Political apologies rarely work, still wind up taking ‘hit’ for trash-talk

There’s something about any attempt by a political official to apologize for saying something stupid that always manages to come off as insincere – it winds up sounding like the only thing you’re “sorry” for is getting caught!

Somewhere, a political operative thinks this is clever

That certainly is the case for the Illinois Republican County Chairman’s Association – which how has on its Facebook page a prominent post apologizing for the fact that they let a lame gag get put on their site to begin with – one that attempted to trash the four members of Congress whom President Donald Trump has engaged in trash-talk against.

IT SEEMS THAT Republican-leaning political operatives created a graphic labelling the four as “the Jihad Squad” and implying just how subversive we ought to consider them to be.

“If you don’t agree with their socialist ideology, you’re racist,” is what we’re told. Implying that Donald Trump is totally justified in all of his trash talk against the women – whom the one thing they have in common is that they’re not white.

The graphic, which actually is a parody of sorts of the advertising posters for the “Charlie’s Angels” films (the more recent movies, not the ‘70’s era television show), is labeled as being put together by the national Republican County Chairman’s Association, which then had it put on the sites of their various affiliated organizations.

The original motivating image?

Which led to the Illinois chapter early Monday publicly removing the post, with chapter President Mark Shaw saying the post was “unauthorized” and, “I am sorry if anyone who saw the image was offended by the contents.”

NOW FOR ALL I know, Shaw may well be sincere in his apology. He may well be shuddering at the thought that he’s affiliated politically with the kind of people who’d think this ad parody is somehow clever. Even Illinois Republican Chairman Timothy Schneider was embarrassed, saying he thinks the graphic, “does not reflect … the Republican Party’s values.”

But I don’t doubt there are people who consider themselves good and loyal Republicans who have absolutely no problem with this kind of image being spewed and who will now think the “problem” is that the GOP has people who can’t get on board with their initiative.

Would Farrah, Jaclyn and Kate be offended?

As for the parody, I think it’s tacky depicting Rep, Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., wielding a shotgun, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., packing a pistol, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., looking like an angry be-yotch and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, bursting into flames.

But even more so, I think it comes across as downright lame. It’s almost the kind of image I’d expect that 12-year-olds would find amusing. But then again, there are times I wonder if the mentality of our political people has delved down to the level of pre-teens who think fart jokes are funny.

WHICH MEANS I can almost sympathize with the Republican operatives who now have to address this image and try to explain away how anyone could seriously have thought it would possibly attract anyone to the political cause.

I don’t doubt it will keep the hard-core ideologues aligned. But then again, that may well be the political strategy for the 2020 election cycle.

Make sure the ideologues turn out in force to back the re-election of Donald Trump and anybody whose presence would not conflict with ‘the Donald,’ and scare off anybody who’d be inclined to want to raise the elevation of political discourse these days.

Political spots certainly have changed

But then again, I also don’t doubt there are some who are ideologically-inclined to want to sink the level of discourse to this level – it’s much easier to understand. Four crazy broads! All of them with big mouths!  And most importantly, none of them white!

NOT EXACTLY AN issues-based campaign theme. Not something that would bring out the intellect in would-be voters.

More like something simple that would reduce the election cycle down to something we can either laugh at – or lambast those who don’t think it’s funny as being mere “snowflakes.”

Which in-and-of-itself is a political label that gets used far too often.

Although I think one anonymous Internet commenter may have stated it best – this “Jihad Squad” graphic is just too stupid for anyone thinking about voting to take seriously. Although we’ll have to see if it’s too stupid that it winds up costing anybody a vote come Election Day.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Some Republicans are tossing out their own response, trying to claim Democrats are no better. They're citing a blurb posted on the website of the Kankakee County Democratic Party that equates those "Make America Great Again: caps with the pointy hoods of the Ku Klux Klan -- if only those hoods were an obnoxious bright-red. Crain's Chicago Business is reporting that Democrats are in a similar circumstance for their Internet attempt at humor. Although I can't help but wonder who is really offended by the gag.

Would you be more likely to vote for a “Kash,” or a “Winderweedle?”

It seems that Sam McCann, the Republican state senator from one of those Illinois towns not far from St. Louis, is going to proceed with his plans to be the newly-created (as in by himself) Conservative Party’s candidate for governor come Nov. 6.

JACKSON: Gov. Winderweedle eyes his parking spot

He filed the nominating petitions Monday to get his third-party candidacy on the ballot – and soon we’ll get the process by the Republican establishment to claim his signatures of support aren’t valid and he should be kicked off.

BUT IF IT turns out that McCann somehow manages to remain on the ballot so he can try to steal votes away from Gov. Bruce Rauner’s re-election bid, there’s a chance he won’t even be the most notable third party candidate to appear.

For it seems the Libertarians have come up with a candidate who may well have one of the most unusual ballot names to ever be seen in an Illinois election.

I’m talking about the gubernatorial candidacy of Kash Jackson, who says his full name is Grayson Kash Jackson. But he also concedes that is the name he picked for himself back in 2017 when he completed the legal process of having a name-change.

It used to be Benjamin Adam Winderweedle.

RAUNER: Wants this to be a two-race race

THE ILLINOIS STATE Board of Elections says that his entry on the gubernatorial ballot will offer, along with those of Republican Rauner and Democrat Pritzker (and maybe Conservative McCann), “Grayson Kash Jackson formerly known as Benjamin Adam Winderweedle until name changed on Aug. 29, 2017.”

For the record, Jackson/Winderweedle is an Antioch resident who will turn 40 by Election Day and who includes among the many roles he has held in life that he’s a reserve sheriff’s deputy in north suburban Lake County.

He’s the founder of the Restoring Freedom organization that advocates for family court, and he served in the Navy for 20 years, reaching the rank of petty officer, First Class, before retiring in 2016.

PRITZKER: The more, the merrier

Which means he’s a political newcomer, who likely will try to claim his total lack of government experience is actually his greatest strength – a person to vote for if you’re absolutely disgusted by the content of modern-day electoral politics.

WHICH IS PROBABLY the niche that McCann envisions for himself, but may or may not get, depending on whether he can remain on the ballot for Nov. 6.

Now as someone who has written about government and electoral politics for nearly three full decades, the idea of fringe candidates is not unique. They come and go.

When the election is over, they tend to be forgotten about. As though we can’t remember a thing about why we were ever asked to vote for them in the first place – except to express our disgust with the person who eventually won that election.

I can’t help but wonder if “Kash” (that’s what he seems to want to be called for short) is the exception because of that incredulously-long handle he’s going to have on the ballot – which may well be the first-and-only time most people will ever hear of him.

JUST ENVISION, PEOPLE who feel like they need to cast a ballot come Nov. 6 show up not feeling enthused about either incumbent Bruce or billionaire J.B. – then they see there’s also a Libertarian with all the names.

McCANN: Will he remain on ballot?

I have to wonder how many people will wind up putting a mark beside that ballot entry, just because!

Although a part of me has to wonder if he’d have been better off keeping his mother-given name – I can’t recall quite as noteworthy a name as “Winderweedle” appearing on an Illinois ballot. It would have gained him voter attention – without all the legal expense of a court-approved name change.

Besides, just think of all the attention the Illinois political scene would gain from those who want to speculate on how seriously a “Gov. Winderweedle” would be taken?

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Pot is the Republican boogeyman. Or so says governor candidate Jeanne Ives

Marijuana remains the demon drug, so to speak. A substance that certain people in our society want to single out because of some belief that it’s the “liberal” drug.

IVES: Ties Dems to pot

And that punishing people for marijuana possession and use is a way of criminalizing liberal thought and actions.

NEVER MIND THE truth that any connection between the “peace” and “love” sentiments of the 1960s, Hippies and marijuana use is long gone. Most pot users are nitwits in need of a buzz – and many of whom probably spout out the tired rhetoric of conservative ideologues.

So excuse me for thinking that Jeanne Ives, the state senator from Wheaton who has dreams of deposing Bruce Rauner as governor, is a bit delusional in her latest round of rhetoric.

The one where she denounced Democrats as the political party of “recreational marijuana, higher taxes, more spending.” That was said by Ives (who says that one of Rauner’s flaws as governor is that he doesn’t adequately support Donald Trump’s presidency) during a recent appearance in rural Illinois.

I’m sure if they could, the ideologues amongst us would criminalize any line of thought they happen to disagree with. But since that would be blatantly un-American, they settle for this means of harassment of certain people in our society.

RAUNER: Are his millions not enough to win?

SPECIFICALLY IN MATTOON, the News-Gazette of Champaign-Urbana reported Thursday of Ives’ latest round of rhetoric where she denounces Rauner’s re-election chances – claiming the candidate whom Democratic Chicago has come to despise and whom the labor unions will focus their attention on defeating is actually way too liberal for Illinois.

“He should not, and he cannot win,” said Ives, according to the News-Gazette.

For Ives and the ideologues remain peeved that Rauner – the governor who caused a two-year period of Illinois government without a budget – didn’t similarly thwart abortion- and immigration-related measures that have come before the General Assembly.

An out-of-date image GOP still tries to use

So now, to try to get the political support of local Republican officials, she’s bringing up pot. As though our state’s Legislature is on the verge of legalizing certain substances that otherwise would warrant prison time.

EVEN THOUGH THE reality is that decriminalization and legalization are far from the same, and government officials go so far as to maintain heavy restriction on the notion of medical use of marijuana that some would argue it becomes way too difficult for people who could have a legitimate use for grass to actually obtain it.

Which, to me, sounds like the same strategy that Republican operatives have used for coping with abortion since the Supreme Court of the United States legitimized it more than four decades ago – it may be legal, but it can be a pain in the derriere to actually terminate a pregnancy.

Yet the ideologues would have us think that we have 13-year-old girls freely ending pregnancies without parental knowledge – let alone permission. Just as they’d have us think that the Democratic side of the Senate and House of Representatives chambers are covered in a cloud of humo de marijuana.

Some yearn too strongly for decade of Reagan/Graham, when what I remember ...

While the Republican side of the aisle is clean and pure and we hear the chorus of “Hallelujah” playing all the time. Except for those GOPers who are of such an ideological bent that they denounce the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as being un-Christian (and thereby wicked).

MY FIRST REACTION to hearing of such rhetoric is always the same – somebody’s been watching too much of “Cheech and Chong” and taking their comedy routines from the 1970s way too literally.

... were silly haircuts of 'A Flock of Seagulls'

Which is why I have a hard time taking any of it seriously. Most likely, Ives is a Wheaton native who thinks we’re still back in the ‘80s. As in Ronald Reagan is president, Billy Graham is the spiritual role model for her home city (the evangelist attended Wheaton College) and DuPage County is the heart and strength of the Illinois Republican Party.

Even though the reality is that the modern-day heart and strength of the GOP is Bruce Rauner’s wallet – since he’s providing the financing for many of the legislative candidates he’s counting on to be his political allies. Which means Ives is not even as strong within the Republican ranks as she’d like to think.

As for all that marijuana talk that comes from Ives and her ideologue followers, it can't help but make me wonder what kind of substances they've been smoking.

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Trump can’t have another Admiral Stockdale as his V-P running mate

I’m not about to predict just who Donald Trump will pick to be his vice presidential running mate. Largely because there’s no knowing just what the man will consider to be a priority on any given day.

TRUMP: Who's his Number Two?

Which also is why some people are fearful of what kind of chief executive he’d make if he actually got elected. Nobody cares if The Trump Organization LLC is run by an egomaniac because ultimately Donald himself is the loser if he makes a stupid decision.

BUT IF HE does manage to get elected to higher office, the consequences are much higher. This is bigger than back when Minnesota voters picked one-time professional wrestler Jesse Ventura to be their governor.

Although to tell you the truth, I think the kind of people who made that vote are the same ones telling their brethren across the country to Vote Trump this time around. It’s something of a protest vote by people who resent the idea that they’re supposed to care about government.

So they decide to “clown it up” by doing the equivalent of casting a ballot for “Mickey Mouse.” Except Mickey and Minnie probably have more gravitas as a first couple than do Donald and Melania.

And Mickey would probably give us Goofy as a V-P, with Donald Duck as a Secretary of Defense, while we don’t have a clue who Trump would put in place to succeed him in the event of his demise while in office.

CHRISTIE: A V-P from Jersey?

IF ANYTHING, I suspect Trump would wind up placing any running mate he picks under immediate suspicion that they may try to poison his food in an attempt to gain the top political post for themselves.

Two points to mention. One is that such a motivation is the only reason anyone would want to be aligned with Trump as a running mate. Second is that if one truly wanted to feed Trump something nasty, just keep giving him those “taco bowls” he claims are so wonderful at the restaurants in his hotels.

I’d argue that his opinion of those culinary dishes is evidence that the man has no true sense of cuisine, or elegance. Then again, those 40-foot-high letters spelling out “T-R-U-M-P” on the side of his building in Chicago ought to be evidence of how gauche the man can be.

STOCKDALE: He could have been 'war hero' V-P

So who’s the Trump V-P?

I NOTICED THAT New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was named to be in charge of a Trump transition team as he officially goes from being one of 18 Republican blowhards dreaming of being president to being the GOP’s actual nominee.

Could this mean we’ll soon get the ticket of Trump/Christie running for office, to see which loudmouth can out-shout the other in an effort to lead our country?

Or could this be the sole reward for being willing to give up his own presidential aspirations and be subservient to Trump? Maybe Trump will actually ask Christie’s opinion on who the V-P should be? Then pick someone else based solely on his whims.

Political sense says that Trump, who has never held elective office in his life, needs a hard-core politico at his side. Perhaps such as a New Jersey governor. Or  a member of the Senate (although not Ted Cruz, he’s too likely to think for himself and ignore the latest ramblings of Trump).

THE LAST THING Trump needs is the perception of a rank amateur who’s so clueless that he becomes easy pickings for Saturday Night Live sketches.

Such as the aforementioned Admiral James Stockdale, who was the running mate back in 1992 when H. Ross Perot tried giving us an independent political bid. Political people still laugh at the lines, “Who am I” and “Why am I here” that came from Stockdale during his one debate performance, as though the man were truly too clueless to comprehend his circumstance, instead of trying to answer rhetorical questions meant to introduce himself to the audience.

BREWER: Noooooooooooooo!!!!

Or if Trump were to actually take seriously the suggestion of former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, whose state tried to give law enforcement and local officials greater authority to crack down on Latinos for merely existing. If Trump picked her, we'd see how quickly that any Democratic presidential hopeful would wind up gaining 99 percent of the Latino vote. It would be a pathetic joke.

If anything, that could become the key to figuring if Trump has truly picked a worthy running mate – how quickly can Saturday Night Live turn his choice into a national joke?!? If they can’t, then Trump may have caught on to something.

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