GOP Bashes Democrats With Racism, Ignorance
By RAY HANANIA • Friday, July 13, 2012
Southwest News-Herald Newspaper
Republican Congressman Joe Walsh claims his Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth talks too much about her military service.
It’s not surprising, considering Walsh and most Republican lawmakers on the national level have wrapped themselves so tight using “patriotism” and “American soldier salutes” to fire up their sagging popular support.
The Republicans have turned patriotism into a partisan value, claiming that Democrats are not patriotic enough.
That is funny because Walsh is like many Republicans. He NEVER served in the military to defend this country. And that’s worse than those Republicans like former President George W. Bush and U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, who exaggerated their service to pretend they were war heroes, when they are not.
Republicans can’t win on the issues so they resort to name-calling. They are overwhelmed in the November election by divisions in their own ranks while the racists in the so-called “Tea Party movement” are fighting to eliminate moderate Republicans through their strident and racist calls.
The most troubling is the recent racism displayed by Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady, who continually refers to Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan as the “Leprechaun.”
It is racist and unbecoming of a Republican Party leader. Brady is escaping public criticism because he is Republican. The Chicago Tribune is a Republican Party mini-broadsheet that has targeted Madigan because of Madigan’s past resistance to give the Tribune business organization so many tax breaks.
The Tribune wanted $100 million to renovate their private baseball field, Wrigley Field, and were forced to sell the Cubs because they didn’t get enough taxpayer funded support. As I mentioned in last week’s column, Madigan drew the Tribune’s wrath when he also opposed lights for Wrigley Field.
(I mistakenly identified Tom Cullerton instead of John Cullerton in the print column as leading the fight against lights. My mistake. But unlike the Tribune and journalists at places like WMAQ TV, I at least acknowledge my errors.)
Recall that Tribune owner Sam Zell ordered his newspaper to ramp up criticism of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, because Blagojevich was also opposed to handing over taxpayer dollars to the Tribune company. If the Tribune conspired to beat up Blagojevich you know they would conspire to beat up on Madigan and other members of the Illinois Legislature, too.
But when it comes to Joe Walsh, the Tribune is right there at his side.
Instead of buckling to the Tribune, the legislature should amend the law that requires governments to publish their “legals” in the major daily newspapers. With the Internet today, those “legals” should be published for less cost to taxpayers on Web sites and the business should not go to the corrupt major dailies and their community newspaper properties, but to independent newspapers like this one.
Imagine, the bankrupt Tribune and bankrupt Sun-Times pushing legislation to insure that taxpayers publish “legal” announcements in their papers at outrageous costs, when the truth is the public NEVER reads those “legals.” It is wasted taxpayer money. Put it back in the community and support local newspapers, the last vestiges of media independence.
Visit RadioChicagoland.com to listen to the podcast interview I did with Madigan’s spokesman Steve Brown to understand the depth of the Tribune’s bias.
It’s too bad these days there are no media watchdogs to monitor media bias. Media watchdogs were the first to be fired when the media was gobbled up by big business.
(Listen to Ray Hanania every Sunday at 8 a.m. on WSCB AM 1420 and WCFJ AM 1470 radio. http://www.RadioChicagoland.com.) — City & Suburban News-Herald
