The Beast

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 27, 2018 -> 07:56 AM) In 2020 I think the Dems have to get someone not so serious about being POTUS to run in the primaries, and just be like Trump, only fire away at Trump. Take all the potshots. He's easy to rile up. Why don't Dems take advantage of this? Make him go off the deep end. Take the shots. Talk about Trump U, Stormy Daniels, Russians, his stupid offspring, all the hits. Call his lackeys president Jared or president Kelly or whoever is around then. Make fun of Ivanka speaking whisper. Talk about his fake marriage. His admitted sexual abuse. Everything. He. Can't. Take. It. It's low and dirty, but enough playing fair. Mark Cuban?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 26, 2018 -> 07:31 AM) Its to late for the pensions IMO. Madigan is basically Bill Wirtz, we need him to ride off into the graveyard sunset before anything can possibly get done. Well, he’s 75. Having Madigan in as the speaker is one factor, but the Illinois constitution also restricts doing anything as well. Hopefully that can get amended and there’s a way to ensure new employees, current employees and retirees of the teacher’s retirement system can get some sort of retirement benefit, but with age cutbacks and with a greater emphasis on 403(b)s while still contributing to the pension system.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 25, 2018 -> 09:57 PM) Rauner is not really friendly with Trump or pushing policies like that. He came in to office with the idea that he could just get his policy preferences done completely with little or no compromise, and that helped lead to that record period of no budget and all the associated problems. He's recently been trying to avoid any responsibility ("I'm not in charge!"), and his only political play seems to be too whine about madigan (though that's true of a lot of Illinois politicians). He could still win in November, but he's not particularly popular and turnout is expected to favor Democrats nationally, and races like the one against Roskam could get more motivated Dems that'd vote against Rauner too. AG is important and there are eight Democrats running for the open spot. Two Republicans I think. Democrat machine politics are heavily controlled by madigan, and Rauner essentially owns the state GOP with his personal wealth. It's a bad situation all around as far as that goes. Make sure to vote both in the primaries next month and then the general! Thanks for the post. I read somewhere that Scott Drury breaks with his party and is anti-Madigan so I’m thinking of voting with him. I figured Biss might be better to vote for than Pritzker or Rauner but I don’t know if Pritzker would break with Madigan on policy direction or not.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Feb 25, 2018 -> 09:01 PM) I don’t live there but I say vote union, vote teachers, vote pensions. Just go down with the ship and vote D across the board. It’s too late for moderation, cutbacks or austerity of any kind. So f*** it- blaze of glory. My wife is a teacher and isn’t banking on a pension. We are hopeful there can be some kind of reform and she is getting set up on a 403(b) to play some defense against the failure of the pension system to pay its obligations. I feel that we owe it to the next generation be conscious with our vote which is why I generally split my ticket. That and because I don’t agree with the two party system or with the current administration’s policies.

I’m not sure if this belongs here or in the Democrat thread but I historically split my ticket and am voting out an incumbent in Peter Roskam nationally. However, locally, I am looking for candidates who are more moderate or democratic that will go against Mike Madigan. Does anyone think any of them would go against the man who is dolling our support to their campaign? Is Rauner really doing a bad job as governor and is he somehow involved with Trump? What positions on the ballot actually have an impact on Illinois, given that the general assembly can’t get anything done?

I bet Trump runs again, even if he is approaching the normal life expectancy at that point. Pence is even more sick than Trump is. I would love to see another woman run but actually win, which is why I mentioned Gillibrand. The only person I could see winning right now is Biden.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 24, 2018 -> 11:02 AM) She would lose. Every attack used against Hillary could equally be used against her. They even look enough alike. I've never experienced a more calculating, methodical, power-hungry person than Gillibrand. Don't get me wrong, I think she's great. But she's the epitome of a political opportunist, and has had her sites set on the Presidency from the moment she chose which district in NY to move to, because she wanted to pick the one where she'd have the best chance of winning. I don't think - if you're trying to go for authenticity - she'll do the Democratic Party any favors. Okay, then who do you and Caufield think would win then? I can’t see Warren beating Trump and I’m not so sure Bernie is the best bet either. Personally, and I know it wouldn’t happen, but a Hickenlooper/Kasich ticket would appeal to me. A purple ticket of sorts.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 11:09 PM) Anywho, have us democrats come up with anybody better than Biden? Fully believe he can beat Trump in 2020, which is literally the only thing democrats need to be concerned about when it comes to presidential candidates. Gillibrand.

Hopefully those maps get redrawn in other districts too since some involve gerrymandering and data analysis can prove that. Also, it would be great if Romney gets elected to see him block the Trump agenda, since he seems unbound like McCain.

I know it is just a fangraphs projection but will all of the starters have an ERA above 5? I’d think the team can still be better than 65 wins as well.

Opt out after year two. I don’t remember opt outs being part of contracts until recently, when I believe Cespedes was given an opt out.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 18, 2018 -> 02:04 PM) When will Trump say or do something about Russian meddling other than say he is supposedly cleared? I guess now is not the time. When will he shut up about the 2016 election? Did his predecessors bring old candidates up as much as he does?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 18, 2018 -> 12:47 PM) He doesn't listen to his constituents yet has been elected and re elected 6 times? Sounds like the constituents are the problem, not him. He certainly hasn’t listened to all of his constituents, only really holding phone calls and not many town halls. Clearly he is not representing everyone. I posted this mostly because it was an idea for this topic.

How about this idea from a candidate trying to unseat Peter Roskam, a GOP incumbent who doesn’t listen to his constituents?

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Feb 16, 2018 -> 08:09 PM) That 18 school shootings this year figure isnt exactly accurate... https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/no-the...m=.4e7203f9b404 What is the real statistic? Also I don’t know if any of these ideas would work but I figured I would mention them. - We could reignite the conversation about the failed 2013 bill to ensure criminals don’t get guns and there’s a consistent background check for the purchase of guns. https://projects.propublica.org/represent/v...113/senate/1/97 - A ban on assault weapons is likely not going to be the first thing the GOP will want to welcome since they control the government at all levels. What if state legislators were voted in to control these weapons in their own states and the loopholes from private gun shows were closed. Thise found with illegal purchases from along state lines or existing assault weapons that weren’t collected could face a felony charge on their record. Exchanging an assault rifle for a pistol with local law enforcement could be an idea. - Ban bum stocks in light of what happened in Las Vegas, deeming them a necessary measure to protect civilians. This is not restricting gun ownership but it is getting rid of capabilities that a responsible gun owner doesn’t need. - Senators who are given money from the NRA should be called out publicly and smeared in a way that shows their voting record and contributions from the NRA. We could show a correlation between their public statements and the donations they receive from the NRA during election season. I was thinking of something like this: https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/16/politics/thr...trnd/index.html - Encourage donations to organizations like Moms Demand Action so that Action can be taken locally. Research state legislators and donate money to those who have pro gun control stances. Encourage rich individuals who are independent, democratic or moderate Republicans to donate to these causes to offset the NRA votes. https://momsdemandaction.org - Continue the discussion with those with opposing viewpoints to see where common ground could be found. Not having a conversation is not productive to solving problems. Keep up the messaging through public service ads. Consider the ideas of having retired police officers and army personnel in schools and metal detectors in exchange for trying different solutions to go with their solutions.

“Prayers and condolences.” - Trump No action whatsoever. This is the America we live in and we have to just accept it.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 8, 2018 -> 10:43 AM) Was there significantly more White Sox talk on the Score than there is now when they had their games on there besides Rongey's show, which 98% of the people here hated anyway? I'm with the above, if I am relegated to radio, just give me a station that comes in really well. WGN fits the bill pretty well. Yes. When McNeil was on there was a lot more Sox chatter. News or not, they had more Sox interviews. There’s a few mentions every now and then with a slow offseason but for the most part it is just a Cubs hard on on 670. Regardless, the content flows towards the Cubs and it is what it is on the Cubs flagship. That’s why I had hoped AM 1000 would get them, so they would direct more content at the Sox. Hopefully a busier offseason next offseason will create more Sox chatter and by then we will have more of the future up. As for the Hawks, well, Jay Zawaski actually knows about them, the others don’t.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 7, 2018 -> 10:35 PM) They talk about the Cubs more, but what do you expect, they are winning. I hear plenty of sox talk and I listen all day long while working So do I, but I don’t hear them talk about the White Sox consistently.

QUOTE (Donaldo @ Feb 7, 2018 -> 08:51 PM) On ESPN 1000, they must talk to Jesse Rogers three times a day every day during baseball season (and I'm not exaggerating by much). Doug Padilla used to be their Sox reporter, but I'm not sure they ever replaced him. I wonder if both stations will send crews out to Mesa for a week, while completely ignoring Sox camp like they did last year? I wonder if emailing Delevitt and Rosen about increasing the Sox coverage would just be met with a laugh or if it would mean anything to them.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 7, 2018 -> 07:59 PM) You don't like hearing Len Kasper do interviews ten times a week on the Score during baseball season? Too much ball sucking by Parkins and Spiegel with Maddon, Kasper and Hoyer. I just remember McNeil having actual White Sox content while he was on the air. Holmes, Goff and Bernstein are Sox fans but they rarely talk about the White Sox. Holmes, who has season tickets with the Sox, actually ripped Sox fans for cheering for Cleveland in 2016 and for how we are when Cubs fans come to the Garry for the Crosstown classic. It just sucks that there’s no coverage at all, the last bit of excitement was when Quintana was rumored to go to the Pirates and B&B had a SoxTalk poster on.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 7, 2018 -> 02:32 PM) Any new news today? Apparently Trump’s approval rating is rising...

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 7, 2018 -> 04:21 PM) Does the station really matter? I don't see much exposure difference between when they were on the Score or any other statio. I would prefer just a,strong signal in case I have to listen on the radio. It matters in terms of the direction of content. The Score rarely has White Sox players, coaches and front office members on unless it is Mully and Hanley in the morning. Spiegel and Parkins are both Cubs fans so they rarely talk about the White Sox and I’ve only heard B&G talk with the Sox twice since they started their show.

QUOTE (Tony @ Feb 7, 2018 -> 04:11 PM) Sox don’t make much sense for 1000 right now. They have the highest-rated sports show in Chicago with Waddle and Silvy right now, not sure they want to cut into that time with East Coast games, ect. Higher than Bernstein and Goff?

“Thoughts and prayers.”

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 01:15 PM) Trump is definitely more hated than Obama but Obama definitely divided the country more. How so?