• Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    A Faceful of Frowns

    The photo gallery from the Chicago Tribune features a number of people wearing a particular kind of expression; it seems to be common to many Illinois political figures in times of stress, bad news, or legal trouble. Gov. Rod leaving for “work.” Anybody up for a spontaneous protest march past his home and/or office? I bet we could get 100,000 people, based on the latest poll. Gov. Rod in court. Yes, he was in running clothes. Even though he was called and apparently awakened by the FBI, he chose to look like this in court. Must have laid out the…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    Illinois Led The Way To Progress from Corruption Before

    Nearly 100 years ago,  a scandal from Illinois led the nation to change the way US Senators were selected, from being elected by state legislators as originally laid out in the Constitution, to direct election by the people.  The Progressives were the ones that cleaned up the mess. Predictive? Early 1900s Illinois scandal led to direct election of U.S. senators — chicagotribune.com The Chicago case of alleged corruption played a prominent role in the nation’s decision to amend the Constitution and allow state voters to elect their senators. It was a solution that seems to have worked for 95 years,…