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Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Lakeview Greg — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:31:19 -0000

Kirk and Oberweis. Yeah, that's the ticket for Illinois! Well, it is if Republicans want to go even farther into the woodwork in Illinois.

At least Alan Keyes could sing.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

markg8 — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:48:57 -0000

UNCfan aaid:

"He quoted some wacky stats on healthcare saying that we have more NICU specialists than Canada."

I'd hope so, we have ten times the population of Canada.

nervousGOP'r said:

"Nobody is refused care and if you live in urban areas you might have to wait in line but health care is free."

Do you know how many people die because they are denied care their insurance company won't pay for or they can't afford to pay for in this country? Do you know how many people have to declare bankruptcy because of medical bills? Lastly there is no such thing as "free healthcare". Even if poor people can and do get some care, substandard as it is, we all pay for it and the hodgepodge of Medicaid is the most expensive, least efficient way of delivering care in the world. That's hardly anything to brag about.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

wordslinger — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:25:07 -0000

Louis, I've read your stuff for a long time, I respect it, but you're wrong on this Kirk thing.

We are living in very tense times. A lot of people have lost money, lost their jobs, lost their houses. Not everybody. But people are worried. Business is not good.

Responsible public officials, and I think Kirk is one, have to be very careful in their language. Let's tamp it down. He made a mistake. Let's accept that and move on.

Remember the other day when someone said gay marriage killed Greek culture? You knew how screwed up that was. Let's get real, let's get smart, let's stop moaning and let's do our bit. Many of us have been riding the gravy train for some time.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

nervousGOP'r — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:43:51 -0000

UNC fan

If you think Universial health care will result in lower infant mortality rates I have a bridge to sell you in San Francisco. The rates you mentuion have more to do with socio-economic standing than they do with the health care system. We do not have a health care problem we have a health insurance problem! Nobody is refused care and if you live in urban areas you might have to wait in line but health care is free. Cook county (Stroger) does not even ask if you don't produce an insurance card no matter what is the matter and there are some of the best Dr's there than anywhere in the world (Just over worked)And they don't ask for a green card either. Thats why health care is so expensive, the government has stuck it's nose where it does not belong and has taken compitition out of the equasion. So prices soar

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

UNCfan — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:20:25 -0000

I heard Kirk speak at the City Club the other day and it was not a show of moderation by any means. First he spoke about his service in Afghanistan, which was fine and noteworthy etc. But then he complained about us all working up until April 13th just to pay for taxes. I wonder how he thinks Afghanistan and the Iraq operations are all funded???? He quoted some wacky stats on healthcare saying that we have more NICU specialists than Canada - yes well we also have a much higher infant mortality rate and poor birth outcomes compared to Canada or most other industrial nations. I was really suprised at how far right he was. The one good thing about him running statewide will be seeing us elect someone like Beth Coulson who actually is a moderate or Dan Seals.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Shore — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:50:26 -0000

I am not a blusterer and I will respect your judgment, and let the matter drop. But you did say chops for a country that has zero relevance now to our national security:

"It seems undeniable that Durbin is now helping Giannoulias with his foreign policy chops. State treasurers donâ€™t usually get that sort of experience on their own, of course."

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Skeeter — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:45:48 -0000

"issuing a DHS report calling out Right wing groups the same day thereâ€™s a protest"

Bad news, Shore.
Bush authorized that report.
It just happened to be delivered late.

Also, the idea that right wing groups are not a threat is interesting, in light of the bombings in Atlanta and in Oklahoma City.

That's part of the reason that we take this stuff seriously. American political extremists have done some horrible things in the past few years, and Kirk is pushing them on.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Rich Miller — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:45:34 -0000

Shore, I pasted my response earlier. I can't see how you think that says I gave AG "unearned foreign policy credentials." I said that Durbin was trying to help him get credentials. You can't see the difference there? The story was about Durbin helping G, in the context of the Burris thing.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Shore — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:42:44 -0000

Rich, FYI, pro-choice Republicans in the Senate vote for Alito and Roberts type guys, yes we know the House does not vote on the supreme court.

No you did not answer the charge that you beat up on Kirk for this, when you gave Alexi unearned foreign policy credentials for his self-funded junket to nowhere and he unlike the entire Democratic party in this state-nice clip of Obama on wttw last night giving up some love for blago-is not responsible for our mess here.

Yes, it is an indictment of the Obama campaign as a massive fraud that the moment he gets into office he goes back to playing old partisan games, issuing a DHS report calling out Right wing groups the same day there's a protest, hiring a hyperpartisan chief of staff-no andy card is rahm and not getting rid of Rove's political shop as promised.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Rich Miller — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:36:08 -0000

===this blog did give Alexi foreign policy bona fides for visiting greece===

This is what I wrote...

===It seems undeniable that Durbin is now helping Giannoulias with his foreign policy chops. ===

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Six Degrees of Separation — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:30:15 -0000

Kirk is too far to the left to be Gov

And I suppose Pat Quinn and Lisa Madigan are not?

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

George — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:26:41 -0000

Oh, where to begin...

"this blog did give Alexi foreign policy bona fides for visiting greece"

Really? I would like to see you prove that. Other than mention that it was Alexi's intent to start building his Foreign Policy resume, I don't think Rich hyped it up in any way.

"slams kirk... for expressing the concerns of most people."

I don't know anyone other than Kirk (and now some of Kirk's loyalists here today) who have ever publicly warned a sitting Governor they were fixin' to get shot. And then expected no consequences.

"Kirk getting remapped out is kind of funny, how exactly are you going to do this?"
"He lives in fort sheridan in the very far northeast corner of the state meaning youâ€™d have to do something that looks proposterous to get rid of him."

Have you seen Congressional District boundaries in Illinois? Heck, you include Ft. Sheridan with Waukegan, and then extend that district down to cover the closer-in and ethnic north/northwest suburbs, and he is as good as gone.

"Plus heâ€™s now the only illinois member of congress with any sort of clout on house appropriations "

You know, we do have this person called the president. And Rahm. I think we have enough clout right now.

Plus, don't you see the irony there of saying one one hand he is railing against wasteful spending, but on the other saying he is really good at wasteful spending?

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Rich Miller — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:25:33 -0000

=== as long as he votes to confirm justices like Roberts and Alito what does it matter?===

Since he's in the House, I doubt he did that. lol

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Shore — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:22:12 -0000

This classification of Kirk as a lefty is such a load of bull. 7 of the 10 biggest wasteful spenders i.e. takers of pork in the U.S. Senate are pro-life GOP Senators from the south. He's somewhat moderate on abortion but as long as he votes to confirm justices like Roberts and Alito what does it matter?

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

markg8 — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:18:04 -0000

Let's see now, gun sales soared in the last three months of 2008. FOX News reports "end-of-year figures showed a big spike in background checks for the last three months of 2008, and in November, the month Obama was elected, the number of background checks was 42 percent greater than in November 2007."

According to them "An electronic news service that covers outdoor news has even named Obama its "Gun Salesman of the Year.""

There were two plots (lame attempts though they were) on Obama's life broken up before he was elected.

The DHS released a report written by a Bush holdover the other day about radical rightwing terrorist groups and their recruitment efforts. There wasn't anything shocking about it, the DHS does these assessments periodically, they released one of radical leftist groups not so long ago. Nothing shocking except for the rightwing hysteria directed against DHS by major broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh and lunatics all over the net.

A 23 year old man wearing body armor, armed with a AK-47, another rifle, and a .357 magnum in Pittsburgh killed three cops in cold blood, shot two of them in the face, and murdered another who came to help them respond to domestic disturbance call on April 4th. His "reasoning"? He was afraid Obama was gonna take away his guns.

Michelle Bachman, congresswoman from MN has been spewing violent rhetoric for months now. She wants Republicans to be "armed and dangerous". The Republican governor of TX just yesterday openly speculated about seceding from the Union, calling the federal government oppressive. So not to be outdone in steps Mark Kirk to polish his wingnut bonafides.

Yeah, we'll all just forget about this, it's just silly rhetoric. Sure we will. Until some nut takes a potshot at Obama or Quinn. Then all bets are off folks.

I suggest you guys go read the violent vitriol directed against JFK in the weeks and months before he was shot in Dallas. Then tell me it's all just "harmless" palaver to get Kirk's name in the paper. If political assassination talk and dogwhistling to lunatics is all you have left you don't belong in decent society let alone public office Mr. Kirk.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

nervousGOP'r — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:15:27 -0000

Kirk can only run for the Senate spot if the GOP gets a real candidate for Governor. Kirk is too far to the left to be Gov, but he might be acceptable if someone who can represent the base, and can WIN runs for Governor. The announced candidates are minor leaguers. Someone with some bona fides better get recruted by the powers that be or this chance will be blown. That means keeping Shillerstrom OUT of the Governors race. $600,000 is ok for a state senate run up in the north but is no where near the $20-23 million needed for Gov. Kirk as part of a ticket running for Senate just might work, but not at the Gov's spot. And I have to agree that Kirk had better get his married life and the problems there taken care of before running for any statewide race, being seperated is ok in his district but will not play well in peoria as they say.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Shore — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:09:54 -0000

1. I love this blog and think it's generally all-pro, but this blog did give Alexi foreign policy bona fides for visiting greece (about as important to foreign policy as escargot is to the diets of working Americans) and now slams kirk, an ivy league naval reservist former diplomat for expressing the concerns of most people. Not everyone is a right wing extremist and if you talk to most illinoisans, they aren't happy with everything the democrats are doing right now.

2. Kirk getting remapped out is kind of funny, how exactly are you going to do this? He lives in fort sheridan in the very far northeast corner of the state meaning you'd have to do something that looks proposterous to get rid of him. Putting him in a district with Jan-her politics won't fly in winnetka-I don't think Bean wants to take him on, and Roskam lives too far away.

Plus he's now the only illinois member of congress with any sort of clout on house appropriations other than jesse jackson junior and who knows where that cat ends up.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Rich Miller — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:00:09 -0000

Again, Louis, if it's no big deal and perfectly reasonable, then by all means advise Kirk to keep doing it.

And, again, good luck with that.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Louis G. Atsaves — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:58:18 -0000

Image? Rich, I should probably take a shot at responding to your last comment, but if that creates an image of me in your mind doing a real life Dirty Harry impression then I should drop that phrase from my vocabulary? :-)

Sorry. I still think the whole thing is silly. And I mean REALLY silly!

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Skeeter — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:13:47 -0000

"It is a little embarrassing at how many bloggers are so squeamish about guns that canâ€™t even accept a typical conversational phrase.

* * *

Go back to your tea and crumpets ladies!"

Had to love VMan's note. He managed to offend so many in a few lines and even provided his view that "ladies" is an insult.

And then people in the GOP wonder about the gender-gap.

I keep hearing that "guns don't kill people, people kill people" from the gun people, but when a person actually advocates armed violence, they wave away the very notion that it might be a problem.

Wake up you right wing freaks: "Woman" is not an insult, and advocating gun violence is bad.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Rich Miller — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:10:33 -0000

Louis, then go ahead and advise Kirk to use that imagery over and over in the campaign if it's no big deal. See how far it gets him. Good luck with that.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

easy — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:09:26 -0000

All that plus I once heard Kirk say nice things about Texas...the guy is just unelectable

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Louis G. Atsaves — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:44:15 -0000

Good grief you all!

I grew up with a whole bunch of "elders" warning me that they would "shoot" me if I did something wrong. Never took a bullet in my life. No one stuck a gun in my face. No wackos stepped out from behind trees to do me in. It was a common expression that I still hear even today. And Kirk and I are roughly the same age and grew up in the same region of Northern Illinois.

Pulling that comment out of context is my continuing complaint. And it was clearly pulled out of context. He wasn't calling for "violence" towards Quinn or any tax supporters, even inadvertently. No one can seriously say that with a straight face. I'm sure the FBI, CIA and others recognized that quote for what it was and didn't swoop down on Kirk yesterday or today to arrest him or grill him.

Linking him to Keyes? Also way over the top.

But then again, Homeland Security has adopted a report claiming veterans returning from battle will turn into right winged terrorists so they need to be carefully watched or something equally preposterous.

Maybe there was a full moon last night which caused everyone to fall off the reason cliff?

Or is today officially the launch of the political silly season?

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Rich Miller — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:41:10 -0000

CR, don't be stupid.

Re: Mark Kirk doesn’t even know where the line is

Ela Observer — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:40:00 -0000

LOL, ILPundit.