Bristol Palin Announces The "Big News" That She Is Pregnant With Her Second Child - UPDATE: Dakota Meyer disses Bristol on Facebook!

By Kathleen

Bristol Palin who famously announced several years ago that she would remain celibate until she married today revealed on her blog that she is pregnant with her second child. 

Her announcement reads:

(I’m announcing this news a lot sooner than I ever expected due to the constant trolls who have nothing better to talk about!!!)

I wanted you guys to be the first to know that I am pregnant.
Honestly, I’ve been trying my hardest to keep my chin up on this one.
At the end of the day there’s nothing I can’t do with God by my side, and I know I am fully capable of handling anything that is put in front of me with dignity and grace.

Life moves on no matter what.  So no matter how you feel, you get up, get dressed, show up, and never give up.

When life gets tough, there is no other option but to get tougher.

I know this has been, and will be, a huge disappointment to my family, to my close friends, and to many of you.

But please respect Tripp’s and my privacy during this time. I do not want any lectures and I do not want any sympathy.

My little family always has, and always will come first.
Tripp, this new baby, and I will all be fine, because God is merciful.

Allie Jones at Gawker thinks that Bristol doesn't sound too happy about the pregnancy but I believe that Bristol is more concerned about the fact that she is now being shown up for the hypocrite that many of us know her to truly be. For years she has presented herself as a reborn virgin, saving herself for marriage to the right man and now Oprah's words and her insistence that she will remain abstinent must be coming back to haunt her.

From her infamous appearance on Oprah, January 22, 2010:

"I just think it's ( abstinence ) a goal to have, and other women should have that goal," Bristol said of her vow. She remarked she had been depressed since she gave birth to 13-month old, Tripp.

Winfrey questioned Bristol's statement, asking her, "But when you make the statement ... you don't think you're setting yourself up? Is that a realistic position?"

To which Bristol replied, "It's a realistic goal for myself. I have a kid in my life, and it's my full-time job now.

Of course it was never a realistic goal and the fact that Bristol made a lot of money as the face of abstinence for Candies by lecturing "other women" means that she shouldn't expect us not to lecture her. Have at it dear readers!

Oh yes, it was an epic moment on Oprah, when Bristol swore that should would remain abstinent, on January 22, 2010:

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UPDATE - Dakota Meyer disses Bristol on Facebook!

On Dakota Meyer's facebook, the discussion is heating up, and the one and only question is: Is Dakota the father of Bristol's baby or not?

The truth is, we do not know at this point for certain. But I have the feeling that it won't take very long to find out.

What we do know however is that Dakota finds subtle ways of "dissing" Bristol Palin.

One example from his facebook can be found here. It is a bit "hidden", but thanks to our reader "Pat", it has been revealed. In this discussion, one reader advised Dakota Meyer to get a blood test, and another reader then remarked in response:

"If not that, there's always the Maury show. Bristol LOVES social media & publicity."

This comment did not go unnoticed, because Dakota Meyer himself then"liked" it.

Burn!!!

Screenshots:

Close-up:

His official account then "liked" this comment:

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UPDATE 2:

Bristol Palin once promised "not to get into a situation" again.

Well, I guess she should have taken those condoms! She obviously needed them, despite her protestations.

Watch:

In another cringe-worthy "pro-abstinence" clip, Bristol Palin gave more advice that she didn't follow, and received hundreds-of-thousands of dollars for it:

Take down the Confederate flag at the grounds of the State Capitol in South Carolina - Now! - Plus: The "manifesto" of shooter Dylann Roof has been found, in which he explains his racist views

By Patrick

The Confederate flag is still flying in front of the state capitol building in Columbia, South Carolina. This hasn't always been the case. For decades, it was actually not officially shown there, but in 1962, it was raised over the Capitol, as a sign of protest against the civil rights movement.

The New York Times explained the history in an article from 1997:

South Carolina is the only state that flies the Confederate battle flag over its Capitol, a gesture that many whites see as a tribute to their Southern heritage but that many blacks see as a symbol of latent racism. The flag was first raised over the Capitol in 1962, largely to express defiance of the civil rights movement.

In the late 1990's, the confederate flag was still flying over the Capitol. But there was a push to remove it from there, and finally, a "compromise" was reached.

From the Washington Post reported yesterday:

The flag came down from atop the South Carolina State House in July of 2000. In a compromise that didn’t really satisfy anyone, it was moved to a nearby Confederate war memorial.

“At the ceremony moving the flag off the dome and to the new location on the capitol grounds, pro-flag activists chanted, ‘Off the dome, and in your face,'” according to “The Politics of Race and Citizenship.” “Antiflag protesters, unsatisfied with the compromise, countered, ‘Shame.'”

The law that moved the flag was quite detailed: The flag could not fly from the capitol dome, but had to appear at a memorial near the dome and could appear in legislators’ offices. Legislators even specified the type of flag, its placement, and the dimensions of its display.

“This flag must be flown on a flagpole located at a point on the south side of the Confederate Soldier Monument, centered on the monument, ten feet from the base of the monument at a height of thirty feet,” it read. “The flagpole on which the flag is flown and the area adjacent to the monument and flagpole must be illuminated at night and an appropriate decorative iron fence must be erected around the flagpole.”

Anyone who wanted to move the flag faced one of the greatest hurdles in democratic politics: “The provisions of this section may only be amended or repealed upon passage of an act which has received a two-thirds vote on the third reading of the bill in each branch of the General Assembly,” the bill read.

A further obstacle to critics of the Confederate flag: It’s affixed to the pole, and can’t come down unless someone gets up there and pulls it down — which would be illegal anyway.

So in 2000 a pretty terrible compromise was reached, and it is just stunning to hear that only a two-third majority of votes will be able to move the confederate flag!

This provision now will start to haunt the South Carolina legislators, because there is no doubt that the movement demanding that the flag should be removed will grow stronger and stronger.

The reason is obvious - just look at this photo of shooter Dylann Roof, and everyone will understand:

This flag is not just "heritage", it has become a symbol for murder - and this is also not a new development.

Also, this fact has been known for many years. Read the New York Times from January 24, 1997, the article I mentioned above:

But the Governor, 39, surprised many of his supporters last November by calling for a compromise that would move the flag to a Confederate memorial on the Capitol grounds. Mr. Beasley said that after a series of racial incidents in the state, including arsons at black churches, he concluded that extremists had misappropriated the flag. Business leaders, many with close ties to Mr. Beasley, have called for removing the flag as a way to stimulate investment in the state.

Well, you can argue whether it has been "misappropriated" or was racist in the first place, but in any case, everybody should know by now: The confederate flag has been a symbol of hate for many years.

Other commentators agree - from the "Atlantic":

Quote:

Last night, Dylann Roof walked into a Charleston church, sat for an hour, and then killed nine people. Roof’s crime cannot be divorced from the ideology of white supremacy which long animated his state nor from its potent symbol—the Confederate flag. Visitors to Charleston have long been treated to South Carolina’s attempt to clean its history and depict its secession as something other than a war to guarantee the enslavement of the majority of its residents. This notion is belied by any serious interrogation of the Civil War and the primary documents of its instigators. Yet the Confederate battle flag—the flag of Dylann Roof—still flies on the Capitol grounds in Columbia.

The Confederate flag’s defenders often claim it represents “heritage not hate.” I agree—the heritage of White Supremacy was not so much birthed by hate as by the impulse toward plunder. Dylann Roof plundered nine different bodies last night, plundered nine different families of an original member, plundered nine different communities of a singular member. An entire people are poorer for his action. The flag that Roof embraced, which many South Carolinians embrace, does not stand in opposition to this act—it endorses it. That the Confederate flag is the symbol of of white supremacists is evidenced by the very words of those who birthed it:

Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth...

This moral truth—“that the negro is not equal to the white man”—is exactly what animated Dylann Roof. More than any individual actor, in recent history, Roof honored his flag in exactly the manner it always demanded—with human sacrifice.

In the comments to our previous post, the questions was raised whether the removal of the confederate flag would motivate other extremists to start attacks. However, I do not believe that this argument is convincing, for the simple fact that any action against extremism could trigger more extremism. There is in my opinion only one way to combat extremism, and this includes racism: To make a stand against it. To show others that these opinions are not accepted. That it is not about heritage, but about a symbol which is embraced by the "dark side", and has been embraced by the racists and extremists for many years.

NAACP National President Cornell William Brooks was absolutely correct in my view yesterday to call for the removal of the confederate flag from the state capitol in South Carolina, calling the flag "an inspiration for hate, an inspiration for violence":

The flag is not only an insult to black citizens. It is also an insult to any American who condemns racism and violence.

Unfortunately, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham proved again that he is absolute moron, rejecting the demands to take down the flag:

A flag is an important symbol. Now more than ever, the USA needs the right symbols, the appropriate symbols, in times where the country feels new divisions within society, divisions which supposedly did not exist any more.

The Obama-presidency unfortunately gave a boost to an extreme right-wing movement, starting with the Tea Party, and people like Dylann Roof are being caught up in this extremist movement as well, as his "manifesto" proves, which was now discovered, as Gawker reported. He published this on his own website, lastrhodesian.com.

From his long manifesto (the website is now overloaded, a PDF-copy is HERE) - NOTE - Also preserved via the Wayback Machine HERE:

I was not raised in a racist home or environment. Living in the South, almost every White person has a small amount of racial awareness, simply beause of the numbers of negroes in this part of the country. But it is a superficial awareness. Growing up, in school, the White and black kids would make racial jokes toward each other, but all they were were jokes. Me and White friends would sometimes would watch things that would make us think that “blacks were the real racists” and other elementary thoughts like this, but there was no real understanding behind it.

The event that truly awakened me was the Trayvon Martin case. I kept hearing and seeing his name, and eventually I decided to look him up. I read the Wikipedia article and right away I was unable to understand what the big deal was. It was obvious that Zimmerman was in the right. But more importantly this prompted me to type in the words “black on White crime” into Google, and I have never been the same since that day. The first website I came to was the Council of Conservative Citizens. There were pages upon pages of these brutal black on White murders. I was in disbelief. At this moment I realized that something was very wrong. How could the news be blowing up the Trayvon Martin case while hundreds of these black on White murders got ignored?

From this point I researched deeper and found out what was happening in Europe. I saw that the same things were happening in England and France, and in all the other Western European countries. Again I found myself in disbelief. As an American we are taught to accept living in the melting pot, and black and other minorities have just as much right to be here as we do, since we are all immigrants. But Europe is the homeland of White people, and in many ways the situation is even worse there. From here I found out about the Jewish problem and other issues facing our race, and I can say today that I am completely racially aware.

The complete ZIP-folder with the photos of Dylann Roof, which he himself uploaded to his website, can be accessed HERE.

It is time to make a stand against division and hate.

If politicians all over the country had made a firm stand against racism much earlier, these people could still be alive today:

Next on the list: We have to make a stand against the free availability of guns.

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UPDATE:

Kathleen found this on facebook - a seven-year-old girl made this drawing about the shooting in Charleston:

Nine people, including the pastor, fatally shot at historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina - UPDATE: Gunman named as Dylann Roof arrested and detained

By Kathleen

^{Police gather outside the historic Emanuel AME Church, man kneels in despair (AP)}

 

Last night at around 9.00 pm a white gunman entered an historically important black church in Charleston, South Carolina and killed nine people. The mayor of the city, Joseph P Riley has declared that the shooting must be regarded as a hate crime.


 "The only reason that someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate.
It is the most dastardly act that one could possibly imagine, and we will bring that person to justice. ... This is one hateful person.
This is the most unspeakable and heart-breaking tragedy.
People in prayer on a Wednesday evening. A ritual coming together, praying and worshipping God. To have an awful person come in and shoot them is, is inexplicable."
 

The gunman remains on the loose and police have recently released photos of a man that they wish to question. They have warned the public not to contact the man as he is extremely dangerous. Police also believe that the crime was motivated by hate.

Photos of the man police would like to question

A police conference is about to begin and police are expected to release further
details of the shooting.


UPDATE FROM PRESS CONFERENCE:

According to Police Chief, Greg Mullan,  the gunman sat with the bible study group for nearly an hour before he started shooting.  There were three survivors. Names of all the victims have not yet been released but two of the victims are believed to be the Pastor of the Church and State Senator, Rev Clementa Pickney and his sister.

The Charleston Police Department has circulated the following poster  information giving details of the suspect and the car he is believed to have used to get away from the scene.

UPDATE 2: The suspect has been named as 21 year old Dylann Roof. He was identified by his uncle, Carson Cowles, who also revealed that Roof was given a gun as a 21st birthday present several months ago.

Roof was previously arrested on two occasions, one drug related and one for trespass. Authorities are questioning his mother.

UPDATE 3:  Dylann Roof has been arrested and detained by police in Shelby, North Carolina.

White man James Boulware was arrested in Texas in May 2013 after threatening to go on shooting spree and "shooting up some churches and schools" - Today, he is still free, still has heavy weapons, bombs and an armored car and goes on a shooting spree in Dallas - What is wrong with this picture? - UPDATE: The disqus account of James Boulware exposes him as a right-wing anti-Government conspiracy fanatic

Screenshot from May 2013

By Patrick

This is a post about current events which are happening right now. Right at this moment, there is a stand-off in Dallas between at least one attacker, identified as James Boulware, and police, and lots of shots with assault rifles have been fired, pipe bombs already exploded, and the situation is volatile. Fortunately, no police officers have been injured yet, which is almost a miracle.

But could this have been prevented? A simple search on Google reveals shocking details about James Boulware, and the obvious questions have to be asked: Why is this man not in jail, why has he still access to guns, and other explosives, as well as an armored car, as reported? Why the heck is it so easy for known lunatics like him to go on a shooting spree?

Report from May 2013:

Quote:

PARIS, TX -- A Paris man was arrested after family members reported to authorities that they were concerned he could go on a shooting spree.

Officers say they did find several guns in his house, but none in his car. On Tuesday, officers throughout North Texas were told to be on the lookout after the man allegedly threatened his family members and mentioned he might hurt others.

Officers confiscated several guns from a Paris home, after arresting the owner. "There are four or five long guns and three or four pistols, tubs full of ammunition, and the body armor," says Paris Police Chief Bob Hundley.

James Boulware, 33, allegedly grabbed and choked his mother in Dallas on Tuesday morning, and he has made other threats, police and family members said.

"That he was going to just kill all the adult members of the family and then that's when he made the comment he may shoot up some churches and schools," says Hundley.

"He had been talking about the schools and churches being soft targets, being easy targets because no one in them was armed," a man who identified himself as Boulware's brother "Andrew" said.

"Andrew" said Boulware showed up at his Red River County property on Tuesday, looking for some guns "Andrew" took from Boulware's house. "I was able to figure out his one combination, I didn't realize that his gun safe had two combinations on it," says "Andrew."

"He used to be a mechanic and then he got a mobile van and was running around trying to get business doing that," says neighbor Andra Hogue.

After issuing an alert to be on the lookout for Boulware, around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, a deputy caught sight of Boulware's car at his house.

"Just happened to catch him at this location, he left this location, and then we were immediately right there on him," says Sheriff Scott Cass.

"They got him out, got him on the ground that's it and I just saw them escort him over to the Tahoe and carried him off and a wrecker came and picked up his car," says witness Jimmy Phan.

After arresting the man near a pizza shop in the 1900 block of Lamar, officers say they collected several guns from a moving truck parked in the yard in the 1300 block of Fairfax. Police say anytime they get a threat like this they need to take it seriously.

"The main thing that concerned everybody on this one was that there was no doubt he was armed and he was armed heavily," says Hundley.

"That's pretty scary you know with guns being around here knowing I have a baby around here," says neighbor Patricia Bills.

Paris ISD officials said schools were on a "soft lockdown" on Tuesday morning after being alerted by the police department. Boulware currently faces two charges of assault family violence from Dallas, and possession of marijuana. He was taken to the Lamar County Jail while awaiting trial.

Already in 2013, James Boulware had amassed weapons and body armour - photo from the above article:

Also, one other rather obvious question has to be asked: Would the situation really be the same if James Boulware was black?

In any case, this is a total mess. This is what happens if just anyone can buy heavy weapons without any background checks, as it happens for example at the rather notorious gun shows.

Videos from the ongoing standoff  - it is apparent that the attackers (apparently more than one person, according to reports), are extremely aggressive:

This is a useful twitter account for these sad ongoing events:

Here is a news report, published about 40 minutes ago - apparently the car of the attacker is disabled, and it is currently unclear whether his is still alive:

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Earlier tweets from the Dallas Police Department:

Tweet 1:

Tweet 2:

Tweet 3:

In this dramatic clip from the shooting, a bullet flies past a bystander who decided to film the action, instead of going to look for cover immediately - he probably learned something today:

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Believe it or not, but in the USA, you can buy an armored van on Ebay (h/t alwaysthink) - this looks pretty identical to what the Dallas shooter James Boulware used:

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Here is another clip from a citizen who filmed a part of the shooting - this woman swears a lot, but she is clearly in shock. Heck, I would probably swear a lot as well if I witnessed such an incident:

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Yet another dramatic clip from the incident:

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UPDATE:

From USA Today:

Authorities cautioned that they have not confirmed the man is who he says he is. But in 2013, police in Paris, Texas, said they arrested James Lance Boulware after he obtained firearms, ammunition and body armor before threatening to attack his family, churches and schools. Police said then that he was taken into custody on two felony warrants from Dallas County.

However, it appears the case against him was dismissed last year after he fulfilled requirements imposed on him by a court.

Police also said a man named James Boulware has had previous interactions with the police involving family violence. Investigators are following up on those leads.

The case was "dismissed" after he "fulfilled requirements"...???

Sorry, guys, but a black guy would have gone to prison for 20-30 years...!

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UPDATE 2:

Our reader drpatois posted a very interesting article in the comments, which is very revealing:

Mass Shooters Have A Gender and a Race

A Closer Look at White Male Privilege

Although White individuals made up 69.2% of arrests for crimes in 2011, Black men still account for the majority of the prison population, more than six times as likely to be incarcerated than White men. Black men are also subjected, according to Lawrence Grossman, former President of CBS News and PBS, to media stereotyping where TV newscasts “disproportionately show African Americans under arrest, living in slums, on welfare, and in need of help from the community.” However, men of color do not represent the majority of school shooters or mass murderers.

Recent studies reveal that most school shooters are White males, with 97 percent being male and 79 percent White. Over the last three decades, 90 percent of high school or elementary school shootings were the result of White, often upper-middle class, perpetrators. These shootings are a direct reflection of White male privilege and the consequences that occur when groups like the NRA control influential conservative leaders.

Before his May 23rd premeditated killing spree, Elliot Rodger2 posted a YouTube video saying his intention was to “slaughter every single spoiled stuck up blonde slut I see” inside a sorority house, because they “all would have rejected [him] and looked down upon [him] as an inferior man if [he] ever made a sexual advance towards them.” These chilling comments cannot be simply regarded as nonsense from a “madman,” because they actually represent the deeply entrenched manifestation of our misogynistic society. Furthermore, the case of Elliot Rodger exposes the prevailing intersection between gender and race of gun violence.

There is a pattern in these school shootings that has been coined as “suicide-by-mass-murder,” and seems to be an almost-exclusively young-White-male phenomenon. Michael Kimmel, a Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Stony Brook University and founder of the academic journal Men and Masculinity, has been conducting research on the intersection between race and gender of American school shooters, and observed that “victims of [young men of color] are usually those whom the shooter believes have wronged him. And it rarely ends with his suicide. .. White men, on the other hand, have a somewhat more grandiose purpose…’If I’m going to die, then so is everybody else,’ they seem to say. Yes, of course, this is mental illness speaking: but it is mental illness speaking with a voice that has a race and a gender.”

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UPDATE 3:

It has been confirmed that James Boulware bought the armored van on Ebay.

It appears that there are no restrictions regarding the sale of armored cars in the USA. I could not find any information about restrictions, and there appear to be lots of sellers.

This is the original Ebay-listing of the car (click on pictures to enlarge):

The car conveniently has little protected "holes" for shooting to the outside:

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UPDATE 4:

The disqus account of James Boulware has been found, and it exposes him as a typical right-wing anti-Government conspiracy fanatic:

J. Dennis Hastert's Prairie Parkway: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

 By Katie Annie Oakley

Part II

We all learned in my last post that J. Dennis Hastert, The Accidental Speaker of ‘Murikuh’s House of Representatives during the 106^th through the 109^th Sessions of Congress loves to bring home the bacon to his constituents (but not nearly as much bacon as good ole Don Young (R-Thug/AK). We followed his educational path to Billy Graham’s Alma Mater, the bible-thumpin’ Wheaton College, where Denny received his undergraduate B.A. in Economics in 1964 (and that’s mighty important for what we’ll be discussing today) to his Graduate Degree at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois in 1967 (an M.S. in Philosophy of Education).

Denny also managed to avoid The Draft in the 1960’s due to a wrestling injury while attending Oswego High School. He not only wrestled, but also played football too. Denny really enjoyed contact sports.

Back to the college years: they were very pleased with Denny at those two schools. At Wheaton College, they were so pleased with Denny that they renamed the College Center for Economics, Big Gubmint and such to the J. Dennis Hastert Center for Economics, Government, and Public Policy. They were mighty proud of him – until they weren’t (like early this week, when that sign came down and the building and program were instantaneously renamed The Wheaton College Center for Economics, Government, and Public Policy. Denny also resigned from their Board of Advisers because, baby Jesus (and a firestorm of negative publicity). In the Wheaton College Official Throwing Denny Under The Bus Statement, they pulled The Christian Card. Of course they did - cause that’s what Good Christians do: abandon you when they’re embarrassed to admit you’re one of their own:

It is with sadness and shock that the Wheaton College community learned

of the indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice of alumnus and former

speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives J. Dennis Hastert, and of his

resignation from the Board of Advisors of the J. Dennis Hastert Center for

Economics, Government, and Public Policy at Wheaton College. In light of

the charges and allegations that have emerged, the College has re-designated

the Center as the Wheaton College Center for Economics, Government, and

Public Policy at this time.

The Center will continue in its mission “to advance the training of Wheaton

College students and the greater community in the understanding of market

economies, representative democracies, limited government, and the redeeming

effects of the Christian worldview on the practice of business, government and

politics.”

Wheaton College serves Jesus Christ and advances His Kingdom through

excellence in liberal arts and graduate programs that educate the whole person

to build the church and benefit society worldwide. The College has not been

implicated in or associated with any of the allegations in this matter.

And blah, blah, blah… in this lengthy, self-serving, hypocritical CYA statement. 

 

Later, at NIU Denny had an Honorary Degree bestowed upon him in December 1999: Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) to J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Read that again: he has a B.A. in Economics; M.S. in Philosophy of Education; had a Political Policy Center named after him; a seat on the Wheaton College Advisory Board AND an Honorary Doctorate of LAWS - but apparently neither school was able to teach him to keep his pants up.

But, I don’t want to talk about that pesky SEX scandal. Nooo! I want to talk about another of Denny’s other self-serving scandals. One of many. You’d think that a guy like Denny, educated in the Fine Points of Economics and as a School Teacher might give A Second Thought to cheat his way into his riches. Nope! The outrage regarding The Prairie Parkway (  generic wiki description) here in Denny’s district, where I happen to live was palpable. There was real anger. Denny got rich, QUICK on a shady land deal. Bacon is one thing – but a Congress Critter porking at the trough via a Secret Trust to make himself filthy rich? Ah, HELL NO! People all over the district were crying FOUL. Turns out, what’s good for constituents turned into something else entirely when our Congress Critter took a dip in the sea of political enrichment. That self-serving POS bastard!

 

Denny Hastert and his business partner’s properties are shown in yellow; the path of the proposed Prairie Parkway is in green, and an on/off ramp is only 5.5 miles away (per Hastert’s rep.) or 2.6 miles away. It depends who’s telling the tale.

The Prairie Parkway project was a proposed interstate highway path that connected Interstates 80 and 88 in semi-rural Kendall and Kane Counties in Illinois – aka Denny Hastert’s district (and mine). Nuthin’ but cornfields and soybeans. And housing developments. Lots of those. Corn. Soybeans. Housing developments. Wash, rinse, repeat. For miles and miles. Denny and his lucky partners became millionaires almost overnight because as a Congress Critter AND Speaker of the House, he had a hell of a lot of brass input into its proposed path – imagine that. Loooong before the project became public, he and his partners purchased great blocks of land in 2002 and 2004; a portion of an excellent timeline of this farce financed with taxpayer dollars can be read below AND in full HERE. This is required reading. Have a barf bucket and something handy to wipe with. 

 

August 2005: Hastert secures $207 million in federal dollars to build the “Prairie Parkway” through his district. The Chicago Tribune describes it as a “pet project” of Hastert’s that will “cut through valuable farmland and increase suburban sprawl.” President Bush comes to IL-14 to sign the bill.

From Think Progress:

The proposed Prairie Parkway transforms Hastert and his partner’s properties isolated parcels to ones with convenient access to major cities.

In December 2005, Hastert and his partners sell property to the Robert Arthur Land Company, who plans to builds 1500 homes on the property. Hastert earns at least $1.5 million in profit in his portion on the deal alone; His two partners makes another 1.5 million.

The Kendall County Board votes in May of 2006 “in favor of putting an interchange on Galena Road, giving residents of the new development “easy access to the highway” – Approximately 2.6 miles.

Today, Hastert’s spokesman claims, “None of the properties purchased by the speaker are near enough to the Prairie Parkway to be affected by the proposed highway.”

Around here in the outermost ring of suburbia, driving ~3 miles to a store for milk is SSDD business as usual. In fact, it is for most Americans. The fury over the proposed Prairie Parkway, particularly who had suggested its path and the not so coincidental enrichment Hastert enjoyed from it got so bad that in 2012 the federal government rescinded the approval for the Prairie Parkway. What the media missed was this: nobody in the area NEEDED that thoroughfare through their sleepy farmlands, and they went to court to stop it from being built. I guess that information just wasn’t sexy enough (HA! made you look). This money-grab of Denny’s was so transparent, so shady that it would make Casper the Friendly Ghost blush with embarrassment.

J. Dennis Hastert: Send Lawyers, Guns & Money, I’m In Deep

By Katie Annie Oakley

PART I

We all know – it’s a fact: when my Congress Critter brings home lots of federal tax dollars to our district, that’s called BACON. That’s why we elect them. But when your Congress Critter sends any of my hard-earned tax dollars to your effing district, that’s called PORK. And that’s bad. But we can all agree:  when they make themselves filthy rich by acting on inside information or using their Big Gubmint powers while serving as our tax-paid flunkies… that’s a very bad thing. We hope they’ll be prosecuted for it when they’re caught. But, that isn’t always the case. And even when it is, when justice comes for a visit, it can greatly depend on who is handling the prosecuting or acting as the judge . Cause, that matters too, ya know.

BACON = good.  PORK = bad.

Denny Hastert was exceptionally good at bringin’ home the bacon. Obnoxiously so. He was a Master Baconator for his district – which happens to be my district, so that is OK. And he was a veritable ATM run amok, spitting out money in the millions for his Graduate School Alma Mater, Northern Illinois University. Which is also OK, because, my child goes to skool there also, too. In 1967, The Powers That Be bestowed upon Denny his Wrasselin’ n’grabbin’ Masters in Philosophy of Education. And he started utilizing that degree right away! Oh yes, he did. He used his skills, such as they were on a couple of his students at Yorkville High School in Yorkville, Illinois.

And while I’d rather not think about how he might wax philosophically regarding the good old days proper way to efficiently wrestle someone into submission (you already know about all about that – it’s why you’re here) - once he found his True Purpose in life, that is, politicking – he rose all the way to becoming Speaker of the House. Well, his Alma Mater was just tickled pink with their graduate – so much so, they decided to give him another degree in December 1999: Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)

 

Nope - Denny Hastert never forgot where he got his teaching credentials from.

But it was his Good Works back home, before he cashed in that caught my eye. Since his thoroughly exposed follies here at Yorkville High School continue to be examined much deeper than any reasonable Proctologist would dare to dream of going – I thought I’d focus on Other Interesting Things ol’ Denny has been involved with over the years, things that have seemed to have slipped completely by our media’s current obsession with Denny’s past sex life. Things like how Denny really liked to take care of NIU and businesses and agencies having to do with his being on the Energy and Commerce Committee. I mean he really liked to take care of them. He really did.

Dennis Hastert began his political career in 1981, when he won a seat as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 39th district for 2 years. Then, due to redistricting or whatever (not important for this conversation, because SEX and MONEY are what’s important in my post today) he became a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 82nd district for 3 years. Then, in 1987 he promoted himself via election to The Big Time: he won the Golden Ticket to sit in the US House of Representatives from the 14th District (and so became My Congress Critter). During that time, he served as Republican Chief Deputy Whip from 1995 to 1999.  (you clicked that link, didn’t you? You have a filthy mind. You KNOW it’s a position in Congress. Don’t be getting kinky on me) Then, he was elevated to Speaker of the House because, INDICTMENTS of Tom DeLay and Newt Gingrich.

The Accidental Speaker

He served in that position until some inconvenient truth caught up to him, although he claims that had nothing to do with his suddenly deciding in 2007 that he was getting too old for this shit and chose not to run again. Good call, Denny – because, out here in your district, people were ready to spill your blood. They were ANGRY that you had enriched yourself via your government position – along with so many other things too numerous to enumerate in this post. But – that will be covered in Part II of this series.

Meanwhile… earlier today as I was researching this post, I discovered that Denny will be tried for his tax crimes due to his past sexy-times with (a) high school student(s) locally. Because, jurisdiction. Maybe he can share a cell with “Governor Good Hair” Rod Blagojevich. Maybe not. But they’re going to try him here? That’s not such a great idea. Why? Because shit happens in Illinois – shit like this happens in Illinois, all the time, and no one here blinks an eye: in fact, its a political tradition.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150529/news/150528594/

    You can’t make this shit up!