An Endorphin Endorsement Rush

It is as sure as the tide goes in, the tide goes out: post a story here about Eighth District Congressman Joe Walsh, and watch this blog's web-metrics all shoot through the roof. On the other hand, post a story here about the 10th Congressional District and this blog's page counter actually rolls backward. (This is not a joke as your LakeCountyEye has had more than one reader demand a refund on their page clicks.) So as a public service and at great expense to your LakeCountyEye ... woo-hoo! it looks like there is a donnybrook brewing up in the 10th Congressional District.

There are about 10 Democrats maneuvering there for the opportunity to take on the Republican incumbent, Robert Dold, in the November election. Since no one knows who they are or even any of their names, your LakeCountyEye is at a disadvantage when it comes to handicapping this particular Primary. While they do not pass out tip sheets for elections -- like they do at the track -- luckily there is a rough electoral equivalent for a bewildered voter -- endorsements. And, according to the Patch, there are plenty of endorsements being tossed around in the 10th Democratic Primary:

John Tree also announced the endorsement of former Democratic National Committee Chairman David Wilhelm, Wheeling Township Democratic Chair Kathleen Sances and Palatine Township Democratic Chair Sue Walton.

Sheyman and Schneider have their share of endorsements as well.

Brad Schneider has the backing of Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the Democratic Congressional whip; former Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Barrington); state Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest); and state Sen. Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston).

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Chicago); Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago); Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ); and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) are backing Ilya Sheyman.
Tree Raises $101,000 in Fourth Quarter

From this your LakeCountyEye has divined the names of at least 3 Democratic candidates:

• John Tree
• Brad Schneider
• Ilya Sheyman

Both Tree and Schneider have garnered the endorsements of not only some of DC's Democratic power-brokers, but some local heavy hitters as well. Sheyman, on the other hand, has got endorsements from some Chicago Congressmen, as well as from some out-of-state Congressmen who represent the Rachel Maddow Show.

Without knowing anything else about the Democrats in the Tenth district, your LakeCountyEye is ready to call this contest: it's a slam-dunk for Sheyman.

The reason why: Sheyman is the only candidate who seems to appreciate Nixon's Dictum:

Richard Nixon famously advised Republican presidential candidates to run to the right in the primaries and to the center in the general election.
Framing the Republican Race

With Gingrich & Romney battling it out on the Republican side, your LakeCountyEye suspects the only voter who asks for a Democratic ballot in March is that voter who even recognizes names like Raul Grijalva and Keith Ellison. (Provided, of course, that voter remembers to vote.) Ha ha, operatives in the 10th may as well pack up their yardsigns and find honest employment somewhere else. Sheyman will win the Primary there in a landslide -- following the politically right-minded trail blazed by Richard Nixon.

Blogrolled!

Your LakeCountyEye received a press release from Jonathan Farnick, undaunted candidate for the 14th Congressional District. The 14th is Lake County's newest and least known Congressional District and it roughly coincides with those parts of the county that no one knows about.

The press release, besides announcing Farnick's candidacy, reproduces the home page of the Farnick Campaign website. Or maybe vice-versa. From the presser ...

Nowhere on this site will you see a link or button to "Donate Here". Jonathan wants your vote, not your money.
Jonathan Farnick for Congress

This is valuable information, because it is a well known fact that, if ever forced to choose, most campaign websites would choose your money over your vote.

Emboldened by the knowledge that there will be no rogue, embedded javascript surreptitiously nicking the PayPal account, your LakeCountyEye visited Farnick's Campaign website. Your LakeCountyEye naturally gravitated to Farnick's blogroll:

Operatives are invited to scroll down to see for themselves. But they won't find any Lakes or any Countys or any Eyes listed on Farnick's blogroll.

Farnick campaign operatives are advised not to expect an endorsement for their candidate to appear on this blog. Or a plug for their website.

Statement on Senator Kirk's Medical Condition

From a Press Release from Mark Kirk's Office:

On Saturday, Senator Kirk checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital, where doctors discovered a carotid artery dissection in the right side of his neck. He was transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where further tests revealed that he had suffered an ischemic stroke. Early this morning the Senator underwent surgery to relieve swelling around his brain stemming from the stroke. The surgery was successful. Due to his young age, good health and the nature of the stroke, doctors are very confident in the Senator's recovery over the weeks ahead.

We wish the Senator a full and speedy recovery.

Did Santorum Outscorum?

Is 2012 over yet? It's been a rollercoaster ride so far for your LakeCountyEye. As readers of this blog are highly aware ...

Sanctum Santorum

your LakeCountyEye was riding high with the astoundingly accurate prediction that a Carmel High School graduate -- Rick Santorum -- would win the Iowa caucus. But as readers of this blog are sorely aware ...

The Santorum Post-Mortum

your LakeCountyEye was just as quickly shot down when the checkery-shirted Mitt Romney went all-Chicago all over Santorum and stole the election from him.

Well, ha ha, in politics they say it ain't over til it's over, and this one wasn't over until the fat lady sang. In this case the fat lady happened to be Rick Santorum. The singing happened to be a recount revealing that Santorum won after all. According to the Northwest Herald ...

Rick Santorum edged front-runner Mitt Romney by 34 votes in a surprise flip to the final tally of the Iowa caucuses
GOP officials: Santorum edges Romney in Iowa count

Your LakeCountyEye wants to send a tip of the eyeshade and special thanks to the operatives in Iowa who scared up those extra 34 votes. You know who you are. Treat yourselves to some beers and send the bill to your LakeCountyEye.

Walsh v Obama

Eighth District Congressman & banty rooster Joe Walsh is running for re-election in 2012 but your LakeCountyEye is not quite sure for what. Having ordered the President to quit lying and having boycotted a Presidential address last September, Walsh gives the impression that he is running against Barack Obama. When he announced his re-election candidacy, Walsh said ...

far too often elected officials forget who elected them, and instead focus more on what they need to do to get re-elected. I have made it clear that I will only serve six years in the House

Some quick math -- 2010 + 6 years -- yields 2016, the year when Barack Obama is expected to consolidate his Bolshevik take-over of the US government and run for an unprecedented 3rd term. (Well unprecedented if one ignores FDR's 3rd term.) Anyhow it is pretty clear what Walsh is up to:

President Joe Walsh in 2016

Operatives no doubt are wondering how the ambitious politician turns a flash-in-the-pan appearance with the Illinois congressional delegation into a four-year gig on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The answer is simple, do it the way Barack Obama did it.

Start off by running for election unopposed. Now regarded a standard of Illinois political legend, Obama won his first election to the Illinois State Senate by challenging the petitions of his Democratic opponents. And knocking all three off the ballot:

Illinois Senate career of Barack Obama
Illinois Senate elections of Barack Obama

Walsh won't be able to equal Obama's hat-trick, but he does have two Republican opponents for the Eighth Congressional District. Both candidate's nominating petitions are under challenge:

BROMLEY V CANFIELD
BROMLEY V EVANS

Obama cleaned house and parlayed that into a ticket to the Democratic Convention. Your LakeCountyEye anticipates nothing less than a fire & brimstone keynote address from Congressman Joe Walsh. Next August. In Tampa. At the GOP convention.

Musical Board Chairs?

Truisms come and go -- and this one is as true as they go:

As goes the McHenryCountyBlog, so goes the nation.

But, look out, there's a new truism in town:

When your LakeCountyEye talks, the public sector pensioners listen.

As soon as State Rep Jack Franks filed a Bill to mandate the direct election of the McHenry & Lake County Board Chairpersons, your LakeCountyEye was all over it like tread on a waffle. No Springfield Bill gets out of committee without the prior approval of the McHenryCountyBlog. And as readers of this blog are eggotistically aware, your LakeCountyEye went directly to the source for their verdict ...

Ballotations for the Chairman, Now?

Less than 48 hours later an acknowledged spokesperson from the McHenryCountyBlog responded on this blog with a prepared statement.

Your LakeCountyEye will not divulge whether of not the McHenryCountyBlog is all thumbs-up or thumbs-down over Franks's Bill. Operatives are directed to that blog, to learn what McHenry County's blog-of-record thinks of the idea ...

Actually, that would be so much fun to watch, I might be talking myself into favoring Franks' idea.
What Is Jack Franks' End Game?

In related news, the Lake County Board issued a statement saying that its voters are not ready for democracy, and condemn those influences from the other side of the border who seek to impose their foreign way of life upon Lake County.

Q the Eye/01.15.12

Dear LakeCountyEye,

I waited my turn patiently for 20 years. I carried water -- and you don't want to know what else -- for some big elephants. Waiting paid off, I'm now the Chairperson of my County Board. But some meddling legislator in Springfield wants to change the rules and let the voters elect the County Chair. That's no fair -- I played by the rules.

Why is everyone always picking on me?

Charlie Brown

Dear Stolen Thunder,

State Rep Jack Franks filed a strikingly similar Bill that would require some counties to directly elect their Chairpersons, as readers of this blog are strikingly aware ...

Ballotations for the Chairman, Now?

The idea is gaining some momentum; the newspaper of record in Lake County, the Daily Herald, likes it. Sort of ...

But state Rep. Jack Franks has a point with his proposal to have the Lake and McHenry County Board chairmen elected directly. Lake and McHenry residents should give it some thought.
Good idea, wrong forum

Predictably Lake County Board Chair David Stolman is not so keen on the idea. According to the Daily Herald again ...

Stolman said it does not make sense for someone who doesn't live in Lake County to change the form of government there. He added that county residents, not legislators, should decide on such changes. "If our voters wanted to change the form of government and have an elected county board chairman, then it is certainly up to our voters," Stolman said. "I don't think a legislator should try to legislate that."
Stolman questions proposed county board chairman change

Now, Franks's Bill does not specifically mention Lake County, but is written to apply to counties with more than 300,000 residents. Also Bills put before the Springfield Legislature are passed by a vote of the entire legislature, and not by a vote of a single legislator who doesn't live in Lake County. Your LakeCountyEye does recognize that these are technical legal concepts that an uninformed layperson might not understand.

Also, Stolman is absolutely right, it is up to the voters how Lake County chooses its Board Chair. But your LakeCountyEye notes that a plebiscite of that nature requires a ballot referendum. And referenda are put on the County ballot by a vote of the Lake County Board. Which is controlled by -- ha ha -- David Stolman.

Too funny. Anyhow to answer your question, your LakeCountyEye recalls a Bufffalo Grove Trustee who was endorsed by and elected with the help of David Stolman. Your LakeCountyEye does not recall her name, but this politician proved to be so politically inept that the Village of Buffalo Grove was forced to pass a recall ordinance just to get her recalled.

Long story short, the answer to your problem is simple: enthusiastically support the Franks Bill and help it become law. Then find this ex-Trustee and endorse her candidacy as County Board chair. Turn that millstone into a stepping stone and run against her in the general election!

If you are an elected official, or a previously elected official, or just a private citizen under indictment, send your political questions to Q the Eye c/o ... LakeCountyEye@gMail.com

Ballotations for the Chairman, Now?

The Numerological Hotline forecast is unequivocal this week: the auspicious number is 300,000. So while searching for Internet lottery tickets, your LakeCountyEye noticed a related news item in the Northwest Herald. State Rep Jack Franks filed a Bill that ...

would require counties with more than 300,000 residents to directly elect the county board chairman. McHenry County has 308,760 residents, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. If approved, the law essentially would apply only to McHenry and Lake counties, because Cook and the remaining collar counties – the only other ones with more than 300,000 people – already make the chairmanship popularly elected. Franks said his sole motive was to empower citizens, and is not aimed at longtime McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler, R-Crystal Lake.
Bill aimed at allowing voters to elect County Board chairman

The Northwest Herald doesn't like the idea of making voters directly elect their County Board Chair. However they do like the idea of making the voters pass a referendum that will make them directly elect their County Board Chair:

While we favor having McHenry County voters directly elect their County Board chairman – we’ve taken this position in the past – we’re not in favor of state government mandating it from Springfield. County voters should decide themselves, via referendum, if they prefer to elect their board chairman rather than having County Board members do it themselves.
Our view: Allow voters to decide on board leader

Conspicuously absent from online the discussion is the Northwest Herald's arch nemesis: the McHenryCountyBlog. To date, there has been nary the peep from the public sector pensioners at the McHenryCountyBlog about this vital issue of public policy.

Typically when there is a story about empowering citizens and sticking it to the politicians; and when a story is about Jack Franks; then the McHenryCountyBlog is all over it. Like half-baked beans are over, well, franks.

It is a well known sociological fact: as goes the McHenryCountyBlog, so goes the nation. Their silence over this substantive issue is deafening. Lake County wants to know who will be choosing its next County Board Chair.

Rebuffing with Faint Praise?

An operative from Mettawa received a Campaign Mailer Legislative Update in the mail from State Senator Dan Duffy. The op forwarded a scan from the Duffy newsletter to your LakeCountyEye, along with a question:

I recognize Sen Duffy in the photo. Who is the fellow (posed like Jack LaLanne) standing next to him?

Operatives are invited to search high and low throughout the mailer for some mention of the unidentified fellow's name. But if you are anything like your LakeCountyEye you too will be coming home with neither hide nor hair to show for your efforts.

In desperation your LakeCountyEye made a call to the archivist. The LakeCountyEye archivist does have compelling evidence to think the man of mystery is actually Duffy's co-host at the Children's Health and Safety Fair, State Rep Ed Sullivan:

Safety Blitz

If Sullivan was indeed co-host of the Fair, there is no mention of that, either, in Duffy's mailer.

Q the Eye/01.07.12

Dear LakeCountyEye,

I will be on the ballot in Illinois and many other states for a high elective office. I'm surging in the polls and now my handlers are demanding a complete wardrobe makeover and they threw away all my sweater vests. I like to dress manly, but in a heterosexual way. What should I wear?

Divested Assets

Dear Rick on a Roll,

Since it is in their best interests to see you elected to high office, you ought to listen to your operatives. As readers of this blog are sartorially aware ...

The Santorum Post-Mortum

Sweater vests may look good on some gents ...

but are not proper attire for a Presidential candidate.

Every election cycle is different and 2012 is the year of the Republican power shirt. Take a close gander at your front-runner ...

Your LakeCountyEye sees three things: checks, bold & bright. All of which will add up to a big W in November. Nothing exudes the alpha-wolf-virility that every Presidential candidate needs like a Republican power shirt. Just take a look at how the right shirt magically transformed one non-descript Illinois congressman:

Your LakeCountyEye urges that you get over to T.J.Maxx and right away. The sooner your closet is restocked with a couple dozen of these super-bad chex the sooner your handlers will all be singing Hail to the Chief!

If you are an elected official, or a previously elected official, or just a private citizen under indictment, send your political questions to Q the Eye c/o ... LakeCountyEye@gMail.com

Historical Fiction on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Taliban

The Stevenson Center will host a program on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Taliban:

Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy

Historical Fiction on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Taliban

Local author M. Salahuddin Khan has written a multiple award-winning novel, Sikander. A work of historical fiction, it covers the origins of the war in Afghanistan and America's complex relationships with Pakistan, the Taliban, and other forces in the region. Come hear Mr. Khan discuss these events and read from his book which will also be available for purchase and signing.

• Sunday
  January 8, 2012
  2 PM
• The Stevenson Center on Democracy
  25200 N St Mary's Rd
  Mettawa (Libertyville), IL 60048
  847-816-7433
• $15
• Coffee and conversation following

The Santorum Post-Mortum

Oh noes! So typical of a Carmel High School alum: Lake County favorite son Rick Santorum squandered what was widely believed to be an easy victory in the Iowa caucus.

As readers of this blog are mistakenly aware ...

Sanctum Santorum

Lake County operatives went to bed last night popping champagne corks and dreaming of K-street lobbying gigs and lucrative positions in a Santorum administration Treasury Department. They awoke this morning however to the dyspeptic news that Santorum lost by a landslide to Mitt Romney.

What went so terribly wrong? Now, every blogger with a sausage to slice has their explanation, but you're here for the unvarnished scoop and not some Internet baloney. It goes without saying that 99% of running president is looking like a president. So your LakeCountyEye wants to know ...

Does This Guy ...

Look Like a President?

Or Does He Look More Like ...

This Guy?

Does Santorum ...

Look Like This Guy?

Or More Like ...

These Guys?

The evidence is startling.

Some free advice to the operatives on the Santorum for President committee: schedule a big bonfire celebration outside your headquarters -- and stoke the flames with all those sweater vests in your candidate's closet. And when Lake County favorite son Rick Santorum becomes president he can thank your LakeCountyEye with a cabinet position. Secretary of Golf will do.

Sanctum Santorum

Operatives who stayed up into the wee hours of the night, waiting on the numbers from the Iowa caucus, would have been better served had they just RSSed this blog on Sunday. As readers of this blog are presciently aware ...

Rick Santorum: The Miracle from Mundelein
Defying any & all rational expectation, a graduate from Carmel HS wins the Iowa caucus.
Happy Day After New Year's Eve

Carmel High School alumnus & Lake County favorite son Rick Santorum came out of nowhere to beat Mitt Romney by a huge landslide in the Iowa caucus. A little known provision in the US Constitution stipulates that if a Carmel HS grad defies all rational expectation and wins in Iowa, he automatically gets to be the new President of the United States. Hail to the Chief, President Santorum!

You Say You Want a Resolution

If the date above this blog post is to be believed, it must be 2012 already. Since only two days ago it was still 2011, this is around that time of the year when every blogger on the blogosphere gins up some hackneyed New Year's resolution top ten list or something. Your LakeCountyEye of course is no exception, but ginning up some decent last-minute resolutions is not as easy as it sounds. It's only January 2 for Pete's sake -- two days into 2012 -- it won't be any sooner than July or early August before your LakeCountyEye has some inkling about what sort of resolutions need to be made.

Being out of ideas, it goes without saying, is a signal from above that it is time to steal someone else's ideas. In this case that someone else is TeamAmerica10th, who recently posted a note to his commenters ...

We like having viewpoints challenged, records of candidates and politicians examined and debated, and healthy debate about the issues of the day (try to get fair treatment like that on a liberal blog).
Happy New Year and a Look at the Presidential Matchup

Your LakeCountyEye concurs with a hearty hear hear! Why is it that all the lakeside Lake County liberal blogs have their reader comment sections locked down? And while all the conservative McHenry-County-side blogs may have open comment sections, these attract the sort of AOL-dialup type of reader who doesn't know how to post a comment on an Internet blog. If you're an operative in Lake County and your comment needs to be aired now, then you don't have a lot of alternatives other than moderate, non-partisan blogs like TeamAmerica10th and this blog, LakeCountyEye!

In that same post, TeamAmerica10th also sent his commenters a shot across the bow ...

I'm giving everyone fair warning that comments that are just juvenile and have no redeeming intellectual value are going to be deleted. If you have something of value to add to the discussion, regardless of your viewpoint (and our track record proves that we respect all comers who have something intelligent to say), it'll be recognized. If not, see ya.
Happy New Year and a Look at the Presidential Matchup

Now, for your LakeCountyEye's money, juvenility and without-redeeming-intellectual-value are synonymous with, if not the Internet itself, at least the Internet blogosphere. Just sayin!

And having said it, your LakeCountyEye does have one New Year's resolution. No comment posted on this blog -- regardless of how juvenile or bereft of redeeming intellectual value -- will be deleted from this blog. So trolls, n00bs, sockpuppets, spammers, drivebys, haxxors, griefers, flamethrowers, y'all have a home & are welcome on this blog to exercise your First Amendment Rights. (That still means you cannot shout FIRE in a crowded theater.) Just try to get fair & balanced treatment like that on any other so-called fair & balanced blog!

Happy Day After New Year's Eve

Your LakeCountyEye woke this morning with the certain knowledge that if this is what all New Year's Days are to be like, then it is a good thing that the new year comes but once a year.

The new year is traditionally a time for reflection and for resolutions. Your LakeCountyEye resolves not to milk that stupid gag one more time where this blog's readers are all wished a happy new year in a bunch of different languages. Ja-Ja Ha Ha!

Speaking of the trite but true, most bloggers will take this opportunity to segue into some hackneyed look backward at the top stories from the previous 12 months. Your LakeCountyEye, it goes without saying, is no exception to the rule. There are many news items to choose from, too many in fact to shoehorn into a blog post. Luckily since this blog is about Lake County, your LakeCountyEye has the privilege to handpick only the best local stories to review. All ten of them:

The Ten Biggest Lake County Stories of 2011

Rod Blagojevich is convicted. Irregularities in the handling of DNA evidence by Michael Waller's State's Attorney Office puts the conviction in legal jeopardy. Osama Bin Laden is killed by Navy Seals in his safe house near Abbott Labs Abbottabad. The Fielders Dodgers declare bankruptcy. The Gold Pyramid House in Wadsworth is the epicenter of the Arab Spring. Democracy spreads throughout Lake County. Lake County's team, the Green Bay Packers, wins the Super Bowl. The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami permanently puts the Zion Nuclear Plant out of commission. Much of Lake County is without power after July 11. Charlie Sheen is fired from his TV show. Sheen then goes on a nationwide tour, opening as the headline act at Waukegan's Casino. Prince William marries Catherine Middleton at Westdeerfield Abbey. Steve Jobs dies. Jobs is best remembered in Lake County for the video poker app. Rick Santorum: The Miracle from Mundelein Defying any & all rational expectation, a graduate from Carmel HS wins the Iowa caucus.

Look for your LakeCountyEye, making up that 2012 Top 10 List.