Illinois’s premier political info warehouse Capitol Fax Blog is managed by Rich Miller who has a column for the Chicago Sun Times. Today Mr. Miller laments the lack of statesmen in politics – well there are statesmen but they are all too often crooks like Charley Rangel, the late Dan Rostenkowski, and so many other talented ‘sharp’ guys and gals.
Miller weeps -

“It’s tragic for Illinois that true statesmen such as Ryan and Rostenkowski turned out to be crooked. Their nefarious behavior led directly to Rod Blagojevich’s rise to power. Blagojevich won Rostenkowski’s old congressional seat in the 1996 Democratic backlash and ran mostly against George Ryan when he defeated Jim Ryan in the 2002 gubernatorial election.

That didn’t work out so well, in case you hadn’t noticed. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed that Blagojevich’s jurors somehow find a way to put that man where he belongs.

And now here we are, stuck with an accidental governor who can’t seem to get anything done and a Republican opponent who appears unable to grasp the very real crisis we find ourselves in. And Brady has never been mentioned as a statesman.
It’s enough to make me want to scream.

Isn’t there anybody left out there who can play this game who isn’t also a crook? Anybody?”

Dry them up there Mr. Miller! What you have said above is not tragic it is comic according to the laws of dramaturgy – comedy happens to worst of people and tragedy happens to the best of people. Blago Tragic? Miller, Please!
Rich Miller is like some goof who got bobby pins, screws, bolts and wire caught up into the vacuum cleaner drive belt and snapped it, because he was too lazy to bend over and pick the items and them cursed the machine. Rich Miller is in denial.
The problem of denial in politics evolves when a steady diet of horse manure no longer makes the moral palate recoil from one like Rich Miller who will gladly proclaim -

• Sheila Simon is really the best we have in Illinois
• SEIU is A Labor Union and not a Marxist PAC operated by university spawned technicians like Keith Keliher, while staking a man out with labor bona fides as a Judas Goat -like Tom Balanoff.
• Dan Shoman is a genius – look what he did for Obama and now for Alexi!
• Ralph Martire is NOT a Progressive Shill for every tax in the last fifteen years.
• GLBTQ Activists have not made a concerted effort to take over the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District as a path to Progressive power – saying that is just hateful.

Let’s take a look at our Capital example of Illinois denial – President Obama. Barack Obama was shilled by Dan Shomon on orders from Dave Axelrod and got Obama all the way to the White House with the help of Billy Ayers, SEIU’s Andy Stern, Tony Rezko, Jan Schakowsky, Forrest Claypool Rod Blagojevich, Abner Mikva, Allison Davis and Dawn Clark Netsch as well as Boss Mike Madigan, Rich Daley, John Stroger, and the thousands of Ward foot soldiers that make Progressives itch, unless they need help. Statesmanship Mr. Miller?

Well, I always believed that Barack Obama was brought along way too quickly – what do I know?
President Obama is in way over his head – Here is a British point of view on the Obama Presidency:

1. The Obama presidency is out of touch with the American people

In a previous post I noted how the Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day Ancien Régime, extravagant, decaying and out of touch with ordinary Americans. The First Lady’s ill-conceived trip to Spain at a time of widespread economic hardship was symbolic of a White House that barely gives a second thought to public opinion on many issues, and frequently projects a distinctly elitist image. The “let them eat cake” approach didn’t play well over two centuries ago, and it won’t succeed today.
2. Most Americans don’t have confidence in the president’s leadership
This deficit of trust in Obama’s leadership is central to his decline. According to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, “nearly six in ten voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country”, and two thirds “say they are disillusioned with or angry about the way the federal government is working.” The poll showed that a staggering 58 per cent of Americans say they do not have confidence in the president’s decision-making, with just 42 per cent saying they do.
3. Obama fails to inspire
In contrast to the soaring rhetoric of his 2004 Convention speech in Boston which succeeded in impressing millions of television viewers at the time, America is no longer inspired by Barack Obama’s flat, monotonous and often dull presidential speeches and statements delivered via teleprompter. From his extraordinarily uninspiring Afghanistan speech at West Point to his flat State of the Union address, President Obama has failed to touch the heart of America. Even Jimmy Carter was more moving.

and more

There is a distinctly Titanic-like feel to the Obama presidency and it’s not hard to see why. The most left-wing president in modern American history has tried to force a highly interventionist, government-driven agenda that runs counter to the principles of free enterprise, individual freedom, and limited government that have made the United States the greatest power in the world, and the freest nation on earth.

This, combined with weak leadership both at home and abroad against the backdrop of tremendous economic uncertainty in an increasingly dangerous world, has contributed to a spectacular political collapse for a president once thought to be invincible. America at its core remains a deeply conservative nation, which cherishes its traditions and founding principles. President Obama is increasingly out of step with the American people, by advancing policies that undermine the United States as a global power, while undercutting America’s deep-seated love for freedom.

Hype is not Hope. SEIU is not a labor union – it is a PAC and a very dangerous one at that. A Real Statesman ignores the media and the media hate him – in Illinois that would be Mike Madigan, or a Bill Brady, or a Jim Durkin, or a Kevin Joyce – now departed from the horse manure banquet. The media are addicted to equine refuse – Statesmen need meat, spuds, greens and beans.

Denial ain’t a river in Egypt, Mr. Miller. That’s the Nile.

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Pat Hickey is a regular contributor to the Chicago Daily Observer