May 2009 Archives

After hearing Roland Burris' latest lame defense about why he misled a legislative panel looking into his appointment as Illinois' junior senator, The Hound wishes the Democrat would just go away. Don't make any more pronouncements, don't introduce any legislation in the Senate, don't hold press conferences. Just go away, OK?

Burris no longer, at least in The Hound's eyes, should be given the honor of being called a senator. He's not going to resign and if he is indicted for perjury (a good chance), he will go kicking and screaming. But we shouldn't call him senator. How about Just Roland?

If you missed it, Just Roland contends it wasn't his duty to tell a legislative committee about his conversation with former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother if lawmakers
failed to ask the right questions. "You all have got it backwards. It is not upon a person who's testifying to go out of his way on anything. It is the person who
has to ask the questions,'" Burris said.

Now that's one squirmy answer. What happened to Illinois senators who had principle? Like Paul Douglas, Charles Percy, Adlai Stevenson III, Paul Simon, Peter Fitzgerald, Barack Obama? They're gone and we're stuck with this Bozo at least through 2011.

While talking to Rob Blagojevich, Just Roland said he could not do major fund-raising without it looking like was trying buy the appointment, but he promised to "personally do something'' for the former governor. Just Roland did not disclose the call in January when he testified before a special Illinois House committee considering the
governor's impeachment. He revealed it in a later affidavit.

He now blames state lawmakers for not getting the information out of him. "I'm responding to questions. Why should I have to _ in your estimation, in your assessment _ go out of my way to answer questions when I was answering questions that were asked. Why didn't the impeachment committee follow up with the questions to
ask me?'' he told reporters. Huh? What a statesman.

Please, Just Roland, just go away, OK?

..

Observing the squirming accidental Sen. Roland Burris, D-Not Re-elected, has been doing the past few days since a federal judge OK'd the release of a wiretap conversation between the senator and then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich reminded The Hound of the machinations of ancient Rome as described in I, Claudius, the novel by English author Robert Graves. There's some nasty business here.

And, the senator sure is becoming a testy geezer pol as he attacks reporters at every turn. He so fears the Chicago wolfpack that he went out for a two-day swing of downstate Illinois. Included in that was a briefing in Champaign on Wednesday on the National Soybean Research Laboratory. What's he need a briefing for? It's soybeans. We're a farm state dependent a lot on soybeans. Soybeans? Um, good. He's down in Springfield, Danville and Kankakee today.

Watching I, Roland is like watching the bumbling Claudius. Smart, but coming across as a naive bumpkin from downstate Centralia. Reading the transcript of the taped call between Blago and the senator, one has to read between the lines because we're dealing with Illinois pols here.

And, for an attorney, the senator sure doesn't know the law. Like planning to have his attorney funnel a check to Blago. Using a second or third party to channel campaign funds is against state campaign laws. But The Hound has a hard feeling it's also against the law to auction off a Senate seat.

While the senator is spinning the line that the wiretap "exonerates" him, it certainly can cause more trouble. The question reporters should ask I, Roland is if Blago hadn't been busted by the FBI, would there have been a check delivered to his Hairness in consideration for the Senate seat of now-President Obama? And, if so, who would have delivered it , the senator or his attorney. From the wiretrap, it is obvious the senator knows right from wrong and how it would look if it ever got out he was raising money for Rod the Mod.

More important, the senator never mentioned this meaningful conversation to the legislative panel investigating L'Affaire Burris. Will this be more fodder for a charge of perjury being explored by the Sangamon County State's Attorney's office? As The Hound said, this is some nasty business.

Besides, on a day when the president nominates the first Hispanic female to the U.S. Supreme Court, most Chicago TV stations led off with the Burris caper, relegating future supreme Sonia Sotomayor to second banana. Perhaps the president is ready to let the senator twist slowly in the wind --- finally.

The geezers at the paper pound have a saying about the morning radio program on WGN-AM, 720: That since Wally Phillips paved the way, a monkey could sit in that drive time and still rack up the ratings. That has proven true through the late Bob Collins, Spike O'Dell and now John Williams. It's the rest of the station that is hurting as bad as its fellow members of old-line media.

Not that The Hound feels sorry for anything owned by the Tribune Co., but yanking the "Kathy & Judy" program unceremoniously off the air on May 22 certainly should be a shock to the system of anyone thinking of majoring in broadcasting over print journalism. The reason, according to the WGN program director, was the station is moving in a new direction and wants to attract a younger audience. Yea, like that's going to happen.

Like print media, broadcast media is facing challenges daily. WGN certainly hasn't been the only radio outlet to feel the pain. WKRS-AM 1220 let go some of its on-air personalities recently and in the process becoming the "non-Talk of Lake County". On the FM dial, "Smooth Jazz" on WNUA, 95.5, is now a Spanish-language station. WNUA changed format just as the girllfriends left the AM airwaves.

Note to WGN programmers: Young people don't listen to AM radio. They listen to podcasts, their iPods or Sansa Fuzes, HD radio, satellite radio. You're doomed. Go back to the geezers while you still have the chance.

As for the girlfriends, they were pulling down a cool $400,000 each a year, plus benefits. While they may be missed, The Hound wouldn't be surprised to see them surface after a hiatus, of sorts, until their contract expires on another outlet which may go for the oldster Vince and Rhonda crowd --- like the Big 89. Ah, wouldn't that be sweet revenge?

Not being folically challenged like some --- aka, a few hairless breeds --- The Hound appreciates the entrepreneurship of the Elk Grove Village firm which is now marketing hair-care products inspired by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's mane. Is this a great country, or what?

Yes, Delta Laboratories Inc., is marketing shampoo and conditioner under the Blago label, with the motto: "It's Bleep'n Golden!" The name refers to the quote from Blago contending the appointment to President Obama's former Illinois Senate seat was "golden".

Perhaps the company could enlist the governor, who was drummed out of office earlier this year, to endorse the product or be a pitchman for the hair care products. After all, defending oneself against charges brought by the federal government is an expensive proposition. So expensive that Blago's wife, Patti, wants to take the ex-guv's place on that NBC reality show being filmed in Costa Rica: "I'm a Celebrity and Get Me Out of Here!"

The Hound suggests the happy couple reject these superficial programs and opt for their own reality series: "The Real House Couple of Chicago."

Like Bob Seger, who celebrated a birthday this month, state Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, is a gamblin' and ramblin' man, tumbling the dice one more time to get a casino in Lake County. This time, his target is Park City. Is he serious?

Park City home to a gambling den? Will city fathers bring back those late night tavern hours? Wait, Park City only has one bar, the Park Lounge. That would be a real draw for area gamblers --- not!

What's behind Sen. Link's latest scheme? He has the backing of Senate President Jon Cullerton, D-Chicago, and we all know Chicago lawmakers don't do anything unless they have the blessing of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Link's latest plan is to expand the number of state gaming licenses to include Park City, Chicago and Rockford.

He apparently has given up on Waukegan. Is this punishment for Waukegan voters electing rogue Democrat Robert Sabonjian the city's new mayor? Sabonjian the Younger doesn't seem too concerned about this snub, maintaining he has other plans (such as?) to raise millions of gambling revenue which under Link's scheme would go to Park City --- if a license is granted.

Link may have a good idea here. Park City gets the revenue, but the bulk of jobs would go to Waukeganites, undoubtedly. Park City's labor pool is, shall we say, slightly lacking.

But beyond that, where is there room for a casino is Park CIty? Waukegan offered up 32 acres at Fountain Square. The only locale for that in Park CIty would be the former Waukegan Speedway property at Washington Street and Teske Boulevard.

Wouldn't that make for a lovely gaming site, surrounded as it is with tire stores, a state salt dome, and a few junkyards, not to mention trailer parks --- oops, mobile home vistas. Besides, exactly what's underneath that land which serves as an entryway into Waukegan.

What's Link thinking? Perhaps he isn't considering he and his Democratic troops couldn't get Dick Hyde re-elected Waukegan's mayor. Link is vulnerable and a strong Democratic primary challenge the next time around could bring down this one-time powerful pol. Unless, of course, he gambles he can bring a casino to little old Park City. Ka-ching!

Being a canine, The Hound wasn't too worried at first about swine flu --- oops, H1N1 --- but with the rising numbers in Lake County are we part of a pandemic? Maybe, maybe not, although the pig lobby sure got rid of the swine flu.

Guess they threatened the World Health Organization with a tactic from the wolf. That would be huffing and puffing in front of the WHO headquarters warning they would blow it down if global scientists didn't change the swine flu to H1N1. Right, that fits so well in a headline.

Speaking of headlines, the Mexican government must be happy nobody's called it Mexican flu, like they did in 1918-1919 during the Spanish flu pandemic.Let's see, we've had pandemics called the Asian flu, Hong Kong flu and Russian flu, but the Mexicans get a pass? What's that about. Afraid the tourist industry south of the border will be rocked if it's called the Mexican flu?

No matter, as a canine, The Hound enjoys the swine flu monicker. In fact, some pigs taste like chicken, which reminds The Hound of the last pandemic --- the 1997 Avian flu. Yum.