The Governor's Race in Illinois

Oh goodie, another governor's race, another let down. The governor's race in Illinois is starting up...and already it doesn't bode too well for many that will be directly effected by the outcome. We have at least 2 darlings for the teabaggers, 1 1/2 for the dollarcrats, poor Kirk Dillard, who's been forced to dumb down so as to look like a teabagger...but not one for citizens who are intelligent and compassionate, at least so far.
So, the players of today:
Patrick Quinn: The Governor as of today. I always feel a bit sorry for Mr. Quinn. He was the true outsider, in his day, he was the face of CUB, Citizen's Utility Board, he's been a force in the 'outsider's' club, he was fired by Harold Washington because of his inability to get involved with day to day politics...he knew how to agitate, not negotiate...in fact, he is the true outsider, unlike Rauner who knows how to grease palms. BUT that causes a big problem when you're governor cuz he's the one that has no friends. That can work in campaign ads, but it doesn't work after the election, specially when you're dealing with Mike Madigan.
Bill Daley: All I can say is always running on the coattails....he has never won a political position, but has been given many. In fact, when he's thought about running, he jumps out before the opposition polling attacks. Also, another Dollarcrat--not Democrat; a lapdog for the Chamber of Commerce and the Civic Federation. He was involved with my nemesis, the evil Chase Bank...
Bruce Rauner: Well, he does own a German Wirehaired Pointer, one point in his favor. One point...but he's also given $$$$$ to break the Chicago Teacher's Union(he was instrumental in getting the bill passed that made it illegal for Chicago teachers to strike unless they had a 75% pro-strike vote...and the teachers outsmarted him by getting over 75% of a strike vote--he's still pissed about this), he's on the board of a charter school corporation, and brought the "Stand For Children"(read screw the teachers) group to Illinois(their policy insists that charter schools are the end all/be all and teacher's unions are evil...teachers should just feel blessed that they get to teacher our brats....err....angels and get paid a little better than minimum wage). He's listed on 21 Boards
And who did he speak to while trying to make up his mind to run? Scott Walker--who's placed WI in 50th place in the union in keeping jobs and enticing new businesses, Bobby "The Exorcist" Jindahl, who has allowed charter schools to run amok in Lousiana...and is consistently in the bottom 10 of educational ability of states(and the same for jobs), Chris Christie--another teacher abuser(notice how all of these 'men' enjoy abusing women?), and just signed a bill to allow 50 caliber weapons in NJ---after he said he wouldn't, and, last, but not least...although probably the smallest, Mitch Daniels--again, abuse of teachers, championed a right to work for less law in Indiana. And the Trib says this guy is fascinating--just like a train wreck, I imagine, for working people.
And, of course, he's running as the "outsider", although he's been on winning end of political appointments. You know, the ones in charge that aren't elected. He blames the "union bosses" for all of the issues with the state, never the corporate welfare that Illinois vomits out(Sears, Caterpillar, Google, CME, Office Max...and on and on and on...oh, and giving these big corporations tax cuts/rebates/refunds and not paying the bill). I'm always amazed when I hear how much power I have as a "union thug/boss" while still having to fight for the pension that I paid up to 9% of my income into...while the state hung out with the likes of Rauner(who, by the way made his money with...wait for it...outsourcing our jobs to other countries!). He's been outspoken on how our economy hurts Illinois' ability to create jobs while praising Walker...although since Walker took over Wisconsin, he's lost about 10,000 jobs...and Illinois has gained over 30,000 jobs. Seems like Rauner can't even understand basic math. OK, so his math issue may be to blame for his non-payment of taxes in Cook County.
Kirk Dillard(R): If Dillard had won the last governor's primary, he'd probably be governor now. He knows how to talk to both sides of the aisle, knows how to negotiate. BUT since his run in with teabagger Chris Nybo, he's been dancing with the right wing crazies...so will the real Kirk Dillard, please stand up...
Bill Brady: He made his money the old fashioned way--he married it. He plays the "pull yourself up be the bootstraps" crap without telling people how he made his money(again, so....was he on his knees?) Another CINO(christian in name only). Would love to get rid of worker protection for public employees and thinks right to work for less is just fantastic...
Dan Rutherford(R): Rutherford is a life long politician. He's been a state representative(93-2002), state senator(02-10), born in Pontiac, was a "business executive" before running for office, of course that was 20 years ago. Recently, he's come out against the new education initiative, Common Core Standards, which does have conservative support...except for the likes of teabaggers and Glenn Beck. Although he voted for civil unions in Illinois, he's against marriage equality, feeling that a 24 hour marriage in Vegas between a man and a woman holds much more love/honor than a 40 year same sex relationship. And what do you serve with hypocrisy, Mr. Rutherford? He's also a member of ALEC, which doesn't bode well for middle class/working Illinoisans.
So, there's my take on how our governor race is shaping up....sad to say, but unless Dillard decides to be Kirk Dillard and not Kirk"OH PLEASE...I'LL VOTE FOR BATSHIT CRAZY RIGHT WING LEGISLATION!!!", I may be voting for Quinn again.

The First Driving Lesson

Just a disclaimer, this has nothing to do with any political views.

My granddaughter is finally taking driver's ed this year, why finally? Well, she was held back a year so we all here the lament of the already 16 year old who doesn't have her license yet. I had nothing to do with that, I tell her, but go forward!

Last night there was the meeting for the parents and driver's ed students. It was very informative, both about the laws of our state, what the instructors are responsible for, the students and the parents. In Illinois, before a teen is given a license, s/he must have at least 50 hours behind the wheel with a licensed adult--outside of school. That means parents must get off butts and bond with the new driver!

So today we went for the first drive. I took her to a partially empty parking lot and first showed her that you don't have to have your foot on the accelerator for the car to move---idle speed. Why? Because last night one of the instructors said that if a driver is having problems with curves, he'll not allow them to touch the accelerator around corners and she didn't understand why he'd do this, she thought the car would just stop. Now, she understands that the car can keep moving without any action on the accelerator.

In the parking lot, I had her practice turns...we did a serpentine chain up and down the empty lanes. When I felt she'd done well, then we went the whole length of the lanes, where cars were parked and people were walking so she could get used to watching for movement.

We then moved into the 2-lane residential street. She does the newbie listing right and I'd have to tell her to move left, but she did pretty well. She stops short on the stop signs/traffic lights, but I'd rather her have more room than in the middle of an intersection--again, that's just experience.

She wanted to drive to work, which includes a 4 lane highway/street which I thought would be the worst(although we limited the dreaded "Ogden" stretch to less than a half mile), but no...the real challenge was after we crossed the tracks. See, we live in an area that sometimes saw growth without consequence...such as premium condos that have no service area, no place for trucks to unload...except for on the 2 lane street...on our side...why, oh WHY today???? 

So, she slows down and stops behind the truck cuz there were people who had the audacity to be on the street when MY GRANDDAUGHTER WAS TRYING TO LEARN! Evil people...and we waited...and we waited...I told her that she needed to shift more to the left...she drifted a bit, but went more forward---still a good 2-3 feet off of the bumper, but half the car was still blocked by the truck. I asked her if she was ok if I told her when to go, she gave an emphatic, "YES!" So, finally I saw an opening, I told her hard left...and then I watched as we were still precariously close to the truck and started screaming, "LEFT! LEFT@! LEFT!"....we passed within inches of that truck....but we passed.

She was still cool, we took the "back way" to her job, except for the last 1/2 mile and then we did Ogden, which was uneventful.  I told her she did very well, but we have to work on passing skills. Where's the vodka when you need it?

Tonight, when I picked her up from work, she told me that her heart was in her throat all the way to work! I told her that she had fooled me...and that's good because, again, she did a good job. And I think its a great time for me to have a driver...driving Ms. Gram is just fine.