Fun trivia about yesterday's historic election in Illinois

[frogcycle]

The significance of this particular win cannot be overstated. This is penetration right into the heart of these soulless bastards. Read on:

Some of the Illinois 14th District folks from out in the farmland (red) have expressed thanks that those "in the eastern part of the district" put Foster in over the milk nazi. They are referring to the industrial areas along the Fox River that form most of the eastern edge of the district.

Well a little bit of the district extends even further east into bright red Dupage. It picked that up several years ago when Hastertized to gerrymander in a bit more "sympathetic" demographic and help keep him in power. My congresscritter changed from 16-term republican Henry Hyde to 11-term Dennis Hastert. My precinct has 26 dems on the call list (those who've voted in two primaries); I know; I called every one of them. It includes so much forest preserve and private estate land that there are probably only a couple hundred houses, and most of those houses are McMansions. I think turnout did the trick though - it was cold and those folks were busy with more important things than voting - that's for the "little people" :)

Ironic, isn't it - the Republican agenda of tax cuts for wealthy benefits the few - the very few - and if left to sustain that agenda via one-person-one-vote they'd be toast. They sucker the bigots and fundamentalists and other groups into thinking their agenda favors THEM, and count on them to take care of that annoying voting business.

My voting location was moved yesterday. It is usually at the Cantigny Golf Course Clubhouse. Cantigny is the estate of Robert R. McCormick - see below. There was some sort of event going on at the clubhouse; plenty of upscale autos parked in front - I was surprised, thought "must be a huge voter turnout." When I got to the door I found a note taped to the door that the voting had been moved to the Youth Links clubhouse (about half a mile away) "sorry for the inconvenience."

Inconvenience? You drive up the winding road to the clubhouse, park, climb a flight of steps, walk across a driveway (in 18 deg weather) to find this fricking sign? Oh, no, that's no inconvenience! Sorry, little people!

Anyway I looked in and there was a reception or something with people dressed up. Probably mostly from outside the precinct, but perhaps some local too. Not voting, socializing - at the estate one of the early founders of the Republican Party.

I saw some other "little people" just getting out of their car; alerted them we had been displaced to save their climbing the steps, and went down the road to vote. I can't wait to find out what the turnout was and results were for our precinct!


with the golf course I'd say its about 400 acres. It is the majority of the precinct - just a few houses scattered along the road bordering it, and my neighborhood across the creek to the south. My neighborhood used to be part of R. McCormick's brother Cyrus's estate (the McCormick reaper guy). Most of that estate is intact too; just a few "little people' permitted to live in shanties along the edge. (OK, most of the shanties have been replaced by now, but that is exactly what it started out as.)

To those who criticized Edwards for his house: fugedaboutit! These folks would have considered it to be an outbuilding.

The Trib's article slamming the milk nazi and favoring Foster is an additional bit of sweet irony.

http://www.cantignypark.com/
http://www.cantignypark.com/parkhomepage.htm

The Robert R. McCormick Museum is a historic house museum that depicts the country home of a family that made the Chicago Tribune the “World’s Greatest Newspaper.” Joseph Medill (1823-1899), who became the owner of the Chicago Tribune newspaper in 1874 built this house in 1896 for his daughter and son-in-law, respectively, Katherine Medill McCormick (1853-1932) and Robert Sanderson McCormick (1849-1919). Medill’s grandson, Robert Rutherford McCormick (1880-1955) took possession of the house in 1920. Robert McCormick lived in the house until his death in 1955.

As editors and publishers of the Chicago Tribune, Joseph Medill and Robert Rutherford McCormick used the newspaper as a forum for advocating their own political points of views. On a national scale, Joseph Medill was instrumental in helping to establish the Republican National Party and in securing Abraham Lincoln’s election to the Presidency of the United States. On a local scale, Medill was instrumental in helping Chicago recover from the devastating fire of 1871.

Robert Rutherford McCormick became President of the Chicago Tribune in 1911. He served as the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Chicago Tribune from 1925 to 1955. McCormick’s pro-Republican editorials strongly supported the First Amendment rights to Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. -snip-

In 1959, the mansion became a museum. The Cantigny Foundation, which is a branch of the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation, maintains the mansion as a historic house museum. The mansion has 35 rooms, 12 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms and 4 staircases.

The Robert R. McCormick Museum reflects the public and private sides of Medill and McCormick, their families and guests who enjoyed this country home in Wheaton, Illinois. Priceless family heirlooms, Chinese and European works of art, and over 400 year-old antiques grace the 27 rooms that are on display for the public.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. thanks for the report

I find it interesting that the little people brought the victory to Bill Foster. Can't help but think that my Foster ancestors, who lived a bit to the south of the 14th District, would be voting Democratic now--they were farmers who supported the Republican Party because of things like the Homestead Act--they would be disgusted at what has happened to their party now.

[frogcycle]

3. My ancestors were in the 14th

Actually founded what is now Yorkville - my 5-great-grandfather was Justus Bristol, whose name now survives by way of Bristol Township and the small town of Bristol Station (the original town of Bristol was merged into Yorkville). Grandpa Justus' log cabin stood on what is now the Yorkville town square. He donated that property to the city. His two sons built the dam and mill whose remnants are still visible on (Blackberry Creek?) just before it empties into the Fox River. They went on to be 49ers in the gold rush, and his granddaughter moved to Tn. As far as I know that lineage has been staunch Lincoln-Republicans until me. I didn't know any of that family history when I moved here!

I just did a Google Earth search and see that a couple of the big Laesch signs I put up near Fabyan Parkway are near the headwaters of Blackberry Creek. For some reason I take delight in that. While Laesch didn't win, I think some of the GOTV effort on his behalf probably had a carryover effect into the SE. At least I tell myself that! :)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. could very well be

It is really neat to know and understand about one's ancestry, for many reasons. Personally, I can't think of any of my ancestors who would now support the GOP. The last to do so in my family were my grandparents. Even my mother has voted for Democrats, starting with LBJ, but she still calls herself a "liberal Republican". She's nearly 90, and part of a dying breed-they used to be common.

[Timbuk3]

2. K&R

[crispini]

5. .

:hi:

Nice post!

[frogcycle]

6. thanks

I still can't get over the multiple ironies that led to this particular circumstance.

In addition to the gerrymandering on Hastert's behalf that resulted in this particular site being a polling place in the election that squelched hastert's designated successor, we have the complex sequence of events that brought us Fermilab, and thus Bill Foster.


The political wheeling and dealing that caused the National Accelerator Lab to be located in what was then Weston, Illinois (Weston no longer exists) included national-level politics and local Illinois politics. Johnson(D) was Pres; Kerner(D) was governor. I don't know what all went on, but suffice it to say that Weston was picked from a list of more than 85 potential sites.

Little did they know then that they were setting the stage for a major battle in the effort to salvage the Constitution and establish a Progressive agenda on behalf of We The People. Gee, maybe LBJ's "Great Society" that was flattened when Humphrey lost to Nixon, introducing the era we have seen ever since of steady erosion of civil rights and growing oligarchy, will come to pass after all! Somebody else might have beaten the milk nazi, to be sure. Were it not for Foster, Laesch would have the nomination and I am sure would have won handily as well. But still, Fermilab brought Foster here, and Fermilab got put here under LBJ during the Great Society era. Now Foster can fight to end the illegal war of occupation that so sadly mimics the one LBJ gave us, and can fight for the healthcare program that might have been a natural part of LBJ's agenda but for VN.