Chgo Trib: Remembering Why the ILl. GOP Backed Blago

November 30, 2009 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Chicago, Cook County, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, GOP, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, Republicans, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston |

-By Warner Todd Huston

John Kass, he of the rail against “the combine,” has another column reminding us of why the Illinois GOP has become the laughing stalk of the GOP nation wide. It’s because up until this very day, the Illinois Republican Party has been but a weaker arm of the Illinois Democrat Party. Too many in the state GOP have been so intertwined with the criminal Democrats that they are indistinguishable one from the other, hence why Kass calls them “the combine.”

Kass reminded us of how the Illinois GOP establishment under past Party Chair Andy McKenna worked hand in glove with the corrupt Democrats. As Kass interviewed Jim Ryan, GOP candidate for Governor, he detailed just some of combine’s nefarious actions in 2006 when Ryan faced now indicted ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich.

To make things worse, senior Republican bosses were secretly backing the Democrat Blagojevich and stabbing Ryan in the back — a clear illustration of the Illinois Combine at work.

Springfield Republican boss and state asphalt king William Cellini, now awaiting his own Blagojevich-related corruption trial, held a 2002 fundraiser for Blagojevich, according to federal testimony.

Blagojevich’s campaign later credited that fundraiser to state Sen. James A. DeLeo (D-How You Doin?), a longtime Cellini and Blago pal. Early in Blagojevich’s first term, another Cellini buddy, Robert Kjellander (pronounced $hell-ANDER), received $809,000 in a finder’s fee on a state bond deal.

According to federal court documents, Kjellander kicked part of the cash back to associates of influence peddler Tony Rezko. Kjellander, a former treasurer of the Republican National Committee, has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.

“Kjellander ended up getting that $800,000 bond deal about five minutes after the election was over,” Ryan said.

Kass, of course, has more in his piece, so go read the whole thing at the Chicago Tribune.

Kass praises Ryan for being beyond that sort of past corruption, but the problem with Jim Ryan is that he shares a name with now jailed ex-Governor George Ryan. They are not related, but just the name alone is enough to make uniformed voters avoid him on the ballot. What’s more, good guy or no, Ryan is a part of the past. He will simply bring to mind the corrupt, powerless GOP that voters have seen for 10 years or more.

This bad reminder of the past is also why I do not support Judy Baar Topinka for comptroller. It’s time for a clean break and new faces from the Illinois GOP instead of old reminders of the party that voters have rejected — and for good reason — time and again.

Here I’d like to express the hope that new Party Chairman Pat Brady will take the opportunity to institute a fresh start and return the Illinois GOP to its conservative, Republican principles. Let’s hope that Brady can drive out these “combine” criminals and jump start the Illinois GOP by endorsing one of the fresher faces that are up for the primary. Someone like Andrzejewski, or even Dillard for that matter, would be something better to back than insider McKenna or Jim Ryan.

I cannot support McKenna because he is a part of “the combine” that Kass rails against. He is part of that corrupt past in the hip pocket of the Democrats. Jim Ryan is a nice enough guy, but he is anti-Second Amendment that fails my test and his last name is death on the ballot. Being anti-Second Amendment is also why Schillerstrom is out for me. Bill Brady is another long-time insider that doesn’t excite.

That leaves Adam Andrzejewski, Dan Proft, and Kirk Dillard to choose from.

Anyway, let us hope that the Illinois GOP can rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the (recent) past.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson

Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, TheRealityCheck.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, and the New Media Journal, among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. Warner is also the editor of the Cook County Page for RedCounty.com.

He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston

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