Mayor’s Row……by Ned Mitchell

It was a foregone conclusion when the Illinois House of Representatives started down the path of impeaching the Governor of this state for the first time in its’ history. Some of us casual observers of the political landscape in Illinois had predicted this years ago, two to be exact in my case.

So it came as no surprise but what did come as a surprise and something the Governor might be overlooking is the fact that many of the House members who have been joined at the hip with this nitwit have now turned tail and ran. There is nothing like a true friend that sticks with a guy through thick and thin but this bunch of turncoats are telling the Governor, “sorry dude, the heat is on and we are out of here.”

What the Governor is missing here is a political reality. Even though he has been extremely good to some of these Representatives by hiring family members and such and handing out projects in their districts, these folks are treating the Governor like an orphan at a picnic. The reality here is these stalwart public servants don’t want the voters to cast them in a bad light by siding in with their old friend the shady Governor so all but two of them jumped on the impeachment bandwagon.

Now the trial will take place in the State Senate and here we find another bunch of do-gooders greasing up the rail for the Governor to leave town on, except that he does not live in Springfield so the rail will not be needed. Senators under the leadership of President Emil Jones have sided in with the Governor at just about every turn and have had a chance time after time to do the right thing and every time took a hike. Will they do the right thing this time? That remains to be seen but I would say those that are planning on running again in the next few years will have no choice but to vote to impeach.

As bad as I hate to admit it though this is all brought to you by the Illinois Democratic Party under the leadership of Mike Madigan. I’ve always been impressed with Madigan’s political maneuvering but since he co-chaired the Governor’s last election I’m beginning to believe he has slipped a cog or two politically.

This is the same Governor who raided the state employee pension fund not once, but twice and took billions of dollars and squandered it on programs that have not gotten off the ground yet. But the House and Senate, both controlled by Democrats, voted every time to back this guy up. The truth of the matter is Democrats have had several opportunities to right a wrong here and have looked to other way every time. About the only elected official down this way to call the reformer/unreformer out for his misdeeds is Representative John Bradley. Every other one down this way has played footsy with the Governor and now it has came back and bit them in the behind!

Of course the fun doesn’t stop here, now we have the Roland Burris fiasco and once again it is brought to us by the Democratic Party of Illinois. First, 50 United States Senators signed a pledge they would not seat any Senator that was appointed by Governor Blagojevich. They might as well have waved a red flag in front of this guy because that is exactly what he did.

Some northern Illinois writers are referring to Burris as an empty suit. So if he is an empty suit in their eyes does that make Senator Dick Durbin a full suit? If it does, I’ll take the empty suit! I personally don’t see how Senate Democrats can refuse to seat Burris. All that happened here is that Blagojevich has simply stuck a stick in the eye of Mike Madigan and enjoyed doing it!

One thing about it Democrats nationwide don’t want all this trouble going on when they inaugurate the “anointed one”. Democrats will want no hint of trouble on the horizon so I look for Burris to get seated; maybe even by the time you read this. What we are going to see in the next two years is an absolute free for all in the Illinois Democratic Party. If the Governor gets whacked by the Senate there are no less than three other constitutional office holders chomping at the bit to move into that job. Madigan did such a good job on the last one perhaps he should just sit the next one out!

Illinois has certainly been in the spotlight over all of this controversy with CNN and Fox News running story after story. They have put the spotlight on Illinois and now the whole world knows what a bunch of mopes we have running this state. It seems Democrats have no trouble getting elected; they just don’t know how to govern once they are elected.

We are sad to note here the passing of Mary Lou Kirk. I ventured by Sam and Mary Lou’s house last year on a nice day and saw her getting the mail. I pulled over to the curb to say hi and noted that I had not seen her in a while. She relayed to me that she had been diagnosed with cancer and that the future did not look good for her. We visited a while and I left after saying I would say a Methodist prayer for her physical healing.

Mary Lou married her high school sweetheart Sam and they had a farm just south of Sesser for many years. They raised a house full of daughters and one son and have many grandchildren in their family. Mary Lou was a farm wife and tended to the house and children while Sam worked the soil. They retired in town a few years ago and have been good neighbors. As I visited the funeral home early Sunday morning to pay my last respects I left the building knowing that Mary Lou’s life was measured by her kindness to me and others that knew her but the highest compliment I could ever say was that she was a Christian, a good wife, mother, and grandmother.
When our work here is done, if we can claim those attributes there is nothing else that matters.

Mae Merkel has been in the hospital but should be out by the time this hits the newspaper. Robert “Fuzz” Allen continues to progress and is in Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. His brother Carl has been moved to Benton for rehabilitation. Jan Basso is taking physical therapy at Marshall Browning Hospital in Du Quoin.

Congratulations to the Sesser-Valier lady Red Devils who just won the Chester Mid-Winter Classic tournament. These young ladies work hard to represent their school and town and we are very proud of them.

Special thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Randy Gutzler and all the VOLUNTEERS who put on the annual pheasant hunt to help fund the Brandon Dame scholarship. This was the biggest event ever and they raised over $7,700.00 to help pay for scholarships. The event was held at the Double R Bar in Sesser. We thank them for their hard work and generosity!