>REACT: Daley saves the day … for a change

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In the case of the “pate de foie graz ban bungle” it took Chicago Mayor Rich Daley almost a year to knock out the “city’s silliest ordinance,” as he called it.

Well, Hizzonor was not about to have to wait another year to keep his “kids” in the City Council from another silly action. This time the Mayor stepped in.

Just about the time the Council was to vote to order the White House not to invade Iran (a truly silly thing, to be sure), the Mayor politely asked them refrain from passing the legislation.

Of course, even a polite request will get immediate obedience from the submissive aldermen. They well know that if you reject even the gentlest suggestion from Hizzonor, you will be tossed under the bus – and the Mayor has lots of buses.

He said he was concerned that such a resolution would hurt the presidential candidacy of favorite son Barak Obama. He does not want to upset the first time ever the Chicago political machine will get its own president. I mean … they have had several governors and a few senators rise from the ranks of the Chicago machine, but never a president.

This is real important, too. Everyone knows that the U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has the Mayor’s brow in the prosecutorial crosshairs. Despite his promise to keep Fitzgerald, you can bet that in one of his first acts a President, Obama will sit with Illinois Senator Dick Durbin to pick a replacement – some one not so … ah … aggressive? Someone more inclined to restore the tradition of “selective prosecution.” <– Meaning no machine pinky rings. I am not sure if the Mayor’s reason for opposing the ban is sincere, or just an excuse. Not sure how the resolution would hurt the campaign, especially since Obama is more of an appeasement dove than a militant hawk.

My suspicion is that the Mayor is kyboshing the ban because it really is silly AND because it is really a public relationship attack on President George Bush. Remember, Daley and Bush are buds. And until he surrenders the Oval Office, good ole pal George has the power of the pardon. In the spirit of Illinois’ unique brand of bipartisanship, Daley is already lobbying for clemency for the currently incarcerated George Ryan. Since springing Ryan from the hoosgow would be an incredibly bad and stupid thing, I say there is at least a 50/50 chance Bush will do it.

Whatever his motive, Delay has ended two Council sillinesses in one week. While I deplore the autocratic process, at least this time the Mayor really did save the “kids” from more silly mischief.

>REACT: Brattleboro gunning for Bush and Cheney

>Just when you think the folks in Brattleboro, Vermont cannot get any nuttier, they out do themselves. You will recall from my earlier blog that the Kurt Daims is leading a movement to have the town issue an arrest warrant for George Bush and Dick Cheney for crimes against the Constitution. In most communities, I suppose he would qualify as the proverbial “village idiot.” But, not in Brattleboro. In fact, he is a bit of a community leader, now having persuaded the Selectboard to buy into his fantasy.

Of course, the Brattleboro town attorney has no authority to write up the indictment and arrest warrant. The police have no legal authority to pick up the Prez even if he were to get lost on the highway and wind up in Brattleboro by accident. The whole idea is unconstitutional, according to the Vermont Attorney General.

I sort of like the irony of the disregarding the Constitution to file a petition against the President for … disregarding the Constitution. So, if it passes, should the people of Brattleboro go arrest themselves?

Showing that Brattleboro is without a firewall of sanity anywhere to be found, the selectboard (photo) has voted to put the measure on the ballot. I suspect that the vote was mostly intended to get little lost Brattleboro some national attention – like a child acting badly.

According to AOL News, Brattleboro is getting a lot of nasty emails and phone calls sprinkled with suchs words as “nuts” and “wackjobs.” The emailers wonder if the good people of Brattleboro have been standing out in the cold too long, or if something has seeped into the town water supply. Personally, I am betting on a bad crop of maple syrup.

No all this reaction has some town’s folk mighty worried. Town Clerk Annette Cappy said that they “have some concerns about safety. After reading some of these emails, you can’t help it.”

Of course, no one can overreact like a town constable with very little to do. Police Chief Eugene Wrinn promised that any threats against the town or people of Brattleboro would be taken seriously. Fortunately, Wrinn can keep his pistol holstered since no threats have been received. Whew!

Because it is a meaningless insult to the President, Vice President and common sense, I suspect the media will enjoy giving Brattleboro’s referendum more publicty than a Paris Hilton fashion mishap.
I think this is one of those situations where the President looks better by the character of his enemies. But, ya gotta love a country were a guy like Daims and the people of Brattleboro can parlay nothing but cold winters, nice scenery and succulent sap into 15 minutes of fame on the national stage. In their case, maybe only three and a half minutes.

>REACT: Sheehan exits stage (far) left

>Oh happy day! Rather than continue the slide into oblivion, war protester and America hater, Cindy Sheehan, has chosen to announce her own political demise – albeit a bit late. Yes, the media hungry lady with the well rehearsed Emmett Kelly-style “sad face” (right) has officially announced her retirement from the war protest movement. In closing off her dubious public career, she characteristically lashed out in anger in all direction, including her onetime cheerleaders in the anti-war movement.

Wallowing in self-pity and whining about the price she has paid — divorce, bankruptcy, physical exhaustion, and disappointment in the new Democrat majority in Congress – Sheehan released her own political obituary. She failed to include the extinguished limelight, lack of credibility and the eventual exposure of her loony anti-everything American views, as additional reasons for her withdrawal from the anti-war war. According to one report, Sheehan read her completed farewell letter, then cried – right on queue I assume.

She signed off as she signed on – abusing the memory of her fallen son. By all measure a patriotic counterbalance to Sheehan’s hateful views, her son died a hero in service to his country. After spending months abusing his views and deeds, Sheehan finally declares he died in vain. In her “retirement” letter she readily admits that she does not love this country. That has always been obvious.

Her exit announcement is anticlimactic. Judging from her disappearance from the tabloids and news shows this past year (even I forget about her), she was terminated as “old news” long before she decided to quit. Without her public letter, she would have simply remained forgotten. It was her last shot at publicity, and she was not about to miss it.

Well … of all the times I bristled at her public coverage, I must admit, this is the best news she has produced so far. And, who said they never print good news?

Adieu dear Cindy. You fared not too well, but certainly too long.