FOUL MOOD FRIDAY

Cross-posted on From Where I Blog

I woke up in a good mood on Friday. I slept good and felt great when my feet hit the floor.

I was looking forward to the end of another long work week and the beginning of a weekend. The weather is going to be beautiful throughout the weekend with unseasonably cooler temperatures.

So, what was it that turned my mood sour, pessimistic and cynical within 10 minutes of crawling out of bed? I can trace my change in moods to a specific moment -- my daily walk to the mailbox to get the morning newspaper.

As I sauntered back to the house, like I do every morning, I unrolled the paper and glanced at the front page and there staring back at me was the smiling faces of the politicos that had gathered for the ribbon-cutting at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta.

Let me preface my comments by saying that I'm happy for the folks in Randolph County that the 1,700-acre facility is up and running and I hope the forecast of jobs and economic opportunity prove to be true. It should also be pointed out that Les Winkeler, Southern Illinoisan sports editor, did a nice job of covering the event.

So, why would the story upset me?

Perhaps it's just the job I work in or that I'm growing cynical in my old age but I looked at the picture that accompanied the story and it made me, as my late mother used to say, 'mad all over.'

There in the photo-op, smiling and standing side by side was former Illinois Department of Natural Resources director Joel Brunsvold, current IDNR director Sam Flood, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and state Rep. Dan Reitz.My, what a happy group it was as they smiled and cut off a piece of the bright red ribbon.

But, as the saying goes, 'a picture is worth a thousand words,' so let me use up at least a part of those thousand words telling you a little more about this smiling, glad-handing group.

First, there is Brunsvold, who spent more than 20 years as a state legislator before taking over the helm of DNR -- a position he held for less than three years before retiring. It should be pointed out that those few short years as DNR director bumped Brunsvold's pension up by approximately $40,000 PER YEAR. It's the old Springfield game where a political buddy appoints you to a high-paying post-retirement job that enables you to pad your pension by tens of thousands of dollars for your second retirement. In most circles it's referred to as 'double-dipping.'

Then there's Flood the current DNR director, whose name showed up umpteen times on the recently released and infamous 'clout list' that detailed state hiring. In fact Flood made headlines again this week as the sponsor of a new hire in the DOC who just happens to be the son of a St. Claire County attorney who just happened to contribute $100,000 to the Democratic Party and $25,000 to Blagojevich. Flood, a high ranking Democratic Party official from Madison County, is a great example of the Illinois version of the Peter Principle where an individual rises to the level of his/her incompetence.

And then there's Gov. Blagojevich, touting the 250 jobs that will be created at the shooting complex ... but failing to mention Maytag, American Coal, MUMS or any of the other 2,000 plus jobs that have been lost in Southern Illinois during the past year. I'm sure it was a pleasant experience for Blago and his staff to head to Southern Illinois and in turn get away from the glare of the federal investigation into illegal job hiring that has been swirling around them for months.

And last, but certainly not least, is Rep. Reitz who turned his job as a state legislator into a one-man employment agency for his family members and friends.

It seems to me that the guy who coined the phrase 'a picture is worth a thousand words' might have attended a few events that featured smiling political hacks.

As a footnote to this story I found it more than a little bit ironic that on the same front page, right beside the picture of the grinning group of politicians was another story that carried the headline, 'Laidlaw workers to lose jobs in September.' The story was about 70 Laidlaw Corp. employees who will be out of job in September when the wire hanger operation will transfer from Metropolis to Monticello, Wisconsin. Huh, another business fleeing Illinois?

I bet if you polled those 70 workers in Metropolis or the 1,100 Maytag employees you'd find that not everybody in Southern Illinois was as happy as that smiling group that assembled in Sparta on Thursday.

Here's the story ... but as a word of caution it could put you in a foul-mood Friday.