-By Warner Todd Huston
There is a website in Illinois called Illinois Review that often has some of the best coverage of Illinois Republican happenings. It’s usually a good source for GOP info statewide. But today’s entry is just another example of Illinois Republicans eating their own. And in an unfortunate turn of events, it involves me.
Over the past weekend I was a visitor at a planning session for the Republican candidate aiming to take Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s 5th Congressional District seat. I wrote about my impression of the meeting and headlined it Planning to Turn Rahm Emanuel’s Seat Red.
But, Illinois Review got its tinfoil hat screwed down a little to tight and revealed a bit of arrogance that pervades so much of the Illinois Republican Party. This time imagining that Illinois Review was more important than RedState,com and deserved special attention.
In a fit of pique befitting a 10-year-old’s temper tantrum, Illinois Review excoriated candidate Pulido and RedState’s Warner Todd Huston (hey, that’s me) for engaging in “secret efforts” and going out of the way to exclude “widely read conservative sources such as Illinois Review” in the candidate’s planning meeting.
Sure beats us as to what point Rosanna Pulido’s supporters are trying to make by keeping their efforts to win Rahm Emanuel’s congressional seat a secret from like-minded and widely read conservative sources such as Illinois Review, but being open and giving interviews to national political sources such as RedState.org. What’s up with that?
From RedState we learn that Tom Roeser hosted an exclusive secret meeting on winning back the seat April 7. We’ll stand by and report from afar….as Pulido and Roeser obviously want it…Good luck with that, folks!
Geeze, cry me a river fellas.
But, here is the thing. Illinois Review’s claim that there’s was an “exclusive secret meeting” where a special interview was granted to a “national political source such as RedState.org” (hey, that’s me again) is misinformed and a mischaracterization of what really happened.
First of all, meeting organizer Tom Roeser advertised the event openly on his own website on March 9 about the meeting being planned for March 14. And second of all, there was no special consideration or secret invitation to RedState. I (yes, that’s me, your super secret RedState correspondent) found out about the meeting like everyone else by seeing it posted on Roeser’s site. Then I asked THEM if I could come out to cover it.
They didn’t even know I existed as an interested party in the candidacy until I contacted them and asked if I could come out.
Secondly, Illinois Review could have done the same thing. All they had to do over there was send an email to Roeser and inquire.
Lastly, I am not merely a “national political source” as Illinois Review wants to color me. I LIVE in Cook County! I’m an Illinoisan just like they are. It just so happens that I also have a national audience.
So, this temper tantrum is misinformed and petulant. Apparently, Illinois Review imagines themselves to be as “special” as RedState,com and deserves the same “secret invitations” afforded us. Unfortunately, the tinfoil hat brigade running Illinois Review didn’t do much investigation before launching into conspiracy theories and excoriations of a candidate they should be supporting.
This, folks, is an example of the Illinois GOP piranha at its most common. This, my dear reader, is why we have a President Barack Obama.
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, Human Events Magazine, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
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