Heavyweights opt out of challenge to Lipinski; overview of other regional statewide races

Two years ago, Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-3rd) faced serious challenges from two rivals. This year, most of the challengers have lesser known names and few if any have significant organizations.


In the Democratic race in this predominantly Democratic district, one challenger filed by Monday night's deadline, Jorge Mujicas of Berwyn who is a somewhat known activist on immigration and non-citizen rights. His web site is in both English and Spanish and he has frequently spoken out against mandating "English-only" laws denying immigrants, especially Hispanics, rights to use their languages in official circumstances.


One Republican filed, Michael Bendas of Chicago, and one candidate for the Green Party (which is filing a full slate of statewide and local candidates in Cook County) filed, Laurel Lambert Schmidt of Riverside, Illinois.


Two years ago, Lipinski overcame stiff challenges. Lipinski won with 54 percent of the vote against 26 percent for challenger and Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mark Pera, 12 percent for Chicago attorney Jim Capparelli and 8 percent for Palos Hills Mayor Jerry Bennett. 


Pera's campaign was being ballyhooed by many of the writers for the DailyKoz Web Blog, a very popular politically controlled blog that includes some racists who attack minorities and left-wing extremists, although the majority of the bloggers are mainstream and very pro-Democratic. But many of the bloggers who hammered Lipinski lived outside of the congressional district. Lipinski was first elected in 2004 after succeeding his father, Bill Lipinski.


IN OTHER STATEWIDE & CONGRESSIONAL RACES:


Incumbent Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-13th) takes a pass in the February 2, 2010 Republican primary and is being challenged by one Democrat in the November General election. That candidate is Democrat Scott Harper of Lockport. Harper challenged Biggert in 2008 and came closest to ousting Biggert who has been criticized for failing to be accessible to everyone in her district, especially from Orland Park.


It's a race worth watching as Biggert has been distributing government paid-for newsletter attacking the need for Health Care reform and rejecting proposals to create competition for the scumbag health Insurance Industry. Biggert has blasted reform measures introduced by President Barack Obama and has conveyed the lies that some far right-wing extremists have offered, including bigots like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck claiming that the reforms proposed by Obama call for funding for abortion (they don't) and propose covering illegal aliens with health insurance (which is also a typical big lie in her literature).


Biggert has been one of the most inaccessible congress members and Harper has a shot at unseating her.


Not surprisingly, 13 candidates filed for governor including besieged and beleaguered incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn. The lead Democrat is Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes who has been pummeling Quinn and exposing Quinn's apparent hypocrisy. Quinn, a former reformer, has compromised his views to work with Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and to undermine and weaken campaign finance reform measures. 


The former running mate with disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Quinn has been as equally unaccessible to the public and especially to the community media as was Blagojevich, who faces a slew of federal corruption charges.


Also running on the Democratic side are: Ed Scanlan of Oak Park and William "Dock" Walls of Chicago, a former aide to the late Mayor Harold Washington.


On the Republican side, former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan, who lost in a bid against Blagojevich in 2002, filed his petitions. But many believe Ryan's candidacy is tainted with the bad politics of the past. Ryan is not the only person running for statewide office who tried to unseat Blagojevich. Former Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, in a surprising move, turned her sights on the Illinois Comptroller's race.


Other Republican candidates include the high profile Dan Proft who started his campaign before most and has received widespread media attention and support.


Former Republican Party chief Andy McKenna also entered the race, broadcasting strong commercials harmed only by a cheap joke reference to Blagojevich's "hair." The TV Commercial comes across very strong until it makes the stupid "hair" reference and makes McKenna look like his strongest feature is his dislike for Blagojevich instead of focusing mainly on the campaign issues that confront taxpayers throughout Illinois. Get a new advertising agency Andy!


Also running on the Republican ticket: Robert Schillerstrom of Naperville; Sen. Kirk Dillard, a strong candidate who has the endorsement of former Governor turned political consultant Jim Edgar (Edgar's political public affairs firm represented convicted felon Antoin "Tony" Rezko); Illinois Senator Bill Brady of Bloomington; and Adam Andrzejewski of Hinsdale.


Topinka entered the race after METRA Board member Jim Dodge announced his own candidacy for the Comptroller's race. Also running as a Republican is William J. Kelly, a cable TV sports host.  Several Democrats have filed including Raja Krishnamoorthi, David Miller and Clint Krislov.  Erika Shafer filed on the Green Party slate.


In the "race" for attorney General, Incumbent Lisa Madigan, Mike Madigan's daughter, faces no Democratic challengers. She will face Republican Kim Steve of Northbrook and Green Party candidate David Black of Belvidere.


The race for lieutenant governor is packed and includes: (Republicans) Brad Cole, Jason Plummer, Don Tracy, Randy White Sr., Matt Murphy, and Dennis Cook; (Democrats) Rickey Hendon, the best known so far, Terry Link, Art Turner, Scott Lee Cohen, Thomas Michael Castillo and Mike Boland. (Green party) Don Crawford.


Secretary of State Jesse White is also getting a pass in the Democratic primary, facing Republican Robert Enriquez and Green Party candidate Adrian Frost in the November 2010 election.


And in the race for State Treasurer, three Democrats are battling it out including Justin Oberman, the son of former Ald. Martin Oberman, Robin Kelly and Mark Doyle. The winner will face Illinois Rep. Dan Rutherford, the only Republican, and Green Party candidate Scott Summers.


Here is a link to the State Election Board's very inefficient and not-user-friendly web site (they should take a lesson from the Cook County Clerk David Orr's web site which is one of the most user-friendly and citizen friendly web sites in government.) Click here to go to the state's difficult to use web site.


-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com 

Never been prouder to be an American than today -- Readers write back

Some comments from readers on my column about being proud to be an American under President Barack Obama:

Here's the column link -- CLICK HERE

Re: Obama's speech and never being prouder.

My comment: As I was reading, I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit.What utter, disingenuous nonsense on your part, and on the president's. You have taken conjectural rhetoric that is as far removed from reality as one can make it. It's truly a shining example of the demise of journalism in this country (give me some credit, that's my profession as well) and a reflection of the lack of honest discourse in American politics today. Nearly everything you based your opinions on are flimsy, stale and utter misrepresentations of actual events or the true significance of what has been happening in our country since 9/11.

I can't be any less proud this morning to be an American after reading your column.I'm sorry.Ray

=== === ===

Dear Ray,

I have no idea who you are or what type of program you host, but after yesterday’s embarrassing performance by the man I consider to be one of the most cowardly in recent history, I welcome your opinion. I welcome it not only because you served in the military, but you made sense in your criticisms. I, as well as most of the nation that does not suffer from short term memory loss, remember the fear and hate mongering knee jerk reaction after the attacks of September 11th. I also remember the old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. It did not say “hiding”, which is what cheney did.

Thank you for taking the high road and not sinking to the gutter tactics of the rove/cheney playbook.

Sincerely,
Mark F
New Jersey

Gov Blagojevich finally fights back with PR campaign against lynch-mob trial

When you are faced with criminal charges, most of the time, you don't want to launch a massive publicity campaign to respond. That's because usually, criminal charges are filed according to the Rule of law and a person is Innocent until Proven Guilty.

But apparently in Illinois, few seem to remember that little phrase "Innocent until proven Guilty" and Gov. Rod Blagojevich has found himself in the awkward position of having to fight not only the federal criminal charges against him but the slander and defamation campaign by House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, and his "Cabal of Selfish Legislators" including Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn -- who wants Blago's job -- and Madigan's daughter, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who seems to pick and choose when the law will or will not apply.

Tragic drama that has destroyed Illinois' already sullied reputation; remember, it wasn't Gov. Blagojevich who crowded Illinois with the magestic robe of "Culture of Corruption."

Blagojevich is under siege, thanks to the unorthodox and questionable conduct of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who unleased a half-assed case against Blagojevich not to strengthen the law but to smear the governor. Fitzgerald never even sought an indictment against Blagojevich -- at least not a legal indictment. And instead, he pursued the public indictment of lynch the accused before the trial, which is exactly what is now about to begin in Illinois' scandal-plagued legislature, in the Illinois Senate.

Should we go through the list of legislators sullied by immoral and unethical and even criminal conduct who have skated past with narry a burp from, their colleagues. Suddenly Blagojevich is the bad guy.

He may be guilty of the federal charges, but the outrageous manner in which he is being attacked by the legislature this week is just too unfair. There is no way Gov. Blagojevich can get a fair "trial" in the Illinois Senate. It is stacked against him, with everyone trying to pretend that Blagojevich can get a fair trial when everyone knows he cannot.

He has been denied the right to defend himself and can't even call witnesses, yet the Illinois Senate, in cahoots with Fitzgerald, can pick and chose from the alleged evidence and present what they want without Blagojevich EVER being able to challenge any of it.

I think blagoejvich should have the right to call as witnesses David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel, and even President Barack Obama. Afterall, this is about -- allegedly -- Blagojevich seeking to "sell" the vacate Obama Senate seat to the "highest bidder," or so we have been told in an unprecedented public lynching of Blagojevich by Fitzgerald.

Regardless of whether Blagojevich is innocent or guilty of the Federal charges, this week's trial in the Illinois Senate and his impeachment by the Illinois House are just one big, ugly kangaroo court conducted by a political lynchmob of selfish politicians all seeking not the justice behind the controversy but the benefits they all hope to reap.

Blagojevich has FINALLY decided to respond by hiring a PR Firm, something he should have done as soon as Fitzgerald turned the Federal Criminal Case into a publicity-seeking circus. Blagojevich has hired Glenn Selig. Selig's agency is The Publicity Agency based in Chicago and LA, which might explain his ability to get Blago on the national news, Good Morning America and The View. Good job. Maybe we might finally start hearing both sides of this one-sided political lynching.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Blagojevich fights back -- finally -- with a publicity campaign

When you are faced with criminal charges, most of the time, you don't want to launch a massive publicity campaign to respond. That's because usually, criminal charges are filed according to the Rule of law and a person is Innocent until Proven Guilty.

But apparently in Illinois, few seem to remember that little phrase "Innocent until proven Guilty" and Gov. Rod Blagojevich has found himself in the awkward position of having to fight not only the federal criminal charges against him but the slander and defamation campaign by House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, and his "Cabal of Selfish Legislators" including Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn -- who wants Blago's job -- and Madigan's daughter, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who seems to pick and choose when the law will or will not apply.

Tragic drama that has destroyed Illinois' already sullied reputation; remember, it wasn't Gov. Blagojevich who crowded Illinois with the magestic robe of "Culture of Corruption."

Blagojevich is under siege, thanks to the unorthodox and questionable conduct of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who unleased a half-assed case against Blagojevich not to strengthen the law but to smear the governor. Fitzgerald never even sought an indictment against Blagojevich -- at least not a legal indictment. And instead, he pursued the public indictment of lynch the accused before the trial, which is exactly what is now about to begin in Illinois' scandal-plagued legislature, in the Illinois Senate.

Should we go through the list of legislators sullied by immoral and unethical and even criminal conduct who have skated past with narry a burp from, their colleagues. Suddenly Blagojevich is the bad guy.

He may be guilty of the federal charges, but the outrageous manner in which he is being attacked by the legislature this week is just too unfair. There is no way Gov. Blagojevich can get a fair "trial" in the Illinois Senate. It is stacked against him, with everyone trying to pretend that Blagojevich can get a fair trial when everyone knows he cannot.

He has been denied the right to defend himself and can't even call witnesses, yet the Illinois Senate, in cahoots with Fitzgerald, can pick and chose from the alleged evidence and present what they want without Blagojevich EVER being able to challenge any of it.

I think blagoejvich should have the right to call as witnesses David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel, and even President Barack Obama. Afterall, this is about -- allegedly -- Blagojevich seeking to "sell" the vacate Obama Senate seat to the "highest bidder," or so we have been told in an unprecedented public lynching of Blagojevich by Fitzgerald.

Regardless of whether Blagojevich is innocent or guilty of the Federal charges, this week's trial in the Illinois Senate and his impeachment by the Illinois House are just one big, ugly kangaroo court conducted by a political lynchmob of selfish politicians all seeking not the justice behind the controversy but the benefits they all hope to reap.

Blagojevich has FINALLY decided to respond by hiring a PR Firm, something he should have done as soon as Fitzgerald turned the Federal Criminal Case into a publicity-seeking circus. Blagojevich has hired Glenn Selig. Selig's agency is The Publicity Agency based in Chicago and LA, which might explain his ability to get Blago on the national news, Good Morning America and The View. Good job. Maybe we might finally start hearing both sides of this one-sided political lynching.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Tinley Park Mayor, trustees and wives celebrate Obama's inauguration in Washington DC

Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki, one of my all-time favorite politicians, called from Washington D.C. during my radio show Tuesday morning, inauguration day, to share with us the experience that he and his wife Emily had at the historic inauguration of Barack Obama as this nation's 44th President.

Zabrocki shared his experience and also talked about the challenges Obama faces over the next four years, the optimism he and his wife saw in the faces of the more than 2 million people int he nation's capitol, and also plans for the improvement of the 80th Avenue Metra Station and the village's budget problems.

Delegation included Tinley Park trustees Pat Rea, outgoing SBA Director for the MidWest, Greg Hannon, Tom Staunton Jr., Mike Bettenhausen and their wives.

"We came down at our own expense, no village dollars involved... part of the reason we came here for was to button hole some of our representatives and make sure we get our oar in the water about the stimulus package and some of the issues we want for Tinley Park. We held a breakfast yesterday morning we some of our representatives. We talked with them last night. We went to the Illinois Ball which was almost borderline chaos. It was really great. We had a chance to talk to (US Senator Dick) Durbin and other and put a bug in their ear about our issues," Zabrocki said during the telephone interview.

"While we were out in the Mall yesterday and just kind of generally around, the young people and the families. It is amazing the number of families that were here. This is our 5th inauguration that we were involved in and we have never seen so many young people and families at these things."

Zabrocki said he could see that "people are looking to him to getting us out of whatever we are in whether it is a military standpoint, or an economic standpoint and whatever it might be. The optimism about him is unbelievable. We sensed this in the Metro system. Last night we were coming home from the Illinois Ball probably at about 1, 1:30 in the morning and people again, with families, were talking positively that this is change and we are looking forward to it. Everyone was friendly. It was amazing. People were opening doors for other people. I hope that the concept that idea that opened this whatever you want to call it continues because this country needs it badly.

"The ball was fantastic. There was well of 8,000 people there. It was at the Renaissance Hotel. It was on 3 or 4 different floors."

"One of the things we are down here for is that they have a Metra system that is second to noneas far as I amc oncerned. We traveled all over this city on the Metra without one probnlem. Very clearly marked signs the metro employees. All kinds of things."

Very secure. High presence of security.

Zabrocki said he had a tour of the Pentagon, also.

The delegation is looking towards improving the 80th Avenue train station. Zabrocki said construction there will start this summer. The biggest problem si the 18 inch jumpf romt he platform to the rail cars.

You can hear the complete interview at http://www.radiochicagoland.com/ or directly by logging in to iTunes and dowloading the podcast to your iPod.

Zabrocki was very optimistic, acknowledging that Obama will need time.

The mayor said that like many communities, Tinley Park has a deficit of about $4 million mainly because of reduced retails sales tax collections from the car industry and also the many businesses moving our of Cook County into Will County.

The web page of the Village of Tinley Park is http://www.tinleypark.org/. It has won several major awards.

end

Illinois House Impeachment Committee undergoes political changes

Wow. Until Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and Senator Dick Durbin conceded that Roland Burris would probably be allowed to take his seat in the US Senate, it looked like Roland Burris looked like he had everyone against him.

Then, during Burris' appearance Thursday before the special House Impeachment panel which released a report the same morning stating there is evidence to justify the impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Democrats migrated away from criticism of Burris and became his strongest defenders with Lou Lang and others challenging what were some of the most important questions asked during the public spectacle, namely by Illinois Representative Jim Durkin.

The Republicans were hitting the nail ont he head: Some guy working for a telecommunications company gave Burris a $1.2 million "loan" for his candidacy when he ran for governor against Blagojevich and former Chicago school superintendent Paul Vallas. A loan? Then, Burris closes his political campaign committee and never repaid a penny of that "loan." And the only other person who got money from that contributor during that election was Blagojevich, who received $100,000.

The question is, and Burris couldn't answer it because his attorneys did all the talking, really for him at his appearances at the impeachment hearing, is that there is a STRONG SUSPICION that Burris was acting as a "stalking horse" for Blagojeich to undermine Vallas, who had significant strength in Chicago's African American community.

One guy gives Blagojevich $100,000 and $1.2 million to Burris, and there is no tie in that race?

And worse, what does it say about the campaign finance procedures in this state that someone can give someone $1.2 million that can be characterized as a "loan" but is never repaid as a "loan" and in fact, becomes a donation when the loan disappears when the committee is closed.

Kudos to Durkin for have the chutzpah to ask the tough questions while many of the other impeachment committee members simply played the role of protecting Burris.

I supported Burris' appointment to succeed President-Elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate, nbut now I have to openly wonder, especially given his obvious inability to either remember or recollect basic events asked of him. He made a terrible "witness" so how would he now make a great U.S. Senator?

Well, clearly Republican Congressman Mark Kirk has the edge to take this job when it finally comes to the public for an election, rather than a tainted appointment, tainted not just by the governor but tainted also by the hypocrisy that drenches in Illinois politcs.

This entire episode is pathetic and sad.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Congressman Rush declares Blagojevich "politicall unfit" to appoint Obama Senate seat successor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2008

Congressman Rush Declares Gov. Rod Blagojevich
as Politically Unfit to Appoint Senate Successor

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, on Capitol Hill, Congressman Bobby L. Rush provided the following statement in response to press queries about the shocking arrest, this morning, of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on charges that he tried to benefit, financially, from his constitutional duty to appoint a replacement for the U.S. Senate seat recently vacated by President-Elect Barack Obama.

“Like the people of the great state of Illinois, I was shocked and angered by the disturbing news, this morning, that Governor Blagojevich had been arrested for what federal prosecutors describe as “a political corruption crime spree.”

“I believe that the acts that are alleged to have been committed by the Governor are so heinous that he has forfeited his right to appoint someone to fill the seat of President-Elect Barack Obama. My bottom line is that the Governor should not be the one to make the appointment to this important office.

“I also do not necessarily believe that holding a special election is the right way to go either for the basic reason that when the President-Elect is sworn into office on January 20th, my colleagues and I in the House will be called upon to vote, almost immediately, on several important pieces of legislation ranging from an economic stimulus package to health care reform. Illinois deserves to have its two Senate votes in place by January 20th and a special election would, at the earliest, occur in the spring of 2009.

“I want my constituents to know that I am in urgent counsel with attorneys in our state to suggest a remedy to this crisis in leadership that addresses the concerns I and others have raised about the importance of keeping African American representation in the United States Senate and, certainly, our important second vote from our state.”

# # #

Media pundits Monroe Anderson and Dan Proft tear into each other over Obama appointments

Dan Proft and Monroe Anderson tore into the issues in discussing the preliminary appointments and possible appointments by president-elect Barack Obama, including the rumor that US Senator Hillary Clinton will become Secretary of State. What impact with former President Bill Clinton have on the decision. The controversies surrounding former Congressman and now Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, the son of a former member of the terrorist organization the Irgun, and also the appointment of Eric Holder.

Check the 11-19-08 audio podcast on the Flash iPod player on this blog, or go to www.RadioChicagoland.com for more information. Also, watch a live video and audio broadcast of the radio show live on the internet off the web page, too.

-- Ray Hanania

Great debate on Obama: Dan Proft and Monroe Anderson podcast now online

Dan Proft and Monroe Anderson tore into the issues in discussing the preliminary appointments and possible appointments by president-elect Barack Obama, including the rumor that US Senator Hillary Clinton will become Secretary of State. What impact with former President Bill Clinton have on the decision. The controversies surrounding former Congressman and now Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, the son of a former member of the terrorist organization the Irgun, and also the appointment of Eric Holder.

Check the 11-19-08 audio podcast on the Flash iPod player on this blog, or go to www.RadioChicagoland.com for more information. Also, watch a live video and audio broadcast of the radio show live on the internet off the web page, too.

-- Ray Hanania

Letters to the Editor: On the huffingtonPost column on Obama MidEast Peace, and on the USS Liberty murders

ON BARACK OBAMA, HIS APPOINTMENT'S AND HOPES FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ray-hanania/obamas-growing-pro-israel_b_141964.html


Dear Mr. Hanania,

I just want to thank you so very much for your article, "Obama's Growing Pro-Israel Cabinet Should Not Worry Allies of Just Peace." I know President Obama and First Lady Obama are surely the smartest people in the White House certainly in decades, probably centuries, and perhaps ever -- and at a time when we need it most. So I trust them. Even so, I really found your logic extremely helpful in showing the wisdom of these choices, which can look so "un-change" or change resistant. It looks as if he's surrounding himself with so many of the old, white, Beltway, male guard (and I'm white). I voted for him and worked for his election here in Minnesota precisely to get a different experience in the White House and leading the country and world. So what you wrote and the fact that you wrote it as a Palestinian is really, really valuable for me -- so very helpful. I will watch for your articles as we go along with this incredible new era.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Denise

Dear Ray

I just read your column on Huffpost and was rather heartened by it. I am British but have been living in the US on & off for nearly 10 years. I was delighted by Obama's victory, but I must admit I was quite disheartened when I discovered on another blog last night that Rahm Emmanuel has very close connections with Israel & pro-Israel groups. Although I follow American politics to some extent I hadn't known anything about him before. I hope you're right, and I think you are, that he is a very different creature from the awful Jewish neocons who to some extent shaped Bush policy (Perle, Frum & the rest). Personally I would like to see the US put more pressure on Israel to remove the settlements & work towards a peace that would be at least reasonably fair & durable even if not entirely just (that's probably not possible).

Your strong faith that Obama's heart is in the right place with respect to the Israel/Palestine problem, is very reassuring. Some of the bloggers commenting on your column were much more cynical. I tend to be a bit sceptical about what Obama can achieve, much as I admire his charisma & intelligence. So, despite the cynics & sceptics, let's hope you are right. Anyway, thanks for a very useful column.

Geoff C


For the record, I'm Jewish, I'm pro-Israel, and I agree with you.From a purely pro-Israel point of view I want a just settlement in the middle east. First because Jewish ethics do not allow any Jew to condone the plight of the Palestinians. And second because there are just so many times Israel can win a war against its neighbors. Unfortunately, you are correct in your fear of Benjamin Netanyahu. He is crazy. Unlike Sharon, he is neither able to see the big picture nor listen to anyone who does not agree with him. If he is elected batten down for further struggle.The most important thing Arabs could do to promote the type of just peace you support would be to say they supported peace -- in Arabic, on the Arab street. Netanyahu loves Hamas and Hezbulla because they give him a raison d'etre. Every time someone in the Arab world (and most Israelis understand that Iran is not Arab) threatens to destroy Israel, Netanyahu wins support. When someone talks about a just peace in Arabic, it wins support for Livni and the Peace Now community which the war in Lebanon has almost destroyed.Keep up the just struggle!By the way.

I do have one picayune quibble about your article. You began by saying, "Like all Arab Americans, I was disturbed when Barack Obama selected U.S. Senator Joseph Biden as his running mate." I agree that many were concerned, but not all. Because I live in Canada I do not know many Arab Americans, but I do know a lot of Arab Canadians, and I doubt they are all that different from there southern counterparts. Just as there are lots of Jews who support Hamas and the PLO, there are Arabs who support Israel, and even Isrrael's right wing. Perhaps both groups are fanatics, but they serve a valuable purpose by reminding others that this dispute is not really just about religion or ethnicity.

Sincerely,
Robert K


Dear Ray,

A cousin of mine, Jeff Baloutine, just forwarded your latest piece on the Obama emerging cabinet. I, too, was worried, at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I came into your line of thinking, one you explain with excellent detail in contrasting what Obama is arming himself with vs. the nuts Bush had in his tree.

I think you are right. You leverage a stubborn root with a shovel whose handle is made from the same wood.

As thanks, I'll send you a link for a long piece, "Obama and the Middle East" I just published in the Antioch Review in Ohio.

http://www18.georgetown.edu/data/people/gmo4/publication-37377.pdf.

Cheers,
Greg O.

ON THE USS LIBERTY ATTACK AND SEN. JOHN MCCAIN"S RESPONSIBILITY"

http://www.arabisto.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntryID=1318

Great article about senator McCain and killing of liberty.

WALID M.


Editor: I thank Ray Hanania for a great column on the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in 1967. The government wants us to forget parts of our history, in which some of our sons died in the hands of some of our "allies." This has been hidden and covered up for years and years. It is time to know the truth.
Mahmood M
Temperance, Michigan


Dear Hater:

Stop supporting bin laden and hamas. Stop supporting stoning of rape victims, strapping bombs to babies, non education of women and honor killings and people won't have a problem with you.
You have made it clear you support killing all jews by your support of Holocaust deniers and the leader of Iran who is Osama Bin Laden's closest friend, a child molester and leader of the 1979 taking of the american embassy.

you want all jews dead. You have made it perfectly clear.

The difference between you and civilized people is best exampled in what you'd do if your daughter came down in the morning wearing something inappropriate. to you anything short of a head to toe burqa is in appropriate of course.
Civilized people tell her to go up and change her clothes.
you take her upstairs rape her and chop off her head.

If someone like you has a child (by rape of course) you hold that child and say "My greatest hope is someday you'll blow up a schoolbus full of jewish preschoolers"

Civilized people want their children to grow up to be lawyers, doctors or maybe the starting QB for the Chicago Bears.

I do not hate all muslims. I hate terrorists and anyone who supports them by supporting Palestinians and Holocaust denial.

UNSIGNED


Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Your article (and underlying point) was excellent. I lived through the
period in question, was aghast at the obvious cover-up, and have many
friends in the Navy who consider the ship and her crew's heroic resistance a
legend. Would that this episode with its heroism and villainy was better
known. Then we might also better discern what real support for the troops
is all about.

Regards,
Frank P

Ray,
Good job on the article the truth will over come the lies I was on C Span after the debate last night until they cut me off say the word USS Liberty and you are gone.
Thanks for keeping the story alive. Phil


Thank you Ray for the article that included the USS Liberty in its
body. As a survivor and the officer in charge of the body recovery
and identification I would love to see an investigation happen. I do
have some interesting information for you from my own senator. I will send in a separate email.

Ron K
Sheridan, Wyoming


Have been listening to your programs on the USS Liberty attack by Israel, particularly those with my friend, Phil Tourney as a guest. Many thanks to you for helping to publicize this massacre by Israel and the cover-up by two countries of the attack.

Just read your outstanding article on the SW News Herald web page:

http://www.swnewsherald.com/news_inside/2008/10/101708cs_rh_liberty.php

I made a tiny URL of the one above and am passing it around to my friends.

http://tinyurl.com/54y542

McCain's activities and support of A. Jay Cristol's book of lies really ought to be brought to the attention of the public... alas, the mainline media apparently is bought and paid for and congress damned sure won't help.

Thanks again,
John G
(ex-crew member of the Liberty, was
transferred just prior to the attack.)

END

Andy Shaw close, but ...

WLS TV's Andy Shaw reported tonight that David Axelrod was probably playing basketball with Barack Obama tonight waiting for the election results ... close Andy -- weren't you the guy who once said Ed Vrdolyak would never be convicted? You were close. He wasn't convicted. He pled guilty to a kickback scheme today.

Actually, I stopped at Manny's Deli on Roosevelt Road after being turned away from the celebration for Barack Obama at Grant Park. And while chomping on a corned beef sandwich, potato latke and bowl of matzo ball soup, who do you think came up and said hello. David Axelrod. Axelrod, one of the real stars behind the rise of Barack Obama, was sitting with political consultant colleagues awaiting the results coming in. Axelrod and I covered Chicago City Hall together. He worked for the Chicago Tribune, before moving on to launch his very successful political consulting firm.

Congratulations to Axelrod. He deserves the accolades for managing the Obama campaign. There's no question that Obama's very successful efforts are the direct result of Axelrod's guidance.

As for Vrdolyak -- he once vowed during the Cicero battle in 1996 "I'll bury that Hanania" when he was manipulating the greedy Betty Loren-Maltese. When Maltese was accused of corruption, and she refused to answer my questions about the subpoenas, I quit/she fired me ... and she went on to jail, thanks to Vrdolyak's manipulation of the town. Who buried who Ed? Vrdolyak was one of the smartest politicians in Chicagoland history, but also one of the sleaziest. Sources say there were some terrible FBI recordings of him bragging about things that were extremely embarassing to his family. If it's true, it's out of his character to do the right thing! But he did.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

How significant is race in America -- we'll find out Tuesday

When I was a kid growing up on the Southeast Side of Chicago, race was a major issue. It was tough enough being Arab, dark skinned (olive) living in an all-White mainly eastern European community. We lived in a little pocket of serenity in that environment, Arabs, Jews, all clustered together in South Shore Valley nestled between Pill Hill, Jeffrey Manor and South Shore.

but in 1968, the world changed when realtors brought in a Black Family that rented a home from a white family. They had a daughter who was mentally challenged and the girl would walk through the neighborhood. It was almost as if the realtors planned to frighten and antagonize the racial divide and they did, to their profit.

Within six months, most of the White Families moved out of the Southeast Side enclave, selling their homes at lightening speed for costs far below market value. And the Realtors turned the fast sales into their own profits, selling to Black Families.

They told Whites, "The Black people are coming." They told Blacks, "You can have the American dream just like White people."

In the end, it was a time of great consternation, too. JFK had been assassinated, a few years earlier and in 1968 RFK and King were murdered, too. Tensions were high.

Since then, we have come to live with each other in a balance of tolerance. We don't hate each other any more -- at least we don't fret about it any more. If we do hate Blacks or Blacks hate Whites, no one openly admits it except for the fringe extremists in both communities. We work together. We even live together, to some degree far more than we used to, but not nearly enough. It's not a melting pot. It's a patchwork of some spots in the fabric of American life.

We sit at restaurants together, live in the same neighborhoods, go to the same movie theaters, and patronize the same shopping centers.

But there is a cultural divide. We have diffierent cultures and societal mannerisms. Neither is better or worse, just different. And we don't really socialize together. We don't really come together and enjoy each others lives. We acknowledge each other. Tolerate each other, but tolerate as long as you don't marry my daughter syndrome. Black. White. We're all the same.

Tuesday will be the big test. Can White America elect a Black President? The polls say yes, but the polls reflect the first layer of tolerance where we patronize the same areas of life, but we really don't share or socialize. We are in the same vicinity but not the same mind set.

If Obama loses, people will say it is because of race. White Americans will go into the polls telling pollsters they will support a Black Man, but inside, vote their fears.

Oprah Winfrey doesn't help. Oprah doesn't really like mainstream White People although she has done a great job of exploiting the problems in White America. She hasn't helped. She's hurt us. She isn't an American. She is a Black American. And until Oprah becomes an American, no longer Black,a nd until Whites become Americans, no longer White, we can't really achieve that level of coexistence that goes beyond simply walking past each other at a shopping Mall.

We'll see Tuesday if Whites and Blacks int he shopping mall of life actually stop and start talking to each other.

Or, whether they walk past each other, acknowledge each other, but go on their individual cultural ways.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

PS ... I published a book online about my experiences in the great White Flight of 1968 on Chicago's Southeast Side. It will never make Oprah's Book Club and it would be showcased by Mayor Daley either. But you can go to my web site and then click on the book section and read it. It's called Midnight Flight ... we went to sleep saying good night to our White neighbors and woke up shocked to see they left, replaced by new, Black faces who became our neighbors for a short period of time, until the rest of us fled, too.

Amazing technology -- what can be done with online campaign videos

This is just hilarious ... "Ray Hanania blamed for Barack Obama's defeat Nov. 7":



Pass it on.

-- Ray Hanania
www.OrlandParker.com

Joe the plumber should SHUT UP

John McCain says he is not President Bush, but he might as well be the way he voted int he Congress and to try and distance himself from President Bush has to do more with politics than the truth. If Bush were popular -- and he is not, he is one of the worst rated presidents in American history -- McCain would be wrapping himself all over him, and probably would have nominated him for Vice president.

McCain repeatedly defended Bush, supported Bush and embraced Bush's policies. To now come out and try to be cute by saying Barack Obama should have runa gainst Bush four years ago. Well, Maybe McCain should have run against Bush four years ago, too, instead of just eight years ago.

McCain makes a big deal about a guy named "Joe the plumber." The fact is Joe the Plumber has a business that makes more than $250,000 a year and the fact is that is who should be taxed (proportionately) and for those businesses making more. The burden of taxes SHOULD NOT BE on the people who make less than $250,000. The real burden would be on those businesses who are ripping us off in the finance, banking and investment industry who are making $250 million a year. That's who will carry the burden of taxes, not Joe the plumber who will be taxed, but far less than those making more than him.

Hey Joe, when you make more money, you SHOULD pay more taxes.

Obama is not going to raise the taxes of average Americans.

AND ... Joe the Plumber WAS on TV this morning on ABC News and he said he WASN'T making $250,000 a year but just hoping he could make that much money. And Joe the Plumber then defended people making Millions of Dollars in income a year and asked "Why should those people be singled out and taxed? That's a socialist view."

What, are you an idiot Joe the Plumber? "A Socialist View" to make the rich pay more? That's called Robinhood you idiot.

Joe the Plumber should have stayed away from the television news because you sound like a REAL IDIOT!

The people making $250,000 a year or more in INCOME represent less than 4 percent of the people in America. Is that the argument that McCain is making. Poor millionaires. They're the victims of "Socialism?"

-- Ray Hanania

Ralph Nader for President press conference in Chicago Tuesday oct. 14 11 am

News Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: (Local) Christina Tobin, 312-320-4101
(National HQ) Marc Abizeid, 831-818-7736, marcabizeid@votenader.org

LOCAL NADER STAFF TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE TO ANNOUNCE LAUNCHING OF NEW OFFICE

Launches Illinois Office and 21 Others Nation-Wide

WHO: Ralph Nader for President

WHAT: Press Conference

WHEN: Tuesday, October 14 at 11 a.m.

WHERE: 230 E. Ohio Street, Chicago IL, just east of N Upper Michigan Ave.

With three weeks to go until the ballots are counted, Presidential candidate Ralph Nader will open a campaign office in Chicago, Illinois Tuesday, October 14 where the local campaign staffers will be inviting press for an 11 a.m. conference. As part of its get-out-the-vote effort, the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign is adding 22 offices and nearly 50 field-staff staff to its base of thousands of volunteers this week, aiming at securing votes in 49 states. A map of all office locations is available at www.votenader.org.

Recent polls indicate that a growing number of independent voters are moving away from the two parties in the wake of last week's Wall Street bailout. The Wall Street Journal and CNN put Nader's support at 5 and 6 percent in this third presidential campaign, despite having been excluded from the presidential debates so far. Offices are opening in swing states such as Colorado and Pennsylvania as well Florida, where Obama is polling at 52 percent and McCain at 45, and where an October 1 poll by CNN found Nader pulling votes from the Republicans.

About the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign
The Nader/Gonzalez independent presidential candidacy is on the ballot in 45 states, polling at 5-6 percent nationally. A recent Time/CNN poll has Nader polling 8 percent in New Mexico, 7 percent in Colorado, 7 percent in Pennsylvania, and 6 percent in Nevada - all battleground states.

About Matt Gonzalez
Matt Gonzalez was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2000 representing San Francisco's fifth council district. From 2003 to 2005, he served as Board of Supervisors President. A former public defender, Gonzalez is managing partner of Gonzalez & Leigh, graduated from Columbia University and received a JD from Stanford Law School.

For more information on the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, visit: votenader.org.
-End-

McCain versus Obama debate analysis

Although neither candidate specifically outlined exactly what they would do to confront the current economic challenges we face, the one answer we did receive was a very important one: the debate tonight in no way hindered or hampered the ability of this nation to confront the economic challenge. That was John McCain's initial message and clearly, he was proven wrong.

But there was a fundamental difference between McCain and Barack Obama that came out clearly. McCain was determined to attack McCain and hammer away at two points that he, McCain, has been to many of the foreign nations that are today the focus of our foreign policy disasters, and Obama has not; and, that McCain has "more experience" than Obama.

McCain argued that Obama opposed the "surge," but Obama came back strong and pointed out that the real problem facing this country is not one strategy of sending 20,000 troops to Iraq to help our 125,000 existing sodliers already there, but rather the flaw in entering Iraq in the first place. The Surge that John McCain championed repeatedly as an attack on Obama is nothing more than a short-term band-aid that has done nothing to resolve the fundamental challenge we face int he war on terrorism. Iraq was the wrong move after Sept. 11, 2001 and McCain did not speak out when the need for leadership and experience was in demand. McCain silently supported the Iraq war and that is the fundamental error that has led this nation to where it is today.

While Obama spoke to the American people, McCain spoke to the debate moderator Jim Lehrer. While Obama spoke to McCain, McCain seemed uptight and focused either on Lehrer or on his notes. McCain showed that he has the mental stamina to engage in a toe-to-toe debate with Obama and that his age is not an issue -- at least in this debate -- but an advantage of experience. And McCain deserves points for being tough and driving home over and over again his two priority messages.

But neither candidate offered a real solution to the nation's economic turmoil, other than their fundamental beliefs in how to address the bigger pictures that have led us to this economic challenge.

The debate was productive and Americans were given a chance to finally see, four weeks before the election, who the candidates really are facing off no-holds-barred and in open and wide debate and discussion. The fact that this debate might not have taken place is problematic for McCain.

This debate is not about who won or who lost but rather that the American people were finally given a chance to see the two men, one of which will become this nation's president, speak on the important issues. The debate was broadened from its original focus from foreign policy to include the nation's economic challenges.

Both candidates did a good job of presneting their side and newither side made a major mistake. So in the end, neither side lost anything. And did it change any minds? Probably not.

The deciding factor for most Americans will probably not come from the debate tonight but rather from the bigger, fundamental issues that each candidate brought to the debate.

McCain represents the existing policies represented by the failed presidency of George W. Bush, and Barack Obama represents a change from the past failed policies. If McCain failed in any area, it was in failing to distinguish himself apart from Bush's failures, Bush's errors in entering Iraq, and his failure to properly confront the challenges in Pakistan and Afghanistan where al-Qaeda exists.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Congressman Jesse L. Jackson interview, takes up idea on dealing with the housing crisis

I was privileged to have Congressman Jesse L. Jackson Jr., on my radio show this morning (Mornings with Ray Hanania) on WJJG 1530 AM radio. Jackson was talking first about his courageous act to reach out to his rivals and foes and apologize and extend a hand of friendship to bridge personal differences and stay focused on the issues not the personality.

During the discussion of how to help those in home mortgage foreclosure, I proposed something I've written before that instead of pumpign $700 Billion in money to save the bigshot corporations, banks and investors, we should help the mortgage home owners who are in foreclosure. One way to do that would be to take their ARM Mortgages and immediately convert all of them into conventional mortgages. Take away the cause of part of the problem, dramatically increasing the interest rate, and instead lower the instead rates and make them permanent mortgages.

Jackson said he was going to take that idea, expand on it and introduce it on the floor of the U.S. Congress befoire the end of the week.

The idea is sound. Stop the foreclosures. Give the people who are losing their homes the help they need. Help them keep their mortgages by converting the ARM to a conventional mortgage. And, even go one step further.

Why not also allow them a six month or 12 month grace period to get back on their feet. Have them only pay the interest on the converted, fixed rate mortgage, and delay the principle or extend the mortgage the extra year.

I know if I had this problem, this would help me as a homeowner.

Listen to the interview by going to http://www.radiochicagoland.com/.

Click here for the direct link to the audio file

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.themediaoasis.com/

What question would you ask McCain and Obama at this Friday's debate

I'll be asking radio show listeners this question, What would you ask John McCain and Barack Obama at this Friday's debate which focuses n foreign policy and international affairs ...

I'm working on a comic strip and still have not hit the mark yet on one I want to draw ... I hate doing anything. It has to have a strong point that is pertinent to what's happening now ...

The benefit for Nadia Hilou, the Palestinian Israeli member of the Israeli Knesset -- she is a member of the Labor Party and not one of the "Arab" Party slates in Israel -- is going along well ...we will have a BIG CROWD Oct. 8 at the Arts Center of Oak Park ... the info on the benefit which features a presentation on how she is working from within the system in Israel to make things better for children and families and also a performance by the world's first Christian Arab COmedy troup the "Infidels of Comedy" (including me, Nasry Malak and Maria Shehata) is available at www.InfidelsofComedy.com ... you can also buy tickets there online using your credit card. $40 for general admission (doors open at 6:30) and $15 for students with school IDs ...

Today's radio show features a soldier from Iraq and also attorney Mike Deutsch on the Mohamed Salah political dissident persecution case in the American Gulag, our system of misjustice in America.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Wow, Charles Gibson toughens up with Palin; too bad he's never like that with anyone else

I was a bit embarassed for ABC Anchor Charles Gibson in his exclusive interview with VP candidate Sarah Palin. Gibson came across like a judgemental prosecutor rather than a journalist seeking out a story. Gibson was tough with Palin, constantly pusshing her back with declarations of her inconsistencies even though she kept responding clearly and consistently to every question, including about the so-called stupid bridge that no one in America cares about.

Was Gibson merely displaying that male chauvanistic attitude with a woman that is so common among men who look down upon women as not being equal?

I wish Charles Gibson would have been as tough with President Bush, or Dick Cheney or maybe take on Karl Rove and Barack Obama or Joe Biden as he was with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

What Gibson showed American Friday was not that Plain is inconsistent on issues, but rather that when it comes to heavihanded abuse of a woman candidate, some men, especially journalists, can be excessive in their holier-than-thou attitudes.

You go girl, Sarah. You kicked ass!

Obama rose on the ashes of Jack Ryan's political career

A look back at recent history. How luck and chance plays a major role in individual's careers:

The rise of Barack Obama to become the Democratic candidate for United States President has a direct local angle that today touches on the Orland Park area that goes far beyond his political upbringing on Chicago's South Side. It has a lot to do with an individual who today plays an enormous role in forging the public opinions of the people of Orland Park through his weekly newspaper, the Orland Park Prairie. And it all happened in a very short period of time.

By all measures, Jack Ryan should have won the November 2004 election for the U.S. Senate to succeed retiring Senator Peter Fitzgerald.

In March 2004, Ryan won the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. Barack Obama, an Illinois State Senator with a controversial career -- he won his state senate seat by successfully removing his more popular rival, incumbent Alice Palmer from the ballot -- won the Democratic primary, defeating State Comptroller Dan Hynes, the son of 19th Ward Chicago powerhouse Tom Hynes.

Ryan, Harvard LAW graduate and MBA who went into medical mal-pacrtice and a partnership at the prestigious Goldmann Sachs investment firm, used his money and his political clout with the backing of the then ruling Republican National organization, to position himself for a sure win in the fall election. But three months later, Ryan was forced to resign when details of his messy divorce from Hollywood actress Jeri Ryan splashed across the front pages of newspapers across the country. The role the media played inf orcing the disclosure of the details of his divorce, and the impact of the hugely negative media coverage is believed to be one reason why Ryan expanded from law and finance to include launching a new community newspaper that he promised area politicians would not focus on controversial issues and instead would focus on positive community news.

Ironically, it was the persistance of the news media that sunk Ryan's candidacy. (Ryan had argued he would not release details of his divorce saying it would injure his son, Alex. But later, when the details were released, the focus was not on Alex but rather on the sensational side of a collapsing relationship with his ex-wife.) Had they not sued, Ryan might still be in politics and not newspaper publishing.

It took Ryan several more weeks to formally withdraw and by the end of July. With only 86 days left to the November election, the Illinois GOP could not find a credible replacement. They reached out to many high profile name candidates, including former Chicago Bear's Coach Mike Ditka, whos aid no. And they settled on the bombastic Alan Keyes, a carpertbagger who had not lived in Illinois at all, but who had a strong Republican dimplomatic career.

Keyes had no chance, and Obama easily defeated him.

Obama's mentor is Illinois Senate President Emil Jones who helped him organize the support to run for the U.S. Senate seat when no one else at the time thought it possible for a Democrat to win. That summer, to strengthen his candidacy as Ryan's was embroiled in controversy and was characterized in negative media headlines that focused on the sex scandal involving his ex-wife, Obama was invited to give the keynote speech at the July 2004 Democratic Primary convention where John Kerry won the party's nomination for president.

The point is, Barack Obama is now the Democratic candidate for president in a large part because of Jack Ryan's personal political tragedy; and the Orland Park Prairie was created, also, in a large part because of Ryan's experience with the biased and negative mainstream mainly downtown news media (print, radio and TV) ... in a way, supporters of Obama should thank Ryan and Orland Park residents should thank him too. The OPP is a great Good News community newspaper. We don't have enough of them. (Does every paper have to expose government corruption, waste and mismanagement?)

-- Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com