Posted on 03/25/2008 8:18:46 PM PDT by Biblebelter
Hate crimes commission set to fail Blagojevich hasn't appointed anyone to panel
By NGUYEN HUY VU
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published Tuesday, March 25, 2008
After religious divisions paralyzed a state commission on hate crimes, Illinois lawmakers wanted a fresh start.
They created a new version of the Governor’s Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes, designed to promote tolerance within the state’s diverse population. But seven months later, Gov. Rod Blagojevich hasn’t appointed a single person to the overhauled commission, which will fail to accomplish its first major goal — presenting a report by March 30.
Meanwhile, the old version of the commission hasn’t met in two years, but its executive director, Kimberly M. White, continues to draw her $96,000 annual salary.
“There’s plenty of competent people in the state of Illinois that could serve on this commission,” Sen. Ira Silverstein, a Chicago Democrat who had sponsored the legislation to establish a new version, said Monday. “It’s something, unfortunately, in society that we have to deal with.”
The governor’s staff wouldn’t explain why Blagojevich hasn’t named anyone to the commission but did say they are reviewing candidates recommended by the state’s Human Rights Department.
Spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff also said the Democratic governor is following through on his promise to hold private discussions meant to help bridge the state’s racial and religious differences, although she would provide no details.
“The issues won’t be resolved overnight, but the governor is focused on maintaining dialogue and doing what he can as the chief executive of the state to foster diversity and support people who have traditionally been left behind,” she said in a statement.
The original hate crimes commission fell apart over Blagojevich’s appointment of Sister Claudette Marie Muhammad, a high-ranking Nation of Islam official.
Her appointment went largely unnoticed until she invited fellow commissioners to a speech by her boss, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, where he reportedly made disparaging remarks about Jews and gays.
Five Jewish members of the commission soon resigned in protest. “It’s difficult for me to see how you could be eradicating hate when your primary boss is the one that spews it out,” one of them, Lonnie Nasatir, said recently.
Muhammad declined to comment.
Blagojevich argued Muhammad wasn’t responsible for Farrakhan’s remarks. He refused to ask for her resignation but pledged to begin a “meaningful dialogue” on race and religion in the state.
His schedule for 2006 and most of 2007 shows only one meeting on the subject, when the controversy was near its peak. But Blagojevich could have had other meetings by phone or discussed the issue during his occasional appearances at churches and synagogues.
The hate crimes commission never met again, but the Blagojevich administration says its staff continues to do work, particularly on research for an anti-bullying program the commission had discussed.
Silverstein said White shouldn’t be paid to oversee a commission that no longer exists. He also said he has heard nothing from the governor about a new commission.
Blagojevich signed legislation in August that dismantled the old commission and requires Senate approval of future appointments. The result is that Muhammad and all other members have been ousted.
Rep. Lou Lang, the House sponsor of that legislation, criticized the governor for not taking action. “One has to wonder what the governor’s motivations are,” the Skokie Democrat said.
Some members of the old commission say they’ve been left in the dark about the new version. Ernestine Jackson, a Bloomington human-relations commissioner, said she had to call up state officials to find out what was going on.
“I’ve asked to come back on that commission,” Jackson said. “Whether the governor appoints the ones that are on that or not, I have no idea.”
One former member of the commission, former state Sen. Carol Ronen, attributed the delay in appointing new members to last year’s legislative gridlock.
“The session went so late that everything has been pushed back considerably,” Ronen said.
Jackson hopes some decision is made soon so the group can return to business.
“Let’s stick to why we’re supposed to meet and take care of these things,” she said. “Hopefully this commission will get back on track, and we’ll take it from there.”
Lord........I wish Illinois would get it’s act together and start electing Conservatives, for America’s sake as well as her own.
Is there an Idiot Factory in Illinois?
“Blagojevich argued Muhammad wasn’t responsible for Farrakhan’s remarks.”
Yeah right.
The person that invites the wolf in the hen house is the person responsible for all the hens being eaten.
Not going to happen. We even just lost Hastert’s seat. What needs to happen is everyone south of I-80 seceding from Chicago and making our own state. Let the governor stay in Chicago.
That is stronger public support for this Governor than he can probably get from either the Speaker of the House or the Secretary of State who are elected Democrats as he is.
There ya go, sounds good
I don’t like that it borders KY, where a lot of my family lives and I hope to in a few years.
Well, the Democrats control just about everything, but they are jealous of each other and hate each other. The Governor said the Speaker of the House who is also a Democrat, was acting like a “Republican”. Years back, the Secretary of State who is also a Democrat, publicly called the Governor a liar. As far your question goes, Illinois is dark blue, socialist, and there is little sign that the voters are angry enough to kick the Democrats out of office.
Is there an Idiot Factory in Illinois?
Three shifts, seven days a week.
Just what kind of power does the NoI have in the state? It appears to be quite a bit.
Blagojevich appears to be a bought and paid for hand puppet - for black left hands only.
He may be the next DEMOCRAT Gov. to fall from grace.....
Old party affiliations die very hard in Illinoisistan-literally! Countless generations of democrats continue to vote the party line even though most of them died decades ago.
If Chicago would detach and float over to Michigan.
Illinois might actually have a chance of electing someone resembling conservative
He does anyways
So if a white guy appointee of this “hate whitey” commission invited members to a speech from the grand poobah of the KKK, he would not be “responsible” for the KKK hate speech, the media would ignore it and the governor would defend the kkk.
The Illinois governor is almost as stupid as the commie governor of Michigan.
I wish I could discount Blagojevich as stupid. Blagojevich is DANGEROUS. He does pretty much what he wants and what he can get away with. There seems to be no checks on him. The political state of things in Illinois is so dismal, that he has no fear of an opponent's challenge, either in a general election or a primary challenge. This guy does not play well with others, and the Republican party is so weak, that his strongest enemies in the state are within the Democrat party and they are many.
That’s what happens when you vote for a trial lawyer to be an executive. Total incompetence.
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