I couldn't wait to see this today and here it is:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/roeser/cst-edt-roes07.htmlFrom the poison pen of Chicago's resident Repugnican crumdegeon...here's some gems...
If Alan Keyes accepts the Illinois GOP's bid to run for the U.S. Senate -- as he is expected to do Sunday -- the nation will be the beneficiary. Not since Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Stephen A. Douglas have two more sharply differentiated people run for the Senate. That the state that gave the nation and world the Lincoln-Douglas debates can now present an updated version is truly an exciting prospect. The human rights parallel then and now is rich with significance.
First, the so-called carpetbagger issue. When he criticized Hillary Clinton for destroying the concept of federalism, Keyes was in fact wrong. It was for good reason that the founding fathers did not draw a strict requirement on residency for the U.S. Senate. Then as now, people were always on the move -- ambitious politicians among them: Lincoln from Kentucky to Indiana and then Illinois; Douglas from Vermont to Illinois. Sam Houston was congressman and governor of Tennessee before he moved to Texas, becoming president when it was a republic, and finally senator.
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Now the contest itself: If Keyes accepts, it will be the best opportunity the nation will have to listen to two eloquent men debate an enduring question that has been nullified by too much political timidity: Is the culture of the country declining or improving? Certainly, Barack Obama has every expectation that he will be elected. But if he is, it doesn't mean his side of the culture wars will have won, any more than because Stephen Douglas emerged victorious in 1858, the issue of human rights for slaves was won. Lincoln's views ultimately coincided with the national ethos. And make no mistake: Obama's voting record in the state Senate will be the yardstick by which the campaign will be fought.
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For allowing this truly Great Debate to take place, many people deserve the thanks not just of our state but the nation, beginning with House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and extending through state central vice chairman Steve McGlynn, who played a decisive role in the Keyes selection, with state Chairman Judy Baar Topinka, who under law has no vote, playing the role of the honest broker. State Sen. Dave Syverson was an influential contact with Keyes, and Board of Tax Appeals member Maureen Murphy also weighed in on the election.
With Keyes' acceptance, the agony of the GOP over these many weeks will not have been in vain. And as for the liberal critics who shout ''carpetbagger,'' if it were Colin Powell, they would not be dismayed at all.
Well...I'll reserve my comments, but are curious of yours. BTW, the kindly Scrooge Roeser has a radio show on WLS Fascist Radio Sunday night at 7...I'm sure he'd like to hear from his friends at DU...LOL!!!
Cheers!