Only One Week Until Elections

There is only one week until the mid-term elections. The dems are not doing too bad - but it is still kind of hard to understand how there still could be so many republicans doing well enough to win this year. Let's review - we are mired down in two wars, one of which it is not real clear why we are even there (that would be Iraq for you right wingers). We have expanded government to the point where it is bigger then ever. Our deficits have never been bigger. We are exporting all our jobs. We are letting all of our domestic businesses hire illegal aliens for almost nothing. Our health care is a joke. Oil companies are rolling in money from record gas prices that are breaking the back of the middle class. All of this under a republican house, senate and president. And how do we feel about it??





We still want to send some back... What will it take??

"Stay the Course" - Yea, Right

McCoy Spewing Crap Again

I am just disgusted at the kind of things the Belleville News "Republican" allows McCoy to put it the paper. Obviously anything that comes out of McCoy is a lie. The real truth about Bin Laden is something more like this:

The St. Louis Post Dispatch Endorses Stover!

This is great news for Southern Illinois! Hopefully, the people in our neighboring countys take note!

Post Endorses Stover

From the article:

"Still, Mr. Stover is a credible alternative for voters looking for an independent, progressive voice in Congress. He asks voters if they've "had enough" of Republican control, of a misguided war, of threats to abortion rights, of unfair trade policies, of big pay raises for Congress and tax cuts for the wealthy and no increase in the minimum wage. Regardless of what Mr. Shimkus told Mr. Foley, Dan Stover is the better choice."

Illinois Voter Database Hacked

Check this out on ABC:


Chicago Voter Database Hacked

It is also interesting to note that Diebold voting machines can be hacked too - as I have blogged about before.

The voting machine I used when I voted early was a Diebold Accuvote TSX - but it did have a paper trail. Unfortunately, I have no idea who I voted for, since I was not able to look at my paper trail. Read more about it here:

Black Box Voting

Stem Cell Research

I found this add for Claire McCaskill on YouTube:

Keep in mind, it is not just Talent that is against the kind of research. It is all of the science hating Republicans, including Dennis Bielke. While Democrats like Al Gore are trying to encourage using science to try and solve big problems like global warming, the Republicans would prefer to just ignore the facts and throw "Global Warming Beach Parties".

More Republicans Involved in Child Sex Scandal

Oh great - our family values Congress involved in even more gay child sex:

"Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Morris, through his election attorney, moved Thursday to inform the House that a former male page or intern may have been the subject of inappropriate attention from another lawmaker"

Shimkus is doing a great job overseeing this board eh??

Olbermann on Fire Over Bush Torture Bill

Earlier this week Bush signed a bill that makes torture perfectly legal and even makes it impossible for him to be held accountable for anything that has already occurred on his watch. It also gets rid of Habeas Corpus for US citizens.

Check out this video clip for Olbermann's commentary

Of course, you would never know this from reading our crappy local paper. Here is what they printed about this back on page A6:



That is it - the whole thing. No continued on another page. Just cut off in mid-sentence. "Uhhhh - the mean old terrorist loving Democrats said something about this - but no room to print that". Can a paper be that bad? Or do they do this intentionally?? No need to look past A4 where they blame Bill Clinton for N. Korea getting nukes to get the answer that.... Incidentally Glenn - it was Rumsfeld's company that sold them the reactor.

Got a Bielke Sign in Your Neighborhood?

The answer is probably yes. You can not swing a dead cat with out hitting one in St. Clair County. After reading the article about Bielke and Wyvetter Younge in the Belleville paper, I started wondering where he got the $65,000 (almost 4 time what Younge has) to run for the Illinois State General Assembly. Why would he even want to pay that much for a job that earns only $66,000 a year? The answer can be found over at FollowTheMoney.org. The list of his contributors reads like a who's who of the rich developers, builders, car dealers, oil and gas companies and even the President of the Belleville Shoe Factory (He was the one that landed all the CENTCOM contracts for boots - hooray for war, I am going to buy me a legislator!).



Bielke pictured with John "Who needs Habeas Corpus, go ahead and torture them" McCain

In addition to being in the pockets of big business, he also supports everything that has got this country so screwed up. His campaign funding is a microcosm of what is going on at the national level - war profits and taxpayer waste being funneled into the pockets of the GOP. So, if you are able to navigate your way through his wealthy, elite funded signs and get to the polls, remember what his party has done to our country.

Olbermann on That Quaint Constitution

Just What Kind of People Bankroll Shimkus?

I have wondered where Shimkus gets so much money for his campaign. He has over 10 times what Danny Stover has. Craig Schelske is a conservative activist that runs a PAC called CraigPAC. Mr. Schelske is a a real "family values guy" that is going through a divorce with his wife, Sara Evans from "Dancing with the Stars". Apparently she took exception to him having pictures of himself having sex with other women and watching porn in front of their 2-7 year old children. Apparently he also was putting ads on the Internet asking for threesomes and anal sex. So who does his family values PAC donate money to?? People that cover up for Republican gay pedophiles of course:

Belleville News Dem Drops Bombshell on Eckert!

I saw this in our illustrious paper today:

"Mayor Mark Eckert often stresses the importance of buying in Belleville so that the sales tax revenue stays in the city, yet state records show his political action committee spent $395 on party decorations at a Fairview Heights store."

They can smell a scandal when they see one! And where else would they find one?? It is not like a Congressman from a neighboring County is covering up for gay pedophiles....

UPDATE: This story was so important to the Belleville News "Democrat", that they had to run it twice in the same paper. It is on the front page above the fold, and on page B3 - both are the exact same story, only in one Mayor Eckert is putting together a warchest and in the other it is a "campaign fund". Now that is journalism....

In other news, the BND covered the campaign between Rep. Wyvetter Younge and Dennis Bielke. Apparently he has spent $55,000 to try and buy this seat. Rep. Younge has spent about $7,500. I wonder where he gets all his money, and I wonder whose interest he will serve?? By the way, if you have been driving around much, you will see that apparently Dennis Bielke has spent $55,000 on signs. Now that is the kind of person I want in Springfield....

Shimkus says GOP mishandled page scandal

"I think there's stuff that everybody would have done differently"

Ya don't say... A little different?? A gay pedophile was trying to molest a page that Shimkus was in charge of - and in hindsight, he would have done things "a little different"?? The article goes on to say "The Illinois Republican kept the two other House Page Board members, including the panel's sole Democrat, in the dark when he confronted Foley last fall." But of course - there was no cover up.... This is the way they are supposed to do things in Congress.... Right??

Shimkus to Testify Tomorrow

I just heard on Air America's Rachael Maddow Show the John Shimkus will have to testify at the House Ethics Committee inquiry into the Foley gay pedophile sex scandal tomorrow. I hope that it does not cut into his campaign schedule (haha). I believe the Republicans are holding closed hearings (to protect their own of course) so who knows what will come of it.

Shimkus/Stover Poll

I just saw this poll over on Dkos

IL-19

Shimkus (R) 53
Stover (D) 36

If this is accurate - this is unbelievable... I guess having lived in Southern Illinois all my life and knowing the level of cluelessness - it is not so surprising. It probably does not help that Shimkus has about 10 times as much cash on hand. It is mind numbing that you could have someone ahead in a poll that chose to protect a pedophile in the interest of partisan politics.

Bush Craps on Religous Right to Help Shimkus

If you know anyone in Madison County or the rest of district 19 - you need to share this with them, especially if they vote for Republicans because of their faith. Keith Olbermann does a preview on a new book that uncovers what the Bush administration really thinks about the Christians...

Tempting Faith

The books written by a very senior former administration official talks about how they met with religious leaders in district 19 specifically to get Shimkus re-elected, even though they don't give a crap about their religious agenda. While this is no surprise for most if us, it will hopefully open the eyes of the evangelicals that blindly support Republicans.

Belleville Dems Meeting

The next meeting will be held at Tim & Joe's in Belleville at 7:00 PM on Wednesday - October 18th. More information is available at:

The Belleville Democrats

The Cost of War

I often wondered how long it would be before Bush was responsible for more Iraqi deaths then Saddam. Now it looks like we know:


Study: War blamed for 655,000 Iraqi deaths

This is about 2.3 percent of their population. Relative to our population, this would be the equivalent of 7.5 million Americans. While seeing the cost in dollars ($333 billion and counting) is bad enough, seeing the cost in lives is mind numbing.

All Good Political Scandals Should Involve Hookers

And this would not be an election year without one:

New D.C. Sex Scandal Looming?

I suppose a gay pedophile sex scandal is just not enough for the GOP.

"Investigators are reportedly examining charges that a defense contractor provided hookers to [Randy "Duke"] Cunningham as part of an influence-peddling scheme."

GOP Loses Ground Over Iraq Developments, Hill Scandal

While this is good news, it is not over until all the electronic votes have been manipulated:


Democrats' Midterm Momentum Mounts, Poll Finds

The more that Americans see the GOP for what they are, the more they will see that they are not serving the interest of the people.

U.S. Casualties in Iraq Rise Sharply

It is hard to believe that we are in the middle of such a disastrous war that is bankrupting our nation, destroying our military and killing our soldiers and it barely makes any news. Today the Belleville News "Republican" managed to find some space on page 5 to talk about how bad things are in Iraq. The Washington Post found some space on page 1:


U.S. Casualties in Iraq Rise Sharply

You would think that this alone would be enough to convince Americans to throw these jerks out of office, but if it takes a gay pedophile sex scandal too, so be it.

Shimkus says Foley was a 'slimeball'

And now from the Belleville News Republican:

Shimkus says Foley was a 'slimeball'

And Shimkus really set things straight with the predatory pedophile:

"I said, 'That's fine. Stay away from this page, and stay away from the pages.' And that really ended the debate."

How could Foley have kept up the cybersex?? Shimkus told him not to! And this is rich:

An editorial in the conservative National Review on Wednesday stated House Speaker Dennis Hastert should not be the one resigning over the handling of the Foley allegations -- it should be Shimkus.

Even the far right neo-nazis want Shimkus to hang out to dry. For once I agree with them.

New York Times Slams Shimkus

From the New York Times:

There are more unanswered questions. When John Shimkus, the Illinois Republican who is chairman of the House Page Board, learned of the Foley problem, he informed the House clerk, but not the Democrat on the committee, or anyone in the Democratic leadership. It is unclear why he withheld the information. The pages’ well-being should have been his primary concern, not partisan politics.

Shimkus denies early knowledge of problem messages

Shimkus gets on local radio and lies his ass of to try and squirm out of the cover up:

Shimkus denies early knowledge of problem messages

Shimkus: screw the kids, and it's the Dems' fault

Looks like Shimkus is really taking the high road on this one... Not!!


Shimkus: screw the kids, and it's the Dems' fault

The word "scum bag" comes to mind....

In other news - - Fox "news" is trying to make this look the Foley pedophile thing is linked to the Democrats.

More on the GOP Pedophiles and the People that Protect Them

There is a ton of information flying around on what Shimkus's involvment in the cover up of the Foley scandal.

From Media Matters:

"Instead, they left it to the panel chairman, Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.), to confront Foley."

From over at AmericaBlog:

GOP Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) let Foley spend "a lot of time" with pages

Shimkus's Faith Based Oversight

It is just too easy to get mileage out of this one. I saw this over on Jesus' General Blog:


Shimkus's Faith Based Oversight

If this does not get the bum voted out in November, all hope is lost for Southern Illinois.

Saudis build 550-mile fence to shut out Iraq

Things are going so well in Iraq, the Saudis decided to build a gigantic fence on thier border with Iraq. My guess is they just don't want their people to immigrate to Iraq to enjoy the freedom that is on the march there.

Saudis build 550-mile fence to shut out Iraq

I would say that if Congress was doing a little more oversight of this mess and a little less IM'ing the 16 year old pages for sex, they might be aware of how bad the situation is over there.