7 years after GOP betrayal, Jim Ryan knows the score

The last time Jim Ryan ran for governor of Illinois, he offered voters a clear choice between a man who never took a dime in public life and Rod Blagojevich.

"The infrastructure of the Illinois Republican Party has never really been for me," Ryan said over breakfast the other day as we talked about that 2002 campaign and his current run in the crowded GOP primary for governor. "I'm not a deal-maker. And senior Republicans knew my reputation. They knew I wouldn't be flexible."

Seven years ago, Ryan, then Illinois attorney general, had the misfortune of having the same last name as George Ryan, the crooked Republican governor who later was indicted and sent to prison in the license-for-bribes scandal. They're not related, but George Ryan's disgrace splashed over the GOP.

To make things worse, senior Republican bosses were secretly backing the Democrat Blagojevich and stabbing Ryan in the back -- a clear illustration of the Illinois Combine at work.

Springfield Republican boss and state asphalt king William Cellini, now awaiting his own Blagojevich-related corruption trial, held a 2002 fundraiser for Blagojevich, according to federal testimony.

>> To make things worse, senior Republican bosses were secretly backing the Democrat Blagojevich and stabbing Ryan in the back -- a clear illustration of the Illinois Combine at work. <<

Yep, that's the Combine alright. Here in Illinois when we say "The Combine", it means a group of GOP and Dem insiders that are in kahoots with each other to protect their own careers and power. Republican members of the combine will not hesitate to assist the Dems behind the scenes to defeat another Republican, if they can use it to advance their own career. And combiner doesn't automatically mean "RINO" either, there are several politicians with very conservative voting records in office that are controlled by the combine -- Dennis Hastert, for example (who worked to undermine Peter Fitzgerald and Chris Lauzen). Likewise, the Democrat members of the combine won't hesitate to knife a "fellow Democrat" in the back if that Democrat is anti-Chicago machine and anti-Daley. They will work to elect a combiner RINO instead, as someone else illustrated was demonstrated in 1998 when the combine helped DIABLO George Ryan get elected Governor over southern Illinois Democrat Glen Poshard.

Of course the ironic thing is that Jim Ryan was the ultimate GOP "insider", and the preferred choice of the party bosses in 2002 (he's kind of the Illinois version of Bob Dole or Bill Jones -- acceptable conservative, but drab establishment hack), but they threw him to the wolves when it became in their best interests to elect Blago. I even know a high-ranking official in the Jim Ryan campaign who told me confidentially that combine enforcer Ray Thug (a DIABLO who is now Obama's Transportation Secretary), worked the rounds of the Illinois media the last couple of weeks of the election when the polls tightened during Blago's last debate flub and Jim Ryan was within single digits of beating Blago. To depress the GOP turnout, "Republican" Ray La Thug gave interviews to media throughout the state saying Jim Ryan had no chance and Republicans should not bother to campaign for him. LaThug has helped purge at least five major conservative GOP officials in this state. No wonder Obama loves him so much.

Mark Kirk is well known as a major player within combine circles, during Chicagolady's bid for Congress last year he was caught placing a phone call to sleazy Chicago machine Democrat John Frichley (the preferred choice of the combine), telling Frichley he could "endorse you or condemn you, whichever you think would help more", although Frichley ultimately lost the Dem primary to phony "reformer" Mike Quigley. And of course Mark Kirk has been bankrolled by such infamous figures as Tony Rezko.

>> The Chicago Tribune demanded the records for candidate Jack Ryan because the public had a right to know. About 2 weeks later they wrote an editorial ripping Republicans who wanted to unseal sitting Senator and presidential candidate effen Kerry. <<

That's because the Trib is another useful tool of the combine. It's no coincidence the ONLY Chicago area "Republican" in a competitive district they like is Mark Kirk. Their ideal Republican is one who acts "bipartisan" by doing whatever the Dems tell him to do. In fact, I would actually argue the only reason they "supported" Bush is because Mayor Daley was lukewarm about Kerry and gave them permission to so.

The worst was the (late) Sun-Times columnist Steve Neal though. You're not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but seriously this guy was like the Official Press Secretary for The Combine. If you wanted to know who they supported that week, all you needed to do was read one of his puff pieces. (Sun-Times should have noted "Steve Neal, Combine Spokesman") My favorite was when he hailed Chicago Democrat Aurelia Pucinski (daughter of ultra powerful Chicago Democrat boss Roman Pucinski), THEN condemned her when she had a failing out with the machine and ran as a RINO (kept the SAME liberal platform, but denounced the machine), THEN heaped praise on her when she was defeated and came back a few years later groveling to the machine for support and promised to do their bidding. Talk about shallow.

~~~Illinois Combine (Chicago Way on steroids) .... PING!

“To make things worse, senior Republican bosses were secretly backing the Democrat Blagojevich and stabbing Ryan in the back — a clear illustration of the Illinois Combine at work.

Springfield Republican boss and state asphalt king William Cellini, now awaiting his own Blagojevich-related corruption trial, held a 2002 fundraiser for Blagojevich, according to federal testimony.

Blagojevich’s campaign later credited that fundraiser to state Sen. James A. DeLeo (D-How You Doin?), a longtime Cellini and Blago pal. Early in Blagojevich’s first term, another Cellini buddy, Robert Kjellander (pronounced $hell-ANDER), received $809,000 in a finder’s fee on a state bond deal.

According to federal court documents, Kjellander kicked part of the cash back to associates of influence peddler Tony Rezko. Kjellander, a former treasurer of the Republican National Committee, has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.”

~ ~ ~ ~

The whole dang state is filthy with corruption.

The illegal (?) unsealing of the Jack Ryan divorce records was preceded by a similar unsealing of the divorce records of one Blair Hull, a Demonrat zillionaire who had been twice divorced from one wife, apparently on allegations of brutality. Blair Hull, a lavishly self-financed candidate who was leading Comrade O by a substantial margin before the illegal distribution of his divorce records, sank thereafter like a lead sinker. The tactic worked so well against Hull that it was repeated against Jack Ryan. Jack Ryan allegedly wanted to have sex with his own wife (Jeri Ryan of Star Trek) but at a public sex club of some sort where their coupling would be a public performance for the lurid satisfaction of viewers. None of this speaks well for Illinois but what does? Too bad about Jack Ryan. He was otherwise a star for a wide variety of reasons. It was certainly the corrupt Combine that produced Comrade O as a Senator.

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