By Steve Rhodes
Illinois congressman Timothy Johnson makes about a hundred phone calls a day in an effort to reach every one of his 653,647 constituents, Tribune Newspapers reports.
Tribune notes that Johnson is “one of the most unconventional Republicans in the House,” according to CQ’s Politics in America.
Here’s my favorite part of the Tribune report:
“Johnson has been active in efforts to promote civility in hyperpartisan Washington, although he cast the only vote against a resolution congratulating the New Orleans Saints on their Super Bowl victory over the Indianapolis Colts this year. ‘I’m an Indianapolis Colts fan,’ he said.”
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More on Johnson:
“Though he’s served in Congress a decade, few know of Johnson outside of his heavily rural district, which extends about 60 miles south of Chicago to near the Kentucky border, taking in corn and soybean farms and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.”
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From his Wikipedia page:
“In the House, Johnson’s voting record is the most moderate among Illinois Republicans outside of the Chicago area. The American Conservative Union gave him its second-lowest rating among Illinois Republicans, behind only Mark Steven Kirk of the 10th District.”
Also:
“For each of the 107th, 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses Johnson received a score of 0% from the Human Rights Campaign. This was for, among other things, voting against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would have prohibited discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation, and for refusing to adopt a written policy for his own office pledging not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in employment decisions.”
Also:
“Timothy V. Johnson was the sole Republican congressman to vote against the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 including immunity for American telecommunications companies that implemented warrantless wiretaps outside of the scope of the FISA program for the Bush administration. The bill passed, 293, 129.”
You Are Free To Forgive
“There are some things that Fred Taylor Jr. and his crew at Southwest Airlines Co. just cannot explain,” McClatchy/Tribune reports.
“For example, there was the female passenger who kneeled in front of her middle seat and chewed on the seat cushion, then stripped off her top and ran down the aisle. But Taylor and others on his customer service team can apologize to the other passengers on that flight and did so, as they’ve done thousands of other times when something has gone wrong in the air or on the ground.
“Their job: to find out the situations in which something went wrong – a mechanical delay, bad weather, a medical emergency or a berserk passenger – then apologize to all passengers on that flight, within 24 hours of their bad experience, if possible.”
Border War
“The Illinois Tollway missed out on an estimated $7 million in tolls and fines because of a mix-up in how it issued violation notices to Indiana drivers, officials said,” the Sun-Times reports.
“That means more than 116,000 Indiana residents who used the Tollway over the past two years are about to get some unwelcome bills in the mail.”
Black Metal Mania
“Belgium isn’t the most black metal of countries, possibly because it’s hard to develop strong feelings about Satan with so much great beer around,” Monica Kendrick writes for the Reader. “The members of Enthroned, a black-metal group based in Brussels, apparently feel driven to compensate: their sound is a stinging maelstrom fit to scour the corpsepaint right off your face, and they seem to have come up with their stage names using a Black Speech of Mordor Demoniker Generator.”
Vette Fest
“The first show at Tinley Park’s expanded convention center next June will feature something fast, shiny and beloved by car buffs worldwide,” the SouthtownStar reports.
“The National Council of Corvette Clubs, which includes 271 clubs in 16 regions throughout the United States, will gather at the center, 183rd Street and Harlem Avenue, from June 18 to 24.”
Say It Ain’t So
“But unless someone in New York really angers him, it’s hard to imagine [Joe Girardi] leaving a job where he’s offered a chance to win the World Series every season,” Barry Rozner writes for the Daily Herald.
“On the North Side of Chicago, he’d be offered the chance to win the World Series, well, never. If you grew up a Cubs fan, then you know this to be truth, not rumor.
“And all misery aside, it’s not like the Cubs are well positioned for the next few years.
“There’s also the memory of four years ago when Girardi was coming off a Manager of the Year award, but the Marlins had put the stink on him after Jeff Loria lost his mind and fired him.
“That’s when the Cubs hired Lou Piniella, and had Bruce Bochy lined up as their second choice.
“There was no third choice, and all nonsense about any other candidates is just that. Nonsense.
“The Cubs did not intend to even call Girardi until a friend got to John McDonough, who arranged for Girardi to get a courtesy interview and a chance to tell his side of the story.
“But that’s all it was. The Cubs believed what they were hearing about Girardi from the clowns in Florida, and it wasn’t pleasant.
“Those who wanted nothing to do with Girardi back then still run the Cubs, and you wonder if Girardi will so easily forget.”
Month At City Hall Next
“More than 1,500 people have applied to spend a month at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry,” AP reports.
“The winner of the promotion will live at the museum – roaming freely and sleeping in exhibits like the U-505 submarine or the coal mine.”
Leaders Blame Privatization
“9 Day Traffic Jam Grips Beijing,” the Expired Meter notes.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Scratch and sniff.
Posted on August 25, 2010