Month: June 2010

Supreme Court’s gun-rights ruling draws comment

Posted by dwilson – June 28, 2010

Many people are debating exactly what will change with Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upholds the right of citizens to keep and bear firearms.

McDonald v. City of Chicago expands on a 2-year-old decision that knocked down a District of Columbia ban on handguns. This time the ruling was more direct, noting that the Second Amendment “applies equally to the federal government and the states.”

Politicians had different reactions.

U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, saw the ruling as a victory for the Constitution.

“This is a ruling that is deeply rooted in the traditions of this nation and makes certain that no individual has this right taken from them by repressive local governments,” Schock said.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., focused instead on what the ruling did not do.

“Much will be made of the Supreme Court’s finding today that Americans have the right to own a gun for self-defense anywhere they live. But the Court also found that the right to keep and bear arms is not an unlimited right. In fact, the Court’s decision gives local officials, like Chicago’s Mayor Daley, the authority to establish common sense handgun regulations to protect public safety,” Durbin said in a release.

“We have an obligation to keep gun laws on the books that are both consistent with the Second Amendment and consistent with our duties to protect our citizens from the deadly effects of gun violence. I will continue to work with Mayor Daley, Governor Quinn and my colleagues in Washington to ensure that governments at all levels pursue reasonable and constitutional policies to regulate gun use and to prevent misuse,” Durbin said.

Congressional candidate Bobby Schilling, a Republican running in the 17th District, saw it as a positive.

“Today’s decision was a victory for law-abiding citizens, and it was also a victory against those who want to trample on the United States Constitution,” Schilling said. “Our founding fathers gave us these liberties for a reason, and we must continue to hold them close to our hearts.”

It should be noted that both of the gun rights cases have been 5-4 rulings. This Supreme Court is not a cohesive unit on this or many other issues.

Brady leads Quinn by 11 percent in new poll

Posted by dwilson – June 10, 2010

Local businessman Harold Knapheide, left, chats with Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady at Jil Tracy's legislative breakfast last month at the Ambiance in Quincy.(H-W Photo/Phil Carlson)

A new Rasmussen poll has Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady leading Democratic candidate Pat Quinn 47-36, with 8 percent of respondents preferring some other candidate and 10 percent undecided.

Brady’s camp is cheering the poll results. Quinn’s people are saying that the large amount of undecided voters in the Chicagoland area will most likely coalesce behind the Democratic standard-bearer, which would make this a close race.

Brady, a state senator from Bloomington, has been running ads for a bit more than a week in the Chicago media market. Quinn’s campaign is said to be preparing a response.

Unanswered ads are opportunities lost for candidates. Just ask Judy Baar Topinka how the barrage of ads by now-disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich affected her campaign in 2006.

Political study seeks to identify in-betweens

Posted by dwilson – June 8, 2010

Cara Wong, a political scientist at the University of Illinois, said it is a mistake to see political groups as monolithic and homogeneous.

Wong wrote a book detailing how artificial groupings such as red state or blue state, or black, Latino or white, can lead people to believe they can speak uniformly about a group in a meaningful way. There are different philosophies and political realities within those groupings, she said.

A story on Wong appearing here, goes on to talk about how a person’s view of their community is a greater indicator of political philosophy than demographic information alone.

Unfortunately, Wong’s work and that of dozens of other researchers over the years have not led to the demise of the stereotype in American political discourse. It’s so much easier to trash an enemy when they can be boiled down to a cliche — even if it is not accurate.

Hare’s veteran status questioned, defended

Posted by dwilson – June 4, 2010

Conservative blog sites are challenging U.S. Rep. Phil Hare on his status as a veteran, but his opponent, Bobby Schilling said this “is not an issue” in the campaign and suggests that people treat Hare and all others who served in the military with respect.

Ken Moffett of Moline tells Biggovernment and Examiner.com that Hare’s service in the Army Reserves does not qualify him as a veteran. The stories do not include details on how long Hare served in the Reserves or other details. Most of Moffett’s comments center on an angry reaction from Hare when Moffett told the politician he was not entitled to call himself a veteran.

Hare, a Democrat incumbent from Rock Island, had not commented on the story by mid-afternoon on Friday. His communications director could not be reached for comment.

Schilling, a Republican from Colona, sent out a statement just before noon Friday.

“This is between Rep. Hare and a constituent,” Schilling said.

“As someone who has not served in the United States Armed Forces, I am not the person to determine whether or not someone is a veteran. Rep. Phil Hare served this country honorably. He and all other servicemen and women are all honorable for the sacrifices that they have made for our country. They all deserve respect and I would encourage everyone to show them the respect that they deserve. Again, this is not an issue for our campaign.”