Where there's a Will, there's a way

After spending several days complaining that the only way to be informed is through the alternative press and going online, I got an email about former Springfield reporter R. L. Nave becoming editor of the revived FOCUS/Midwest. Cool!

The future of good reporting will come from outlets who remember that readers will follow quality content, not companies who see reporters as an expense to cut. Progress Illinois, CapitolFax, and Illinois Issues are how I stay informed about state politics. I'll add FOCUS/Midwest to the list, but hopefully Ryan can talk them into spicing up their homepage.

Posted by Will at 8:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've often said that someone should make a big-budget Hollywood drama about Bayard Rustin. I can hardly imagine what his life must have been like.

He was one of the most important leaders of the civil rights movement and the principle organizer of the march on Washington. There's a reason most people have never heard of him. His choice to live openly about his homosexuality in the 1950's and his past affiliation with the Young Communist League kept him in the background of the movement. He remained controversial throughout his life and was promoting the future of democratic elections in Haiti shortly before he died. There's no reason to keep him in the background any longer.

Until someone makes that Hollywood drama, there's an excellent documentary which will be shown for Black History Month at the next Liberty Brew & View. The free screening of Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin happens Tuesday, February 16, 7:00pm, at City Nights Theater in Capital City Bar & Grill. As always, you can order food or drinks while you see the movie.

Posted by Will at 5:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've seen fingers pointed at the other candidates in the Lt. Governor's race for not saying something about Scott Lee Cohen. Mark Brown includes it as an excuse in his column titled "Voters can't say they weren't warned."

Some hoped I would remind voters about Cohen's arrest, but I thought that if his opponents or the candidates for governor believed it was important, they should make it an issue themselves.

It's great that Brown wrote about Cohen twice. But, that's not an excuse for the rest of the press and it's not even an excuse for his own Sun-Times. Their regular news articles ignored Cohen's scandalous past. They also failed to mention it when explaining their endorsements in the election. I hate to be the one to tell Brown this, but not every primary voter in the state reads his column.

The press should apologize because Cohen's past is merely one of may issues they ignored in their half-assed coverage of the election. They wrote very little about any of the Lt. Governor candidates or the office's role overseeing the Illinois River Coordinating Council, the Rural Affairs Council and the initiatives Quinn advanced.

Their uncritical endorsement of Art Turner suggests that neither the Sun-Times nor the Tribune bothered to look online at his spending in previous elections. I would think it's newsworthy when a candidate spends tens of thousands on himself and family members for "cash" and miscellaneous personal expenses.

What good are sunshine laws when the press ignore controversial spending? Maybe they were waiting for Republicans to bring it up in the general election.

This isn't about one candidate. It's one more example of a news business that would rather charge candidates for advertising than invest resources in decent election coverage.

Posted by Will at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I already wrote a little about the news media's failure to do their job covering the Lt. Governor's race, or any down-ballot race, for that matter. But the press' attempts at apology are just ticking me off even more.

Let's take the "mea culpa" from the Beacon News. First they start of with this spurious claim: "We here in the media -- in spite of all our crusading, editorializing and watchdog reporting -- blew it big time by letting a pretty important race fall through the cracks on Tuesday."

Watchdog reporting? I haven't seen the consolidated big-box press do much watchdog reporting since at least 9/10/01. We know they weren't on the job leading up to the Iraq War or for the first 7 1/2 years of the Bush administration. They also could have investigated and told us more about Blagojevich much sooner than they did instead of waiting for his arrest. Most of the investigative journalism I see is from blogs, non-profit news outlets, and the alternative press.

I did see plenty of coverage about who was leading in the polls for Governor and US Senate. Attention editors: Doing three days of stories on a poll you commissioned isn't real news. It's lazy crap.

The Beacon gets better.

Scott Lee Cohen, a pawnbroker with a GED who was arrested for allegedly beating up his prostitute girlfriend a few years ago, is now sitting in the No. 2 spot on the Democratic ticket.

And his opponent on the Republican side? A kid from downstate who is named Jason because, of course, he's under the age of 30.

Plummer and Cohen spent huge sums to buy their victories, and the corporate media was more than happy to take their money. It's the result of a deteriorating press and a political system dominated by the need for expensive advertising. That's an excellent topic to write about without getting condescending over somebody's age.

But at least that attempt at an apology is better than the finger-pointing from Springfield's State Journal-Register. They took no responsibility for barely covering any of the candidates other than Art Turner. Their editorial blames the political system with a call to action: "Fix process for choosing lieutenant governor."

I have an idea for fixing the process. Why doesn't Gatehouse hire more than two political reporters at the SJR? Maybe they would have gotten around to covering the Lt. Governor's race and some serious issues in the 18th Congressional district Democratic primary that were swept under the rug. I like breaking a story on my blog but I'd rather see newspapers do their job.

This is a media scandal as much as a political upset because it isn't about just the Lt. Governor's race. It's a wake-up call that the political press is failing us due to budget cut after budget cut in the consolidated corporate media. Making a profit is more important than informing the public.

We officially reached the point when reading blogs and the alternative press is the only way for the average person to make an informed decision on election day.

I may write about Mark Brown's lame excuses later.

Posted by Will at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Lt. Governor's office isn't the only bizarre Democratic primary result in Illinois this year. Republican leaders successfully stuck their nose into the three-way Democratic primary for State Representative in the 71st district.

The Republican leader in the Illinois House, Tom Cross, had robo-calls attacking one of the Democratic candidates, Porter McNeil. Cross refused to answer questions about why he interfered in a Democratic primary. The obvious implication is that Cross saw McNeil as the biggest threat in the general election.

Anyone who has worked with Porter, as I have, knows why he would frighten Republican leadership. He's a smart, well-respected, engaging person who will make a strong leader in the region.

It's also no wonder why Republicans would like the "Democrat" who very narrowly won the primary, Dennis Ahern. Check out these quotes from the district's new Democratic nominee.

“My family has been called the Republican wing of the Democratic Party for a long time.”

“I’m pro-concealed carry and pro-life.”

"I am a social and fiscal conservative"

The real question is why the chair of the Illinois Democratic party backed Ahern. Mike Madigan sent Ahern at least $10,000 and ground troops to help. Tom Cross and Mike Madigan found something they agree on!

Let's not pretend that nominating a conservative is the only way to win this district. It has been held for years by Mike Boland, one of the most progressive Democrats in the legislature.

Besides being anti-choice and pro-guns-in-bars, Ahern's answer to the state financial crisis is legalizing fireworks. Wow...brilliant.

It's almost enough to make you think that Madigan doesn't want strong Democratic leaders coming out of downstate. Conservative Democrats rarely stand a chance in statewide elections. Hmmm...

Posted by Will at 7:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I hate to write the obvious but the conservative talk-radio crowd has a habit of sticking to their talking points in the face of reality. And the corporate press has a habit of adopting their narratives.

In the US Senate primary, Patrick Hughes was the darling of conservatives and the reactionary tea-bagger crowd. He ran against Mark Kirk, who became a talk-radio target after voting for Obama's climate change bill. Limbaugh and Beck commanded their forces to flood Kirk's office with angry calls after the cap-and-trade vote.

Their poutrage didn't amount to much in the Republican primary. Hughes' campaign never gained momentum and Kirk won resoundingly with 57% of the vote against five challengers.

Running for Governor, Adam Andrzejewski actively sought support from tea party groups and was mentioned by Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. On Limbaugh's show he was referred to as the "Scott Brown of Illinois." He finished fifth behind three establishment moderates and an incumbent legislator. Poor Rush. Illinois Republicans don't seem to care who he supports.

It's easy for a small group to make a scene if they're loud and disruptive. That doesn't equal a majority of voters, even in the GOP primary. It's time for the press to stop giving this storm in a teacup more coverage than it deserves.

Posted by Will at 1:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I spotted the CapitolFax link to this post from the Tribune blog...

Cohen, a little-known candidate who financed much of the campaign with his own fortune, will have to answer questions during the general election race as more is learned about him. He was charged with a 2005 misdemeanor domestic battery charge.

I seriously doubt that Democratic primary voters would have supported Scott Lee Cohen if the press had done their job of informing the public. News companies probably didn't mind Cohen's massive media buys as a substitute to articles. They'll be happy to run controversial stories now that it's too late for Democrats to choose anyone else.

I can't blame individual reporters when news outlets devote more resources to sports and crime stories than political coverage. It's not about media bias or lousy reporters. It's a business decision and a bad one. The corporate press is doing a good job of making themselves obsolete by forcing voters to search blogs for meaningful political coverage.

On another note, I'm surprised that Thomas Castillo did as well as he did with 13% of the vote. I thought he'd get around 5%. I've never seen a statewide race use social media as aggressively as Castillo. It was obvious that he invested significant personal time and effort, way beyond setting up a website and email list. It reminded me of Mike Quigley's online campaign.

Castillo finished ahead of Terry Link who was endorsed by Illinois AFL-CIO, many newspapers, a number of State Senators, and others. That's a wake-up call to anyone who doesn't realize that a campaign's online strategy needs to be as well planned and executed as media buys, press strategy, field organizing and so on. Getting your college-age nephew to set up a neglected facebook page doesn't cut it anymore.

Posted by Will at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Did you know that most Illinois coal plants import their coal from Wyoming and other western states? Springfield's CWLP is one of the few exceptions.

This picture of a new and improved "clean coal" shipment was taken in Wyoming.

Found at trainorders.com.

Posted by Will at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Award-winning journalist and cultural historian Jeff Biggers will stop in Springfield to read from his new book, Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland.
Thursday, February 18, 7:00pm. City Nights Theater at Capital City Bar & Grill, 3149 S. Dirksen Pkwy, Springfield. It's a free event is hosted by the Sierra Club Sangamon Valley Group. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.

I'm excited to have this reading in Springfield because Biggers is an Illinois native who focuses on the past and present of Illinois coal.

The Chicago Reader did an article about Biggers' new book and his take on clean coal.

Politicians tend to support initiatives that would create jobs back home, but opponents argue that Illinois would get more economic stimulus from so-called green jobs—at new plants to build wind turbines and solar panels in Illinois—than from reopening Illinois mines. Biggers thinks Obama and other coal backers are caught up in "nostalgia" for the proud days of union mining in Illinois, and points out that in reality modern mechanized mining techniques require minimal manpower. Most remaining Illinois mines are nonunion, and Biggers expects the owners of new or reopened mines to fight union organizers tooth and nail. He advocates a kind of "GI bill for coal miners," with government subsidies to help them find jobs in clean energy sectors.

Posted by Will at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One day to go.

Anyone else see this song in the new documentary It Might Get Loud? Great movie. It's not just a concert video.

Posted by Will at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Public officials are celebrating Illinois' federal high speed rail grant. Of course they have to highlight the positive side, but it looks to me like Illinois is a loser.

Let's face it... Illinois finished third behind California and Florida. We received less than a third of what the state requested. California received almost twice as much as Illinois. Money for the Chicago-St. Louis corridor is less than half the allocation for just the Midwest region.

Our share of the federal grant isn't enough to start a modern 220mph high speed rail system. It's not enough for a double track that would speed up Amtrak and reduce delays caused by freight traffic. Although, it does provide for planning in preparation of double tracks. It most definitely isn't enough to consolidate rail lines onto the 10th street corridor in Springfield (which none of the freight companies have agreed to anyway).

Months ago, some people were saying Illinois' application for high speed rail funds could be jeopardized by Springfield's opposition. We'll probably never know if that's why we got so little of what the state requested. With any luck, Illinois will get more in the next round of funding. Maybe this controversy will have settled by then.

The funding is enough to facilitate more freight traffic going through Springfield from UP's new multimodal center near Joliet. Remember how opponents of the 3rd Street corridor told us added train traffic would DESTROY downtown? Well, we're getting extra freight traffic through downtown now, but we aren't getting new overpasses or underpasses to help deal with it. Springfield leaders didn't want that.

Speaking of which, remember those scary postcards of huge concrete walls blocking parts of downtown? They're certainly creative but they aren't part of the final proposal.

Springfield could have proposed a different mitigation plan with less obtrusive overpasses but chose not to. The public still has the right to oppose anything as ugly as the imaginative postcards. I've skeptically examined everything I hear from the 3rd Street corridor opponents since realizing that the postcards are a bit of a stretch.

High speed rail would give a boost to downtown. In other cities it increased property values, brought more tourist traffic, more retail traffic and provided a less carbon-intensive transportation alternative. It's disappointing that the benefits are being ignored, probably because some influential businessmen believe they can make more money by routing all train traffic through the low-income, black part of town.

Posted by Will at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Sangamon County Republican Party isn't an ideological organization as much as it's a team effort to get government jobs and contracts. They live and die by the jobs they control through the county, park district, convention center and so on. There's nothing they want more than to get their hands back into that state government honeypot.

Since no other issue is more important to them, I interpret an endorsement by the Sangamon County Republicans as a sign of which candidate is most likely to doll out jobs and contracts to the party faithful. So who's the unanimous choice of Sangamon Republican leaders? Kirk Dillard!

It's no surprise. Dillard was Jim Edgar's chief of staff. Edgar openly defended the patronage system as a GOOD thing and they were very helpful to Springfield Republicans. As chief of staff, Dillard must have been involved in handing out the spoils of victory.

If you're a Republican whose real problem with Blagojevich is that he wasn't steering enough jobs and contracts to your team, then now you know who to vote for.

Posted by Will at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)