Category: Local politics
Posted on June 27, 2022 by Gary
Because nobody asked. Keep in mind these are my opinions only, and I don't claim to speak for anyone else. There's a fair number of races with only one Democratic candidate (such as my own for Precinct Committeemortal in York Township Precinct 87, a job no one else seems to want) which I won't mention. (But didn't I just mention them? Oh well.)

You may not even know that Governor Jay Pritzker has a primary challenger, one Beverly Miles. In general, I do think we need more non-billionaires in government, but it's not clear to me why Ms. Miles is running or what she wants to accomplish, and she doesn't seem like a particularly strong campaigner considering how few people even know who she is. Her web site touts her military experience, which I really don't care about, but lists few or no specific policies that she wants to implement. I'm officially endorsing Pritzker, but feel free to vote for Miles if you don't like him and want a protest vote, because this race is a pretty foregone conclusion anyhow.

The Secretary of State race is much more competitive this year, with long-time incumbent Jesse White not running again. My biggest recommendation is don't vote for Giannoulias. People outside the Democratic bubble don't much trust him, and based on how much special interest money he rakes in, I can't say it's entirely for bad reasons. He's also not a good choice even if you just want any Democrat in this office, considering that he's already lost a statewide election to Mark Kirk in 2010. I don't have any major preference as far as the other three candidates but will probably vote for Anna Valencia as she seems to be the strongest challenger.

For Congress, many of us are in new districts for the new decade. The new District 3 is a latino-heavy area, and the best candidate is State Rep Delia Ramirez who is running a grass-roots people-powered campaign. For the new District 6, which includes my precinct, and in which two incumbents are fighting it out, the clear better choice is Marie Newman. Newman does not take corporate PAC money and supports Medicare for All which would provide full health coverage for everybody in the country for less than we're currently paying. Super-PACs backing her opponent have been sending out lots of mailers over trumped-up scandals. Think about how much that costs, and what they'd be expecting in return. For District 8, which used to be my district but isn't anymore, I support challenger Junaid Ahmed over the incumbent; Junaid is better on pretty much every issue.

One office you might not be familiar with is that of State Central Committeeman and Committeewoman. This is an often overlooked position, but an important one because the State Central Committee oversees the operations of the state party and elects the state party chair. Incumbent Patrick Watson has put in a lot of work and deserves to continue.

For DuPage County Board, District 2, which like every other district this year has three openings, I recommend Yeena Yoo, Paula Garcia, and Maryann Vasquez. The fourth candidate, Liz Chaplin, has been on the board longer than any other Democrat. I at one time admired Chaplin's work in fighting against Republican corruption on that board. That changed during a local party election in which Chaplin, as party vice-chair (a position that I myself had nominated her for), basically stacked the deck for her preferred candidate. After that, I can't in good faith recommend her for any position of public trust.

Last but not least, there's one competitive judge primary on the ballot in my area. I know relatively little about what makes a good judge, but a friend who is an immigration lawyer says that James Murphy is the better candidate in the Appellate Court race.
Category: Local politics
Posted on November 4, 2018 by Gary
This.

DuPage County Judge Patrick O'Shea has been removed from all his judicial duties after his arrest Friday on a reckless conduct charge in Wheaton.


There's also this.

After his administrative assistant filed a sexual harassment report against him in 2016, DuPage County Court Judge Patrick J. O’Shea complained to her boss about the assistant’s “gang-related” tattoos and threatened to have her locked up, according to a complaint filed Thursday by the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board.


When Republicans come to you saying what great and upstanding people their local candidates are, remind them that they said the same thing about this guy.


Category: Issues
Posted on December 15, 2016 by Gary
By Lam Poone
Washington Pest staff reporter

The word "gullible" is not actually a legitimate word and does not appear in English dictionaries, according to top US intelligence officials. "For many years, the public has been misled into thinking that this is a legitimate word, but it actually isn't," said CIA Assistant Deputy Director for Linguistic Affairs Naim Ridaktyd. "It's actually not in any of the dictionaries. Not even the big unabridged ones that you need a forklift to carry."

Other CIA officials confirmed the absence of "gullible" from dictionaries, and suggested theories as to why the English-speaking public has for years been using what is not an actual word. "I'm pretty sure [Russian president Vladimir] Putin is behind this," said Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Suum Gai. "The whole thing started long before he was in any position of power, and even before he was born, but what can I say, he's fiendishly clever." Gai said that the Obama administration is still trying to determine Putin's ultimate goal in fabricating a fake English word, but that clearly it was something nefarious.

"It's very unsettling that the public could be deceived into believing in the existence of what turns out to not be a real word," said Chuck L. Head, retired CIA agent and president of security consulting firm Wars R Us. "I think it shows, unfortunately, that the general public is very, er, able to be easily tricked."
Category: Local politics
Posted on November 7, 2016 by Gary
I've done "Who to vote for" posts a number of times, and the only ones I ever hear back from are the ones who I don't recommend. So, screw it. Here are people who should not under any circumstances be put into the offices they're running for. Find their names on the ballot, and vote for the other person.

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Category: Local politics
Posted on March 13, 2016 by Gary
My thoughts on the current election. Does anyone care? Is there anybody out there? And what of Rhonda's forbidden love for Edgar? Tune in tomorrow!
Senator Bernie Sanders is by far the best choice for President. Bernie has spent his whole career fighting for working people. He takes no campaign money from Wall Street and opposes corporate trade treaties like the Trans-Pacific Partnership that force us to compete for jobs with countries that pay pennies per hour. He supports a plan for health care as a public service which will cover everyone while saving the average family thousands of dollars. As a member of Congress he voted against the Iraq war and pretty accurately predicted what its consequences would be for the region.
But can Bernie beat the Republicans? As Democrats, we believe in science when it comes to things like evolution and climate change, so we should look to science to tell us who is electable. All available scientific evidence shows that Sanders can win. polling match-ups consistently show him doing better than his main opponent against any likely Republican nominee. He also has a higher approval rating and polls much higher among independents and “swing” voters. He draws huge crowds to his speeches which will lead to higher turnout. When Democrats are inspired and turn out to vote, we win.


The winner of the US Senate Democratic primary will go on to face a Republican, probably incumbent Mark Kirk. Tammy Duckworth is currently our member of Congress and is the party leadership's choice for this Senate seat. I'm not that big a follower of the party leadership and I'd happily support an outsider candidate like Andrea Zopp or Napoleon Harris if one of them were clearly better but I don't think either Zopp or Harris has all that much to offer that Duckworth doesn't.


The Eighth Congressional is the hottest local race right now. Those living in the district have probably seen the mailers and TV ads. The candidates are Mike Noland, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Deb Bullwinkel. I like all these candidates. Each one has a lot to offer and any of them would make a good Congressional representative.

  • State Senator Noland has the most political experience. His record is mostly very good, with a few blemishes &msdash; he, along with the rest of the state legislature, voted for a bill that prohibited anyone receiving state funds from advocating a boycott of Israeli apartheid — but for the most part he's been a strong and independent progressive. He is also better than the others on some issues, most notably on health care where he is the only one advocating eliminating private insurance and making health care a public service.
  • Krishnamoorthi is a very strong campaigner and will add badly-needed diversity to a Congress that is still mostly white. He is highly knowledgeable on just about any issue you can name, and says most of the right things, but without any sort of legislative record it's hard to be absolutely sure that he would follow through on them.
  • Deb Bullwinkel's strength include compassion and a strong connection to the community, but as a late entrant into the race and someone who is new to national-level politics she hasn't built up the experience and knowledge base that the other two have.

Some other races on side two of my ballot are worth mentioning. Moon Khan is running as a write-in for County Recorder. He had previously filed petitions to be on the ballot for that office but they were challenged by Republicans and he was forced to withdraw. If you live in DuPage County please write in Moon Khan for recorder. Note that to do a write-in you must both bubble in the oval next to the write-in blank and then write the name in the blank. Note also that Khan is a write-in only for Recorder; please do not write him in for President or Senator.
Also of note, Jennifer Shalakis Wiesner is running for judge in a circuit that includes most of DuPage. She has no primary opponent, but the race is interesting because of the ridiculous lengths the Republicans have already gone to try to keep her from running. At first they challenged the validity of the signatures that she had collected. When that didn't pan out, they tried to claim that she didn't live at her stated address and reportedly even hired a private detective to follow her around to prove it. Finally they asserted that she should be off the ballot because she failed to raise her right hand as her statement of candidacy was notarized. Anyone involved in politics knows that this has never been required of any candidate anywhere, but the DuPage Election Commission, of which all three members including the supposed Democrat were hand-picked by DuPage County Führer Dan Cronin, decided this was reason to throw Wiesner off the ballot. Fortunately this decision went to court and was reversed, but it's a good reminder of what we're up against in DuPage. Wiesner's opponent, Liam Brennan, still has enormous advantages; he has money, connections, and a county where a lot of people automatically vote Republican. Wiesner on the ballot isn't a huge threat to Brennan's position and power. It will, however, necessitate his backers to spend some money that they otherwise might not. DuPage County, where we try to deter democracy, because having it can run into money.
Category: Personal
Posted on December 1, 2015 by Gary
Photos from our Hawaii trip. All the commentary is by Ted (age 9). You should be able to "View Image" on any picture to see it full-sized.

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Category: Stuff
Posted on December 19, 2014 by Gary
Facebook is full of this kind of quiz, so I thought I'd try making my own. (It may not work properly in some older Microsoft browsers.)

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Category: Local politics
Posted on March 14, 2014 by Gary
Because nobody asked for it.... My candidate choices for the Democratic primary are here, with explanation of reasons below the fold. I should emphasize that I am speaking for myself only, not for York Township Democratic Organization nor anyone else. Also, since I'm friends with some of the people running here, let's be clear that these recommendations are based only on which persons I see as the better fit for the particular job for which they're contesting, and not on who I like or don't like on a personal level.

Governor: Pat Quinn
DuPage County Board District 4: M. Moon Khan
State Central Committee District 8: Rose Fitzpatrick and Bob Wagner
Precinct Committee York Township Precinct 55: Arthur Biladeau


Agree? Disagree? Feel free to rant or rave in comments. But click the "Read More" link first.

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Category: Local politics
Posted on July 30, 2013 by Gary
I don't know if this on craigslist is for real, but it's too good not to share.
Republican Illinois Attorney General (Springfield)
Candidate will be provided with a realistic plan to defeat incumbent.
Candidate must be willing and able to stand up to a multi-million dollar schmear campaign.

So don't bother replying if you happen to be allergic to very expensive cream cheese.
Candidate must meet the requirements for the office of Attorney General of Illinois.
Candidate must place the well being of the people of Illinois above that of their family's.

Above their family's what? And since candidate is singular, I must assume that "their" refers to the people of Illinois. So, okay, I guess they mean the candidate must support the right of deadbeat dads to desert their families for personal gain.
Please respond with and educational resume and three paragraph summary of platform and campaign plan.

Ah, so the plan won't be provided. Thanks for clarifying that.
This is a longshot, but my plan can win.

I'm guessing it was just some random chucklehead who posted this, since Jack Dorgan would at least be able to afford a decent copy editor. Still, it's an indication of the condition that the IL GOP is in, and deservedly so.
Category: Issues
Posted on April 24, 2013 by Gary


A user shared the image show on Facebook, which in return suspended his account.

Had he been using a portable service to share his content (like the one that's hosting the site you're reading) he could've picked up and moved to another service. But Facebook is a monopoly, and hence free to dick over its customers at will.

We gave corporations control of most of our food, health care, mass media, and many other needs in exchange for a little convenience. That didn't work out too well. Maybe we should think twice before giving them control over our Internet services.
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