author: Richard Thompson Ford rating: asin: 0374245754 binding: Hardcover list price: $26.00 USD amazon price: $17.16 USD

What do Katrina victims waiting for federal disaster relief, millionaire rappers buying vintage champagne, Ivy League professors waiting for taxis, and ghetto hustlers trying to find steady work have in common?

The depths to which Governor King Rod Blagojevich will go in order to hide from public scrutiny are purely astounding - being aided and abetted by his attorney William Quinlan and Abby Ottenhoff.

So much for his "open and transparent" government.

Ottenhoff, when queried by the Decatur Herald & Review on the nature of the search for documents related to Tony Rezko said:

""We don't comment on internal legal communications."

Awhile back, I wrote to Senator Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain, and posted a copy of that letter here. And Senator Obama replied. Here is what he had to say.

"Thank you for writing to me with your concern over our nation’s energy independence. I appreciate hearing from you.

Are the members of the Democratic Party who live in downstate Illinois brain damaged, or just sheeple willing to be led to the slaughter? Your leadership has been totally and completely overrun and corrupted by the Chicago Machine. And yet, you helped elect, then reelect, King Rod Blagojevich, who is on the path to becoming known as the most corrupt governor in the history of the state.

Oh, that Governor, King Rod Blagojevich, he is one FUNNY man. Why in the world would you move 150 jobs OUT of Springfield, a centralized location within the state, and make a state-wide agency more inaccessible. Oh... wait... the GOVERNOR'S office is in a corner of the state too, isn't it. Well, at least he thinks so.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both have a huge credibility issue - trying to play themselves off as "regular folks." Neither is "regular folks" from where I sit - and I wish the people with the straight party mentality would wake up and smell the coffee.

Riddle me this - Why should Debbie Halvorson of Crete represent downstate 11th Congressional District? Halvorson has been fully in the pocket of Clown Prince Emil Jones for the last 3 years, doing his bidding and serving as the principal roadblock in service to King Rod Blagojevich during her tenure as the chair of the Illinois Senate's Rules Committee?

Ah, you have to love King Rod Blagojevich's staff, loyal to the core. Abby Ottenhoff said in the press statement yesterday that "We have to take action now" when referring to King Rod's "new" plan to combat street violence in Chicago.

Do the folks in the mainstream media really think Clown Prince Emil Jones is going to let any measure that would hamper his or King Rod Blagojevich ability to raise heaps of hot sweaty cash come to a vote on the Senate floor? Does anyone in Illinois really believe the Senate, controlled by the Chicago Democrats who play favors for dollars, will vote to approve this?

author: Lee Iacocca rating: asin: 1416532498 binding: Paperback list price: $15.00 USD amazon price: $10.50 USD

Legendary auto executive Lee Iacocca has a question for every American: Where have all the leaders gone?The most widely recognized business executive of all time asks the tough questions that America's leaders must address:• What is each of us giving back to our country?• Do we truly love democracy?• Are we too fat and satisfied for our own

author: Richard K. Lester Michael J. Piore rating: asin: 0674019946 binding: Paperback list price: $15.95 USD amazon price: $12.76 USD

Amid mounting concern over the loss of jobs to low-wage economies, one fact is clear: America's prosperity hinges on the ability of its businesses to continually introduce new products and services. But what makes for a creative economy? How can the remarkable surge of innovation that fueled the boom of the 1990s be sustained?

I wonder how many of King Rod Blagojevich's political appointees are looking over their shoulders these days? How many of them have gone to throw-away cell phones for communications with the Governor's office - how many demand personal meetings in safe rooms recently swept of electronic monitoring?

Riddle me this - when did the Associated Press put two and two together, and finally figure out that Tony Rezko is merely a stepping stone to the headwaters of Illinois's corrupt government? And why did they soft peddle the mountain of testimony pointing at Governor King Rod Blagojevich?

The financially beleaguered Illinois Teacher's Retirement Fund had a little help into falling into its woes, courtesy of King Rod Blagojevich's cronies. The Chicago Democrats - the people who helped spawn Senator Barack Obama's meteoric rise into political superstar status, should be so ashamed.

As the two remaining Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, continue duking it out with ever-dirtier tactics and language, you have to wonder what the McCain posse is up to as far as selecting a suitable running mate to serve as his vice president.

The entire Loop School million dollar boondoggle is starting to take shape, with Ms. Gill's ties to Jesse Jackson revealed, and Jackson apparently exerting influence on King Rod Blagojevich to pardon her.

Let's take a look at the core tenets and value system of a mythical organization - and find out what Barack Obama supporters have to say to them:

1. Commitment to God
2. Commitment to the White community
3. Commitment to the White family
4. Dedication to the pursuit of education
5. Dedication to the pursuit of excellence

Perhaps it is time for the General Assembly - well, the House at least - to lob some shots BACK at Governor King Rod Blagojevich with slash and burn cuts to the budget allotted for the Governor's office itself. Two huge and gaping wounds there that are nothing but wasteful spending - King Rod's personal misuse of taxpayer-owned aircraft, and the commuting costs for his staff to do their jobs.

As some of you can tell, this past week I've written more than my fair share of commentary about the situation of illegal aliens flooding into the United States, which some have taken to be racially motivated.