinn, worked to help abort babies and other was fired for advocating abortion.

I read Rev. Larry McNally's 'thought-piece' homily in the Chicago Sun Times six to seven times and can not yet make heads nor tails of it. It is as slick as mercury and should appeal to the Carol Marin crowd and yet not get the Cardinal to make a phone call to the swell rectory in Oak Park.

Here's a limp lollipop example of why Catholics have contempt for some Vatican II manicured priests:

Catholic Church 'street talk' not speaking to needs of nuns
Comments
August 10, 2010

Carol Marin's article "Church inquisition a warning to nuns" on July 25, is further evidence of the "Catholic Church street talk." And that street talk is saying that the Holy Spirit must be under lock and key in the basement of the Vatican.

How else can one explain that the Vatican would declare that on the same list, both ordination of women and pedophilia are grave sins? How else can one explain the inquisition of the religious women's lifestyle while the male hierarchy of our church allows Cardinal Law to live in the lap of luxury.?

How else can one explain that the male hierarchy of our church says we do not have enough money to care for the retirement needs of the women religious, who have dedicated their lives to the service of the Gospel (thank God for our generous, appreciative, ever-so-grateful laity who certainly do more than their part in the religious care), but then you come up with a million-plus to investigate the religious?

How else can you explain that the male hierarchy would tell the religious that they have to help pay for the costs of the investigation and then tell the women religious that the report will not be shared with them? The "Catholic Church street talk" is also saying that if the women of our church went on strike, our church would collapse. And this is so very true!

We ought to pay a king's ransom to free the desperate needed Holy Spirit.

Oops, I, like our male hierarchy, must have forgotten the King did pay the ransom by his death on the Cross.

The Rev. Larry McNally

Ascension Parish, Oak Park

"Street Talk?" This Nancy Boy Rectory Kitten would not know street if it were paved over him. Christ Almighty! Father Larry lays out asimpaticosupposition
of Carol's complaints and yet, yet . . . ever so sweetly, chides. Or does Father Larry? Hard to say, when the message is skewed so weakly.

Father Larry, what position do you take on the ordination of women? Real priests, liberal and conservative, like Father Mallette of St. Maragaret of Scotland, Father Gene Smith of St. Barnabas, Father Marty O'Donovan of Faith Hope and Charity, Father Bubbles McFarland of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Father Gallagher of Sacred Heart, or Father Tony Brankin of St. Odilo parishes speak like men. You know exactly what comes out of their mouths whether you like it not.

Is Father Larry for the Ordination of women? Is Father Larry Simpatico with feminist Pro Choice?

Spit it out, sister, before you choke on it. Man up.

Oliver Stone's Masterpiece-"Obama: One About Does It!" has been cast

Will Smith Is The President
Patrick Ewing is FOTUS
Stedman Graham plays a stiff cold soul-less robot.
CHaz Bono is the Secretaries of Homeland Security and State!

Kevin James is Mr. Personality!

A Rubbery Old Broad is the Speaker of The House
Grannie Clampette as the Beaver
An Animated Beavis Does His Taxes
The Late Ted Knight is Sgt. Chip Saunders leading the squad in Combat!

The budget is unlimited - Hollywood paid good money for this one term Presidency and they are by God going to get a movie out of it! Oliver Stone was unavailable due to the demands of El Jefe. Shooting has already begun along the North and South Korean border.
Huge Hat tip to the May edition of I Hate the Media - click my post title!

Gov. Pat Quinn's Tax Holiday Could be a Game Changer

Saving 5% in Illinois Sales Tax is huge. Governor Pat Quinn's Tax-Holiday just might be an ironic and game-changing moment in the Governor's Race. The sweet irony happens because a Democrat in a tax-happy Illinois government is doing exactly what Republicans generally beg for - and then raise taxes anyway.

Governor Pat Quinn might want to consider a general Illinois tax holiday to 'spark' business, after all of the retail outlets in Illinois sing High Hozannas to Pat Quinn after the August 15th Back-to-school Holiday. If not, Governor Quinn should use the Holiday to his advantage.
As of this moment Bill Brady has about 4.7% lead over Governor Quinn -

Poll Date Sample Brady (R) Quinn (D) Spread
RCP Average 5/3 - 7/26 -- 39.0 34.3 Brady +4.7
Rasmussen Reports 7/26 - 7/26 750 LV 44 37 Brady +7
PPP (D) 6/12 - 6/13 552 LV 34 30 Brady +4
R2000/Daily Kos (D)** 5/3 - 5/5 600 LV 39 36 Brady +3

Click my post title for Pat Quinn's website info.
Realclear Politcs -
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/governor/il/illinois_governor_brady_vs_quinn-1361.html

Welcome to TaxHoliday.Illinois.gov, a place where you can learn more about Illinois’ first-ever Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday.

Back-to-school shopping can be expensive. But, thanks to a new state program, from August 6-15, it will be a little bit less costly in Illinois.

It is important that our students have the supplies they need to start the year off right. I want all parents to know that this sales tax holiday can help prepare their children for class without breaking the bank. With the Illinois State Sales Tax Holiday, parents and stores throughout our state should enjoy a much-needed and well-deserved economic boost.

I hope that you’ll take a moment here to find out all the special ways you can save on clothing and school supplies in the coming days.

Sincerely,


Governor Pat Quinn