Open Thread (8/29/2008)

Posted August 29th, 2008 at 09:29 AM by wayward
in

Since there isn't one today yet, I'll create one.

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On August 29th, 2008 at 09:58 AM, Nidan said:

The News-Gazette is reporting that "Judge Holly Clemons on Monday found in favor of Patrick Thompson, 39, of Champaign, and against Harvey Welch, a veteran defense attorney, in a small claims case that Thompson filed in June 2007." This stems from the home invasion/sexual abuse case against Thompson, a man who made the mistake of videotaping the police in Champaign. This local saga has been covered numerous times before by this blog.

On August 29th, 2008 at 10:03 AM, wayward said:

Yeah, I saw that.  It'll be interesting to see what happens if Welch appeals.

Oil Man's picture
On August 29th, 2008 at 10:11 AM, Oil Man said:

Now that Blago says he really likes being Governor in Illinois, is the GOP going to get off it perverbially rear and put an electable canidate up against him?  After seeing the picture of he and Madigan hugging at the DNC, I am getting concern about 2010.

redstatewannabe's picture
On August 29th, 2008 at 10:13 AM, redstatewannabe said:

any suggestions, Oil Man?  Brady is likely in, Rutherford is considering it.

On August 29th, 2008 at 10:34 AM, Champaign Dweller said:

If the Illinois Republican Party can't take advantage of the most unpopular governor in recent memory, and run some credible candidate against him, then they might as well give up being a party and let someone else have a chance to get rid of the incompetent governor.

On August 29th, 2008 at 11:49 AM, D-Man said:

I heard that Paul Vallas is considering doing a Bloomberg, and switching to the GOP to run against Blago.

On August 29th, 2008 at 12:02 PM, DaveM said:

So... Gov. Sarah Palin?  Brave choice.

Dan Fielding's picture
On August 29th, 2008 at 12:32 PM, Dan Fielding said:

I would welcome Vallas and Palin.  (Especially Palin.)

Glock21's picture
On August 29th, 2008 at 12:36 PM, Glock21 said:

D-Man... as long as a better democrat or a better republican defeat Blago next time, it'll be a major improvement.  I'm personally hoping the democrats clean up their own mess and defeat him in the primary to ensure it's not even possible by election day (since my faith in the GOP being able to win a statewide office anytime soon is pretty diminished).

 

--

Glock21 Op/Ed

On August 29th, 2008 at 01:01 PM, pattsi said:

According to the news story on WILL AM yesterday afternoon, the cost to bring John Edwards to the campus in October is $65,000. As part of the story when the offer was put forth by the University that Edwards could recind on the commitment, it was learned that not only will he come in October but also he is taking more and more speaking engagements at an increased fee. (Robin Kaler made these statements.) Am I the only individual taken back that the University/Student Union Board can come up with this amount of money for one speaker at a time that the University is explaining budget restrictions?

Pattsi Petrie

On August 29th, 2008 at 12:55 PM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

plus....Edwards is an admitted lier and philanderer...hardly the type of person the university should be associating with or holding out as an example to the students.

On August 29th, 2008 at 12:58 PM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

Perhaps the Univeristy could offer a Good Judgement degree...a B.S. in Good Judgement sounds about right.

Dan Fielding's picture
On August 29th, 2008 at 01:12 PM, Dan Fielding said:

Edwards thread:  http://illinipundit.com/2008/08/29/john-edwards-speak-foellinger

On August 29th, 2008 at 01:34 PM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

"Edwards is an admitted lier and philanderer"

You mean, like John McCain?

On August 29th, 2008 at 01:45 PM, Bruce Byrd said:

There is a real good picture of Tim Johnson in his jersey and holding a football in todays N-G College football section.

On August 29th, 2008 at 02:48 PM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

Anon,

I wasn't aware the UI was bringing John McCain to campus, too.  I would certainly lump him into the same category and hope the university would reconsider.  I wonder how much McCain's fee is?  Does anyone know when he is scheduled to speak?  I would imagine his schedule is fairly busy for the next several months and wonder why he is spending time in lower Illinois versus other more strategic voting communities.

On August 29th, 2008 at 03:53 PM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

I would welcome Vallas and Palin.  (Especially Palin.)

God, I hate Vallas. Vallas is about the only person who could do worse than the status quo. You know how you hate the Chicago Public School system? He's catastrophic event that happened to CPS, Philadelphia Public Schools and NOLA.

He's the worst of the Daley connected crowd in Chicago--neither left nor right, merely evil.

Remember, when Daley took CPS control away from the voting people of Chicago, he immediately handed it off to Vallas.

 

Dan Fielding's picture
On August 29th, 2008 at 03:59 PM, Dan Fielding said:

Thus the "especially."

On August 29th, 2008 at 04:12 PM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

Does anyone know when he is scheduled to speak

I would hope someone would teach McCain to speak before he goes on any type of circuit.  It's painful to try to listen to him get through a speech. 

On August 29th, 2008 at 04:36 PM, ThoughtPolice said:

wrong thread.

On August 29th, 2008 at 05:33 PM, Matt Diller (not verified) said:

Pattsi-

FWIW, the money to bring speakers like Edwards to campus comes out of a separate student fee used for (among other things) Illini Union student programming, student organizations, speakers, and the like. Its a totally separate fund, paid for by a refundable student fee, and is not connected to state funds. If I remember correctly (I've been gone a couple of years), students have to vote in a referendum to raise or lower the fee, and spending is controlled by several different bodies (among others, Illini Union Board and the speakers' committee, the name of which escapes me). Bringing speakers to campus doesn't affect the University's budget one way or the other.

On August 29th, 2008 at 09:35 PM, pattsi said:

Matt, thanks for this explanation. I know how the funds are generated. The point of my comment has to do with a concern for a lack of responsibility on the part of the students spending students' fees in bringing a speaker to campus at such an extreme cost. Further, this group supposedly has an advisor. If I were still an UIUC student, I would be most displeased with the lack of fiscal responsibility. To me this reflects a rather large disconnect between someone spending some else's money within an academic environment that is supposedly struggling financially. Since I wrote the original post, I have read the DI editorial on this topic. It appears I am not totally alone with my expressed concerns. It is too bad that the DI did not include a statistic, such as what percentage of the student board's speakers budget is being used to bring Edwards to campus. Will the speech be taped so it can be shown on channel 7 for educational purposes? Will a DVD containing the speech be placed in the university media library? I certainly hope that the board was smart enough to negotiate more than just a 60-90 minute speech for $65,000. (It only cost me $25,000 to bring Richard Florida to campus and his talk was taped and has been shown on channel 6 a number of times.)

Pattsi Petrie

On August 29th, 2008 at 09:28 PM, John E. Maloney said:

To Anon M. Muss at 3:53- I normally do not repond to posters who are  not brave enough to use their own name and then slander Paul Valas.  I met Valas when I was Governor Edgar's at large appointee to the Interagency Authority on Residential Facilities for Children (1993-1997).  I can tell you for a fact you do not know a thing about Valas and probably are a liberal stooge who would support the worst, most corrupt school organization ever.  Mayor Daley and Paul Valas did the City of Chicago a great service by taking over the Chicago schools.  They may have problems now, but they were 10 times worse when then-get your facts straight-and I think my Republican credentials will attest to the fact that you do not know what you are talking about. 

On August 30th, 2008 at 06:37 AM, Woof (not verified) said:

"I can tell you for a fact that you do not know a thing about Valas"--this is quite an assumption coming from a person who misspells Vallas' name four times in one paragraph.

"(you) are probably a liberal stooge who would support the worst, most corrupt school organization ever." --Darn it! Who leaked the secret that liberals absolutely loathe a good education?

"I think my Republican credentials will attest to the fact that you do not know what you are talking about." Again, another assumption that might possibly have a clinical condition at its root. Are all Republicans credentialed, and do those credentials void any discourse that runs contrary to their opinion?

John E. Maloney = Johnny Baloney?

On August 30th, 2008 at 09:58 AM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

I normally do not repond to posters who are  not brave enough to use their own name and then slander Paul Valas.

Why, does this situation come up a lot? I think the reality is that you have responded 100% of the time to posters who are "not brave enough to use their own name and then slander Paul Valas".

I used evidence in my post. You did not. If you study Constitutional history, some of the most important speech has been anonymous. Instead, you just cite your "credentials" as evidence of your truthiness. If I register Republican and post my name, does that mean that I can magically restore the lives of the students ruined by Vallas' reigns of terror in the three school districts he has flown into a cliff?

I do not ask you to agree with my points, only to not waste everyone's time with your hollow posts. I can't even understand what some of your assumption mean. "You disagree with me, therefore you would support some horrific education system I have in my head!" If you post that you "know for a fact" that no one else knows what you are talking about, and you mess up every single one of your points, what does that show?

Vallas=One of Daley's patronage hires. This is a fact. He could also be wonderful, but I see no evidence of that.

Laura Sandefur's picture
On August 30th, 2008 at 01:56 PM, Laura Sandefur said:

If I may, I have a couple of points that occur to me in this thread…

 

I would not be surprised to see the IL Dems take a serious swipe at Blago in the next Primary. Frankly, given how disliked Blago was during his first term I was a bit amazed that the only Dem challenger that emerged in that Primary was Eisendrath (however his name is spelled—sorry I’m not certain.) 

 

I know Lisa Madigan had just had a baby around the time of that last Primary, so I can see how she wasn’t up to running at that point in time. I’d think, however, that she’d be a viable candidate in this next Primary if she wants to run, and THAT should give some pause for thought. I don’t have a sense that she’s as disliked at Blago, and frankly with her connections I’d never bet against her in a race.

 

I heard the other day (and I can’t for the LIFE of me remember where!) that there was some speculation that Alexi Giannoulias was maybe floating the idea of running for Governor. I’ve not met him—can’t offer any sort of personal insights—but he has managed to win statewide election and thus far hasn’t been indicted. That’s not a bad start, to an Illinois political career, if you consider our history.

 

As for Vallas, I have to say I actually favored him over Blago in that Dem Primary. In fact, I was fairly impressed with him and with the people he had hired for his Primary campaign. They all seemed pretty sharp, and I think that speaks volumes about his ability to surround himself with people who can get the job done.

 

I didn't attend Chicago schools, so I have zero insight into the details of his work there. I’d be interested to hear from somebody that does.

 

Regards!

 

 

Laura

 

On August 30th, 2008 at 08:07 PM, Jay Rosenstein (not verified) said:

If McCain were a Democrat, the Republicans would be running ads saying he fabricated his stories of his time as a POW, and calling him a traitor for signing a confession with the North Vietnamese.

Gregg's picture
On August 30th, 2008 at 09:15 PM, Gregg said:

On August 30th, 2008 at 08:07 PM, Jay Rosenstein (not verified) said:

If McCain were a Democrat, the Republicans would be running ads saying he fabricated his stories of his time as a POW, and calling him a traitor for signing a confession with the North Vietnamese.

No if McCain WAS a Democrat HE would be braging about hauling ass to Canada with the rest of the draft dodgers.

On August 30th, 2008 at 09:56 PM, ThoughtPolice said:

No if McCain WAS a Democrat

Why the caps for "was?" If you're asserting that Jay's wording was incorrect, you might want to check out the subjunctive mood.

Also, the rest of your comment is ridiculous - plenty of Democrats served . You might forget that George W. Bush, Dan Quayle, and Dick Cheney were also "draft dodgers" to some degree.

On August 30th, 2008 at 09:58 PM, Anonymous (not verified) said:

No if McCain WAS a Democrat HE would be braging about hauling ass to Canada with the rest of the draft dodgers.

Yes, because none of the major Republican leaders avoided military service. I think it's particularly classic that people here are hailing Dan Quayle's patronage greased draft dodging as heroic military service.

Grandstand for your candidate, sure. But how about some minimal level of respect for the people who ACTUALLY put their lives on the line for the country?

On August 31st, 2008 at 09:28 AM, pattsi said:

This is a brief interruption to the political conversations and bringing us back to IP's joy and rapture that the university classes have begun, hence football season has begun. In today's N-G, section B, page 4  is a guest commentary by Gene Budig about the costs to colleges and universities to support athletics. According to the article, there are 115 schools with top Division I teams and only 15 have athletic departments that made a profit. (No statistics about UIUC are included in the commentary.) I don't seem to have sufficient tech savvy to find this online, sorry.

Pattsi Petrie