REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION – William J. Kelly’s new commentary/satire on the Scott Lee Cohen affair…

 SCOTTY, WE HARDLY KNEW YE – Democrat Lt. Governor Candidate Scott Lee Cohen Resigns Amid Scandal

by William J. Kelly

Scott Lee Cohen, the Democrat nominee for lieutenant governor never even got elected to a full term and Second City’s already working on the musical. The Democrats were so eager to get rid of him, they did everything but hold a knife to his throat.

Aside from the news of Cohen’s abuse of his ex-wife and the police reports that he held a knife to his ex-girlfriend’s throat (prostitute or not), I don’t know why Governor Pat Quinn is complaining. He has proven this year that he doesn’t really want reform. Having Cohen on the Democratic ticket could have had some positive upsides. If Quinn was really desperate for a bridge loan, he could have just had Scotty taken him down to the pawn shop on Clark Street. How much are Abe Lincoln artifacts going for these days? I mean, at Cohen’s pawn shop, you wouldn’t get market value but still. With Illinois on the brink of insolvency, these times call for creativity.

In terms of creativity though, Scott Lee Cohen also falls short. Cohen’s a betting man. He used two million of his pawn shop proceeds to buy the lieutenant governor’s seat and won the primary with no media scrutiny. However, in terms of pioneering pay-to-play politics, Blagojevich beat him to it. It is a good thing Rod Blagojevich didn’t know Scott Lee Cohen in 2008. Blago wouldn’t have sold Obama’s seat, he probably could have pawned it instead.

 Illinois needs campaign finance reform now. We need to enact laws that prevent pay-to-play politics and spending caps across the board. We need full transparency and an end to all legal loop holes that circumvent campaign finance laws. In Illinois, state Republicans have proposed HB5008 to limit campaign contributions from legislative leaders and their caucus committees and political parties. Quinn’s reform bill only made House Speaker Michael Madigan and other elites even more powerful. This law puts no monetary limit on leaders and political parties during the general election. Governor Quinn, what kind of reform is that? Unless Pat Quinn is ready to pass a real reform bill, he may want to keep Scott Lee Cohen’s pawn shop number handy for future reference.

William J. Kelly is a former Republican candidate for comptroller in Illinois and the executive director of a new reform group.

Kelly’s victory shows that Republicans rejected the smears and the  falsehoods of Dodge, the Champion News’ Jack Roeser and Doug Ibendahl, and didn’t like being manipulated by paid bloggers like Lynn Thomas. Voters scoffed at the growing mountain of falsehoods against Kelly, finding them strange and bizaare. Indeed, they are. Now true conservatives are tuning out of these wierd blogs and finding other places to spend their time then in their closets, eating cheese doodles, and reading these sad, tabloidy-blogs. Christian conservative were among the first to reject these type of blogs and these type of political candidates, recognizing the danger in reading, spreading, and continuing to perpetrate provable falsehoods. (Yes, the Eighth commandment still exists).  So, to all of those who have come out of the darkness of ignorance and hate, Illinois Right of Way Daily welcomes you.

GREAT SHADES OF DEEP THROAT: DODGE, LYNN “CAO” THOMAS CAUGHT IN TEA PARTY-GATE LIE

NIXONIAN PARALLELS: DODGE, PAID BLOGGER THOMAS CAUGHT IN MASSIVE TEA PARTY LIE

After weeks of filling up the Illinois political blogs with its rumor and lie-ridden muck, comptroller candidate Jim Dodge, unhinged members of his staff, and paid bloggers like Lynn “Cao” Thomas have just been caught in a massive deceit of their own making. If Deep Throat were still around, Thomas’ bizarrely-written stalker-esque blogs against Bill Kelly would have been his next big expose’.

Therapy may be in order here as Thomas is strangely and unnaturally fixated on Republican candidate William J. Kelly. Apparently, from facebook entries, one of Thomas’ main sources of a female campaign worker for Dodge, who was distraught and angry Kelly did not hire her for his campaign. Given the pattern exhibited in these blogs of unstable behavior and commentary by Thomas and the staffer source, Illinois Right of Way Daily cannot blame Kelly in the least. Thomas and her source’s erratic behavior has been on display and over such an extended period of time.

If this isn’t a case for emotional instability, Illinois Right of Way Daily doesn’t know what is. We suppose it could be that the value of the financial quid-pro-quo Thomas’ candidate, Paul Mitchell, received from Dodge benefactor, Jack Roeser, was more than the $5,000 Dodge’s D-2 disclosures revealed. The Topinka-Dodge linked- tall tales raises serious questions: do bloggers have any responsibility to tell the truth on the internet? To support their contentions with any facts? Should blogger audiences hold them accountable for factually unsupportable postings and, thus, should we turn our backs on them? If we read and perpetuate their falsehoods, aren’t we as hateful and as terrible as they are? Aren’t we guilty of the very same lies and deceptions as our left-wing counterparts?

Thomas reported her in blog last week that Kelly attended a Tea Party event and was thrown out after he attempted to speak. Thomas then fabricated a hearsay with conversation and slapped a headline on her blog claiming that Kelly lied. However, it turns out the this “Tea Party” event was anything but. The Lynn “Cao” Thomas/Dodge story does not bear out with facts that have been uncovered by Kelly’s own campaign. The Park Ridge event organizer bragged in the American Liberty Alliance Blog:  “The Park District had to have a name of the group holding the meeting so I made one up for them. Tea Party Conservatives. So far I am the only member.” See this link at: http://americanlibertyalliance.com/blog/2009-12-24/lets-talk-recalls/

Illinois Right of Way Daily has heard from the grassroots that the official tea party movement is very upset that the Tea Party name has been misused yet again. This particular event had already chosen and endorsed its candidates before the event took place. That is not what the Tea Party Movement is about. The Tea Party Movement is about truth, freedom, and giving everyone the chance to speak out. It is not about manipulating events and candidacies to your political benefit. According to official Tea Party alerts, Mr. Kelly received the Tea Party’s highest rating and future political event organizers should take extreme care not to exploit the Tea Party’s good name.

In the opinion of Illinois Right of Way Daily, Republican candidate Jim Dodge, paid bloggers like Lynn “Cao” Thomas, and Dodge supporters, Jack Roeser and Doug Ibendahl have truly disgraced and discredited themselves and whatever they might have stood for – or not – in this campaign.  With Jim Dodge’s hired Democrat political consultant, Joe Novak, a long-time associate of Judy Baar Topinka’s, we have no doubt who has drummed up the dirt and thrown it into the wind.  Surely, they were not expecting to get a mouth full of dirt back in their own faces. That is true justice.

The campaign for comptroller in Illinois has come to mean much more than a campaign for the lowest tier statewide office. It asks the question: Do we participate in the politics of dirt, lies, and politics of the past or do we begin to talk about truth, principles, and a new Republican party led by a vibrant new populism? It is your decision. Choose.

Illinois Right of Way Daily Says Candidate Dodge is Specter of Illinois

The Illinois Tea Party movement – from Joliet to Rockford to Springfield has some choices  to make- but will they make them? Or will, as the Star Wars saying goes, choose the quicker, easier path? The Republican candidates tea party groups have to choose from are distinguished or undistinguished by their records:

It is obvious to everyone that Andy McKenna is an insider and that Jim Ryan is just typical establishment Republican party. McKenna’s outsider credentials begin and end with the word “outsider.” Most tea party supporters seems to be congregating around a few of the long-line of candidates: Adam Andrzejewski came out of the blue as a conservative to run for governor. Proft had a part-time gig on WLS and worked for convicted Cicero mob boss Betty Loren Maltese as a consultant but he says all the right things. Kirk Dillard is getting support of establishment Republicans but his record as a conservative isn’t quite there. Despite Bill Brady’s record, tea party groups seems to be opting for Adam Andrzejewski or Proft.  Will it be enough to overtake McKenna’s bucks? We shall see.

The Illinois comptroller’s race is the nastiest race Illinois Right of Way Daily has seen. Longtime conservative activist and former executive director of the National Taxpayers United of Illinois, William J. Kelly,  is opposing Jim Dodge and Judy Baar Topinka. Conservatives can’t stand Topinka so the street fighting has been between Dodge and Kelly. Illinois Right of Way Daily has taken a position on this race and finds the rumor campaign against Kelly by Dodge and his emmissaries at Champion News despicable. The latest rumor floating by Dodge-sponsored blogs is calling for an investigation of Kelly’s deceased father, a teacher who - scandal – saved his money. (Socialists beware, Kelly comes from a family of penny pinchers!)  Mr. Dodge’s reputation in Orland is not a conservative and his record of financial support to Judy Baar Topinka and countless checks to Democrats show that he is not Tea Party material.  His record of political hack jobs are exactly what the tea party movement says it is against.

Dodge says that the head of the PR firm that represents Kelly and U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Hughes donated to Topinka in 2006. But isn’t Dodge the candidate who gave money to Topinka?  As for conservative credentials, the firm that represents Kelly is one of the few conserative PR firms in Illinois. (The firm has worked for presidential administrations going back to Nixon, President Reagn and has strong ties to national figures like former Governor Mitt Romney and Senator John Thune.)  Tea Party groups need to call Dodge out on this hypocrisy.  If some individual tea party groups are supporting Mr. Dodge, then they have not learned anything about politcs in the year the movement began. Kelly’s record as a tax activist is impressive and his criticisms of Mr. Dodge are based on the public record, rather than personal mud-slinging.  If Kelly isn’t Tea Party, then no one could stand that high litmus test.  Voting for Dodge over Kelly is like voting for McCain over Sarah Palin or for George Bush over Ronald Reagan or for Arlen Specter period.  The choice for Tea Party supporters could not be more clear in this race.

As the U.S. Senate race in Illinois is concerned, the Illinois Tea party movement is divided in choosing to support one  candidate in the race. However, some groups are behind conservative Patrick Hughes. Hughes’ principles and his financial support and organization make him a solid Tea Party choice to go up against the Democratic candidate in November. Mark Kirk has tried to muddy the waters with his switch on cap-and-trade but he got more than he bargained for when he messed with “tea.” The Illinois media has tried to prop Kirk up and will see if grassroots can make sure that Hughes comes out victorious. With the media’s slant on polls, the reliability of that information is anybody’s guess.

My final word to Tea Party groups and their supporters : You do yourselves a grave disservice by supporting candidates that engage in personal slurs and attacks instead of issues.  Do not make the same mistake as the Republican party has been making for years and years and years and years and… years. Scott Brown’s win in Massachusetts was as much a win for the fight against socialism as it was against the politics of the past.

Just when you thought Illinois politics couldn’t get any dirtier. Illinois Republican candidate for comptroller, William J. Kelly, is calling out his opponents who are even attacking his deceased dad.  The candidate says he is taking action with a TV commercial spot, which actually targets attack ads themselves. The campaign says  that the ads will be launched on Fox News Channel and other TV outlets next week.  

The most recent smear involves an attack on Kelly’s deceased father who died a number of years ago from prostate cancer and heart difficulties. Dodge and Topinka agents are “investigating” the  former Chicago public school principal on how a teacher could have amassed any money. Kelly’s response: “Because he saved it. That is what middle class people do.”

Given America’s debt to Communist China and Illinois dancing on the edge of insolvency, saving money may seem like a foreign concept to political insiders in 2010. ”My opponents have crossed the line now. The voters are rejecting these vicious smear campaigns and the candidates that are behind them,” saysKelly. “In the end, the truth wins out.””

On Tuesday, Scott Brown was spurred to Senate victory when Massachusetts voters rejected his opponent’s dirty campaign on him. Fox News contributor, Frank Luntz, has said that voters are having a negative reaction to personal attacks, which helped create a groundswell for Brown. Kelly says the TV attack spots are in response to an unprecedented smear campaign against him by his opponents, Jim Dodge and former state treasurer Judy Barr Topinka. Topinka is famously known for her huge loss to Rod Blagojevich in the race for governor even when Illinois voters were aware that Blago was under investigation. 

Kelly says that his opponents’ smears are provably false and that they “haven’t even done good research. ” If they can’t get their facts straight and like to peddle in smears, how could we possibly entrust them with elected them to public office?”  The GOP candidate says that a lawsuit will be filed against some members of Jim Dodge’s campaign staff next week.  Although he is running as a Republican, Jim Dodge has a history of financial contributions to Topinka and thousands to Democrats.

William J. Kelly’s website is www.friendsofwilliamjkelly.com

PSSSTTTT…Who is Cao’s Blog’s source  attacking the Republican comptroller candidate William J. Kelly? Could it be a disgrunted female and previously out of work Bill Kelly stalker now serving on the Dodge campaign? How low can your standards go, Cao?

Blogs need to be more than refuges for those that need counseling.

With the endorsement of the extremely inexperienced Barack Obama over the very experienced John S. McCain in 2008, the Chicago Tribune crossed the line into journalistic oblivion. Clearly, standards were less important than sellling papers and it knew that if it didn’t endorse Obama, there would be hell to pay in terms of reader loyalty. In one fell swoop, the Tribune lost its soul and its editorial explaining its endorsement was an epic stretch that the good Colonel McCormick himself never could have envisioned or tolerated. So be it.

With the Chicago Tribune’s endorsement of insider Republican Andy McKenna, Illinois witnessed another journalistic stretch. McKenna, the silver spoon son of inherited wealth, the ultimate insider, and weak previous leader of the Republican party of Illinois – how did the Chicago Tribune come to the conclusion that he is fit material to be governor and could fix this mess? Illinois Right of Way Daily looks at the guy and all we can think is, “What a weenie.” Other than living off his family wealth, we can’t think of one accomplishment Mr. McKenna has actually had, one thing that he has stood up for, and he seems to smack of the same backroom, insider impulses that conservatives and finally the voters find universally repugnant. Such is the behind-the-scenes dealings of Illinois politics mixed with its dinner parties and private relationships and its cliques and its wink-wink-nod-nod way of doing business that shuts out the true outsider reformers. It is through this prism that conservatives need to understand Illinois own special version of media bias, a prism that bolsters liberal Democrats and Republicans and mocks and ignores true conservative ones without special tarnished connections. One wonders though, what the Tribune got from McKenna in return for its endorsement. Then again, with McKenna’s Schwarz Paper company, they’d at least get their paper dirt cheap.

The vicious attacks continue on Republican comptroller candidate William J. Kelly in Illinois. The attacks remind us how despicable politics can be and recall the attacks on Sarah Palin in the 2008 election.

Like Palin, the attacks on William Kelly are ugly, deceptive, and personal. Like Palin, Kelly is attractive, charismatic, and real people funny.  Real people – like those of the Republican electorate – like Kelly and that makes him a threat.  However, the attackers aren’t just attacking Kelly - they are spreading hate.  Republicans, conservatives, independents, bloggers and tea party activists need to condemn these attackers and their pathetic and ugly gossip campaign against Kelly and his staff.  We need to reject these people, their articles, their blogs, and their actions completely and never look back.

These sad, hateful people make all conservatives look bad with their hate against a conservative activist like Bill Kelly (if you don’t believe Right of Way Daily, look up Kelly’s video documentary, “A Conservative in Chicago” on youtube.com).  Right of Way Daily has a few choice words for these so-called conservatives, these false Republicans: Your personal attacks do the conservative movement a grave injustice.  That means Champion News Publisher Roeser, his employee thug Ibendahl, false Republican Jim Dodge, and the bloggers that are being paid or pressured by them. You should be ashamed of yourselves and will have a larger power to account to when all is said and done. 

You are not Republican and you are certainly not conservative. You bring shame to us all with your dirty, dirty unchristian campaign.

Republican Candidate in Illinois Defends Himself from Opponent’s Dirty Campaign with Web Documentary

ILLINOIS RIGHT OF WAY DAILY GIVES “A CONSERVATIVE IN CHICAGO”  TWO THUMBS UP!

The comment on YouTube for William J. Kelly’s new web documentary, “A Conservative  in Chicago” says it all:

Hollywood 7 writes: “You risk your life if you get between Kelly and a video camera.”  After you watch the Kelly’s political journey before your very eyes in this video, you’ll know what Hollywood 7 is talking about. Kelly takes no prisoners and he has taken no prisoners for many long years – perhaps longer than any candidate claiming the Republican mantle in Illinois politics today. What struck us at Illinois Right of Way Daily is how much we didn’t know about Kelly and to what extent this candidate, this man has put himself on the line for what he believes. How many political candidates can actually say that and actually prove it? If you had any doubts left, watch this video and believe.

What has also been made very clear to Illinois Right of Way Daily is the extent that Kelly’s opponent, Jim Dodge, and Mr. Ibendahl and Mr. Roeser of the Champion News have been deceitful in their attacks against this conservative - something that they all claim to be. After watching “A Conservative in Chicago,” the staff of Illinois Right of Way Daily has doubts about their sincerity as conservatives. Kelly, speaking in his own words, about everything from his encounters with President Bill Clinton and Rep. Bobby Rush and how he was inspired by Ronald Reagan to go against the grain and go into the entertainment industry to promote conservative values, comes across as passionate and sincere. We also were unexpectedly surprised to see Rush Limbaugh defending Kelly’s activism from back in the 1990s. Cool. How many of us have someone of Limbaugh’s stature defending us? 

This candidate is a stark contrast to the traditional stiff candidates we have seen so much of and it was extremely refreshing to see this level of candor and warmth.  If only all candidates were capable of this, we would have more successes and fewer failures in Illinois and around the country.

At last look, Kelly’s opponents were still attacking him with the same tired old videos – videos that, if you watch “A Conservative in Chicago” you know that they are assembled pieces from Kelly’s award-winning TV shows.  We agree with Kelly that this has been an unprecedented smear campaign – unprecedented in its meanness and that it has gone on for quite long enough in the dusty corners of shameful Illinois conservative infighting. Shameful and deceitful are the appropriate words here.

The Right of Illinois Daily hopes that more bloggers and journalists will pick up on this story and let the real truth about William J. Kelly, Jim Dodge, and Judy Baar Topinka be told.

If you are a blogger, we urge you to put this story in the spotlight it deserves.

The Illinois Right of Way Daily has devoted its last few posts to the  Illinois comptroller’s race and the attacks on Republican candidate William J. Kelly.  We have watched the attacks on him from the Champion News and a virus of false information coming from so-called conservative blogs. They call themselves conservative blogs but even in the blogosphere, we should have standards and not make wild accusations. That is what is occurring. This is what the lay of the land was like this week:  

GUTS ON GITMO  

When everyone else is talking, it seems that the break-the-mold Republican candidate for comptroller William J. Kelly, acts. The candidate filed an injunction this week challenging the public hearing process on in Sterling, Illinois. Yesterday the court struck the TRO on technical issues. But Kelly has said with the politics of this action he knew it was going to be an uphill battle.

On the issue of what is called “standing” Kelly says knew he would have to have residents from in and around Thomson and would have difficulty getting them to fight against the closure of Thomson and the  transfer of the Gitmo detainees. Illinois Right of Way Daily applauds Mr. Kelly’s valiant effort for trying to put a monkeywrench in the plans of Governor Pat Quinn and the Obama Administration.  We have seen a copy of his temporary restraining order and it was a solid legal document that could have stood up and held back the tide. 

 What we question is: why did Mr. Kelly have to stand alone? The Illinois Tea Party and Band of Mothers Organizations have stood united and strong on this issue as well. Kudos to them too.  However, where are all the true reformers? With all the politicians running this year, how are you different than anyone else that has come before you? Where was your courage and where was your voice on this? Was it too difficult? Would you get your hands dirty? All the insider,  mob, or family money in the world cannot buy you courage or guts, the way it can an Internet campaign or statewide TV ad spot.

Yet there appears to be a small rash of “conservative” blogs in illinois attacking Kelly for filing the injunction to stop the Gitmo vote.  (We could name names but won’t for now!) As bloggers, we post. It  is safe. It is easy to attack others. However, some or many of us fail to act. Most of us do not do anything more than sit in front of our computer screens and let people like Kelly – and there are few activists of his kind – do the dirty work.  These do-nothing bloggers should be hanging their head in shame and real conservatives should hold them in true contempt. If they’ve bucked under pressure or are on someone’s payroll to attack a conservative activist like Kelly on an issue like Gitmo, then they truly need to take a good look at themselves. Really, what side are you on? The terrorists? Come on now.

 The negative attacks on Kelly and others are – as it is well known – motivated by smear mongers and do-nothings like Jack Roeser of the Champion News, a viciously spiteful Doug Ibendahl, candidate Jim Dodge who gives money to democrats, and fringe candidate Andy Martin.  The mainstream media – such as the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune and others in Illinois have even decried their dirty campaign tactics recently. Some conservative bloggers have even reported that they have have been threatened and pressured by these same people.  If that is “conservative,” they can keep it. In the Right of Way Daily’s book, it does not qualify as that. It is becoming increasingly clear who are the good guys and who are the bad.

On the Gitmo issue, Kelly had geared up for a David v. Goliath battle and couldn’t keep back the tide…for now. The Right of Way Daily hears rumblings though that he has more arrows in his arsenal to sling yet.  We will be watching. Take that do-nothing and false conservatives! You have revealed yourselves.

The Illinois Right of Way Daily

NOBLE CONSERVATIVE BLOGS THIS WEEK

http://www.publiusforum.com/

www.marathonpundit.com

http://backyardconservative.blogspot.com/

http://conservativebrand.tumblr.com/

 Why is the Champion News, Comptroller candidate Jim Dodge, and Committeeman Dean Kasper reminding us more of Emperor Palpatine at the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi? There is that crucial scene towards the end of the film where Darth Vadar must choose between his son, Luke Skywalker, and doing evil’s bidding. Fortunately, in the film, Vader chooses good for once. However, that is not how it always is in real life. It is also not how it is in the Illinois Conservative movement.

Supposedly, Mr. Roeser of the Champion News has known and been friends with William J. Kelly, a candidate for Comptroller, for more than 20 years. A tiff between them began when Kelly didn’t exit the race as Roeser & Co. , apparently, pressured him to do. Mr. Roeser wanted Kelly out of the race because of his disdain for former Illinois treasurer Judy Baar Topinka and because his employee, Mr. Ibendhall, is friends with Jim Dodge.  Petty conservative infighting…it’s like all the highschool bullies you never liked. That’s the shame of the Illinois conservative movement – we’re only talking about and dissing each other. All the little cliques that were there ten years ago are still there today. They are fighting over forkfuls of the pie and not even complete slices. There is only so much you can do, we suppose. We remember all those high school bullies all too well.

The result of the petty infighting: A bunch of attack videos compiled by Roeser and Dodge from Kelly’s late night TV shows on FOX and CSN. The viewer doesn’t know the video clips are from television programs and that makes them intentionlly deceptive from a blogger or media point of view and we lay the blame fully on Dodge, Roeser, and Ibendhall’s blinding level of anger and, can we suggest, even hate. We can think of nothing in politics or life that warrants that. That is why there is more to to this than meets the eye or the Internet. It has to do with what it means to be a conservative and a Christian. Kelly is a long-time conservative activist. Kelly maintains that he is even using late night TV as a forum to bring conservative values to a hostile late night audience and he is doing that successfully. We think that takes guts for trying something different. Most Republicans and conservatives try the same things and have repeatedly failed.  

 We’ve also been watching Champion’s Ibendhall gleefully attacking Kelly and it gives us pause in its unseemliness – especially now during the holidays. After all, weren’t Kelly and Roeser friends for decades? Why would Mr. Roeser allow this level of nastiness and pettiness? It seems beneath him as it would for any Christian and any true conservative. The question is for conservatives and Christians  then: at what point do you lose yourself and your credibility? Should those with glass houses be throwing so many stones? What would Jesus say?

Speaking of glass houses, from the evidence Dodge has himself been involved in dirty dealings in Orland Park Township and funding democrats – not something a conservative would do. Republicans in Illinois are not known for their conservatism but all this seems to take the cake.  We haven’t heard a good excuse from Dodge on his double-dealing with democrats.

Given Champion News’ latest blog today – a day before Christmas Eve – the day before the birth of our Lord – it seems an essential question to ask…do principles and values mean anything? In the words of the immortal Lucille Ball, “Ricky, you’ve got some ‘splainin to do.”  In this case, it would be Dodge, Topinka, and Jack Roeser himself.

Peace and a very Merry Christmas to everyone.

THE RIGHT OF WAY DAILY

UPDATE: A day after Christmas, GOP township committeeman Dean Kasper sent out a Facebook message about Kelly that again was deceptive about Kelly’s Emmy winning television program on FOX of all places. We wonder if Mr. Kasper would like to complain to Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes about their programming. All we can say is…if its good enough for FOX, its good enough for us.