Monthly archives: December, 2010

Poll: Roethlisberger’s Scandals Still Linger With Some Fans

From TribLive:

Ten months after a Georgia student claimed Ben Roethlisberger raped her, a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review poll finds that a fourth of local fans dislike him.

But 54 percent of Western Pennsylvania residents hold a "favorable" opinion of the Steelers’ quarterback, according to the Dec. 21-22 telephone survey conducted by Susquehanna Polling & Research in Harrisburg. The poll’s margin of error was 3.24 percent.

After a night of drinking in bars in Milledgeville, Ga., a 20-year-old accused Roethlisberger on March 5 of assaulting her in a restroom. Lacking evidence of a crime, investigators condemned his boorish behavior but punted on prosecuting him. That left National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend Roethlisberger for four games.

A separate lawsuit is pending in Nevada, where a woman claims Roethlisberger raped her.

My son wore his Roethlisberger jersey to the Steelers game last Thursday night. And I was fine with that.

Just sayin’.

I may wear my jersey some day soon.


Steelers Not Ruling Polamalu Out For Sunday

Those who know me know I am a Pittsburgh fan, first and foremost.

Yes, even the Pirates.

The man with the poetic name may play Sunday.

From PittsburghLive.com:

The Steelers are not ruling out strong safety Troy Polamalu for a game they likely have to win to capture a third division title in four years and a first-round bye in the playoffs. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Polamalu, who has missed the past two games with a lower leg injury, will try to practice Friday and could play Sunday against the Browns. Tomlin said the Steelers will make a decision on Polamalu for the 1 p.m. game at Cleveland based on how well he is able to move in practice. “Troy’s improving,” Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could play this weekend, and if he’s healthy he will.” The best-case scenario for the Steelers is they beat the Browns without Polamalu. That would give the six-time Pro Bowler an extra week to get healthy because of the first-round bye the Steelers would get as the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. If the Steelers lose to the Browns and the Ravens beat the Bengals, the Steelers would have to play on the road the following weekend. When asked Monday if he expected Polamalu to play in Cleveland, Steelers inside linebacker James Farrior said, “Doesn’t look good, but you never know.”


Would You Protest If Bill Clinton Offered To Campaign For You?

I don’t care if you’re in the Democratic Party, Republican Party, Coffee Party, Tea Party or any other party. If former president Bill Clinton offered to campaign for you, you’d let him.

Wouldn’t you?

Come on, now. Of course you would. Bill is an excellent, excellent campaigner.

Which is why it appears the sanctimony runneth over in Chicago these days as former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun (where, exactly, has she been these past several years, only to rise from the dust and run for mayor of Chicago?) and Rep. Danny Davis decry Bill Clinton’s offer to campaign for Rahm Emanuel.

Carol. Danny. Come on.

Come on.

If Bill Clinton offered to campaign for you, would you really turn him down?

Really.


This Liberal Is Quite Pleased With President Obama

Barack Obama

We are not a patient people.

Liberals, conservatives, moderates: we want our pudding, and we want it now.

These past two years, I have been impatient, watching and waiting while my liberal dreams for the United States were postponed — or so I thought. Why did President Obama channel former President George W. Bush and simply push a liberal agenda through the United States Congress and let the conservatives be damned?

I held back, however, and refused to play along with the liberal cacophony screaming for everything and anything to happen yesterday. They collectively screamed "I told you so!" when Democrats lost seats in Congress, losing the House of Representatives. All this screaming in spite of the fact that such losses had long been predicted, indeed, from the moment President Obama was sworn in. That was an easy call. We may be impatient, but we Americans are quite predictable.

A wee bit more than two years into the Obama presidency, I have to say, I’m quite pleased with what the president has done.

Health insurance reform was a start. No, it did not go far enough. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: the best reform for the health of the country would be to simply forbid health insurance companies operating on a for-profit basis. Let them insure all the widgets they want to for profit, but hands off human lives.

Still, health insurance reform was long, long overdue. And over the past few weeks, we’ve seen some wonderful things happen. For one, "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" is on its way out. Next, today saw the near ratification of the START treaty, with a vote likely this week.

There’s more.

What do I appreciate most about President Obama?

His patience, a quality many of us in the media lack. From the insipid "Round Table" on ABC’s "This Week" to the endless drone of CNN, the media is so full of prognosticators who get it all wrong 99% of the time and more.

I’ve often said this in my elected life, and I’ll say it again here, "I don’t make predictions. I just work hard to achieve results."

President Obama is patient, looking, I’m convinced, two or three decades down the road. This is not a man likely to bark, "F— Saddam. We’re taking him out," as President Bush did in March 2002. If nothing else, the president is patient, weighing his decisions carefully because he knows — he knows — that everything he does has global repercussions.

I don’t know that he’s doing everything right, or wrong. I still remain careful. I remain critical. I still read Paul Krugman and hope for a Keynesian revolution in Washington.

But I like the President, even as I hope and pray for patience.


Sworn In November 29, 2010, IL Sen. Mark Kirk’s Default State Is West Virginia

Senator Kirk from ... West Virginia???

I am not even kidding.

If you go to U.S. Senator from the great state of Illinois’ Web site’s contact page today, you will see that his default "FROM" state is …

West Virginia.

Senator Kirk, who did you steal this contact page from?

Do you not know anyone in the great state of Illinois who knows a rat’s ass or so about Web design?


‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ Repealed, And The President Says, “Thanks.”

President Barack Obama

The following was sent from President Barack Obama after the United States Senate voted to repeal the infamous "Don’t Ask Don’t Tell" and allow our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to serve in our military with a clean conscience, no longer forced to hide or lie.

President Obama fulfills yet another campaign promise.

From the President of the United States:

Moments ago, the Senate voted to end "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell."

When that bill reaches my desk, I will sign it, and this discriminatory law will be repealed.

Gay and lesbian service members — brave Americans who enable our freedoms — will no longer have to hide who they are.

The fight for civil rights, a struggle that continues, will no longer include this one.

This victory belongs to you. Without your commitment, the promise I made as a candidate would have remained just that.

Instead, you helped prove again that no one should underestimate this movement. Every phone call to a senator on the fence, every letter to the editor in a local paper, and every message in a congressional inbox makes it clear to those who would stand in the way of justice: We will not quit.

This victory also belongs to Senator Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and our many allies in Congress who refused to let politics get in the way of what was right.

Like you, they never gave up, and I want them to know how grateful we are for that commitment.

Will you join me in thanking them by adding your name to Organizing for America’s letter?

I will make sure these messages are delivered — you can also add a comment about what the repeal of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" means to you.

As Commander in Chief, I fought to repeal "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" because it weakens our national security and military readiness. It violates the fundamental American principles of equality and fairness.

But this victory is also personal.

I will never know what it feels like to be discriminated against because of my sexual orientation.

But I know my story would not be possible without the sacrifice and struggle of those who came before me — many I will never meet, and can never thank.

I know this repeal is a crucial step for civil rights, and that it strengthens our military and national security. I know it is the right thing to do.

But the rightness of our cause does not guarantee success, and today, celebration of this historic step forward is tempered by the defeat of another — the DREAM Act. I am incredibly disappointed that a minority of senators refused to move forward on this important, commonsense reform that most Americans understand is the right thing for our country. On this issue, our work must continue.

Today, I’m proud that we took these fights on.

Please join me in thanking those in Congress who helped make "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" repeal possible:

http://my.barackobama.com/Repealed

Thank you,

Barack

I clicked and thanked Congress. Amen to that all day long.


Joe Berrios Continues To Give Taxpayer-Paid Jobs To Family Members Like Candy

From the Chicago Sun-Times (sporting a clean, new look today):

Criticized repeatedly for stacking the public payroll with family members, Joe Berrios has hired his son and sister to work for him as he takes the reins of the Cook County assessor’s office.

Berrios, who was sworn in as assessor Monday after winning a rough-and-tumble election, hired son Joseph “Joey” Berrios as a $48,000-a-year residential analyst and sister Carmen Cruz as director of taxpayer services at a salary of $86,000. Their salaries will remain unchanged from when they both worked for Berrios when he served on the Cook County Board of Review, which hears property tax appeals.

“They’ve got experience, and I’m hiring people with experience,” Berrios told the Chicago Sun-Times Wednesday.

Berrios said he wants competent people he can trust working in his administration.

“I trust them,” he said. “It is what it is.”

Yes, Joe.  It is what it is.

Nepotism.

Plain as day.