Said CBS producer, Ed Marshall told Kirk in front of a live mike;
"Channel 2's made a decision. We're really not going to cover the Senate race if it consistently, only in your terms, is about Broadway Bank. The bank's been taken over by the government, Alexi's been pilloried. Tell me: what is your campaign going forward? What are the issues that you are going to tell the voters why they should vote for you?"
Well, here are some resons they shsould not vote for his opponent:
What CBS does not want to happen is for Illinois voters to ask themselves "Does a bank failure matter?" After all, in the grand scheme of things, what is another $400 million? Billions and Trillions are tossed around every day. Right now, there are so many zeros on the end of the Federal budget deficit that the number runs off the edge of the page.
But, to answer the question - darn right it matters! Somebody has to pay it back. And we know just as sure as the sun rises in the east that the bill is not going to be paid by Democratic-connected insiders. It's going to be taken out of the accounts of everyday people, one way or another.
Another thing the media would rather not concern voters with is the fact that a lot of the missing Broadway Bank money was lent to Chicago Mob figures. Locally, these are termed "juice loans". Believe it or not, Giannoulias lent some $20 Million to felons who were already convicted and were awaiting sentencing at the time the loans were made. This kind of banking is straight out of The Sopranos. Yet, to CBS news Mob connections are not a disqualifier for public office. Today's Democratic Party is a big tent.
CBS's real problem is the fact that Illinois politics are conducted inside a house of mirrors, and everywhere they look they see a crook.
Alexi Giannoulias happens to be the Democratic Party nominee for Barack Obama's old US Senate seat, the same seat that former Illinois Governor Rod "Blago" Blagojevich attempted to sell for $5 Million dollars just a year and a half ago. The "Blago" trial is set to start in June. A key witness is expected to be money-man Anton "Tony" Rezko, who also helped fix things so Barack and Michelle Obama could buy their Hyde Park house at below market price. Did you follow all of that? And we haven't even mentioned two recent suspicious suicides or Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and the gaggle of Alderman and City officials under investigation.
This is the kind of furniture in the room that the Mainstream Media in Illinois has to tip-toe around every day. There are crooks everywhere that need to be ignored. And, all the mouthing-off that Mark Kirk is doing is just making CBS's job of keeping this Senate seat in Democratic control a lot tougher.
To further move the narrative along, in 2006 Giannoulias got himself elected State Treasurer of Illinois. On the good side, at age 30 he was the youngest treasurer elected in state history. On the bad side, his record in Springfield is similar to his record at the Broadway Bank. Illinois finances are a mess; per capita taxpayer debt is second only to California. Here's an example; recently Illinois Bright Start, a State program that allowed parents to send money to Springfield to pre-pay for their kid's college tuition, was found to have lost $85 Million dollars.
While we have to admire Giannoulias; thrown off, he gets right back on the horse and failing at one thing - at the bank or at the Treasurer's job - he dusts himself off and attacks his next goal.
But, what about CBS? Do they get to decide what to gloss over, what's important and what is not? In an era of economic trouble aren't a candidate's financial blunders worthy of public notice, even if that candidate happens to be a Democrat? Has the mainstream media become that useless?
I never thought I would think of Mark Kirk for more than two seconds. I didn't vote for him in the primary. He is what is known as a "moderate" Republican. One thing's for sure, though; he hasn't cost taxpayers a dime. Between Kirk and Giannoulias how tough a choice can it be?
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