The Stonecipher Report

Stonecipher Reruns #5 and #6

Since I most likely will not be able to post over the weekend from my undisclosed bunker, somewhere in Oklahoma, I am posting links to some of my favorite posts here on TSR from the past six months.  I'm specifically choosing some pieces that I thought were fantastic (mostly by other writers - not me), but didn't get quite the exposure I had hoped for when they were first published.

With that in mind here are a couple more pieces.  I hope the reruns have kept all you regular readers entertained over the past few days and I look forward to posting something new real soon!

Rerun #5 - "It's Like These Guys Take Pride in Being Ignorant" - by Stonecipher

Rerun #6 - Is Barack Obama Merely a "Chicago Democrat"? - by Michael Sweeney

IL Senate Seat Update – One Contender Drops; Another Rises

Posted By: Michael Sweeney

Nov. 29, 2008

 

Yes, as Stonecipher mentioned, I’m spending the holiday weekend out-of-state – in Cape Girardeau, MO (in the state’s southeast corner), to be exact.  The good news:  My news-anchor sister and her family live here (and we were joined by most of the rest of what’s left of my family).  The bad news:  This is also Rush “All Those Pills Are Making Me Go Deaf…What?  I Said, ‘All Those Pills…’” Limbaugh’s old hometown.  (Shudder…)  But, even on the way down here and since, I’ve been able to follow some news breaking recently this week concerning the possible replacements for President-Elect Obama as the Junior Senator from IL.

 

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez – whose star seemed to rise swiftly in contention a little more than a week ago – announced publicly that he was no longer interested in being considered for the Legislative-branch promotion.  Gutiérrez apparently pitched himself to Gov. Rod Blagojevich as a two-year-only “placeholder,” who intended to use his short time in the Senate to work tirelessly on immigration reform (as opposed to fundraising and bridge-building prior to the 2010 election – when the seat will be voted upon).  

 

However, he claims that the Illinois Gov told him that he was seeking a longer-term commitment for the selection.  Not only does this eliminate Gutiérrez as a contender, it also seems to indicate that other possible short-time compromise candidates – such as former IL Senate President Emil Jones and former Commerce Secretary Bill Daley – won’t get the seat either.

 

Another Chicago US Representative – Danny Davis – has been actively talking up his interest in the Senate seat to the press and anyone else who might listen.  He even got Gov. Blagojevich to say (cadged with more non-committal statements) that he thought the South-and-West-Side Rep was a qualified possible pick…but – due to there being other, more highly-thought-of candidates AND the long-established confusion (outside of his district) between former city Alderman Danny Davis and convicted-and-jailed (in the late ‘80s) former city Alderman Wallace Davis – his chances seem slight at best.

 

Perhaps rising into the current “Top 3” under consideration (joining Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. and IL Veteran Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth) is Hyatt Hotel heir J. B. Pritzker.  The billionaire – who also ran for the US House seat that Jan Schakowsky won in 1998 – was originally rumored as one of the as-many-as-15-or-20 figures seeking to succeed new White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in the House of Representatives…but new reports say that he may instead be actively and strongly seeking the Senate appointment. 

 

Two solid plusses on Pritzker’s side are his own fortune (and connections to easily raise additional outside money) and his sister, Penny’s, close fundraising connection to Obama.  (Additionally, until Bill Richardson was recently announced as Secretary of Commerce, it was thought that Penny was the leading candidate for that Cabinet position.)  A mixed signal – perhaps a negative; maybe a fence-mender – is that J. B. was a strong Hillary supporter during the primary season.

 

Indications seem to show that (perhaps) Jackson, Jr. is among Obama’s leading choices, Duckworth is Sen. Durbin’s pick, and Pritzker may now be the favorite of the unpopular (but allegedly final decision-maker) Governor.  At this point – almost two weeks after Obama’s official resignation of his seat – it may indeed be a truly tight, three-horse race over the next few weeks…

 

 

For more coverage of IL politics, look for my regular posts here on The Stonecipher Report.  (And, for a free subscription to my twice-weekly e-mail column on politics and pop-culture, "And, in the News…" send a note to:  m_l_sweeney@hotmail.com)

Stonecipher Reruns #3 and #4

Since I most likely will not be able to post over the weekend from my undisclosed bunker, somewhere in Oklahoma, I am posting links to some of my favorite posts here on TSR from the past six months.  I'm specifically choosing some pieces that I thought were fantastic (mostly by other writers - not me), but didn't get quite the exposure I had hoped for when they were first published.

With that in mind here are a couple stories about Sarah Palin.  The first one, by Madame Fleur, is an issue that has gone wildly under reported so far, but should resurface in the near future:

Rerun #3 - Palin's Pipeline to Nowhere - by Madame Fleur

Rerun #4 - Is Sarah Palin Smarter Than a Sixth Grader?- by Stonecipher

A Quick Note from the Ozarks (And do Europeans Hate Hillary?)

Posted By: Stonecipher

Nov. 28, 2008

Due to the heightened security concerns of the holidays, both Michael Sweeney and I have been forced to go into hiding in two separate locations deep in the Ozarks.  All I can say is that Michael is somewhere in Missouri and I'm in Oklahoma...ok, so I'm near Tahlequeh...and ok, I'm real close to the Iguana Cafee...the tortilla soup is phenomenal.  You should check it out if you're ever in Tahlequeh.  And wash that tortilla soup down with a bottle of Boulevard Wheat, delicious.

Anyhow, I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday, or, for those of you outside the U.S., I hope you enjoyed your Thursday.

Stonecipher Reruns #1 and #2

Since I most likely will not be able to post over the weekend from my undisclosed bunker, somewhere in Oklahoma, I am posting links to some of my favorite posts here on TSR from the past six months.  I'm specifically choosing some pieces that I thought were fantastic (mostly by other writers - not me), but didn't get quite the exposure I had hoped for when they were first published.

With that in mind, here are two pieces about lousy cab drivers - we have a segment planned for The Stonecipher Report on the Air about bad cabbies and one or both authors of the following pieces will be joining us on the air at WHPK to discuss their stories in the near future:

Rerun #1 - What's Yellow, Has Four Wheels and Can Kiss My Ass? - by Demosthenes

Rerun #2 - Remember James King - The Penmanship Conspiracy - by Dan Radke

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Due to my holiday road trip to Oklahoma we may not be able to post anything new next week.  So apologies in advance for that.

Instead we're going to do the blogging equivalent of reruns.  I'm going to set the typepad timer to post a link to one of my favorite posts from the past each day from Friday until Sunday.  So you'll have something to read each time you check back. 

If I do get the chance, however, I certainly will post when I can.

Oh, and remember our Randon Hits category?  I think we might bring it back soon.  The site just got a hit from Springfield, Missouri and I'll be driving through it this weekend, so I'll tell you all about it sometime early next week.

Thanks for stopping by and once again, Happy Thanksgiving!

Stonecipher

I Just Filled My Tank for $19.56 - In Chicago!

Posted By: Stonecipher

Nov. 25, 2008

Ok, so it was in Skokie - and I drive a Honda Civic, but still, it's in Cook County and a $20 bill actually filled up my tank!

Yes, the whole tank.

My '06 Civic, which has already earned some internet fame as the subject of my anti-Wal-Mart rant back in June, has a 13.2 gallon gas tank.  The fuel gauge, however, hits 'E' around 11 gallons, so I generally fill up somewhere around the 10 gallon mark.

Tonight, on my drive home from (what should be the world famous) Fish Keg on Howard St. in Chicago, I was driving north on McCormick Blvd. and saw something I haven't seen in years - gas for under $2.00, $1.95 to be exact.

Although I'm going out of town for five days and won't be driving my own car until next week sometime, I figured that I better not pass up the chance to fill up cheap. 

So I pulled over and pre-paid with a $20 bill.  9.989 gallons later, my car wouldn't take another drop of fuel and I had to walk back into the store to get my $.44 change, which I then added $.35 from my pocket to in order to purchase a Whatchamacallit for dessert.  That turned out to be a good move.

Anyway, the real reason I wrote this post is becuase I'm a bit of a map nut, and when I came across the map below I needed an excuse to post it:

Chicago Gas Prices provided by GasBuddy.com

Click here to add this map to your website.

Is Gov. Schweitzer Right - Can Carbon Sequestration Help Solve the Energy Crisis?

Posted By: Madame Fleur

 

Nov. 25, 2008

 

Domestic drilling advocates label carbon sequestration as unproven while “renewable only” energy champions criticize it as shortsighted.  Nonetheless, it is an energy option that the Department of Energy (DOE) wishes to pursue. 

 

The Big Sky Partnership of Montana State University won a $66.9M grant from the DOE this week to complete carbon capture research in southern Wyoming to determine if carbon dioxide can be safely stored underground or if other storage means are necessary.

 

Carbon sequestration is an alternative energy technology designed to mitigate the harmful environmental effects of burning fossil fuels.  Rather than releasing the carbon dioxide emitted from burning fossil fuel into the atmosphere, it captures and stores the harmful greenhouse gas. 

 

Tests are needed to determine where and how carbon dioxide can be safely stored.  With this study, MSU hopes to show that the carbon dioxide gas can be liquefied and injected into porous, underground rock for long-term storage.  If carbon sequestration is proven to deliver safe, permanent and economical results, coal-rich states like Montana could continue to enjoy abundant energy from their own fossil fuel-rich natural resources without risk of damaging the environment. 

 

The DOE award will fund a commercial-scale, eight-year carbon sequestration study that could begin as early as next year. Two years will be spent building infrastructure and drilling an 11,000-foot well into the sandstone rock layer west of Big Piney, Wyoming.  Once the infrastructure is in place, researchers will inject more than a million metric tons of CO2 into the underground formation. 

 

Lee Spangler, director of the Big Sky Partnership and head of MSU's Energy Research Institute, said the award opens up important opportunities for the region, state and university. 

 

"It provides the opportunity to validate carbon sequestration as one of the technologies to reduce greenhouse gases and help reduce climate change, and it illustrates the potential to use the region's vast energy resources as a path to energy independence in a climate-friendly fashion," Spangler said.

 

Recently re-elected Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has fought loudly for funding to study the usefulness of carbon sequestration in Montana.  Schweitzer is considered a leading proponent of clean carbon technologies and has touted the potential of carbon sequestration since taking office in 2004. 

 

"This project is one of the most important things to the governor," said Eric Stern, senior counselor to Gov. Schweitzer. "We believe that this is the first step toward making Montana a major energy center," Stern said. 

 

We in Montana share our Governor’s optimism for this project and are proud of the great work being done by the Big Sky Partnership at MSU.  So, on that note, go Cats!!

Five Big Losers of the 2008 Election

Posted By: Stonecipher

Nov. 25, 2008

Yesterday we took a look at some of Election 2008's big winners.  Not the candidates, but those who weren't on the ballot.  Today, it's time to take a look at some of Election 2008's big losers:

Geraldine Ferraro: The woman who broke through one of the highest glass ceilings in our nation’s history when she became Walter Mondale’s Vice Presidential running mate managed to lose all credibility when she exposed her racist side. 

Back in March, Ferraro aligned herself with all the right-wing nuts who claim that black men have all the advantages in America when she said “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position” referring to Obama’s major successes in the Democratic Primary.  Rather than apologize for those comments, which could easily be construed as racist, whether they were meant to be or not, the former Congresswoman from New York chose to take the opportunity to accuse the Obama campaign of playing the race card and to demand an apology from David Axelrod and the rest of the Obama Campaign.  None of this behavior is terribly surprising coming from a FOX News contributor who once claimed that Jesse Jackson’s electoral “success” was due to his race.

“Ditto Heads”: For those of you who don’t know, Ditto Heads are one of the largest groups of absolute idiots on the planet.  They blindly and proudly follow their leader, Rush Limbaugh.  Right before the March 4 VOTR Tuesday Primaries (VOTR = Vermont, Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island), Limbaugh instructed his millions of nearly brain dead followers to go out and vote for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primaries. 

Limbaugh’s reasoning was that Barack Obama was clearly going to win the nomination, but by voting for Clinton, they would “bloody up” Barack Obama by giving Clinton just enough of a boost to prolong her campaign. 

There is some evidence that suggests the “ditto heads” actually achieved their short-term goal of keeping Hillary alive, but they failed miserably in their long-term goal - to prevent Obama from getting elected.  And during this process, they proved to America and the world that they don’t, in fact, put country first, these people put the GOP above all else.  The United States of America is an afterthought to these people.

Rev. Wright: Speaking of careers being over, does this one need any further explanation?

Mark Penn: Mr. Penn is one of the few people in politics who gives Sarah Palin a run for her money in the stupid department.  While there were a large number of factors that brought down Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary, Mark Penn, the long-time chief Clinton strategist, may have made the biggest impact. 

Penn’s brilliant campaign strategy was entirely based on the Democratic Primary being a series of winner-take-all contests.  At one point, Penn said that a Clinton win in California on Super Tuesday (Feb. 5) would effectively lock-up the nomination for her, since she would get all 370 delegates from the state.  Problem is, it wasn’t winner-take-all, and neither are any of the other states or territories in the Democratic Primary.  Many of the GOP Primaries are though - Mark, careful, your Republican is showing again. 

This moronic strategy led to Hillary Clinton’s campaign having nothing prepared for the post-Super Tuesday contests.  Obama, on the other hand, who managed to figure out the rules before the game began, had offices and campaign ads up and running in the remaining states weeks before - he had a major running start that allowed him to rattle off 11 straight victories, which sunk Hillary Clinton.

He really should make sure Clinton pays him all of that $5 million she owes him because his career in politics is probably over.

Joe Wurzelbacher: A.k.a. Joe the Plumber.  If a light had flashed every time Sarah Palin mentioned his name during the campaign there would have been a rash of seizures across the country in October.  Thankfully, there were no flashing lights, just the roars of thousands of ignorant people who stood behind Palin convincing her that she’s ready to become the first female president in 2012 - you betcha. 

The man who accidentally stumbled into the middle of this campaign, at times seemed to be the only answer to any question asked of the McCain-Palin Campaign:  “Joe the Plumber this, Joe the Plumber that...”  And initially it seemed as though “JTB” was truly an American hero - the epitome of the hard-working, average Joe-six pack.that Sarah Palin seemed to be infatuated with.

But then, slowly, we began to learn who the real Joe the Plumber was. 

For starters, he turned out to have an IQ somewhere between Sarah Palin and Mark Penn.  While he railed against socialism, he was a two-time recipient of welfare himself and after all of his complaining about Obama’s tax policies, it was revealed that Wurzelbacher owed the government almost $1,200 in unpaid taxes.

Other revelations included the fact that he was not, in fact, a plumber, that he would actually benefit from Obama’s tax plan and that he was using his ironic, new-found fame as the “average guy” to get an agent, look into a record deal and maybe run for Congress in Ohio in 2010.

Good luck with that Ohio.

Five Big Winners of the 2008 Election

Posted By: Stonecipher

Nov. 24, 2008

We’re still waiting to see if a former Saturday Night Live star will be the next U.S. Senator from Minnesotaand whether or not the man who ran one of the dirtiest campaign ads of all time will retain his Senate seat in Georgia, but for all intents and purposes Election 2008 is over.

The obvious winners and losers, of course, were the candidates themselves, but here at The Stonecipher Report we’ve decided to take a look at some of the winners and losers who were not on either ticket back on November 4, 2008.

Today we'll cover the winners and tomorrow we'll get around to Five Big Losers of the 2008 Election. 

If you just can't wait to find out who the losers will be, however, you can tune into the all new Stonecipher Report on the air!  If you're in Chicago, you can tune into 88.5 WHPK-FM and if not, just head on over to WHPK.org and listen to our live stream from 3:00 - 4:00 PM Central Time.

But without further ado, here are some of this election season's biggest winners:

Pennsylvania Democrats: Rarely was there more than a two week window between elections during Primary season in 2008.  The glaring exception, however, was the five-week period prior to the Pennsylvania Primary.

The down time gave political junkies, who were in the middle of a serious binge, a brutal case of election withdrawal and the only place for them to turn for a potential hit was the political leaders of The Keystone State. 

Since the Republican race was already over at that point, the GOP politicians didn’t matter much, just the Democrats.

So the mainstream media turned to three major PA players to deliver the goods: Governor Ed Rendell (Clinton supporter), Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (Clinton supporter) and Junior U.S. Senator Bob Casey (Obama supporter).  These three men battled it out nightly on the cable news shows for the political junkies' entertainment. 

They were all aggressive and effective surrogates for their respective candidates, but when the April 22 Primary finally passed and the nation moved on, their elevated profiles remained intact.  And once the general election eventually rolled around, all three continued their surrogacy by strongly supporting Barack Obama.

As an added bonus, all the increased focus from Democratic campaigns resulted in a record setting number of Democrats being registered to vote in the state, which means they’ll all have a much easier time winning their next statewide election. 

Pennsylvania's Democrats were very big winners in Election 2008.

David Axelrod: Citing personal ties to a number of Democratic Primary contenders, including Hillary Clinton, Chicagoan David Axelrod almost decided notto sign on to the Obama Campaign in 2007.

As he told the Washington Post however “I thought that if I could help Barack Obama get to Washington, then I would have accomplished something great in my life.”  So he got on board.

Axelrod took a queue from Howard Dean and ran a campaign that focused on getting as many people as possible involved in the process.  This included focusing on caucus states during the primaries, states that Mark Penn and Hillary Clinton ignored much to their detriment.  His strategy helped Obama win both the nomination and the White House.  His reward: he has been named Senior Adviser to the President in the Obama Administration. 

Bill Ayers: Although Ayers’ name was dragged through the mud more often than Saddam Hussein’s or even Osama Bin Laden’s in 2008, he is still going to come out ahead. 

How you ask?  Book sales.

Bill Ayers recently re-released his 2001 book “Fugitive Days” and almost no one in the world would have cared if it weren’t for the 2008 Election and his loose ties to Barack Obama.

Six months from now, Ayers will be back to his routine life in Chicago's Hyde Park.  The mainstream media will forget him, his community will still accept him, his family will still love him and he’ll have a few extra dollars in his pocket that he wouldn’t have had if it weren't for those right-wing nuts like Sarah Palin running around the country screaming about how he was a terrorist.

Joe Lieberman: This is another case of a guy who, at first glance, may seem to be a loser in the 2008 Elections, but by retaining his powerful committee chairmanship in the Senate, Lieberman has come out far better than he should have.  Let’s take a look at this:

Lieberman publicly back-stabbed a political ally of his.  That ally then went on to be elected President of the United States.  In addition to backstabbing Obama, Sen. Lieberman also back-stabbed his entire political party, just before they consolidated more power within the government.  Sen. Lieberman then spoke at the convention of the political party that went on to reduce itself to nothing more than a regional party in Appalachia.  This behavior has left the Senator from Connecticut with a disapproval rating in his home state of 53%.

And how is the Senator punished for all of this by the party he back-stabbed?  By being allowed to retain his powerful position as the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. 

Amazing. 

Chuck Todd: The cult-like following that Chuck Todd has built during this election season has resulted in the emergence of several fan sites, numerous Chuck Todd t-shirts and mugs, a line of Chuck Todd eCards, a list of Chuck Todd “facts” a la the Chuck Norris "facts" and the coining of a new word: Chuckolyte.

A Chuckolyte, according to chuckloyte.com, is anyone who possesses “a disproportionately large affection for the dry wit and sagacity of NBC News Political Director, Chuck Todd”. 

Prior to 2008, few knew the NBC Political Director and former editor-in-chief of The National Journal’s “The Hotline”, but once voters began casting ballots in 2008, Chuck Todd quickly gained fame as one of the most insightful, personable and fun-to-watch election analyst. 

The Miami native has a very bright future, and in-part, he has Election 2008 to thank.

Conclusion: So there you have it, five of the biggest winners of the 2008 Election.  Coming tomorrow, five of Election 2008's Biggest Losers.  Or, if you're too impatient for that, check out The Stonecipher Report on the air.  You can catch the live stream from 3:00 - 4:00 PM, CST here.