McHenry County Blog

Some of the negative reactions to my suggestion of erecting a statue of House Speaker Denny Hastert over at Illinois Review brought a smile to my face. I thought you might enjoy some, too.

Comments

Good idea. Maybe the statue could capture the essence of Denny doing a land flip deal through a secret land trust with his pal Dallas Ingemunson, and making a cool couple of mil in just several months.

Or maybe it could just capture the moment of The Coach having a big steak dinner with all the trimmins' on the tab of some lobbyist.

Or maybe it could just be Denny with the Illinois GOP having the life squeezed out of it under his boot.

Cal, if you want a statue of Denny, donate some of your own state pension money. Do it as a private enterprise. But don't ask taxpayers to belly-up. Denny's already made taxpayers pony-up too much.

Posted by: anon | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 10:39 AM

Yes, between Denny and Dallas and Tom, Kendall County has had its boot on the throats of the Republican faithful, yearning to be free.

He was a mediocre Speaker who gained the post through longevity

Posted by: Truthful James | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 11:00 AM

Pending the outcome of the Foley investigations, perhaps three statues would be in order: one each for see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil.

Posted by: Harold Henderson | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 12:13 PM

The last suggestions reminds me of the crossed fingers behind the Dirksen statue on the southeast side of the Capitol in Springfield.

Posted by: Cal Skinner | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 12:23 PM

You want to waste tax money to build a statue of a man who broke the last promise made in the Contract on America? (The last of the promises in that contract still standing was a 6-year term limit for leadership positions... Hastert broke that promise 2 years ago, about the time he and the rest of the GOP leadership tried to relax ethics rules to accommodate indicted former Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Prior to this, the GOP had already broken every other Contract promise.)

Posted by: NW burbs | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 12:54 PM

Here's another thought Cal. When Santa's Village had their auction after going out of business recently, you should have bought the big statue of Santa that graced the entrance for so many years. You probably could have picked-up for a song. Maybe you could track the buyer down and make them an offer.

Shave off the beard, lose the hat, add some weight, and you've got your Speaker statue.

Or, alternatively, if you could find a slightly used statue of a drunken sailor, maybe that would capture the essence of Denny the best.

Posted by: anon | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 01:30 PM

Cal:
You might have been closer to the river in Greene County rather than Bond. That is where Carrollton is and that was the home of Speaker Henry T. Rainey who served during the first two years of the New Deal in 1933-1934. Rainey was in for decades and became Majority Leader after the Republicans lost the majority in 1930. But he died in 1934 before serving out his term so was only Speaker about 18 months--maybe one of the shortest terms on record. For those Democrats getting excited about Dick Durbin in the new Senate, just recall what happened to the last Illinois Democrat who was majority leader, Scott Lucas in 1949. He got beat by Dirksen in 1950.

Posted by: Mark Rhoads | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 01:32 PM

Mark Rhoads cynically warned, "For those Democrats getting excited about Dick Durbin in the new Senate, just recall what happened to the last Illinois Democrat who was majority leader, Scott Lucas in 1949. He got beat by Dirksen in 1950."


Keep dreaming Mark Rhoads. Just because extremist conservative partisans hate Dick Durbin doesn't mean the rest of us mainstream Illinoisans do. (Conservative partisans also clearly hate all that is Sen. Obama. Go figure.)

Posted by: NW burbs | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 02:41 PM

NW Burbs

It doesn't take an extremist conservative partisan to dislike Dick Durbin.

But to you, all conservatives are extremists, isn't that right?

Posted by: Truthful James | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 03:10 PM

> "For those Democrats getting excited about Dick Durbin in the new Senate, just recall what happened to the last Illinois Democrat who was majority leader, Scott Lucas in 1949. He got beat by Dirksen in 1950."

Who's getting excited about Durbin as potential Senate majority leader? Has Harry Reid suddenly up and joined the great boxing commission in the sky?

Posted by: Dan | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 03:45 PM

Peter/James,

Conservatives who hold radical viewpoints and make every attempt to enact that radical vision are extremists, by definition.

I can't help it that the now-former conservative leadership in this country espoused radical views any more than you can. But I can at least be honest about it and call a spade a spade when I see it happening, Peter/James.

Posted by: NW burbs | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 03:56 PM

It's gonna take a whole lot of clay.

Posted by: Janice Engstrom | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 06:06 PM

Just as long as you get to define 'radical'...eh.

Posted by: Truthful James | Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 06:26 PM

Maybe a statue of Hastert licking the high heels of Nancy Pelosi because Hastert's lack of leadership is why the Republicans lost the House. Hastert was and remains nothing but a partisan hack who instead of doing his job representing this country sought to represent his President's interest.

Anyone who has ever met Denny likes him; he is a nice guy. But did the country need another example of the Peter Principle holding a national office?

Cripes...

Posted by: tfb | Friday, November 10, 2006 at 01:19 AM

A better location would be down range at the "World" Shooting and Recreational Complex. $2.00 a shot, at least maybe it will pay for itself.

Better yet a sort of politican pop up alley. Imagine the terror as the "world" is recreating in the woods and out pops (name your favorite) with his hand out!!!

Posted by: Mike | Friday, November 10, 2006 at 05:33 AM

Peter/James,

Here's the dictionary.com definition of "radical" since you can't be bothered with looking it up yourself...

rad‧i‧cal  /ˈrædɪkəl/ [rad-i-kuhl]
–adjective

1. of or going to the root or origin; fundamental: a radical difference.
2. thoroughgoing or extreme, esp. as regards change from accepted or traditional forms: a radical change in the policy of a company.
3. favoring drastic political, economic, or social reforms: radical ideas; radical and anarchistic ideologues.


--

Yep, points two and three fit the modern Republicans, led in part by former Speaker Hastert, to a T.

Going to war based on lies. Wanting to throw priests in the slammer if they offer water to illegal aliens. Attempting to dramatically overhaul Social Security by privatizing it. Giving billions in corporate welfare to profitable pharmaceutical and oil industries (and, in the case of the pharma legislation, "severely bending" the House rules in order to do it).

...These examples and more are the very definition of radical Peter/James ("extreme, esp. as regards change from accepted or traditional forms" and "favoring drastic political, economic, or social reforms").

And Denny Hastert was Speaker of the House, chief of the defeated Republican majority in that chamber, during these radical goings-on -- thus he himself was radical and extreme.

Got any other words you don't know the definition of?

Posted by: NW burbs | Friday, November 10, 2006 at 08:58 AM