Getting a differing view of Denny Hastert than we ever saw while in office

His official portrait that hangs in the Capitol building makes J. Dennis Hastert appear dignified, gavel in hand and Eagle-topped staff at his side.

This 'Hastert' is ancient history

Fitting in with the image of Hastert as the almighty and powerful Speaker of the House who gets tagged in all stories about him as the longest-serving Speaker of the Republican political persuasion.

AND FOR THOSE who are putting the local spin on the story, one of only three Illinoisans who ever rose to that exacted title (which was the position that Rahm Emanuel himself once fantasized about holding someday – until those mayoral dreams popped into his head).

So exalted that there was serious speculation that a statue of Hastert ought to be erected on the grounds of the Statehouse in Springfield, along with statues of many political figures of significance who happened to come from Illinois.

So how far a fall it will seem come Tuesday, which is the day that Hastert will make his first public appearance since it was learned he faces a criminal indictment in U.S. District Court.

He’s going to have to show up to the federal court complex and make the perp walk, getting grilled by television types who act as though Hastert will give a serious answer to any of their shouted-out questions about whether he really had sexual contact with those teenage boys who were students of his back when he was a high school teacher and wrestling coach at Yorkville High School.

RELATIVES OF ONE boy who has since passed on claim it happened, but that they were intimidated by Hastert’s public status as a politico into thinking no one would believe them.

Now, way too many people are eager to believe just about anything.

Even though the criminal charges themselves don’t relate to anything even remotely sexual.

It seems that one person tried to pressure Hastert to pay $3.5 million in order to keep their mouth shut about all of this. Some $1.7 million was actually paid, and nearly $1 million of those payments allegedly were withdrawn from Hastert’s bank accounts in violation of federal financial regulations.

THE SAME REGULATIONS that were enacted to try to keep drug dealers from being able to spend their ill-gotten gains freely.

Hastert is in a position where it’s legitimately his money he was paying to keep someone quiet. I’m sure his attorneys will try to emphasize that Hastert himself is somehow the victim.

He, after all, is the one who appears to be blackmailed. It also seems that the payments began after Hastert got out of office because that was when he became a highly-paid lobbyist.

What’s the point of extorting someone who doesn’t have any money to pay?

THERE WILL BE others who will go out of their way to turn this into a sordid sex scandal, and who probably will be disappointed that the statute of limitations is long passed on any chance of prosecuting “the coach” for what he may, or may not, have done some four decades ago.

Although it should be noted that any such charges would have had to be brought about by the state’s attorney for Kendall County – where local officials seem in shock that any such thing could ever have happened.

Meaning this case would not likely get the vociferous prosecution that those people are fantasizing about. Although I’m sure that when Hastert has to make his initial court appearance on Tuesday, it’s going to feel like the most humiliating experience he ever has endured.

And the longer these criminal proceedings linger, the more this is going to feel like a full-fledged crime taking place.

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Oberweis still not a backer of needed reform of our nation’s immigration laws

I’m not the least bit surprised to learn that Republican Senate candidate James Oberweis remains opposed to any serious reform of our nation’s immigration policies.



OBERWEIS: Regards reform as 'amnesty'

A group calling itself the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition tried this week to convince Republican-leaning people that business interests would benefit if we did a serious revamp of immigration policies to eliminate all the bureaucratic flaws that currently exist.

I ALREADY CRITICIZED the group for relying too much on political historical figures such as Jim Thompson or Denny Hastert to try to sway a new generation of Republicans – one that wants to view the issue purely in ideological terms.

Such as James Oberweis, who is making yet another run for political office – this time for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Richard Durbin.

Oberweis, who has run for governor, Senate and Congress before finally getting a state Senate seat in Springfield, really seems determined to be a part of the Washington political scene.

Hence, the Senate campaign – he’s the “top” of the GOP ticket, even though Republican operatives will want to claim that gubernatorial nominee Bruce Rauner is.

OBERWEIS IS THE guy whose many past gaffes includes that campaign ad he ran a decade ago that stirred up immigration policy. The one that had him flying in a helicopter over a yet-to-be-remodeled Soldier Field, while telling us that the number of foreigners slipping their way into the country without a valid visa was large enough to fill up the Chicago Bears’ home to capacity every single day.

It was such a tacky viewpoint to have on the issue that the ad is still remembered. He’s going to have to live down the shame of such nonsense every day for the rest of his life.

On a certain level, he even realizes that. Oberweis is now saying his ideas were naïve and not well thought out. Meaning, he doesn’t want to be criticized for the ad any longer.

But has he really changed? Was he listening in the least when he attended the immigration forum held Tuesday in Chicago?

IT DOESN’T SEEM so. For Oberweis is still using the word “amnesty” to try to lambast the idea that immigration policy is flawed, and that we have to figure out a way to allow the nearly 11 million people now living in this country without a valid visa to remain legitimately, and openly.

RAUNER: No comment?

He talks of “non-immigrant visas” for adults who came to this country, as though he’s determined to keep such people in their own separate class. That kind of motivation is what causes much of the bureaucratic nonsense we get from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It’s when we get past that kind of thought process that we might be willing to move forward on immigration policy, and get Congress to finally approve something into law.

Because the status quo just doesn’t work. That ought to be the one point all of us should agree on.

I FOUND OBERWEIS’ opposition more humorous. Although Rauner’s thoughts, or lack thereof, also have their moments of jocularity.

The member of the 0.0001 percent of our society says he hasn’t really studied the issue, and also thinks this is something for President Barack Obama and Congress to resolve.

Technically, he’s right on the latter point. Although how many of those Congress members would be swayed by their governor taking a stance on the issue is something to wonder. Then again, trying to say nothing is in character for Rauner – who continues with his “Wizard of Oz” mentality.

The real Rauner?

 

“Immigration policy” was the curtain that Rauner didn’t’ want us to look behind on Tuesday. Does that make the Business Immigration Coalition the equivalent of Toto, ripping open the curtain to show us just how ordinary Oz/Rauner truly was – and is?

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