Fireside 14 - Recent Comments

Yikes!!

zabes — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:21:37 GMT

I saw the abomination before. It looks like a combination of up with people meets the superbowl shuffle all set to music inspired by astroturf.

the reason, of course...

bored now — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:40:14 GMT

is that either i've already mentioned those things (it is about what's new) OR the laesch campaign choose not to answer the questions sent out for this roundup OR doesn't come up in the google searches i do. when i type in, as i do every time, the search terms "john laesch" illinois, i find what i find.

i emailed each campaign this message:

this is the third in the roundup series that is getting posted at prairie state blue, dailykos, mydd and the swing state project friday at 5 o'clock. i need a response by 3 on friday. if you provide brief responses to the questions i will insert them (when appropriate) in total.

the questions i'd like you to respond to are:

* are you ready to release your fund-raising numbers from the 4th qtr yet? (if so, what are they?)

* anything new that you think it's important that people know about your candidate?

* what grassroots activities do you have planned for the next couple of weeks? (date, time, location)

* anything else (new) to report?

* copies of mailers will be posted, if you want to send them to me

thanks!

-----

of course, most of what dt writes above the laesch campaign has already been reported in an earlier roundup.

it is really up to the laesch campaign whether or not they want to participate. i can't make them. i have already explained to them where the idea for this came from, and i was told, "if the national committees want to talk to us, tell them to give us a call." now understand, i did not suggest that the national democratic committees wanted to talk to anyone -- and i assume they are talking to everyone they think is viable.

dt's complaint is not with me, because i take out a segment of time to write these. her complaint should be directed at the place she dare not criticize. i don't care one way or another if the campaigns participate. i am giving them a forum to get their views across. those who don't want to take advantage of that opportunity have missed one, but that's not my concern...

Great post

fcraig — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 01:36:06 GMT

As someone who was a candidate last year, it was easy to see where we (as a party) had some gaps and where we had room for improvement. I spent countless hours canvassing with and on behalf of other candidates (in fact I spent more time with Annie Collins than I did with my own wife, Annie during that time) and we all did what we could to help the entire local ticket while in the heat of the campaign. Now that we have some time to reflect before the next campaign season revs up, it is important to work to fill those gaps and improve our processes. Throughout Kane County (and Kendall) people are working to put into practice the lessons learned. We have a long way to go before we can catch up to the opposition's "machine", but I have been impressed with the ongoing efforts of many who signed on to campaigns last year (many volunteering for their first campaigns) who have stayed active and I strongly feel that their efforts can help strengthen the foundation of the party in the area.

One of the things we must vigorously avoid is the urge to engage in any kind of circular firing squad that ultimately damages the overall effort of our candidates and our party. Tearing someone down does not build someone up. The vitriol that we are already seeing in some quarters is nothing more than a negative reflection on the candidate that one is trying to boost at another's expense. It doesn't work, so can it. Save your ammunition for the general election.

I will do whatever I can, and apply the hard-earned lessons learned from my campaign, to help elect the kind of Democrats that we can all be proud of.

Frank Craig

Been lurking, actually....

unagidon — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 20:49:41 GMT

so I saw the exchange. But I didn't post on it, obviously.

I will speak for myself. The original rumor concerned a criminal accusation that was never supported. Had it been supported, then I would have argued that it would have been legitimate to post it. The people pushing the slander were offered opportunities to support the story, but what they did instead is hide behind a "right of free speech" and claim that anyone demanding documentary support was somehow violating their rights.

At the time, I felt that the story at least should be deleted. If the posters had continued to push it (without providing substantiation, of course), then they should be banned. The fact that one of the posters, in her role as an administrator, copied the private administrator discussion of the issue onto another blog should itself have been grounds for removal. As the man said, "There's got to be some law."

(I will remark that at the time of the scandal, I discovered who was posting the slander and why. But I couldn't back it up with documentary evidence, so I didn't post it. Had I posted it, it might have cleared some things up. But then I would have been violating a rule that I think others should follow.)

If the skeeter had posted his, her, or its crap on this website without backing it up with some tangible evidence, I would have killed the thread immediately. If the skeeter did it again, I would have banned him, her, or it. If skeeter reappeared under another name, I wouldn't wait for another post before banning again.

You are all always welcome to post here. We have a different overall slant here, in the sense that we don't just deal with politics. Our desire to have a local blog that was more than just politics was the reason we set it up in the first place. This blog was almost ready to roll at the time of the big dispute at SoapBlox Chicago and would have opened whether the scandal had occurred or not. The fallout of the scandal was not the creation of the blog but that several of us decided that we no longer wanted to blog on your blog.

Anyway, I have stated the rules of the house here. Please do come by.

It's padding, pure and simple.

unagidon — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:56:11 GMT

If she thinks she needs to do it, then she thinks that she isn't qualified for the job.

It's too late to contest her employment in our local school district, since she is out anyway. But I hope and pray that Kentucky bounces her out and that she begins her well earned retirement; well earned by the rest of us, that is.

Another doggone typo

reday000 — Thu, 10 May 2007 11:41:52 GMT

Bab's resume says,

"Triple I Conference
Presentations on School Improvement, AP, Superintendent Search Process
Chicago Illinois, 2004 & 2006 conferences."

Survey says....NOT

The IASB confirmed, contrary to assertions made in her application for Kentucky Commissioner of Education, Erwin was not a presenter at that conference.

When asked by the press to explain this second resume indescretion, she said her school district had given presentations, which she signed off on, at each of those conferences.

By this reconning...Erwin probably has a few band awards and football championships under her belt as well.

Didn't she win the spelling Bee one year?

Typos are easy to do.

unagidon — Fri, 04 May 2007 14:32:02 GMT

I remember that shortly after I won the Nobel Peace Prize (oops, typo; I meant to say "graduated from high school"...) I was saying to my boss President Carter (oops, another one; I meant to say "my boss Ramon") that because of my 20 years service (oops, I meant, "20 weeks service") I should be promoted to head the Central Intelligence Agency (oops, I mean, "promoted to be a clerk in the produce department".)

Babs can be forgiven for her typos. In the old days, before spell checking, one had to really proof read everything. But now, provided that she spells "Superintendent of the Year" correctly when she makes her typo, she has no way of catching it.

The thing that has always stuck out for me about Bab's job history is how much she hops around. Like a locust on a hot plate, she never stands still. Some people look down on this sort of thing, especially old fashioned people who look at schools as being an integral part of the community and want their school officials to look at community in the same way. But in Bab's case, I think that what this is, is that there just isn't enough of her to go around for the whole country and she is just doing her best to spread the wealth of her abilities to as many states as possible.

Of course, this also helps explain why her typos weren't caught years ago. A job hopper like Babs must have a resume that's fifteen or twenty pages long by now. She can't be expected to have to flip to the back of the book every time she looks for a new job to check on what she said she was doing a decade ago.

Babs receiving a warm "Kentucky Welcome"

reday000 — Fri, 04 May 2007 11:27:02 GMT

Well, things are heating up for Barbara Erwin in Kentucky, but the state board of education in Kentucky says they are standing by her. Perhaps all those cliches work in interviews too.

Sometimes, a president says how much he supports some beleaguered underling, just before the underling gets dumped. In Kentucky, they're just as likely to keep her anyway.

See Kentucky School News and Commentary (http://theprincipal....) for all the gory details.

It was revealed recently that she had an embellished resume. She claimed to be the Texas Association of School Administrators, Superintendent of the Year in 1998, but alas, the TASA does not give such an award. She claimed it was a "typo." I'm sorry to report, she apparently typoed St Charles too.

In the Chicago Tribune, 13 January 2004, Mary Jo Knipp, president of the District 303 Board of Education said, "She has been in the trenches and has really made a difference. "Erwin is a 33-year educator who was twice named superintendent of the year while working in Texas from 1994 to 2000, where she headed the Allen Independent School District in Allen." Oops. Sorry...only in 1997.

On January 14, 2004 The Sun also wrote on the topic and sure made it sound like there were 3 distinct claims on the resume. The Sun reported, "Throughout her career, Erwin has received many honors, Knipp said. Twice, she was named Superintendent of the Year in Texas, and she was nominated for National Superintendent of the Year in 1999."

Some typo!

She appears to leave a trail of death and destruction in her wake.

unagidon — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:15:18 GMT

Sort of like Godzilla, although Godzilla doesn't make nearly as much money as she does.

I did read something once that she wrote in the district newsletters. It was one of those "From the Desk of the Superintendent" sorts of things. It was remarkable. Every single sentence in it, and I mean every single one, was a cliché. The writer James Joyce has a chapter in Ulysses that's about 60 pages long where every sentence is a cliché and that chapter is considered one of the monuments to his skill as a writer. Bab's was only about a page or two. But it is very hard to do it even for that amount. Try it some time. Almost everyone writing for the public will sprinkle a few clichés into their writing from time to time, but it takes a rare combination of direction, focus, and deep mediocrity for someone to be so utterly consistent. Since those are the ingredients of a great careerist, I am sure that she will make quite a splash in your state.

I wish you luck down in Kentucky.

Bab's appointment expected to go through...but not without a flap

reday000 — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 02:18:21 GMT

Questions have been raised about the search process undertaken in Kentucky. It's unusual, and the state board of education has taken some criticism. For more, see Kentucky School News and Commentary (http://theprincipal....)

Don't you need a philosophy....

unagidon — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 19:48:01 GMT

in order to have a philosophical difference?

Oh for cryin' out loud

zabes — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 04:26:51 GMT

Everytime that I think that they can't make this mess any worse than it already is, they keep finding ways to depress and astound me.

I guess the the DOD is gearing up for the for the "double down" policy in Iraq by putting as many bodies as they can into a uniform.

Amateur Wrestling News chimes in:

SAldrich — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 00:44:11 GMT

Along similar lines to the NY Times article and local press coverage: Hastert wrestling with the end

Usual 'dish of the day' offerings from Lynn Sweet in the column above from earlier this month.

Hastert's 'dire warnings' are classic bavado and show his own hubris and 'rule by personal caveat':

He sent a warning to Democrats — whom he accused of being soft on national security — and said that at wartime “our enemy is ruthless and seeks to destroy our way of life”

“The Republican leader in the 110th Congress will have the responsibility to emphasize conservative values and reform principles. I will not seek this role, but will support our leader to the best of my ability as I return to the full-time task of representing the people of the 14th District of Illinois”

Shall look forward to the next installment(s) from Poon's where I'm quite certain the table settings have been upended down in the 'bunker lounge complex'.

Read that also

SAldrich — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 00:06:37 GMT

Excellent summary on the current re-shuffling and backroom dealings afoot with Hastert looking for the first viable escape hatch.

Between the various camp followers and praetorian guard ranks vying to 'don the Imperial Purple' am sure this will get quite interesting. There's the Cross contingents, Lauzen's fractious factions, Ingemunson's infidels among the contenders.

Then, as you note, the 'installment' of the DLC/DCCC candidate selected by the power brokers and big kahunas. Sure 'Big Daddy' Madigan will be having some sway with with the Illinois Foggy Bottom crowds along the Potomac.

Afterall, that's how the insider trading is done here, carve up the political maps and decide 'who can reign supreme' by caveat across the local, regional and State party lines.

Would have voted for John Laesch if I could have...

ilona — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 00:01:46 GMT

...but I live out in Boone County! :o(

Enjoyed meeting him at YearlyKos last year, and said I'd lend a hand on his campaign. I ended up not being able to do as much as I'd have liked because I was busy finishing up a manuscript for my book. But I did do some canvassing, and I did get to benefit from the precinct-level database you mentioned.

It was great! And I'm glad the data won't be as perishable as it was in the past.

Everyone who I met and dealt with working on the campaign was top notch. We definitely have the people with heart and passion and brains. Just need to keep ratcheting up on the machine part of things. I think John provided a great service to the people in the district, and the future looks bright for both.

Great campaign, John. At least from my perch in Boone County, you done good!

Right back to you and everyone else, too...

ilona — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 23:45:24 GMT

When you say 'hard probe'...

unagidon — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 02:01:22 GMT

are you talking about a formal investigation or something more intestinal?

If the latter, I have a crow bar out in the garage that I am willing to put at the disposal of the county.

Admiral Jack

SAldrich — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:07:08 GMT

Seems the County Board is finally fedup enough over Admiral Jack to begin giving him a 'hard probe', according to the article in today's Beacon

This was also a matter of serious conversations at last night's Aurora Dems Mtg. Members of the Board were present and shared what they were aware of, along with hearing direct feedback and further input from the floor.

The Aurora Election COmmission also came up on some shortfalls and glitches noted by poll watchers. Those will be brought formally to the attentions of Caroline Holtz.

Again, Jay Bennett stood in for CUnningham, but far as I know Jack's 'wise, experienced friend' Mr. Bruun has not been heard from or seen.

I believe we must make every effort to push for community forums across Kane County on these matters. It is time for an independant, non-partisan and thorough investigation of the Kane County Clerk's office to root out the problems surrounding our elections.

Also feel it's far past time more communities take steps to setup independent Election Authority Commissions, similar to Aurora.

Carpentersville is already leading the charge:

Board member Holly Kissane, D-Carpentersville, said there were so many problems in Dundee Township precincts that there now are citizens talking about getting a referendum question to consider establishing a separate election commission for the village of Carpentersville. The city of Aurora has an election commission which handles elections within city limits, rather than the clerk's office.
"Something's going to have to change," Kissane said.

Welcome Zabes...

SAldrich — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 22:42:11 GMT

Great to have you with us, look forward to more of yoru contributions around the fireside. Hope to catch you this Sunday at DL-Aurora if you can make it. Be great to hoist a couple rounds and get acquainted. We gather in the backroom behind the dining area.

Also enjoyed reading your LTE in the Beacon.

Hi Zabes

jstupec — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 15:23:53 GMT

I read your LTE when it came out and enjoyed it. You speak the truth. I have only one disagreement with you and that's your assertion that the Beconfused has a "respected newspaper editorial board". We've been taking that rag for over 30 years and it's always been a Republican cheerleader. Compare the the coverage of Hastert vs Laesch. I wrote 3 times requesting equal time and was ignored all three times. When the fallout about Hastert shows up you won't find it on the front page I'm sure. There's another LTE today chastising them for putting their election day issue in a "vote for Hastert" plastic bag. Why do we continue to get the thing? My wife likes the ads.

Keep being a "wise ass". It's good to know others are out there. We'll never know how many other wise asses wrote but were censored out. I know I was. All the best.....