I had two main post-election reactions. First, I was glad we kicked the bums out, and now it's wait-and-see time on whether the new bunch is any better. Second, I was disgusted with the campaign overall, and especially the blog part of it. Pointless twaddle, on balance.

Didn't post anything for a few days, then took some vacation. Included a trip home to SW Mo. (Jerico Springs, to be exact) for a family thanksgiving. Didn't feel even slightly guilty when I drove off without the laptop.

Kept thinking I'd do something tomorrow, but work's hectic and there was a tree to get up and, of course, I had to run up to Port Byron a couple of times to catch the Friday night music at G's.

And time just kept slipping by ...

But today I finally called up the PP for the first time in a month, waded through vast amounts of accumulated spam comments and pingbacks, and, well, here I am.

Probably won't be doing many posts for several more weeks. I'm going to enjoy the season, without worrying much about Important Developments. I still have a few days of vacation left, during which me and my Christmas books will be spending a lot of time together.

You have a nice December, too.

There was something close to instant gratification on the Iraq issue, with
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's day-after-election resignation. His
departure, of course, hardly means that all is well with U. S. policy in
Iraq. It does, though, open the door to changes in strategy and tactics that may offer a way out of the steadily worsening disaster Rumsfeld did so much to create.

Remodeling work is under way at the Pentagon to create a suite of offices for additional members of the public relations staff. The additional staffers will "develop messages" for the 24-hour news cycle, "correct the record," and coordinate "surrogates," according to a memo obtained by the AP. The memo, the AP said, "describes an operation modeled after a political campaign - such as that made famous by Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential race - calling for a 'Rapid Response' section for quickly answering opponents' assertions."

So there you have it. As spiraling violence leaves hundreds of Iraqis dead and wounded each week and U.S. deaths climbing each month, Mr. Rumsfeld is launching a public relations blitz. But forget some basic facts. The AP reported that, despite repeated requests, "Pentagon press secretary Eric Ruff would not provide the exact number of people to be hired, how many would be transferred from other Pentagon jobs, or how many would be political appointees or contractors."

Boland, the incumbent Democrat picked up more than $50,000 today --a $15,000 infusion of cash from the Democratic Party of Illinois, $10,000 in cash from the Illinois Federation of Teachers and a $25,000 in-kind contribution from the IFT. The in-kind money is for production of a radio ad and airtime to run it, according to the report to the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Haring, the Republican making a second bid to unseat Boland, reported one Monday he got more than $50,000 as well. It's all from the House GOP campaign committee and is in-kind contributios, for purchase of TV, radio and cable advertising time.

Candidates are require to report contributions of more than $500 within 48 hours during the run-up to election. You can keep track of the money flow at the ISBE site:

-- Boland reports

-- Haring reports

Be prepared to wait a bit; the ISBE site for the most part is running like it's got superglue in it.

A SurveyUSA poll done last week pegs Mr. Whitney as the choice of 14 percent of likely voters, up from 7 percent a month ago. The number, of course, leaves him trailing incumbent Democrat Rod Blagojevich (44 percent) and Republican Judy Baar Topinka (34 percent) but it is astonishingly large for an under-funded, unknown third party guy who wasn't even certified as a candidate until Aug. 31, when the state board of elections finally rejected Democratic attempts to keep him off the ballot.

Probably not. The Quad-Cities media, like that all across the country, has pretty much ignored the firestorm Sir Richard set off in Great Britain last week when he said the presence of British troops in Iraq 'exacerbates security problems' there and that the UK should get its troops out 'soon.'

The debate begins at 6:30 p.m. in Centennial Hall, 3703 7th Ave. Doors open at 6 p.m. The auditorium seats 1,200, and is free and open to the public.

That thought comes to mind today, after Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the House majority leader, said in Iowa that Democrats endangered House pages by sitting on information about the misconduct of Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., so they could spring the information just before the upcoming elections.

This is the same Rep. Boehner who told the Washington Post when the scandal broke that he had informed House Speaker Dennis Hastert about the Foley problem last spring. He recanted after the Post reported his remarks, claiming that he didn't really recall having told Hastert anything. A couple of days later, in a radio interview back in his home district in Ohio, he once again was saying he'd discussed Foley's emails to pages with Hastert, and that he'd assumed Hastert had taken care of the matter.

But, today, in Iowa, Boehner's latest version is that it is the Democrats who were endangering pages, not Foley and the House leaders who put on blinders when they were alerted to the problem many months, or even years, ago.

Sorry, Mr. Boehner, but here in Iowa we know the odor of barnyard crap when we smell it.

Eighteen months or so ago, when Davenport officialdom was engaged in its unseemly rush to approve a multi-million dollar package of subsidies for Rhythm City Casino so the casino could move its boat upstream and build a new riverfront hotel, I said Rhythm City was selling pie-in-the-sky. That judgment was based on the casino's claim -- uncritically accepted by a majority of the city council -- that the deal would benefit Davenport through a big increase in gambling revenues.

The expected partisanship lacks any attachment to civility; there's a vicious name-calling air to it. Running through it, as well, is a non-partisan despair with the political system, with an almost pitiful plea for a choice beyond that being offered by the political parties.

While the mostly anonymous comments are often dismissed as the ranting of the unwashed, the general mood evident in them is reflected in national polls showing massive unrest among voters.

So maybe it's time for "none of the above."

That was pretty much a total failure. Whatever bits of truth may have slipped in, it's mostly been garbage.

U. S. Rep. Mark Foley, a six-term congressman from Florida, founded the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. He was a chief architect of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, which toughened federal sex offender laws. He sponsored a law that permits organizations like the Boy Scouts and Boys and Girls Clubs to access FBI fingerprint records when vetting volunteers. He attempted to push through a bill outlawing websites that feature children in suggestive poses.

Regardless of one's position on abortion, there is generally some identifiable philosophical reason at work; a belief in the sanctity of life, the view that a decision whether to bear children belongs to each individual woman, that the choice belongs to the woman up to some or another point, etc.

Mr. Beals, the story says, believes abortion should be widely and legally available to anyone under 18, whose parents consent; but that it should be illegal for everyone over 18, even in cases of rape.

What?????????????

I read it first to find out what he'd actually said, and to see the context in which it was said. I kept re-reading the turgid and opaque text, hoping to see the remarks on Islam as something more than a bizarre sidetrip in a speech otherwise devoted to reason, faith and the interplay between the two.

Negatively, one could say ... well, let Illlinois Auditor General William Holland take over here:

-- "The state's operation of the I-SaveRX program, which imports prescription drugs into the United States, is in violation of federal law."