Unidentified Flying Objections

He's making a list,
He's checking it twice,
He's gonna find out
Who's naughty or nice.

Old Kris Kringle sure needs plenty of help around this time of the year. Which means the elves operatives down in Springfield have been working overtime all week, scrutinizing nominating petitions for even the tiniest transgression. Ho ho, candidates have filed for the 2012 Primary and petition challenge season is nigh upon Lake County.

The season's most dogged elf has to be Sharon Meroni. According to the Northwest Herald ...

A familiar face from the 2010 election, Sharon Ann Meroni, filed objections Monday against all three candidates for the 52nd District, as well as against 26th Senate District incumbent Dan Duffy, R-Lake Barrington, and Democratic challenger Amanda Howland.
Objections filed to petitions for local House, Senate districts

Senate/26 and Rep/52 are districts where Meroni is eligible to file. Five objections, although an impressive number, are no match against the astonishing thirty-two Meroni filed in 2010. The Northwest Herald, again ...

Meroni, of Barrington Hills, filed 32 objections in 2010 in an effort to get proof of their U.S. citizenship.
Objections filed to petitions for local House, Senate districts

Ho ho, a note to all junior operatives, when you put out milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, it might not hurt to leave a copy of your photo ID as well.

Meroni, of course, should be commended in demanding proof of citizenship from her ballot candidates. Who knows how many illegal aliens have already snuck across the Illinois border to get themselves elected to the statehouse, brazenly represent you, and later on retire to live the sweet, sweet life of the public sector pensioner?

Suspicious operatives may suspect that requiring proof of citizenship from their candidates is really part of a wider effort to suppress voter turnout. If the birther movement ever gets its way, sooner or later everyone will be required to show a birth certificate before being granted access to their voting booth. Tis the season however, and your LakeCountyEye wishes Sharon Meroni and all the birthers well, and hopes Santa Claus is extra nice to each and every one of them on Christmas night. Just don't forget to ask Santa for his birth certificate first.

Good Cop Bad Cop

Ha ha, that isn't a new roundabout in Waukegan. They were circling the wagons at the office of the Lake County State's Attorney. The wagons were being circled to throw a twenty year assistant state's attorney under the bus.

The wheels started turning on November 25 when the New York Times -- the newspaper of record in Lake County -- published an investigative story that provided a glimpse into Michael Waller's Lake County State's Attorney's office. One assistant state's attorney, Mike Mermel, was profiled with regard to some recent high-profile & controversial prosecutions. Mermel apparently does not think highly of DNA evidence, and demonstrated its limitations with statements like this one, which raised some local eyebrows ...

"The example I like to give people is next time you go to a motel room, bring a plastic bag, because the dirtiest thing in that room is the remote control. Everybody has sex and then rolls over and goes, 'I wonder what's on?' " he said. "O.K., so you can find DNA in the form of sperm from 10 different people in that room from that remote control or even on a person who has touched it."
The Prosecution’s Case Against DNA

The Lake County State's Attorney is up for election in 2012. While Michael Waller is retiring, Mermel's public statements are embarrassing to those members of Waller's team who want to succeed him on the ballot.

Damage control in the form of a big gun was rolled out on December 2. The News-Sun reported that Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran ...

called for prosecutor Mike Mermel to be fired for remarks he felt undermined law enforcement and the justice system. The unusual move was prompted by a recent story in the New York Times concerning some Lake County murder cases where DNA evidence pointed a finger away from suspects who confessed to crimes after long interrogations.
Sheriff wants prosecutor fired

With Curran playing bad cop, Michael Waller had the cover he needed. Good cop Waller wasted no time on the same day, December 2, to telegraph this message to the Daily Herald ...

Comments made by a top Lake County prosecutor in a New York Times article are being addressed as a personnel matter, according to a statement issued Friday by the Lake County State's Attorney's Office.
Waller: Lake County prosecutor's comments a personnel matter

On December 7, five days later and according to the News-Sun, the embarassing problem in the midst of the Lake County State's Attorney office was wiped cleaner than a Lake County crime investigation scene:

One of Lake County's top prosecutor's is retiring after comments he has made concerning cases involving DNA angered Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran who asked for Michael Mermel to be fired. Mermel's last day on the job will be in January.
Prosecutor retiring after sheriff called for his firing

The end.

Beyond the Countdown to the End of the Countdown

Those operatives perched at the edge of their seats, sitting on pins and needles, waiting for Joe Walsh's highly anticipated Monday announcement -- announcing where he will run for re-election -- are just going to have wait some more. The Eighth District Congressman, according to the Sun-Times was out of town Monday:

Tea Party Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.)-- who boycotted President Obama's jobs speech, said Obama should "quit lying" and that the president "got no shame," waited in line with his wife, Monday at the White House, for a photo with Obama and First Lady Michelle.
Rep. Joe Walsh spotted at White House in line for Obama photo

And Walsh at this very moment may be cooling his heels at the D.C. FotoMat, looking for those prints of himself with the President and First Lady. For, according to a press release reprinted in the Sun-Times, the much ballyhooed announcement is now scheduled for Thursday ...

"Congressman Joe Walsh will make an important re-election announcement this Thursday at the Chicago Tea Party meeting. After spending the last week discussing his options with family, supporters, and party officials, Congressman Walsh believes the choice is clear."
Rep. Joe Walsh: announcing political plans Thursday at Tea Party meeting

Chicago Tea Party Meeting
Thursday, December 8, 2011, 7PM
The Cubby Bear
1059 W. Addison St., Chicago

Your LakeCountyEye observes that one does not invite the press down to Wrigleyville in December (and during prime bar hours) for an "important re-election announcement" -- only to tell them the rumors are false, he hasn't changed his mind, ha ha, Joe Walsh will still be running for re-election in District Fourteen.

Your LakeCountyEye bets District Eight.

In any event, the countdown clock has been recalibrated:

Countdown Clock
Thursday, December 8, 2011, 7:00 PM
Where Will Joe Walsh Run?

Tick! Tick! Tick!

Countdown to the End of the Countdown

With the year rapidly coming to a close, the economy has received a much needed boost from last minute shoppers -- who are purchasing ammo for their weapons. As everyone knows the world is scheduled to end on December 21 ...

The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs according to which cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21, 2012 This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae related to this date have been proposed.
2012 phenomenon

One recognized harbinger of the apocalypse was foretold to occur on Monday, December 5 -- the day Eighth District Congressman Joe Walsh had scheduled to announce his plans to run for re-election in the Eighth District. Or, according to Fox Chicago News, maybe not the Eighth ...

Joe Walsh to Announce Where He’ll Run After Congressional District Remap

(But it's going to be the Eighth.)

In commemoration of the impending conflagration, and to tick off the minutes, your LakeCountyEye has posted a countdown clock widget. This same countdown widget appeared on this blog about one year ago, as readers of this blog are ...

... hold it ... this just in. Frequent Tweeter Calvin from Plano has informed your LakeCountyEye that Armageddon is scheduled to occur on Dec 21, 2012 -- while the current year is 2011. And that 2011 is very different than 2012. Yearwise.

Your LakeCountyEye's green eyeshade sure must look red. Well there's no harm in putting that countdown clock to some use anyways, after your LakeCountyEye went to the all trouble of retrieving it from the pawn shop mothballs:

Countdown Clock: Monday, December 5, 2011
Where Will Joe Walsh Run?

Waste not want not!

The Spies Who Came in for Cong. Dold

This must be oppo week in Lake County. As readers of this blog are off-guardedly aware, State Rep Sandy Cole had been observed probing the petitions of other candidates ...

The Spy Who Came in was Rep. Cole

Now there is news that operatives from the office of Tenth District Congressman Robert Dold were observed surveilling a Wheeling Township Democrats meeting. According to the Tribune ...

Indicating how frightened Republicans are by the strong field of 10th District Democrats, three staffers for incumbent Republican Rep. Bob Dold (IL-10) attended last night's Wheeling Township Democrats Candidates Forum. The Dold staffers included Philippe Melin, the Congressman's taxpayer-funded District Representative and 2010 campaign field director, plus an as-yet unidentified man and woman.
Dold Staffers "The Three Mouseketeers" Sneak Into Wheeling Dems Candidates Forum

Operatives are advised not to bother clicking the TribLocal link. All it will get them for their effort is this 404 Error:

The story however may still be available in the Google Cache:

Dold Staffers "The Three Mouseketeers" Sneak Into Wheeling Dems Candidates Forum

Now, no one thinks a TribLocal story is anything like a legitimate news story. So your LakeCountyEye wonders why the Tribune even bothers scrubbing stories off of their TribLocal websites when they get a complaint. Just sayin'.

Your LakeCountyEye also wonders why Dold staffers would bother trying to sneak into a public meeting, incognito. Dudes, you're going to be IDed. Why bother?

Here is how it is done: waltz in, find the most conspicuous spot to set up the FlipCam, and wait for your macaca moment. It works like a charm at Joe Walsh townhalls.

Your LakeCountyEye suspects the one staffer was avoiding identification because he is Dold's District Representative -- in other words the staffer is on the federal payroll. Which would be a violation of the Hatch Act or the Mann Act or something. A minimum security federal prison is still a federal prison.

Please remember, next time you need to know what the competition is up to, your LakeCountyEye works discretely and cheaply. No job is too small. Expect nothing less than a proven track record of an enviable 96% accuracy. And satisfaction 100% guaranteed!

Teh Crazy Eighth

Christmas is only three weeks away and naturally foremost in everyone's thoughts is whether or not Joe Walsh will be running in the Eighth District. According to the Northwest Herald ...

U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh said he would decide by Monday whether he would run in the 8th Congressional District or in the 14th, where he would continue to face off against incumbent U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Winfield. "You'll know soon enough what I'm going to do," said Walsh, R-McHenry.
Walsh 
to decide district by Monday

In a Saturday townhall, Walsh says that he will know by Monday. This telegraphs the message that Walsh was meeting with his pollsters or donors or somebody on Sunday night. Video of the townhall is on YouTube:

YouTube

However your LakeCountyEye is betting Walsh has already made up his mind -- he will jump ship and run in the Eighth. If he had decided to tough it out in Fourteen, it would have been easy for him to say so at the Saturday townhall, and quash the rumors. It wouldn't be nearly as easy to admit he changed his mind and will be running in Eight instead. And certainly not to a townhall audience. Your LakeCountyEye expects a long & weepy Joe Walsh press conference with his announcement, sometimes this week.

This is smart politics on Walsh's part. If the polls showing that Hultgren will beat Walsh in a primary are accurate, then Walsh's political career would effectively be over on March 21. However it's a virtual certainty he wins a primary in the Eighth. This would extend his political career at least to November 6, where he would likely be on the ballot against Tammy Duckworth. The election in the Illinois Eighth Congressional District would be catapulted into a national marquee race -- the Teaparty favorite vs the Iraq War vet. If so, look for Walsh (and Duckworth) on all the Sunday morning news shows through the November election. Your LakeCountyEye expects this fits well into Walsh's plans.

The Spy Who Came in was Rep. Cole

It's been a busy week for Lake County's legislators. Nominating petitions were due, and at the same time they were called to Springfield for a veto session. One local Rep used the opportunity to gain some earned media vis-a-vis a few rabble-rousing remarks -- reminiscent of a Joe Walsh (from his younger days):

Onionized!

And while that Rep was hogging all the spotlight, fending off the national MSM papparozzo, another local Rep was quietly gathering petition signatures. This Rep is Sandy Cole; the signatures were copies of other candidate's petitions that Cole requested while in Springfield.

Ha ha, the end of the petition gathering period means one thing: the petition challenge period begins. Cole requested the petition of her Democratic opponent Sam Yingling:

Candidate Detail
SAM YINGLING

Cole also requested petitions of Senate 31 candidates, Lennie Jarratt, Larry Leafblad and Melinda Bush:

Candidate Detail
LINWOOD "LENNIE" JARRATT

Candidate Detail
LAWRENCE (LARRY) LEAFBLAD

Candidate Detail
MELINDA (WILLEN) BUSH

Typically copies of petitions are requested by an agent posting the address of a Springfield office or hotel or apartment. These would be Senate and House staffers sent by their bosses to go "fishin' for petitions". It's unusual to see a request made by someone from an out-of-town address. Particularly if that address belongs to a sitting legislator.

Just for the record, your LakeCountyEye is a licensed and bonded petition requester, and is on call 24/7 during the entire filing period. Full-service packages are available. Or choose to be billed either by the hour or by the page -- Springfield carfare included. Your LakeCountyEye works efficiently and confidentially, and has a proven track record with better than 96% accuracy. No job is too small, and petition requests from either side of the isle i'll aisle are gladly accepted. Utmost satisfaction is guaranteed!

Onionized!

These are not crocodile tears, your LakeCountyEye has been reading The Onion.

As readers of this blog are grievously aware ...

Rated R:
for Things Blown Way Out of Proportion

Some Springfield Rep this week tried to send a shout-out to Occupy Wall Street with a lame you-go-we're-all-behind-you House Resolution. The shout-out however was shot-down with front-line support from a familiar name:

The House voted down the resolution 58-37, led by Joe Walsh's new BFF, Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr. (R-Mundelein). Sullivan perpetuated the incoherent and unfounded ramblings of Walsh, once again tossing around that whole "un-American" thing. However, he went a step forward when he cutely pointed out he had supposedly read reports that demonstrators were "raping and pillaging and beating people up and murdering." Documentation of such reports remain missing. Perhaps Mr. Sullivan has re-read his copy of Game Of Thrones one too many times.
Illinois House votes down Occupy support resolution, cites protestors' "raping," "pillaging"

Sharpeyed operatives will detect snark reminiscent of your LakeCountyEye. The above quote, however, does not belong to your LakeCountyEye -- it is taken from The Onion. (The link is to A.V. Club, a spinoff of The Onion.)

Your LakeCountyEye did predict that Sullivan's remarks would attact some national media attention. However your LakeCountyEye did not expect to be stone cold ripped off by The Onion. And for the record, The Onion did not do their homework -- the aforementioned "documentation" is not "missing". The reports can be read in the comment section of ...

Q the Eye/12.02.11

... as readers of this blog are indignantly aware.

Now sometimes a hometown official will go off-script and go on-record to the media about who they think is un-American. And the hometown Internet smartalecks will be all over that official like a misspelled word all over Facebook. That's just the American way.

But when a national media outlet rips off your material, that's something different entirely. Editors of The Onion, this is fair warning: expect to see some sternly worded letters coming your way. Look in your comment section.

Q the Eye/12.02.11

Dear LakeCountyEye,

I must vigorously stand up and protest this latest of calumnies you've perpetrated upon an unexpecting and misinformed electorate and at the expense of one of our finest elected government officials! To wit I refer your attention to a recent dispatch posted on this laughably self-described "non-partisan" blog, of which your readers are without a doubt pompously aware! ...

Rated R:
for Things Blown Way Out of Proportion

Therein you basely attribute to State Representative Ed Sullivan Jr outrageous statements of an inflammatory nature against some self-appointed left-wing anarchists occupying our public plazas and thoroughfares! It stretches my credulity that the thoughtful, independent Ed Sullivan Jr would brand these hooligans as being "un-American" or accuse them of "raping and pillaging and beating people up and murdering". Whereas these same hooligans are obviously capable of such treasonous and criminal acts and more, no sensible elected official, at least within my sphere of influence, would ever make any sort of silly accusation of this nature! I personally know Representative Sullivan, who is a fine & well-qualified upstanding pillar who would never utter such a ridiculous remark, not unless under duress, and certainly never for the benefit of the public ear!

Sirrah, I demand a swift and unequivocal apology for the good maligned Representative!

Anonymous

Dear Gaseous Vitals,

Here's the video -- Sullivan begins at 6:19 -- see for yourself ...

YouTube

Your LakeCountyEye speculates that Sullivan is stealing a page from out of the Joe Walsh playbook:

1. Make some incendiary, outrageous remark for the benefit of the teevee cameras.
2. Wait for the MSM to pay you some attention.

This may be just what the doctor ordered for jumpstarting a stalled political career!

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

Rated R: for Things Blown Way Out of Proportion

This has been a week of disappointment. Promised graphic scenes of raping and pillaging and beating people up and murdering, your LakeCountyEye hastened to the nearest Plaza hoping to enjoy some action & adventure in 3D. Upon taking a seat, however, all your LakeCountyEye saw were some hippies milling around, either texting their iPhones or engaged in meaningful chitchat.

Was your LakeCountyEye at the movie theater to see the gladiator epic Immortals -- but somehow got ushered instead into the chickflick The Twilight Saga? Nope. Your LakeCountyEye was at the UIC Student Center for an Occupy Chicago event.

Your LakeCountyEye wasted an afternoon at some lame protest rally -- and not viewing Immortals -- all on the recommendation of Lake County State Representative Ed Sullivan Jr.

Sullivan, quoted by the AP and picked up by the Chicago Tribune, accused the Occupy Wall Street ...

protesters of "raping and pillaging." Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr. called the protesters "un-American." The Mundelein Republican says he has seen reports of them "raping and pillaging and beating people up and murdering."
Ill. House rejects 'Occupy' resolution

Who among you, operatives and journalists alike, could resist a hot tip like that? For the record, your LakeCounty Eye was not able to witness a single incident of rape or pillage or murder while at UIC. Not even a beating-up.

Were Ed Sullivan Jr ever tempted to become a full-time movie-reviewer, your LakeCountyEye would have to strongly advise him not to quit his day jobs.

Digressional Districts

The public sector pensioners at the McHenryCountyBlog can be counted on to call a spade a spade -- or in this case to call Joe Walsh the Tip of the Spear ...

"Tip of the Spear" Joe Walsh is Front Page Negative News in Chicago Tribune

But Walsh may have just been caught wetting the tip of his spear because it is indicating that the wind is blowing in the direction of the Eighth Congressional District. Walsh, a victim of redistricting, had been running for re-election in the Fourteenth Congressional District, against Republican incumbent Randy Hultgren. The Daily Herald is now reporting that Walsh may have decided to run in the district he represents, the Eighth:

Eighth District Congressman Joe Walsh is expected to announce as early as the next day or two whether he will run for re-election in a district different from the one where he has already been campaigning. Such a move would allow the McHenry Tea Partyer to avoid a bitter, costly primary fight against a fellow Republican freshman but at the same time would require him to launch a new campaign in a far more Democratic-leaning district.
Walsh might switch districts, announcement expected

It was widely believed that Walsh faced a better chance at beating Hultgren in Fourteen, than beating a generic Democrat in the Eighth. If Walsh does file to run in the Eighth instead, that would indicate he is polling poorly in Fourteen. So poorly, he is being forced to go for broke in Eight.

Randy Hultgren would be the obvious beneficiary of a defection by Walsh. Tammy Duckworth, the likely Democratic nominee in the Eighth District, would also benefit from the opportunity to run against Walsh. Walsh would be harder to beat than the token Republican opposition currently on tap in the Eighth. But Duckworth has already seized the opportunity to fundraise against Walsh, a nationally recognized leftwing bugbear. Ditto goes for Raja Krishnamoorthi -- a possible, but less likely, Democratic nominee in Eight.

The biggest loser is Frank McClatchey, the declared Democratic candidate in the Fourteenth District. McClatchey had an outside chance against a Republican with high negatives like Walsh -- even in a Republican vote sink. But McClatchey, by your LakeCountyEye's reckoning, has no chance at beating a Randy Hultgren.

Other losers would be the McHenryCountyBlog. Walsh would be effectively moving his campaign operation to Schaumburg. Schaumburg is to McHenry County as The Office is to Dukes of Hazzard.

The other big loser is your LakeCountyEye. Without Joe Walsh to kick around any more your LakeCountyEye is on a collision course to losing some serious raison d'etre Mo-Joe.

Say it ain't so, Joe!

Signature Song

Tis the season in Lake County -- when bands of merry emissaries wander door to door, sing the praises of their king of kings, asking only in return your sign of recognition. Ha ha, it's petition season for the 2012 election in Lake County. As readers of this blog are misfortunately aware ...

Christmas in Springfield?

the petition filing deadline for Congressional candidates has been extended to Christmas Eve and beyond. Candidates for Congress who are down for the count and ready to concede defeat, now have until Christmas to meet their petition requirement.

Operatives are advised to check their peepholes before answering their doors -- on the other side may be poorly-paid and surly campaign petition circulators. Or they just might be the LakeCountyEye carolers only wishing to spread some holiday cheer:

Will you take this petition?
It's for our politician.
We'd like you to sign,
Your name on this line.
Knockin' for a long-shot congressman.

Many thanks, you've been too kind.
Christmas day is our deadline.
You are number four.
We'll need many more.
Knockin' for a long-shot congressman.

In the WalMart is a cardboard snowman.
Let's all pretend he lives in Mundelein.
We'll say: Are you registered to vote, man?
He can say: Since nineteen and sixty nine!

Only need another million.
When its done we'll be chillin'.
Fabricate to play,
The Chicago way.
Knockin' for a long-shot congressman.

Look for your LakeCountyEye, walkin' in the you know what.

Christmas in Springfield?

Lake County has celebrated another Thanksgiving. Its observance traditionally marks the beginning of a month-long season of festive preparation where friends, family & neighbors all come together to engage in what is truly a once-in-a-year occasion. Yes, the War on Christmas, simmering all year, has again erupted into a shooting war. The opening salvo against this most sacred of holidays is typically fired from the war-room of some activist nanny-state federal court. This year is no exception. According to the Chicago Tribune ...

A federal judge today moved back the filing schedule for Illinois congressional candidates to late December while deliberations continue on a lawsuit challenging the state's new U.S. House district boundaries. The start date for filing candidate petitions was to begin next Monday. But U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow, one of three federal judges overseeing a Republican challenge to the Democratic-drawn boundaries, set Friday, Dec. 23, through Tuesday, Dec. 27, as the new filing period.
Federal court pushes back congressional candidate filing while Illinois map in dispute

Operatives will not need to consult their pollsters to see that Christmas -- Dec. 25 -- falls smack dab in the middle of Dec.-23-through-Dec.-27, the new federally mandated Congressional filing period.

As readers of this blog are acutely aware ...

The Petition Edition

the Congressional primary ballot in Lake County is looking to be packed tighter than the Millburn Strangler in a ComEd outage. Typically most congressional candidates are utter noobs, unable to meet even their minimum petition requirement. But every one of those Congressional campaigns, experiencing near-death right about now, just got mouth-to-mouth resuscitated with this federal ruling.

Scores of congressional candidates will now be forsaking their holiday obligations in last-minute pursuit of petition signatures. And holiday shoppers will be staying home in droves rather than risk being overpowered by an army of campaign operatives desperately advancing to hit that magic-number of signatures before the new post-Christmas deadline. Thank you, unelected panel of federal judges, the Grinch himself couldn't have done a better job stealing Christmas in Lake County.

Your LakeCountyEye shudders to think what those activist judges have next up the sleeves of their black robes, in pursuit of their total War On Christmas. Oh, the humanity, won't somebody think of the children?

Happy X-Giving!

Your LakeCountyEye wishes each and every reader of this blog a Happy Thanksgiving!

• Bonne Action de grâce
• Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias
• Fröhliche Danksagung
• Glædelig Helligdag
• Vrolijke gedenkdagen
• God Helgdag
• Święto dziękczynienia
• 感恩節快樂
• 感謝祭おめでとう
• سعيد عيد الشكر
• Rojashukrépirozbe
• Masaya pasasalamat
• Keje
• 즐거운 추수 감사절
• С Днем благодарения
• ŞükranGününüzkutluolsun
• щастлив благодарност
• sretan zahvalnosti
• šťastný díkůvzdání
• lykkelig taksigelse
• Ευτυχής ημέρα των ευχαριστιών
• שמחה והודיה
• खुश धन्यवाद
• felice ringraziamento
• fericit mulţumire
• Happy Thanksgiving

Debatable Candidates

Your LakeCountyEye has confirmed that because of decennial redistricting, the number of candidates on the 2012 ballot will exceed the number of registered voters in Lake County. With the petition deadline a short week away, an emergency plan is in the works to bus up migrant voters from Cook County.

Ha ha, as readers of this blog are abundantly aware ...

The Petition Edition

the 2012 election cycle has produced a bumper crop of new candidates, who all want support from the same limited pool of party operatives, like so many bumper cars crowded in a, erm, bumper shop.

In politics, as it is in the Bible, many are called but few are chosen. The typical sales pitch delivered in the proverbial smoke-filled room, your LakeCountyEye has learned, follows a predictable trajectory:

	Candidate:	I'm running for Congress and I need your help.
	Operative:	Awesome. What are your qualifications?
	Candidate:	I have a lot of ideas.
	Operative:	I meant what do you bring to the table?
	Candidate:	My ideas! Washington is broken and I know how to fix it.
	Operative:	Outstanding. Of course anyone who listens to Limbaugh and Hannity can repeat all the talking points. But what differentiates you? More to the point, how much money have you raised?
	Candidate:	Money? I don't have any.
	Operative:	Then what's your fundraising plan?
	Candidate:	That's why I'm here, asking for your support. I need someone to raise the money for me.
	Operative:	Have you thought about running for your county board instead?
	Candidate:	County board? What's that?

For the record, the above transcription is taken from a candidate interview conducted in 2009. The candidate's name? Joe Walsh. The rest is history.

The Petition Edition

It's Thanksgiving week in Lake County -- traditionally a time to pause & reflect and make sure your petition packets are bound, correctly numbered and in sequential order. Ha ha, it's the last Monday before the first filing day and operatives are running around like turkeys with their heads chopped off hoping to secure enough signatures to meet their minimum ballot requirement.

Now that the county's been redistricted, virtually every office holder is up for re-election in 2012 -- from your congressman at the top of the ballot all the way down to the lowly precinct captain at the bottom, and with a bunch of state legislators & county board reps packed in between. That crowd of last minute shoppers at your grocery store are actually petition circulators -- so do like your LakeCountyEye and memorize this helpful phrase ...

Ich weiß nicht Englisch!

and purchase that sixpack of holiday cheer with no unwanted delay!

According to the LakeCountyEye rule of thumb, if you are reading this but still don't have your minimum required signatures then please go home, you're not a real candidate. (For the record, a real candidate in your situation would file a short petition stack and hope no one challenges.) Nothing screams political loser noob louder than the candidate who files X plus 2 signatures for an office requiring X signatures. Seriously, if you can't file a challenge-proof X times 2 signatures, then just file a sheet or two from that last Chamber and/or Union meeting. At least it will look like you got something or other up your sleeve.

Regardless what anyone says, operatives this week can be expected to -- erm -- forge ahead to meet their petition goals. Of course your LakeCountyEye doesn't need to convene a roundtable ring of experts to make it known that forgery is illegal. However your LakeCountyEye is reminded of one enterprising operative who, back in the day, produced a thick stack of petitions with names copied out of a Minneapolis phone book. A skeptical collaborator reminded him that they were filing in Lake County. "Right," said the operative. "These are all people from Minnesota. Who's going to suspect that any of these names were forged?"

Look for your LakeCountyEye outside a grocery store near you.

Monument to Cupidity?

Your LakeCountyEye, last observed careening about the uncharted northern steppes of Lake County ...

The Bob & Tom Show

after one too many right turns is blogging tonight from Crystal Lake. To make matters worse, the GPS tracking device attached to the LakeCountyEye low-speed vehicle indicated that Crystal Lake is in gasp! McHenry County.

Luckily, your LakeCountyEye was able to find an information kiosk. However hopes for getting directions back to the LakeCountyEye compound got the kibosh when that kiosk turned out to be a Sheriff's sub-station instead:

Just your LakeCountyEye's luck, there was nobody at home in the sub-station.

Can some operative contact the McHenryCountyBlog?

Could TIF Monument Ads Help City Collect More Sales Taxes?

Hopefully one of the public sector pensioners over there will know where your LakeCountyEye is stranded.

The Bob & Tom Show

The 99% have taken to the streets and your LakeCountyEye has joined their ranks to Occupy the Lake County Roundabouts. Frankly, after an hour of stone cold protest marching round and round and round a traffic circle, your LakeCountyEye needs to set for a spell and maybe check the e-mail.

Frequent commenter TK writes:

"Comparing Bob Dold to Tom Delay is dirty pool! You're a shill for the Chicago machine!"

While frequent commenter Louis G Althusser writes:

"Comparing Bob Dold to Tom Delay is hard cheese! You only print oppo from the DCCC!"

Well, when the great unwashed speaks, your LakeCountyEye listens. As readers of this blog are backwardly aware ...

Dold & Hammer

your LakeCountyEye dug up some startling parallels between 10th District Congressman Robert Dold and former Republican House Majority Leader Tom Delay. But after reviewing the new oppo, it has come to your LakeCountyEye's attention a disservice has been perpetrated on the representative and that Robert Dold is no Tom Delay. The two politicians are totally different. Different in 10 ways, to be exact:

Ten Differences Between Robert Dold and Tom Delay

Tom Delay: Aries Robert Dold: Cancer Tom Delay: Convicted in Texas of Money Laundering Robert Dold: Never Convicted in Texas of Money Laundering Tom Delay: CEO of Albo Pest Control Robert Dold: CEO of Rose Pest Solutions Tom Delay: Resides in Sugar Land, Texas Robert Dold: Resides in Kenilworth, Illinois Robert Dold: Does not live in Illinois's Tenth Congressional District Tom Delay: Does not live in Illinois's Eighth Congressional District Tom Delay: Federal law prohibits a convicted felon from possessing a gun. Robert Dold: 2010 NRCC Young Gun Tom Delay: Awesome Nickname -- The Hammer Robert Dold: Awesome Nickname -- TBD Tom Delay: Competed on Dancing with the Stars, Season Nine Robert Dold: Not seen on Season Nine of Dancing with the Stars Robert Dold: Does a spot-on impression of Quick Draw McGraw Tom Delay: No spot-on impression of Quick Draw McGraw Tom Delay: Left-Wing Bugbear Robert Dold: Yeah, he wishes Robert Dold Quick Draw McGraw Fool you once, shame on me. Fool you twice, you're looking at another hilarious LakeCountyEye Double Vision™!

Look for your LakeCountyEye galloping off into the sunset.

Dold & Hammer

Who knew, but with redistricting Lake County is to be officially rebranded Lake County 2.0 -- and with it is getting some new congressional reps. Joe Walsh's Eighth Congressional District is leaving Lake County for good, relocating to a nice retirement condo down south; Peter Roskam's Sixth District and Robert Dold's Tenth District are moving in and plan to be around for a long time. If you count 10 years a long time. Following an act like Joe Walsh & his Figurative Fists of Fury is no mean feat, so Roskam and Dold are naturally all like: "What am I supposed to be over here, the Route 53 Extension?"

Lake County has its share of narrow political niches, and plenty of boutique blogs narrowly focused on their niches. Your LakeCountyEye however is committed to covering all of Lake County 24/7/365, and with that pledge is committed to profiling all of the County's newest congresscritters -- the newest of which being the aforementioned Robert Dold.

Robert Dold represents Lake County's newest drawn Congressional District, the 10th, which in 2012 will make a sort of Y incision starting at Deerfield, going all the way up to Zion and over to Round Lake. Not much is known about Dold. His name is comically similar to former Kansas Senator Robert Dole's. Both are Republicans but the similarity seems to end there, as Dole is both a war hero and a moderate Republican.

A more striking similarity exists between Dold and another GOP congressman, ousted Republican Party boss Tom Delay:

• Prior to entering politics, both Dold and Delay were exterminators.
• Neither Dold or Delay served in the armed forces.
• Grover Norquist helped Tom Delay start the K Street Project.
  Grover Norquist campaigned for Robert Dold.
• Tom Delay does not live in Illinois's new Tenth Congressional District.
  Neither does Robert Dold.

Robert Dold Tom Delay You're not seeing double, you're seeing another hilarious LakeCountyEye Double Vision™!

JFK famously said the torch has passed to a new generation. Tom Delay has gone to sit on the bench at another federal institution. The citronella torch has passed to Robert Dold!

Assessing the Damages

There is no truth to the rumor that some Avon Township homeowners expecting assessment blue cards were instead mailed pink slips. Ha ha, j/k. As readers of this blog are cannedidly aware,

Q the Eye/11.10.11

Avon Township this week resolved a wrongful termination suit, resulting in a $450,000 court ordered fine judgement settlement ... whatevs.

Chicago perfected the spoils system: "I got you elected, now if you don't give me a job you're spoiling for a fight." So to the victor goes the spoils but, as operatives sometimes ask, what do you do when the losers won't leave? There is an art and etiquette to firing those unwanted employees, and if not done correctly expect to be like the sadsacks in Avon Township, spending a lot of quality time in a deposition room.

Appearances to the contrary, there are ways to sack that unloyal government hire without risking serious blowback. No stranger to the unforewarned heave-ho, here are 10 of the best strategies for finessing a termination your LakeCountyEye has witnessed over the years.

Ten Failsafe Ways to Fire that Recalcitrant Government Employee

Hire Trump to do your dirty work. Bus in some union busting goons from Wisconsin. Relocate the office to a location off the Millburn Strangler; then fire everyone for being late to work every morning. 2 words every government official should remember: Extraordinary Rendition Sack that employee the Herman Cain way. Nuff said? Ouryay Iredfay! Fire them in Pig Latin. Don't fire those over-paid employees, shrink their paychecks instead. Install a slot machine in the lunchroom. Outsourcing is your friend. Transfer everyone to Kuala Lumpur. Organize an angry mob of small-government Tea Partiers. Cut out the middleman: just abolish township government.

Look for your LakeCountyEye -- where else -- in the unemployment line.

Thank you

Thank you to all of the men and women who served and continue to serve this great nation in the Armed Forces. All of us owe you our sincere gratitude.

Q the Eye/11.10.11

Dear LakeCountyEye,

Fired up by OWS, I organized an Occupy Prairie Crossing. But so far it's been a one-person occupation -- me -- and I'm reconsidering my career path. How about government service? Can a decent living be made there?

Sent from My iPhone

Dear Jobs Aspirant,

To coin a phrase -- yes you can. A good living can be made from the public sector, just help a friend or relative get elected to a local government position and then hire on to their staff.

Now you're probably wondering if the life of a government featherbedder is meant for a hotshot gogetter like yourself. So here is the genius part of the plan: Just make it sure that your friend or relative is bounced out of office in the next election. The replacement guy coming in is then sure to fire you on the spot. And all you need to do is hire an ambulance chaser to file a federal suit for wrongful termination.

One local settlement, selected at random, may illustrate your upside potential. Four township employees recently won a substantial judgement, according to the Daily Herald:

Avon Township will pay $450,000 to settle a federal lawsuit that claimed some assessor's office employees were fired or pressured to retire for political reasons in January 2010.
Avon Twp. settles political firings case for $450K

Half a million is real money these days, let's divide it up to see what everyone gets.

The attorney gets 33% off the top. Subtract $150,000 and $300,000 remains. Dividing that by four leaves $75,000 for each plaintiff. The suit was filed in Federal court, so carfare, parking, meals and incidentals need to be factored in. Chicago is not cheap so take off another $5,000 leaving $70,000 -- still a tidy haul.

Your LakeCountyEye understands that should about cover the first installment payment on your student loan.

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

Virile Video

Your LakeCountyEye is doubling down, letting it all ride on the Quinella Quadrella, hoping no one will notice this is the fourth Joe Walsh story in a row. It's pretty much a sucker bet, as there's a new townhall video of Walsh chewing up the scenery for the benefit of the camera. Again. But this time it's all over the web and the cablenews and the talkradio and the teevee and everywhere. Watch it, for instance, at ThinkProgress:

GOP Rep. Joe Walsh Melts Down, Screams At Constituents: 'Dont Blame Banks! ... I Am Tired Of Hearing That Crap!'

What is remarkable about the video is not the fact that it caught some of his enablers constituents on the receiving end of the famed JoeWalsh fists of figurative fury. Your LakeCountyEye understands this is a matter-of-fact course of events at the Joe Walsh re-election offices. Remarkable is the source of the video:

Rep. Joe Walsh: DON’T Blame Banks and Marketplace

Sharpeyed operatives will immediately recognize the work of the official LakeCountyEye featured blogger, the Round Lake District 116 blog. Just scroll down and look for their blog along the right column. If you don't see it, keep scrolling. Past the ads. Somewhere near the bottom.

The videographers at the Round Lake District 116 are heretofore best known for their video of some cars going around and around a Lake County traffic circle ...

YouTube

About a month ago I shot a video of the Hunt Club & Wadsworth Road roundabout that was recently completed. It's about six minutes long just to show how drivers are currently treating it like nothing more than a curve in the road. Once traffic can continue South to Milburn Road, things should change drastically as in "CRASH-EM-UP-DERBY" if they don't start treating the intersection like an intersection. The Roundabout Runaround

And now all of a sudden the bloggers at Round Lake District 116 can claim bragging rights to a certifiably viral video. How awesome is that -- is this a great country or what?

Well, your LakeCountyEye is dusting off the Bell & Howell and heading over to the FotoMat to pick up a couple hundred feet of 16mm stock. And afterwards a quick spin through the nearest roundabout.

Dirty Poll!

There's an old-fashioned donnybrook brewing up between two candidates locked in a titanic primary-election struggle over who will be the Republican standard bearer in the 14th Congressional District. Joe Walsh and Randy Hultgren both lay claim to the 14th, a district that meanders through the parts of Lake County that no one ever goes to, and is widely regarded a sure-win, come next November, for any Republican candidate. And with less than 5 months before the primary at least one candidate is already crying foul. According to NBC Chicago ...

Walsh is accusing Hultgren of conducting a "push poll" by asking voters whether Walsh's personal life might influence their primary vote. In a push poll, a campaign worker calls voters and asks questions like, "Knowing that Congressman Snood was removed from his position as a Scoutmaster on a morals charge, would you be more or less likely to vote for him?"
Walsh Threatens to "Punch" Hultgren Over Push Poll

Ha ha. Operatives who were looking forward to participating in Hultgren's push-poll may have missed their opportunity, and are advised to find an occupation more profitable than hovering near their landlines. As an incentive, your LakeCountyEye did have an opportunity to participate in the push-poll, and remembers most of the questions. Ten to be exact:

Ten Questions Asked about Joe Walsh by Randy Hultgren's Push-Poll

Knowing that Congressman Walsh was removed from his position as a gascon on the Lawrence O'Donnell Show, would you be more or less likely to vote for him? Would you buy a used car from Joe Walsh? Did Joe Walsh remember to set his clocks back yesterday? If Joe Walsh was, like, secretly Aquaman or the Wolverine or something, would you vote for him then? How much money does Joe Walsh owe you? Were you offered competitive terms and conditions, would you consider hiring a regionally accredited collection agency? Who would win in a fair fight -- Joe Walsh or Don Henley? We have cash. Do you have gold? Was Joe Walsh ever sexually harassed by Herman Cain? Who would win in a fist fight -- Joe Walsh or Randy Hultgren?

For the record your LakeCountyEye scored 7 out of 10 -- which earns a gentleman's C and a 50% off coupon from a regionally accredited collection agency.

Friends in High Places

Joe Walsh is the only only Illinois Congressman that gets a perfect 100% score this year from the Family Research Council. But, as reported by the CapitolFaxBlog, the pro-life organization is endorsing instead Walsh's primary opponent, Randy Hultgren:

Group rates Walsh votes perfect, but actually backs opponent

With Walsh's support dropping faster lately than a court ordered rule to show cause, your LakeCountyEye has to ask: Does anyone have Joe Walsh's back these days?

When the New York Times prints an unflattering story about Walsh, he can still count on support from the corporate suits at TeamAmerica10th, who observe that Walsh has ...

almost a half-million dollars in cash-on-hand in his campaign account, no credible Dem opponent as of yet (yes, we know he has a primary to get past first), and a core group of solid (dare I say rabid) supporters. NYT notwithstanding, anyone who sneers and writes off Joe Walsh at this point would be making a big mistake.
The New York Times Takes a Swing at Joe Walsh

And the public sector pensioner's at the McHenryCountyBlog can be counted on to post photos of Walsh's sparsely attended job fair in Woodstock:

Hundreds and hundreds of job seekers.
600-700 Attend Joe Walsh’s Job Fair in Woodstock

But it would seem that other than TeamAmerica10th and the McHenryCountyBlog and the National Front Party in France ...

French far-right candidate visits with Walsh

Walsh has few friends left.

No doubt the rigors of appearing on the campaign trail and on cablenews and in court has found Walsh spreading himself thin lately. Walsh, who is caught in a close, winner-take-all primary battle, looks like he needs all the friends he can get. So as a service to the Congressman, your LakeCountyEye has posted a friends button:

Joe Walsh

Who needs money, message or manpower to win elections when you got lots of Facebook friends instead?

Poll No Punches

Lake County's Republican Congressional candidates have been itchin' for a fight as far back as June, as readers of this blog are memorably aware ...

You Gotta Fight for Your Right-Wing Party

If this fightin' brigade has a tip of the spear, figuratively speaking, that would have to be fightin' Congressman Joe Walsh. Walsh is currently entrenched in the political fight of his life, where he is battling Randy Hultgren over who gets to be congressman-for-life in the 14th District. Catching Walsh off-guard, Hultgren polled the entire district and apparently drew first blood. According to the Daily Herald ...

after hearing from constituents that the poll contained a number of questions on child support and his financial past, Walsh is calling the effort a "push poll" — a political campaign technique designed to influence voters by disseminating negative and false information — and evidence of a dirty campaign. "If he raises his voice and calls into question who I am as a father, I'll punch him in the face, figuratively speaking," said Walsh, of McHenry.
Hultgren ramping up offensive: Walsh cries foul play

It is unclear whether Walsh intends to pummel Hultgren in the figurative face with some real fists, or the other way around.

Surprisingly, Walsh's fists of fury found the time to pen these words on his Facebook page:

George Washington can rightly be called the founder of our Republic. He resigned his powerful military commission to a powerless Congress and refused to be crowned king. When King George III heard this, he told the painter Benjamin West, "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world." And so he was, and is.
The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.

George Washington: First in war. First in peace. First in the hearts of his countrymen.

Joe Walsh: Fists in war. Fists in peace. Fists in the face of Randy Hultgren.

Figuratively speaking.

Custom Signage

Your LakeCountyEye is liveblogging from the Emergency Room of -- had there been a County Hospital -- Lake County Hospital. And not only liveblogging, but liveblogging lefthandedly -- your LakeCountyEye's right hand is currently in a sling.

As readers of this blog are openly aware ...

Quitsville!

State Senate District 31 is now and all of a sudden an open seat. The world population may officially stand at 7 billion, but easily as many candidates may be found circulating ballot petitions in Senate 31. Or so it would seem -- your LakeCountyEye believes that citizenship confers a responsibility to the democratic process, even when that means signing nominating petitions. All 7 billion of them.

Long story short, one 911 call plus ambulance ride later, and your LakeCountyEye is mulling over a diagnosis of writer's block writer's cramp carpal tunnel syndrome -- and with nothing more to show for it than an unpaid hospital bill. Your LakeCountyEye takes some consolation in the knowledge that when those petitions are inevitably challenged in December, every one of those LakeCountyEye JohnHancocks will be stricken by the judge. You see, voters aren't allowed to sign in a district where they don't live. Or sign more than one nominating petition per any election contest. Or sign if they're not registered to vote. Or a convicted felon. Or whatever. So, to all those candidates in Senate 31 who are thrown off the ballot because your petition-packet is loaded with invalid LakeCountyEye signatures: Psych!

Ha ha j/k. Truth be told, your LakeCountyEye had been hoping to produce the signatures needed to personally appear on that Senate District 31 primary ballot. But now that the LakeCountyEye writing-hand is in a sling, it's looking like there are at least two names that will not be seen on the ballot in Senate 31.

Quitsville!

Not since Sarah Palin abruptly quit being a Governor, not even since Edward VIII abruptly quit being a King, has Lake County been this surprised over a resignation statement. Your LakeCountyEye of course refers to Island Lake Trustee Laurie Rabattini's sudden announcement that she will no longer chair her village finance committee.

The resignation was delivered via a long and whinesome statement, reproduced on Rabattini's blog. The nut graf:

So with that ... I resign my chair of Finance and Administration. I do not ... let me make this clear ... I do not resign my Trustee seat.
Trustee Rabattini Resigns Chair

Rabattini, best-known for having coined the neologism ...

Rebuttles

has been a vociferous & partisan critic of Island Lake government before and during her tenure as a trustee. Her resignation is widely regarded as an attempt to make a virtue of political necessity. As even the most glassy-eyed operative knows, it's easier to be a political bomb thrower from the safety of the back bench, than it is from the front line. Take it from your LakeCountyEye -- nuff said!

In related news, the Daily Herald and other MSM outlets have reported that Suzi Schmidt will not try to keep her Senate seat in District 31:

Facing domestic problems, Suzi Schmidt won't run in 2012

Boom goes the dynamite.

The 411 on 911

Who hasn't dialed 911 to order a pizza or get directions to Binny's? Like every Lake County community, Lake Villa counts on their 911 service for legitimate emergencies. So your LakeCountyEye took note when the News-Sun reported that ...

Emergency dispatch services for the Lake Villa Police Department will switch from Antioch's dispatch center to FoxComm 9-1-1 center at the Fox Lake Public Safety Building beginning Nov. 1.
Cost savings prompts Lake Villa 9-1-1 move to Fox Lake

Your LakeCountyEye recalls a recent spike in volume of 911 calls reported in that city, and wishes the village of Lake Villa the best of luck in the transition. Be sure to double-shift your night dispatchers!

In other, unrelated 911 news, the News-Sun updated their story about former Lake County Board member Larry Leafblad. Leafblad hopes to challenge State Senator Suzi Schmidt in the March primary. Your LakeCountyEye hears that other high-profile candidates may show up on the ballot for Senate 31, as well.

The reason Schmidt, an incumbent 20-year politican, is being challenged is well-known. According to the News-Sun, Leafblad thinks that Schmidt "mortally wounded herself" ...

"At the same time, I can see if she wins the primary, which I hope she doesn't, the fall is going to be the Democrats playing 9-1-1 call after 9-1-1 call after 9-1-1 call for 10 weeks up to the general election," Leafblad said. "It's going to be brutal, and I don’t think she can win."
Leafblad: Schmidt 'vulnerable next fall'

In a close primary it's a good idea to remind the voters about your opponent's flaws, in this case some embarassing 911 calls. However it is ill-advised to directly attack your opponent. But reminding the voters that the Democrats will be attacking your opponent about some embarassing 911 calls gets the job done. Well played, Larry Leafblad.

With a likely crowded field on the Republican side in Senate 31, look for at least one debate scheduled before the primary. Probably at Lakes Community High School or a similar venue. Your LakeCountyEye expects that every statement uttered at that debate will contain a noun and a verb and 911.

Tribune Creepy Cartoonist™ Shamelessly Milks Myth About African-American Males

What is the connection supposed to be with black men and BlackBerrys®? Wasn't that stereotype debunked like back in the 1800s? Apparently the Chicago Tribune's Creepy Cartoonist™ never received the memo:

Bang Bang Barack

Operatives are asked to supply their own Hot Dog joke here. Your LakeCountyEye will not be touching that with a 3 point poll.

Refugees in the Middle East

The Stevenson Center will host a program on the refugee situation in the Middle East:

Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy

Refugees in the Middle East

Karen AbuZayd will speak about the plight and promise of refugees caught in the Arab Spring. Ms. AbuZayd is the recently retired Commissioner General of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency), winner of a 2010 Spanish/Catalonia Peace Prize and a 2011 Golden Award with Star for Service to the Austrian Federal Republic. In her distinguished UN career, she oversaw education, health, social services and micro finance operations for UNRWA and emergency and repatriation operations for UNHCR in Namibia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Somalia and South Africa. She also served as the UNHCR Chief of Mission in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war.

• Sunday
  November 13, 2011
  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

Horse Manure

The high rollers are all loading their dice in anticipation of a new casino rumored to be built in Old Mill Creek. Ha ha, as readers of this blog are improbably aware ...

A Trojan Horse?

your LakeCountyEye has been speculating that the village of Old Mill Creek's high-stakes, organized effort to fastrack the Route 45 Bypass is a strong indication that the new Lake County casino will be built there. The evidence for this inescapable conclusion is admittedly scant, but it does make for a convenient lead-in to another LakeCountyEye comedy bit.

Whenever seeking confirmation of an unconfirmed rumor, your LakeCountyEye relies on the tried and true method of conducting a push-poll. Ten Lake County odds-makers were asked at random what chance they give that Lake County sees a casino in Old Mill Creek. Here are the scientific results:

Ten Reasons to Build the Lake County Casino in Old Mill Creek

Two words: Roundabout Roulette! OTB betting in all the stables. Who isn't in for a round of Horse Poker? Why drive to Hammond when there's a Horseshoe Casino in Old Mill Creek? Best odds. Highest limits. Biggest jackpots. One quarter horse equals a seat at 25 penny slots. Not everyone thinks of road apples when they hear the word craps. Origin of CROUPIER: French, literally, rider on the croup of a horse Merriam-Webster Definition of CROUP: the rump of a quadruped Merriam-Webster An Old Mill Creek stable will be getting a cool new name: The Five Card Stud Farm They're betting on the quinella. Nuff said.

Look for your LakeCountyEye on the horse your LakeCountyEye rode in on.

A Trojan Horse?

A recent letter in the Daily Herald from a stable owner:

If the eastern bypass group get their way, Lake County Division of Transportation will not fund the bypass and will wait for the state to do it, some 20 years. Let us not stop the project and get traffic going, improve the traffic at 45-Grasslake-Millburn roads.
Don’t delay action on bypass

So many horse owners have posted letters-to-the-editor about the Route 45 Bypass, that it would seem the Pony Express has returned to Lake County.

Ha ha. As readers of this blog are ruminatively aware ...

Cadge & Release™
Circle the Wagons

a war of words is being is being fought between Lindenhurst and Old Mill Creek over the future of the Route 45 Bypass. Still in planning stages, the Bypass may be delayed further by new hearings proposed by the County Board. Read about it the News-Sun:

County Board member Newton wants full bypass airing

The position of the pro-Bypass side of the conflict has not changed: Living conditions in their area are so unbearable that work needs to begin on the Bypass -- it doesn't matter where it is built -- but immediately, if not sooner.

Of course, the last thing the typical bedroom community would want to see is a new state artery constructed in their backyards. The whole point of a being a bedroom community is to not see a semi-tractor doing 45mph past one's bedroom. But perhaps Old Mill Creek is not the typical bedroom community and your LakeCountyEye salutes their civic-minded altruism.

Ha ha, j/k. So what gives? The other big development up in the upper-right quadrant of Lake County has been the on-again-off-again Waukegan/Park City/TBD casino. The News-Sun observed ...

Gov. Pat Quinn won't sign a massive gambling expansion bill and, in its place, proposed a scaled-back alternative Monday that would still give Lake County a casino, but not in Park City.
Quinn backs county casino — not Park City

Well one doesn't need to be a Karl-Rove-political-genius to figure out what's going on. That Route 45 Bypass is being fast-tracked in anticipation of the Lake County casino that will be built up there.

Where? Not in Waukegan. Not in Park City. Yep, in Old Mill Creek.

Take it from your LakeCountyEye, it's in the bag. Or feed-bag as the case may be.

Horse feathers? Perhaps.