|
My Photographs You like photos? I love taking them. Click here, if you wanna see some of my work
Is a photo missing on an older entry? Click here to find it at Photogra!  The Other Links Favorites and Rings are now here!
The life you save might be mine!
|
Monday, Jan. 13, 2003 - 8:31 p.m. Yeah, I am still pissed about what Illinois governor George Ryan did on Saturday. If you didn�t read my entry yesterday, and haven�t read a newspaper or watched the news in the past few days, you might not know what I am talking about. George Ryan�s last day in office was today. He didn�t even bother running for re-election. His term was filled with indictments, top people in his inner circle going to jail, and a near-total disregard for the people of the state that (mistakenly) put him in office. Saturday, he granted blanket clemency for all individuals who were counting the days on Illinois death row. His reason? Because he couldn�t bring himself to allow the possibility that one person on death row was innocent of the charges against them (his words). Because of this, 167 people now will serve life in prison. All will, sooner or later, be up for appeals and possibly parole. As much as I bitched about this yesterday, I think I left one important component out of the equation: What about the victim�s family members? George thought about them. Yes sir, he did. He sent each a certified letter, explaining how he had to stop all death sentences, for the �one innocent person� reason I mentioned above. It�s too bad the criminals didn�t take the same care before the murdered their victims...... I heard the former Republican candidate for Attorney General speak on a radio program this morning, and he made some very interesting points about Ryan�s method of reviewing the system. He said he called George up in July (when Ryan first mentioned the clemency hearings), and offered to be on an advisory committee for the governor. Ryan told him to� butt out, or this will burn you�. He didn�t know what to say to that, but told Ryan that he HAD to get the local prosecutors views on this issue, too. Ryan only consulted with defense attorneys. Late last year, he ran his clemency hearings in Springfield. Each inmate�s attorney was given 15 minutes to state their case for clemency. They ran each case through in less time than most people take a shower. They also let the victim�s family�s spill their emotions to the review board, opening their wounds all over again. Ryan said Saturday that he studied EVERY case, and he just couldn�t tell which inmates might be innocent. He had to let all of them off if he was to be able to sleep at night. Here is what one commentator said about Ryan�s motives: He lost his campaign war chest back in the summer. Why? Because the federal prosecutor froze all of the assets because he believes they may be illegal contributions. There have only been two other political campaigns who have been indicted by a federal prosecutor in the history of the United States: Richard Nixon�s re-election campaign, and a presidential campaign of Lyndon LaRouche. He is in pretty fine company there, isn�t he? So, what�s a crooked man to do, once he looses his $2 million in pocket cash he had planned on living off of in his retirement years? How about becoming a hired speaker for anyone who shares his �beliefs� on the issue of the death penalty? He better line up as many speaking engagements as possible in the near future. He will have a hard time speaking to audiences when he ends up behind bars, after he is convicted of the crimes he has committed in the name of filling the pockets of his friends with bribe money�. Damn, I did it again. I wrote two Word pages about that jerk. I don�t want to discuss him anymore, but he just keeps finding ways to irritate the hell out of me. I don�t want to see his face on TV anymore, that�s for sure. The publicity he is getting from the press has been pretty one-sided, with barely a mention of his ulterior motives. The next time I see him on TV, I hope it is with him being led, handcuffed, from his mansion in Kankakee. That would be a pretty sight�.. Anybody out there like the comic strip �Get Fuzzy�? The subversive humor in this daily strip always makes my day. It has (almost) replaced the spot I held for the Far Side in my daily reading. Almost, I said. I changed my cursor today to the profile of Satchel, the dog in the strip. I was tired of the snowflake I had been using anyway. It doesn�t snow much around here anymore, so it was silly to keep it as my cursor. Yes, the humans in this strip talk to the animals, and the animals talk back. If you click on today�s cartoon, you will see that Darby Conley, the writer, doesn�t shy away from politics. Usually, he just revolves the strip around the main characters. They are: Rob, the �owner� of the two main animals. Bucky, the cat. He thinks he will someday rule the world. He likes to talk about himself in third person. Satchel, the slow-witted but loveable pooch. He usually endures Bucky�s wrath, but late last year totally flipped out on him. The two weeks that story unfolded was some of the best strips Conley has written to date. Anyway�.I felt like I had forced you to read enough bummer news here the past two days. I even made a hyperlink to the site, in case you want to check it out down the road. Consider this link my attempt to make it up to you��.
 powered by SignMyGuestbook.com
Have You Read These?
A hot day for a wedding...9:26 p.m. - Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009 So bad - but so funny, too.10:33 p.m. - Saturday, Jun. 13, 2009 Evil Black Walnut Tree from Hell!- times up!6:41 a.m. - Thursday, Apr. 23, 2009 My next door neighbor was on the Today Show?8:57 p.m. - Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009 This qualifies as a "oh crap!" moment:9:55 p.m. - Monday, Mar. 30, 2009 Back to top
|
