Candidate Forum focused on public education

State senate candidates from across the northwest suburbs are invited to a U-46 Citizens Advisory Council sponsored candidates' forum.  The forum will take place on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at Streamwood High School (701West Schaumburg Road,Streamwood,  IL 60107) at 7:00pm.

The focus of the candidate forum will be education issues.  If you haven't already voted, this will be a good opportunity to hear from the candidates about our public schools.

I intend to go.  Hopefully people will ask hard questions of the candidates.  Hopefully the candidates will speak clearly and frankly to us.

For more information please visit the U-46 website.

Grass roots politics, apathy, ignorance

I spent the day (about 5.5 hours) putting up yards signs for Sen. Noland this morning and afternoon.  It was actually nice being outside because of the unseasonably warm weather (it was about 42 degrees out).

The work involved knocking on doors, talking to people and then, assuming they allowed it, placing yard signs on their front lawns.  Some folks were eager to have the signs.  Others politely said no.

There were a handful of folks whom I encountered that confounded me.  One person said he wasn't interested in politics*.  How can you not be interested in the one system that gives us at least a chance to control the way our lives are governed?

Another person agreed to have the signs put in his yard.  Some other neighbors came by while I was there and we started to talk.  I told the other neighbors to consider getting involved too.

"We definitely need to get involved," said the neighbor whose driveway we were standing on.  "It pays well to be involved" he added.

No, I said, it actually is all volunteer work.  He didn't believe me.  He seemed to be convinced that I was doing this grass roots political work because I was paid to do it.

I tried to insist that it was volunteer work as forcefully as possible without sounding combative.  I'm not sure it worked.

These types of encounters are slightly disheartening.  They aren't enough to dissuade me from being active, but it definitely dampens the mood when I'm in the moment.
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* I'm taking them at their word that they weren't interested in politics.  I realize that it could have been a passive-aggressive way of saying I'm not interested in the particular candidate, but I just didn't get that vibe in this instance.

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI | FP: After America

Zbigniew Brzezinski's recent essay "After America" in Foreign Policy gave me something to think about. It's a good read for identifying potential reasons why we should care about our country remaining a global power.

Here are some interesting points raised by Mr. Brzezinski:

Another consequence of American decline could be a corrosion of the generally cooperative management of the global commons -- shared interests such as sea lanes, space, cyberspace, and the environment, whose protection is imperative to the long-term growth of the global economy and the continuation of basic geopolitical stability. In almost every case, the potential absence of a constructive and influential U.S. role would fatally undermine the essential communality of the global commons because the superiority and ubiquity of American power creates order where there would normally be conflict.

This makes sense to me.  Am I being to pro-American?  What "American power" allows us to manage the "global commons" today?  Honestly, I don't know.

Another scary "what if" Mr. Brzezinski identified relates to the a host of smaller countries around the world and what might happen to them if America ceased to be a global power.  Here is what Mr. Brzezinski noted:

At the same time, the security of a number of weaker states located geographically next to major regional powers also depends on the international status quo reinforced by America's global preeminence -- and would be made significantly more vulnerable in proportion to America's decline. The states in that exposed position -- including Georgia, Taiwan, South Korea, Belarus, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, and the greater Middle East -- are today's geopolitical equivalents of nature's most endangered species. Their fates are closely tied to the nature of the international environment left behind by a waning America, be it ordered and restrained or, much more likely, self-serving and expansionist.

I can see Mr. Brzezinski's point here.

The arguments Mr. Brzezinski makes in support of the importance of America remaining a world superpower help me better articulate why we (Americans) need to care about how our country fares beyond our own individual well-being.

Santorum: a racist, a frothy mix of lube or both?

Santorum (no, not the frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is the byproduct of anal sex) sounds like a racist to me.  Check out this comment Santorum made in Iowa recently while speaking to an all white crowd about welfare:



What!?  Santorum is talking to people in a state where the vast majority of the those receiving government assistance are white!  What a clown.  And the idiots gathered to support Santorum were dumb enough to clap when he made this racist comment.

Santorum - a straight up racist.

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P.S.  Another clip showed Santorum sporting an Iowa Hawkeye hoodie!  Dude, take it off!  You don't deserve to wear the Black & Gold!

Veterans Day 2011

Sgt. Williams showing hat with Sgt. Albert
D. Ware's name on it.

I took my daughter and one of her friends to the Village of Hoffman Estates Veterans Day Ceremony on Friday.  One of the speakers was Sgt. Williams.  He spoke of his personal heroes.  One of his heroes is Sgt. Albert D. Ware.  Sgt. Ware was killed by an I.E.D. in Afghanistan a few years ago.  It was a wonderful coincidence that I was at this ceremony when Sgt. Williams spoke.  This is because I work with Sgt. Ware' mother.  I took this picture and will be sharing the public and private words that Sgt. Williams shared about Sgt. Ware.

I spoke to Sgt. Williams after the ceremony.  I told him that I worked with Sgt. Ware' mother and that I was going to share the words and symbols (Sgt. Williams was wearing Sgt. Ware's name plate on his hat) with my colleague.  Sgt. Williams asked me to let Sgt. Ware's mother know that Sgt. Ware is not forgotten.

Wow.  I feel fortunate to be able to share this Veterans Day experience with my colleague come Monday.

Chicago Tribune: 175 Chicago protesters arrested from Congress plaza

I took this picture two weeks ago when the protests were
just a handful of people

The economy sucks for a lot of people.  In our middle class community the number of foreclosures are still high.  Our home values have plummeted.  I can tell that people in my community are struggling just by the extra hours they are putting in on the weekends and picking up extra jobs to make ends meet.  It's scary.

If you don't see this in your neighborhoods, then please be thankful for having avoided the economic strife that's all over the country.  I see it and I think it's damned scary.

Thankfully some people are trying do something to draw attention to the causes of our current economic crisis.  They are the people involved in the "Occupy Wall Street", "Occupy Chicago" and other "Occupy" movements across the country.

In our community the protests started with a handful of people and at times the "Occupy Chicago" movement swelled to the thousands.  Last night nearly 200 people were arrested for their peaceful assembly in Grant Park, Chicago.

Instead of facilitating the people's right to free speech and assembly, Mayor Emanuel opted to have the protesters arrested last night.

Chicago police arrested about 175 Occupy Chicago protestors in Congress Plaza just after 1 a.m. Sunday, about 90 minutes after police issued their first warning that the group was violating municipal code. 

Police completed the last arrests and cleared the plaza of protesters at 3:30 am, more than two hours after arrests began. 

The protesters will likely be cited with municipal violations and face fines, police said. 

via Chicago Tribune

I'm humbled by the commitment of people who go out and march and speak out on issues that impact us all.  While they were being arrested, I was fast asleep in my warm home in my warm bed with my family.

What can I and other do short of marching and sitting-in?  I've been thinking about this and here are some of my thoughts:

1. Pray for the well-being of those who are speaking out against corporate greed and inequitable government relief that benefits the most wealthy in our society at the expense of all others;
2. Study the demands being made by the "Occupy Wall Street" and "Occupy Chicago" movements and discuss them with friends and family;
3. Write and call our political leaders at every level to and let them know that while we may not be marching we are fully engaged and that we want our leaders to take heed and take action on the issues being raised by the "Occupy" movements;
4. Provide materials to support the peaceful protesters of the "Occupy" movement with food, shelter and even money to defray the bail expenses and legal fees they incur through their peaceful acts of civil disobedience.

One thing I keep reminding myself is this: I don't have to agree with everything the organizers of the "Occupy Wall Street" and other "Occupy" movements are saying or asking for in order to be a part of the movement.  I believe in a free market economy but I also know that an unregulated market leads to gross inequities and excesses.  What we are demanding is a reassessment of where the lines on regulation need to be drawn followed by the implementation of new regulations that help put power back into the hands of the people.

Some friends tell me that the protesters are just hippies
who want anarchy.  Um, no, I don't think so...  They look
like regular people who are really hurting.

These are some of my thoughts on the subject.  What do you think?

Republican Schaumburg Township assessor (Lawson) to run against Rep. Mussman

Rep. Michelle Mussman (Dist. 56) tried to cultivate a conservative, centrist record as a freshman Democrat in Springfield.  That's my take on her rhetoric and on some of her votes on issues important to me.

According to the Daily Herald Rep. Mussman will have Schaumburg Township Assessor John Lawson as an opponent in November 2012.  This is not surprising.  The Republicans would field a candidate regardless of how good or bad was Rep. Mussman's record during her freshman year in Springfield.

What may be even more troubling for Rep. Mussman is a challenge in the primaries.  Her vote on the Illinois DREAM Act and some of her comments about why she voted against it should be very troubling.  During an "ice cream social" sponsored by Rep. Mussman I asked her why she voted against the Illinois DREAM Act and she told me "that most of her constituents weren't in the mood to pass pro-immigrant legislation."  She also said the bill's name was "offensive" to some.

We had a short but frank exchange of ideas.  I remarked to Rep. Mussman that equal rights for African-Americans weren't popular once upon a time but that didn't make it right (or moral) for legislators of the civil rights era to oppose legislation to secure such rights for people of color.  I also told her there is nothing offensive about a child dreaming of making America home and that the bill's objective was to help young people who, although un-documented, were in this position due to decisions made by their parents while they were very young.

Rep. Mussman neither agreed nor disagreed with my points.  Instead she said this was an issue that the federal government needs to address.  I told her it was Illinois' responsibility to take care of Illinois' residents and the Illinois DREAM Act did not impermissibly tread on federal authority.  That there are solutions at the federal level doesn't negate the value of making smart policy decisions at the state level as well.

It was a cordial conversation.  I told I'd like to support her in 2012 but she'd have to come around and take up positions that are smart and progressive.  This race is going to be very interesting.