Dirty money in the 18th District? Not by Illinois standards

Today's Word on the Street column notes that Democratic Congressional candidate Colleen Callahan has given up the $2,500 it received from Congressman Charles Rangel. She gave the donation to two different charities.

According to the Journal Star:

"A House subcommittee recently was formed to look into Rangel's activities, which include alleged failure to pay taxes on $75,000 in income from a Dominican Republic vacation home. Rangel has denied any wrongdoing."

I noted a comment made by 11Bravo -- a frequent Peoria Pundit commenter and contributor -- asking exactly how much money Aaron Schock's campaign has accepted from Congressman Jerry Weller (R-11th District), considered by many the most corrupt member of Congress.

It's a legitimate question. After all, Weller's former campaign manager is Steve Shearer, the man who's managing Aaron Schock's campaign. I checked the Federal Election Commission's Website, and found no personal contributions to Schock from Weller. I couldn't find any political action committees controlled by Weller, so I doubt there are any of those types of contributions from Weller either.

For those who aren't aware, Weller is retiring. But unlike Peoria's Congressman Ray LaHood, Weller is retiring under a huge cloud of corruption that dwarfs anything hanging over Rangel. Weller is literally in bed with a fascist, the daughter of Guatemala's former dictator and who is herself an active member of a ruling party responsible for human rights violations.

Illinois voters will overlook a lot of dirt, but sleeping with bloody-handed human rights violators is a bit much. But taking a contribution from a sitting, un-indicted Congressman who is later accused of not declaring a home on his taxes? Illinoisans snort at this sort of thing.

First, I don't hold Shearer responsible for Weller's ethical lapses. Second, Shearer is far too slick a political operative to have made a fuss about Rangel's donation to Callahan if there's a paper trail showing cash from Weller going to Schock.

ALSO: I do believe this is the second straight Word on the Street without a contribution from PJS reporter Karen McDonald.

Crossposted to Peoria Pundit

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Jason Wallace Interview on WJBC

Jason Wallace, the Green Party candidate in the 11th Congressional District of Illinois, is interviewed by Steve Fast in the above broadcast, which originally aired on WJBC on August 5, 2008.

Wallace is running against Democrat Debbie Halvorson and Republican Marty Ozinga, both whom are also hoping to replace outgoing Republican Congressman Jerry Weller.

Let's have some feedback on how Wallace did. For example, what did you think of his presentation versus the content of his answers to the questions?

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Innocent until proven guilty, or accused of something by Mike Flannery

It seems that if one of their own is making the charge, CBS doesn’t feel the need to even appear objective or even-handed. How else do you explain the story posted online by Adam Harrington that begins:

“Political Editor Mike Flannery has filed a complaint after he was shoved and sent down a flight of stairs while questioning a congressman Friday.”

Excuse me, Adam, but shouldn’t there be an “allegedly” in there somewhere?

This is my favorite part of the story:

“Flannery was pushed by a Weller aide right before he followed Weller into a stairway. The initial contact occurred off-camera. In the video posted on cbs2chicago.com, you can see Flannery stumbing (sic) into the view of the camera after being pushed.”

Wouldn't it much more accurate to say that, in the video, “you can see Flannery stumbling, which he claims is the result of being pushed?”

On an earlier post, I referred to Flannery as “Bush-league.” I guess I was wrong. This guy is apparently such a serious heavy-weight that his word is like gospel. There’s no need to worry about standard journalism protocols - his account can and should be presented as unquestioned fact!

CBS2: Chicago's very own Tiffany Network.

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Hackery, not "thuggery" on display at Joliet Junior College

Rich reported yesterday on allegations that a Weller staffer "violently" shoved reporters Mike Flannery (CBS2) and Carlos Hernandez Gomez (CLTV). Apparently, Flannery plans to press charges against the “thug” in question, Jack Dusik. My question is: why hasn’t he done so already? There’s really no reason why he couldn’t have filed a complaint right then and there. My guess is that the JJC police advised Flannery that he should take a few days to cool off.

Why would they do that? I don’t know for sure, but it could be that, after reviewing the tapes themselves (which I understand they did), they realized that Flannery’s account of the episode doesn’t really add up.

Flannery claims that Dusik pushed him down the stairs and then ‘went after’ Gomez. If that were true, you would have seen him making some sort of thrusting movement before he makes contact with Gomez. There are clearly no indications of “shoving” on Dusik’s part.

As for Gomez, Rich has an image capture that, according to him, shows that “the Weller guy leaned hard against Carlos Hernandez Gomez’s throat or upper chest.” Now, if a “large man” leaned hard against my throat, my reaction would include more than standing there looking frustrated about getting bumped out of his spot in the journalistic mosh-pit.

Bottom line: if Dusik is hoping for a post-Hill career as a professional “thug,” he should leave this footage out of his portfolio. And if Flannery doesn't want to be considered a Bush-league reporter who trips down the stairs in a desperate attempt to jam a microphone in someone's face, then he should do the same.

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