Mayor’s Row…….by Ned Mitchell
The party is over, or at least that is how I see it for the Republicans, especially those in the U. S. House of Representatives. I’ll even add a little more, it should be! The Republicans have had control of things in this country for several years now, they own the House, the Senate, and the White House, much like the democrats in Illinois with the only substitution being Governor’s Mansion instead of White. If you ask the jurors in that vast courtroom of public opinion I think you will get the same answer that I get, throw the bums out! I would certainly hate to be a Republican running for re-election this November based on what we are now witnessing as a huge Congressional scandal unfold between a now resigned Congressman and underage male pages, boys if you will. I mean this came out of nowhere and everyday there is a new headline. For the record I do not think Congressman John Shimkus to the north of us is being honest. The television interview I watched of him was certainly not convincing to me. This all leads up to the doorstep of Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert who fairly or not, must accept responsibility for his members. Speaker Hastert, in my opinion, has failed us too.
In Illinois Democrats have their own explaining to do about scandal after scandal that has plagued the Blagojevich administration. There is the famous $1,500.00 birthday check or baptism gift, or whatever it was. There is nobody buying the Governor’s story that this is common practice, including me. People that I know just do not give $1,500.00 gifts to children. On top of all of that the giver of the huge gift finds his wife in a pretty nice state job within days of the gift. Then to make matters worse it is revealed the wife of the donor could not pass the test for the job she was given and got the job anyhow. Far be it from me to connect the dots here, but I am sure the U S Attorney has his pencil in hand and has already drawn that picture.
Now it has been revealed that the Governor has been cut a huge break on his real estate tax bill. Sound familiar? The only thing that could be better for the Governor is if he lived in Franklin County where some of our connected friends went for years without paying any taxes. That last story will not set well with the Governor’s neighbors and I doubt that folks down here think much of it either as they just finished paying the final installment on their real estate tax bill.
I had a conversation with a long time former Democrat county chairman last week and he made the shocking prediction that the Green Party would get 30% of the vote in the Governor’s race down here. He went on to point out that of course he thought Blagojevich, that great reformer, would be re-elected, but that folks he talked to are really disgusted with the Governor and since the Republicans did not promote a different type of candidate, a lot of voters will opt for none of the above. There is no choice according to this former Democrat party official and that means a lot of voters will vote a third party choice out of frustration and protest.
There is a growing unrest among the population as I see it and folks are really getting tired of being used and abused by politicians. There is almost a craving for someone to come along and tell the truth. Of course when that person does, they will be soundly defeated at the ballot box by slick television commercials and campaign cash. Whose fault is that, you ask? That little problem belongs to you, my friend, the voter who keeps buying this garbage and instead of researching candidates and their stands on the party issues, just blindly goes and votes for a party wag based on some 15 second sound bite commercial.
As you all know who read this column I fall on the Democrat side and am proud of that. You also know that if the Democrats fail us, and many of them have, I will call them out and shine a light on that failure. The ultimate punishment I can hand out is not to be a voter who strictly votes along party lines just because I am a Democrat at heart. We are at a crossroads in our country and in my opinion we are not being served well by a lot of folks in Washington and Springfield. I don’t suspect that I am alone in that feeling either!
In a Chicago newspaper a few days ago a Democrat party official up there said that if your drive way was at the back of your house you were a Democrat, but if the driveway was in front, you were a Republican. I had never thought about that but in so doing I realized that a lot of working class voters in the city have their garage out back while their well to do Republican counterparts in the suburbs have a drive way out front. I quickly realized that I have both a drive way in back and one in front so according to this lady’s theory, I must be pretty independent these days.
I’ll continue to call them as I see them my friends and if an elected official thinks I will give them a pass simply because of the party they belong to, they are wrong! The Republicans have made a mess of things nationally and the recent page scandal in my opinion is evidence of that. The Democrats in Illinois do not have any sex scandals going on but have plenty of other suspicious looking events in the Governor’s office. We find ourselves in times where the President of the United States cannot campaign for members of his party due to his unpopularity, and in Illinois the first Democrat elected Governor in 28 years is not welcome anywhere campaigning with anyone else running with him as a Democrat. That pretty well sums up what is going on. Perhaps we should at least throw some of the bums out and maybe that will straighten up a few of the others!
Ocktoberfest 2006 in Sesser was a huge success and the town was full of area residents in city park and on Main Street. We could not have asked for more perfect weather. The day was huge success with no accidents or other problems. This coming Saturday is our second town wide yard sale this year and those are extremely popular in bringing folks out. Whether you are a buy or a seller, you are welcome in Sesser and we hope to see you this Saturday. We’ll do our best to show you what a great little place Sesser is to raise a family.
Eva Basso celebrated her 94th birthday last week with dinner at the newly opened Opera House Café with her family. Don Basso is home recuperating after heart surgery last week. Bugsy Howell is in a Mt. Vernon hospital after heart surgery out West. My aunt, Marjorie Dame, is home after a brief hospital visit in Belleville. A card or note to these or any others that you know would be appreciated.
We hope to have our Callie Street project finished this week and do appreciate your patience, especially those of you who live on this street. You probably don’t realize it right now but you will have a much nicer street once we are done. It is kind of like remodeling your house; you can’t afford to do it all at once and we are the same way. We have to do these projects a little at a time but over the last 30 years we have rebuilt almost every street in town and I think you will agree, our streets are the best around!
If you need us give us a call at 625-3611 or 625-5322 or write to nedmitchell@verizon.net or www.sesser.org or P. O. Box 277 Sesser, Illinois 62884. If none of that suits you feel free to drop in anytime and visit with us. We’ll do all that we can to make you feel at home in Sesser.
| |
|
