A Thank You Note to Aaron Schock and Bill Spears

Okay, the black clouds over my head seem to be lifting and parting. A little. I'm starting to feel some relief from my latest massive depressive episode. Imagine that!!! It didn't require a hospital stay or violence of any kind. Well, there was some yelling. My Significant Other is still trembling under the bed. Babe, I swear, you can come out now. It's safe for the next twenty eight days. Promise.

I have Aaron Schock and Billy Spears to thank. The entertainment that has surrounded their campaigns has been fantastic. Downing a bottle or two of Prozac followed by a chaser of Ativan would not have brought the instant relief that these two have given me. Polly just loves a heated race.

I've kept my opinions to myself on this race because I am torn. I've met and like Bill and Aaron. Both fall into the category of Decent and Productive Politician- quite rare these days. Spears has been a gentle force on the City Council. Everyone seems to like and respect him. When one can say that both Sandberg and Nichting respect you and want to hear what you have to say... Well, that's leadership! I don't think Bill's plan to bring Ceasefire to Peoria is revolutionary. A solid campaign tactic to be sure, but this latest program aimed at ending crime and gun violence doesn't seem to differ from the many other programs that already exist and have failed to combat the problem. Along with every other cynical voter, I ask, "Bill, why now?" You have served as a City Councilman for forever and crime has always plagued Peoria. Now that you are attempting to reach for bigger and better things, well, Springfield anyway, it just dawns on you to bring this progressive program our way?! Er, thanks. I was a bit surprised when Bill opted to chase a State Rep seat shortly after he received the City Council of his dreams. He hand picked his brother-in-law, George (who admittedly is doing a fine job) to fill the open At Large seat after his best buddy, Ardis, was elected mayor. Is it just me, or does Barbara seem to have a teeny weeny little crush on Bill? I know. Me too. Manning seems to have found a solid mentor in Bill as well. Obviously, everyone knows Bill has Ardis' ear. All okay by me. All involved are intelligent, humble, well meaning beings. Clearly Spears is a good leader. Yet every wet Spring we hear about flooding in his District, and he claims to be hard at work to combat it. Yet, he voted for a Budget which neglected to fund the long needed, critical repairs necessary avoid sewage from overflowing into rec rooms of homes in the fourth distict. Aaron, his Fire Station 11 vote is good ammo as well. He claims to be in the "Basic, Essential Services First" camp, but when push comes to shove- he voted to partially shutter the Station. Looking for more? Well, Bill does flip flop a bit. He went back and forth on whether or not to buy the over priced water company. Had he not decided to run for your State Rep seat, I think he would have voted to buy the damn thing.

Aaron, I told you to go for Shadid's seat! Your humbleness prevented you from a sure win. Don't get me wrong, I like Ernie and all. Nice guy. However, jumping into the race after Blair jumped out automatically put Russell way behind. Nonetheless, the latest ad from Bill's camp accusing you of going easy on child murderers is asinine. I wouldn't worry much about it. No one wants to live next to a murderer, regardless of who they killed. That much is obvious. Have you introduced legislation forbidding Uncle Sam from placing a nuclear missile silo next to a pre-school? No? You bum! Legislation in other parts of the land which forbids convicted child molesters from living anywhere near children -not just within a few hundred feet of a school- has been proven not to make the public any safer. It has, however, proven to suck up the man hours and the inflate the cost of police protection. I would wager most child killers, who -don't misunderstand me- are scum through and through, are caretakers (i.e., drunk, high, and stupid boyfriends) who couldn't endure the cries of an infant interrupting their football game/meth induced high, not sickos who are just looking for an opportunity to kill children. Besides, as recent events in Amish Country have proven, where one lives does little to prevent the slaughter of innocent kids. My question is why a convicted child killer could be living next to anyone except the guy in the next prision cell, but that's an entirely different post.

I think Bill's attacks on your School Board service will serve as more potent ammo. I don't hold you accountable for the evil doings of Kay. Moreover, I think you should only be held responsible for the balance sheets you were given. You were one of the first to cry "Foul!" when District 150's finances were revealed to be in a sorry state. And we have you, in large part, to thank for the ouster of Rouster. Moreover, every piece of legislation you introduced last year was passed, and that says a lot for a newly minted State Representative. If Bill chooses to focus on your School Board service, it proves that he can't find anything worthwhile to attack regarding your fine stint as a State Rep. I was especially impressed by your bill giving No Bush Left Behind the fine tuning it so desparately needed. Thanks to you, schools will no longer have to give an eight year old student, one who suffers from severe mental retardation, the same exact test as an eight year old gifted prodigy, and report their scores in the same category- penalizing good schools, teachers, and kids for events and conditions beyond their control or ability to repair and/or improve.

You work hard, as does Bill, and I just want to thank and encourage you both to keep up the fantastic campaign. Aaron, I didn't think that it could get any better than your hard fought campaign again Ricca. Seems like that delicious victory was just yesterday.

Schock and Spears have kept those greedy pharmaceutical companies from getting any more of Polly's anti-depressant dime, and I really appreciate it. I'd vote for both of you if I could, but Polly doesn't live in Chicago.

Keep up the good work!