BREAKING: Rockford falls out of Democratic hands

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Wednesday April 06, 2005 · 8:48 AM PDT

2005/04/06 · 08:48

A large blue part of Illinois turned red yesterday.

The Democrats' 30-year hold on the mayor's seat of the city of Rockford, Illinois, was lost. In local elections, incumbent Democratic mayor, Doug Scott, lost to challenger Larry Morrissey.

Unofficial results at this time of writing are:

FOR MAYOR CITY OF ROCKFORD

GLORIA CARDENAS CUDIA (REP) 1,367 4.08%
DOUGLAS P. SCOTT (DEM) 13,709 40.90%
LAWRENCE J. MORRISSEY (IND) 18,397 54.89%

Rockford went 54%/45% for Kerry over Bush; 66%/31% for Barack Obama.

Don't let Cudia presence as an "R" fool you: a Latina, Cudia acted essentially as a GOP red herring for GOP godsend Larry Morrissey.

Morrissey hired conservative GOP political consultant, Jim Thacker, to manage his campaign. Thacker is former chief-of-staff in the Washington, D.C., office of local conservative GOP congressman Don Manzullo (R IL-16) and former conservative congressman Phil Crane. Thacker was also Manzullo's campaign manager. Thacker conducted a Rovian slash-and-burn campaign.

(more below the fold) Read More

Rockford mayoral race: why you should care

Daemmern

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Sunday April 03, 2005 · 7:19 PM PDT

2005/04/03 · 19:19

Illinois municipal elections will be held this Tuesday, April 5th.

Rockford, Illinois, has had Democratic mayors for the last 30 years. The incumbent mayor, Doug Scott, is Democratic and up for his 2nd 4-year term.

Democrats must make sure that Scott can hold on to his seat. If Scott were to lose his seat, Illinois Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich could have a tough time hanging on to his own seat in 2006.

If you are in the Rockford area and can help Doug's re-election effort, give Scott's campaign office a call: (815)961-8607

Poll watchers are needed!

Opponent Larry Morrissey is drawing a great deal of support from the Republican business community. He also hired a right-wing Republican political consultant to run his campaign. That man's name is Jim Thacker. Thacker is a former campaign manager for Congressman Don Manzullo, as well as his former Washington, D.C. chief-of-staff. Thacker also worked for Phil Crane, and managed ultra-conservative Senate candidate Al Salvi's campaign. He is running a Rovian-style "doom and gloom" slash-and-burn campaign. Read More

Shiavo: boxcutter-wielding Mitchell tied to Pat Robertson's group

Daemmern

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Tuesday March 29, 2005 · 1:04 PM PST

2005/03/29 · 13:04

From today's Rockford Register Star:

ROCKFORD -- In a few days, Pat Mitchell will drive the same roads that her eldest son, Michael, did when he took the family van Wednesday and left Rockford for Pinellas County, Fla.

Authorities say that Michael Mitchell was with a group of protesters rallying against the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube when he decided to take a box cutter and rob a gun store. He was unsuccessful.

According to the Pinellas County state's attorney's office, Mitchell appeared in court Friday for a bond hearing.

At the time, his case was assigned to the public defender's office, and he submitted a written plea of "not guilty." His next court date has not been set.

Staff in Pinellas County Public Defender Bob Dillinger's office said they are under orders to say "no comment" to any inquiry about Mitchell's case, including even if it had been assigned to the office at all.

Pat Mitchell says she's contacted the American Center for Law and Justice, a group founded by televangelist Pat Robertson that provides free legal services to clients.

There's more... Read More

DeLay. Frist.

Daemmern

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 26, 2005 · 10:19 PM PST

2005/03/26 · 22:19

Repeat after me:

Keep your eye on Tom DeLay and Bill Frist.
Keep your eye on Tom DeLay and Bill Frist.
Keep your eye on Tom DeLay and Bill Frist.

Tom DeLay
Bill Frist

DeLay
Frist

DeLay
Frist
ethics.

Do not be distracted.
Stay focused.

http://www.house.gov/ethics/
http://ethics.senate.gov/

We have work to do. Make the phones of the ethics committee jump off their hooks 8:00 a.m. Monday. Do not let the fundies' stunts distract you. Bear down and demand that the investigation proceed.

Manzullo: Schiavo wingnut enabler

Daemmern

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Saturday March 26, 2005 · 10:10 AM PST

2005/03/26 · 10:10

In an earlier diary, I linked to info on Michael W. Mitchell, the religious fanatic who assaulted a gun-shop owner with a boxcutter, in order to steal a gun so that he could "save" Terri Schiavo. I also discussed how Illinois Congressman Donald Manzullo depends on these Rockford-area radicals to keep him in office.

Just why would a 20-year-old man drive from Rockford, Illinois to Florida to "save" a dying woman?

Did his House representative, Congressman Don Manzullo (R, IL-16), motivate this young man's actions, by Manzullo's urging the emergency session of Congress?

Manzullo quoted:

"To say that Congress should not get involved in situations where the lives of people are involved means that this body should go home and just fold up and leave everything to the executive and judicial branches," he said.

The bill, he said, is constitutional.

"The Constitution specifically gives power to Congress to determine jurisdiction of federal courts," Manzullo said. "We make that decision. ... That decision is not subject to judicial review."

Rep. Manzullo & Rockford religious radicals

Daemmern

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Saturday March 26, 2005 · 9:17 AM PST

2005/03/26 · 09:17

Michael W. Mitchell -- the 20-year-old Christian fundie from Rockford, Illinois, assaulted with a boxcutter a gun-shop owner. Mitchell attempted a robbery of a gun, intending to "save" Terri Schiavo's life.

Chicago Tribune and Rockford Register Star shed light. Here is Mitchell's photo.

THOUSANDS of Rockford religious fanatics in Rockford are multiplying like mice in homeschooling cells and in the local Assembly of God Christian Life Schools.

Rockford produced Michael J. Breit -- discovered to have guns, ammo, explosives, a hit list of politicians and government officials, and a written plan to kill 1,500 people at a Democratic presidential meeting.

Such radicals are part of Congressman Don Manzullo's (R IL-16) voting base. Manzullo founded the "Northern Illinois Crisis Pregnancy Center", an anti-abortionist front.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Mitchell "attends three or four churches."

Kossacks, can we find which ones? Read More

Schiavo Wingnut from Rockford, Illinois [UPDATED]

Daemmern

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Friday March 25, 2005 · 9:28 PM PST

2005/03/25 · 21:28

Michael W. Mitchell -- the 20-year-old Christian fundie from Rockford, Illinois, who assaulted a gun-shop owner with a boxcutter in an attempted robbery of a gun with which he intended to "save" Terri Schiavo's life -- lives frighteningly close to me. A photo of the guy is here.

I want to know more about this guy. I have friends who work at the local women's reproductive healthcare clinic. The clinic has been the target of arson. A priest crashed a truck into the clinic and hacked at it with an axe. I want to know which churches in Rockford are producing these fanatics.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Michael Mitchell "attends three or four churches." Which ones?

There are THOUSANDS of these religious extremists here in Rockford. They are multiplying like mice, in these homeschooling cells and in the local Assembly of God Christian Life Schools. These are the voters who keep Congressman Don Manzullo (R IL-16) in office.

Chicago Tribune and Rockford Register Star shed some light. Read More

Juan Cole on Schiavo

Daemmern

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Wednesday March 23, 2005 · 5:38 PM PST

2005/03/23 · 17:38

Juan Cole blogs on Schiavo, comparing this extremist Christian manipulation of the federal government with similar Islamic fundamentalist legal tactics:

The cynical use by the US Republican Party of the Terri Schiavo case repeats, whether deliberately or accidentally, the tactics of Muslim fundamentalists and theocrats in places like Egypt and Pakistan.

The Muslim fundamentalists use a provision of Islamic law called "bringing to account" (hisba). As Al-Ahram weekly notes, "Hisba signifies a case filed by an individual on behalf of society when the plaintiff feels that great harm has been done to religion." Hisba is a medieval idea that had all but lapsed when the fundamentalists brought it back in the 1970s and 1980s.

One of the most objectionable features of this fundamentalist tactic is that persons without standing can interfere in private affairs. Perfect strangers can file a case about your marriage, because they represent themselves as defending a public interest (the upholding of religion and morality).

See Juan Cole's blog for more.

A prayer for Ms. Schiavo and all family

Daemmern

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Tuesday March 22, 2005 · 12:03 PM PST

2005/03/22 · 12:03

Dear Ms. Schiavo, and to your close relatives:

I know you can't hear me. And I know that you can't respond. But I have no other way to tell you.

I just want to say that I am deeply sorry that you and your family have become caught up in a national ethical debate. I regret that politics have become entwined with your personal lives. You are each doing your best to cope with a horrible tragedy.

I know what it is like to be disabled and cut off from communication with one's family. I also know the dreadful feeling of losing my daughter.

I have tears in my eyes knowing that each of you is suffering. I hope that peace and resolution will come soon. I care.

Yours,
A Friend in Rockford, Illinois

REQUEST TO ALL KOSSACKS: Out of respect for the gravity of the Schiavo situation, I would ask that no comments be posted on this thread. It will be a "moment of silence" for her and those who love her. Please just recommend my thoughts. Thank you.

ROCKFORD: Re-elect Mayor DOUG SCOTT

Daemmern

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Monday February 21, 2005 · 5:00 AM PST

2005/02/21 · 05:00

CALLING ALL ROCKFORDIANS:
CALLING ALL ILLINOISIANS:
CALLING ALL KOSSACKS:

RE-ELECT DEMOCRATIC MAYOR DOUG SCOTT OF ROCKFORD!

Friends...Rockfordians...and Illinoisians...Lend me your ears...Lend me your keyboards!

We need tons of letters of support for Democratic Rockford Mayor Doug Scott!

http://www.mayordougscott.com/

We cannot allow the competition, with the big fancy billboards and the splashy office canopy, steal the spotlight from Doug Scott, probably our first Democratic mayor of Rockford since the Civil War! He is our 2nd-highest Democratic office holder in Northern Illinois, along with our terrific state representative, Chuck Jefferson.

http://www.mayordougscott.com/

COME VOLUNTEER! WE ARE DOING WALKING CAMPAIGNS and other publicity events. We need you all on board, NOW! Contact the Scott office at 815.961.8607.

(more info below fold for Rockfordians) Read More

Jan Schakowsky ROCKS Rockford!

Daemmern

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday February 20, 2005 · 8:18 PM PST

2005/02/20 · 20:18

One hour ago, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky just ROCKed the Democratic house here in ROCKford, Illinois -- on the turf of Republican Congressman Donald Manzullo, and next door to the district that Dennis Hastert claims to own.

Schakowsky spoke at the annual Paul Simon Dinner of the Winnebago County Democratic Party, led by our incredibly energetic and brave chairman, Greg Tuite. KUDOS TO GREG TUITE!

The good Congresswoman -- a most excellent role model for progressive women like me -- gave a rousing stemwinder. Over and over, she lit a fire under our feet as she hammered out Howard Dean's directive for Democrats to stand up proud and tall and speak from the gut of our values.

So stand up, each and every one of you, and FEEL the power of your SPINE!

May earth and sky continue to bless Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, and continue to provide her with the strength and courage she shows us on the House floor and in cities and towns like mine across the nation!

I LOVE YOU, JAN! KEEP UP THAT FANTASTIC GUNFIRE!

(Yes, Jan, this is that Dean Democrat and Kossack who gave you a hug for all you do!) Read More

GAO report: You owe $350,000 (and rising)

Daemmern

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 01, 2005 · 9:14 PM PST

2005/02/01 · 21:14

The GAO report released by the Comptroller General has some disturbing news on page 7:

In addition, as the Fiscal Year 2004 Consolidated Financial Statements of the U.S. Government show, in fiscal year 2004 the federal government added $13 trillion in new liabilities, unfunded commitments, and other obligations, principally due to the new Medicare prescription drug program. The federal government's net liabilities, unfunded commitments, and other obligations now amount to more than $43 trillion, or about $350,000 for every full-time worker, and these unfunded commitments are growing larger every day.

The whole report is here. You'd better read it.

There's more below the fold. Read More

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