Archive for the ‘News/opinion’ Category

Lightfoot moves on from vote buying to recruiting students to volunteer for her campaign in exchange for class credit

Posted: January 15, 2023 by John Ruberry in education, elections, News/opinion, politics
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

By John Ruberry

America’s worst big city mayor, Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, finds herself in trouble again. 

Last week, Chicago’s PBS station, WTTW, reported that Lightfoot’s deputy campaign manager, Megan Crane, sent an email to Chicago Public Schools teachers and City Colleges of Chicago instructors, telling them the campaign was seeking students to volunteer as “externs” for Lightfoot’s reelection effort. “Lightfoot for Chicago is seeking resumes from any volunteer interested in campaign politics and eager to gain experience in the field,” the email read. Later in that message comes a quasi-bribe, “Externs are expected to devote 12hrs/wk to the campaign. Students are eligible to earn class credit through our volunteer program.”

When the email became public, the campaign quickly defended its call for volunteers, avowing in a statement that the request was done “to provide young people with the opportunity to engage with our campaign, learn more about the importance of civic engagement and participate in the most American of processes.”

But in a second statement, the campaign said it would “cease contact with CPS employees” citing an “abundance of caution.”

Finally, a couple of hours later, in a third statement, they finally surrendered. “All campaign staff have been reminded about the solid wall that must exist between campaign and official activities and that contacts with any city of Chicago, or other sister agency employees, including CPS employees,” the campaign said, “even through publicly available sources is off limits. Period.”

Last summer, after Willie Wilson, a gadfly candidate who is running for mayor, gathered a lot of attention for gasoline and grocery giveaways, Lightfoot followed suit with her giveaways. But unlike Wilson’s generosity, the mayor’s handouts were paid for by taxpayers.

Laura Washington, a liberal Chicago Tribune columnist, had this to say back in August in a behind-the-paywall op-ed:

Thanks to an “avalanche” of federal stimulus funds, Lightfoot is “running for reelection armed with a seemingly bottomless gift bag of giveaways that includes everything from gas cards, Ventra cards, bicycles, locks and helmets to more than $1,000-per-household in rebates to defray the cost of security cameras, outdoor motion sensor lighting, cloud storage and GPS trackers to hunt down vehicles in the event of an auto theft or carjacking,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported in June. 

Lightfoot’s “Chicago Moves,” is the city’s $12 million transit response to skyrocketing fuel costs and inflation. It will distribute up to 50,000 prepaid $150 gas cards and 100,000 prepaid $50 transit cards to Chicago residents. 

Earlier this year, Lightfoot pushed through a controversial guaranteed income program for low-income families. The pilot program will provide no-strings-attached $500 payments to 5,000 Chicago families per month for a year. The recipients were chosen through a lottery system.

“By coincidence,” Fox Chicago’s Mike Flannery sarcastically opined this morning on his Flannery Fired Up program, “each [gas and public transit] card had Mayor Lighfoot’s name emblazoned right on it.”

The ACLU of Illinois forcefully condemned the campaign’s call for student volunteers. “It is striking that Mayor Lightfoot presented herself four years ago as a candidate who would eschew the old corrupt patronage ways of Chicago politics,” the ACLU of Illinois said in a statement, “Now her campaign employs practices that harken back to the worst days of the Chicago political machine.”

And the ACLU of Illinois says the call-for-volunteers email may have violated federal law.

Crime has skyrocketed since Lightfoot took office. And it shouldn’t surprise you that Chicago’s population is declining. “The city is dying,” former Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass has said at least a couple of times in his Chicago Way podcast.

Lightfoot faces eight opponents in next month’s first round of voting for mayor. In the likely scenario that no candidate achieves a majority in the initial round, the top two candidates face the voters again in April.

In the only opinion poll so far on this race, Lightfoot finished third.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

I’ll never forget the death of Chuck Hughes, he was the only player to die during an NFL game

Posted: January 8, 2023 by John Ruberry in culture, media, News/opinion, nfl, Sports
Tags: , , , , , , ,

By John Ruberry

Until last Monday, when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest in the first quarter of game with the Cincinnati Bengals, the tragic death of 28-year-old Detroit Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes in 1971 during a game was nearly forgotten. 

But not by me–I’ll always remember. When I learned that Hamlin collapsed during a play at Paul Brown Stadium, my first thought was of Hughes–and I switched on ESPN, which was airing the Bills-Bengals game. I was stupefied when members of an ESPN studio panel repeatedly, and of course incorrectly, said that Hamlin’s collapse on the field was unprecedented.

I believe it was James Joyce who said something along the lines that the first death a person experiences is the most tragic. For me, at the age of nine, the passing of Hughes was my first death.

I was at home in the Chicago area that afternoon watching the CBS broadcast of the Chicago Bears game against the Lions. The Bears were several years into a long stretch of mediocrity, while the Lions were just entering their time in the wilderness. The prior year the Lions made the playoffs. Since then, the Lions have been victorious in just one playoff game. 

Unlike the Bills-Bengals matchup, which was nationally broadcast on ESPN, the Bears-Lions game probably aired only in Chicago and other parts of the Midwest.

Late in that ’71 game with, the Bears leading by four points, the Lions, led by quarterback Greg Landry, were on a drive–which was aided by a reception by Hughes–and they were deep in Bears territory with a little more than a minute left in the game when Hughes collapsed at the end of a play. 

Not only were there no smartphones or even camcorders in 1971, but NFL broadcasts five decades ago used fewer cameras than what is used now. There is no videotape of Hughes’ collapse. And there is no videotape of Chicago Bears’ middle linebacker Dick Butkus frantically waving his arms to draw attention to Hughes. Last week, Butkus recalled what happened on that afternoon in Detroit. “He was coming back after an incomplete pass, and I couldn’t believe it, the color that he had. He just dropped,” the NFL Hall of Famer said.

Trainers and doctors from both teams, as well as a physician attending the game, tended to Hughes as he lay on the grass. My recollection is that Hughes was on the turf for about twenty minutes. Although Gary Dymski, who later became a journalist and who attended the game, said it was “ten or fifteen minutes” before an ambulance arrived.

In this ABC Detroit clip, Hughes’ nephew discusses Hamlin and the death of his uncle.

Unlike last week’s Bills-Bengals game, the Bears-Lions game continued, ending with a Chicago victory. Butkus recalled that there was no talk of cancelling the game. About ninety minutes later, Hughes was declared dead at Henry Ford Hospital. I was stunned when Hughes’ passing was announced as I watched a local news program.

The cause of Hughes’ death was a heart attack. After his autopsy it was discovered that his arteries were 75 percent blocked. Hughes had been treated at Henry Ford that summer, apparently, he had suffered a minor heart attack, but medical personnel attributed his chest pains to a spleen injury.

The next day at my elementary school, the Hughes death was what everyone was discussing. As well as a rumor that Butkus “killed” Hughes after a powerful hit. Not true. That night on the Chicago ABC Monday Night Football pregame show, one of the hosts, Detroit Lions legend Alex Karras, was nearly in tears as he reminisced about his former teammate. I was close to tears too.

Immediately after Hughes’ death, the NFL made it a league rule that there must be an ambulance at all games. Life-saving protocols have since been added by the NFL–each team is required to have an Emergency Action Plan, which was activated after Hamlin’s collapse. Generally, there are over two dozen doctors of various specialties at each NFL game. 

The EAP probably saved Hamlin’s life.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

Teach your kids to lie, blame others, and procrastinate so they will be ready for a career in politics

Posted: January 1, 2023 by John Ruberry in Blame Trump, congress, economy, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

By John Ruberry

Hello parents! Do you want to raise children who will enter politics? Then keep reading.

Rather than bringing up kids to act responsibly, your politico children need to end up the complete opposite of that.

Unlike me. Which is why rather than claiming the idea for this blog post as entirely my own, I have to credit an old Mad Magazine article from decades ago. 

Here we go.

Your political children need to be proficient liars. Incoming Republican congressman George Santos of New York invented an entire past for himself. He lied about where he worked, what schools he attended, what religion he is, how much money he made, where and when his mother died, and possibly even his sexual preference. Apparently, Santos was more truthful when he ran for Congress in 2020. And what did that get him then? A defeat. 

Over on the Democratic side, US Sen. Elizabeth Warren, all the way back to her academic career, claimed to be a Native American. In preparation for her 2020 presidential run, Warren released a DNA test that she claimed there was “strong evidence” that she had an Indian ancestor six to ten generations back, making her anywhere from 1/64th to 1/1024 indigenous American.

That lie led Donald Trump to dub Warren “Pocahantas.” As for the former president, he refused to release his tax returns after announcing his first run for president because the real estate mogul said we was undergoing in IRS audit. He wasn’t. 

But our current president, Joe Biden, is a Baron Munchausen-level fabulist. Some of his lies are humorous, such as the tale, which has been debunked numerous times, about Biden being told in the 2010s that he traveled over one million miles on Amtrak by an on-duty conductor who retired twenty-years earlier. Other lies, such as Biden the blaming the rise in gasoline prices since he took office two years ago solely on the war in Ukraine, betray a lack of emotional maturity. 

Just last month, Biden claimed to have been the impetus for the awarding a Purple Heart to an uncle, a World War II veteran. That didn’t happen. 

And the Inflation Reduction Act is simply an expensive falsehood.

Your political children need to blame others for their mistakes. In addition to blaming Putin for high energy prices, Biden and his administration pointed their collective finger at Trump for the highest inflation America has suffered in four decades. Rather, it was Biden’s anti-energy policies and his pork-laden $1.9 trillion stimulus bill of 2021 that were the culprits. The American economy was well on its way to recovery from the COVID-19 lockdown by then, the bill was not only unnecessary, but also harmful. 

Your political children need to procrastinate. Just a few days ago, as a government shutdown loomed, Joe Biden signed into law a massive spending bill, one that will almost certainly add oxygen to our roaring inflation fire. Spending bills are due annually before October 1, but not since 1996 has a spending bill has been signed into law before that date.

So when one of your children drops a bomb on you that urgent help is needed on a ten-page term paper–which is due the next morning–you should be proud. You are raising a politician. Which brings me to my next recommendation.

Your political children need to ignore their homework assignments. Here’s one more item about that most recent spending bill. It’s over 4,000 pages long. Few if any members of Congress read it before voting on it. And I am certain that man who signed it into law, Joe Biden, didn’t read it either.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

Christmas musings from an alienated “bah humbug” conservative in a Blue State

Posted: December 25, 2022 by John Ruberry in Blame Trump, blogs, culture, doctor who, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics, Uncomfortable Truths
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Blogger on the right with a friend near Augusta, Georgia in 2021

By John Ruberry

Last week my wife was invited to a party hosted by one of my daughter’s friends. 

Who wasn’t? Me.

There was some-and-forth, but my daughter explained that the host, who has been to my home and whose mother I’ve known for years through an old job, didn’t think I’d be “comfortable” there. After some probing, it became clear that it was my conservative political views that were the problem for them. 

I pressed my daughter, “What kind of ogre do they think I am?” Well, I muscled my way into an invite–after all, I’ve lived all of my life in the Chicago area, so I know all about muscling–and do you know what? I showed up to the party. The guests found me whimsical and charming. In other words–I was lovable myself. 

Over on Facebook I’ve been unfriended by many old friends–now unfriends–and at least one relative over my posts there. 

In addition to my Sunday blog entries on this site I have my own blog, Marathon Pundit. The rollicking comment threads on my Facebook page–or more accurately, argument threads–bring traffic to my blog, and sometimes, here at Da Tech Guy. Friends–in the flesh ones that is–as well as co-workers, look forward to the next tiff on my Facebook page. I’m reminded of that constantly. And as I am now in my sixth decade, my real career, parts of which involve writing, is winding down. Moreso than ever, as William Shakespeare said to the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, “Words are my trade.” Well, maybe not completely, but I do earn money blogging and I hope to earn more. 

Hey, I gotta eat.

And I absolutely do believe in what I write. And I voted for Donald J. Trump four times–twice in the Illinois Republican Primary and twice in the general election. I’m proud of those votes and I’m still 80/20 in regard to the former president. 

About those old friends: Many of them are carrying on without me. Sadly, but I suspect they see me as someone who has transformed himself into an SNL caricature of a conservative, a cross between the Muppets’ Sam Eagle and Archie Bunker, but sans the bigotry on the last one. 

I have long ears–and because of the blog–a long tongue. Oh, I stole that last line from Lawrence of Arabia. 

The invitations to get-togethers have stopped coming from most of them. I’ve been cancelled.

Bah humbug.

Oh, please don’t worry about me. I have a wife a daughter who love me. And many new friends. And I’m still in touch with some of those old friends. During my most recent vacations, in Alaska and Georgia, I re-connected with two of them–and I met a third friend in Texas, who I met through my blogging. That’s me up there on the right last year, with a high school friend who lives near Augusta, Georgia, who I hadn’t seen since we graduated so many years ago. That moment is my favorite of the current decade. 

A new friend–we met through Twitter–invited me for coffee when he visited Illinois this spring.

Even if I was really even partially Sam Eagle/Archie Bunker, your humble blogger is so much more. I work in an industry, automotive, that utterly fascinates people and I have numerous tips in regard to buying a car–without being ripped off. Your Marathon Pundit, currently nursing an injured hip, is really a runner. I’ve run 33 marathons. In addition to the blogging, I have another side hustle, stock photography. On the job, my real one, I’ve showed clients my portfolio, a couple of them are now selling pics online too.

I’m not a one trick eagle. 

Yet it is only Sam Eagle/Archie Bunker the liberals only see. Perhaps that is all they want to see. Such is life as a conservative in Deep Blue Illinois. 

Maybe I am the bad guy. On the flipside, I don’t believe so. According to a couple of polls, one here and another one here, it is the denizens of the left who are more likely to unfriend someone on social media than conservatives over politics. Oh yeah, liberals. The ones who so often have “Coexist” bumper stickers on their cars and “Hate Has No Home Here” signs on their lawn. 

Everyone is welcome in their world. Except for folks who don’t share their political beliefs. As for myself, I’ve never unfriended anyone on social media because of their political views.

Well, this is not the Christmas message you are accustomed to, but please let me reiterate, I am fine–please don’t tell Mrs. Marathon Pundit to hide the sharp objects. 

Christmas is a time for welcoming others. In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Scrooge’s nephew always invited the miser to his home for Christmas dinner. 

Next Sunday is New Year’s Day. As Robert Burns wrote, “Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never thought upon.”

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

And God bless us, everyone.

Never forget.

Now it’s time for me to get dressed in my finest and head over to my sister’s home for a Christmas feast.

A special thanks goes to that friend in Georgia for permission to use the above photograph for this blog entry.

John Ruberry regularly blogs from the Chicago area at Marathon Pundit.

Older Entries
Newer Entries