April 15, 2026

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CBS2

— “Parent Takeover” planned in Hyde Park amid expected teen takeover.

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/parent-takeover-planned-in-hyde-park-amid-expected-teen-takeover

WGN9

— DD: Anticipate/expect that Democrat and RINO employers will ever-increasingly use AI to hire Democrats and RINOs, that is, to not hire Republicans.

https://wgntv.com/news/getting-instantly-rejected-from-jobs-ai-might-be-scanning-your-resume-heres-how-to-fix-it-up

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

— Lake County Auditor criticized for not coming into work, tax error

— Froylan Jimenez: Why I choose to teach in CPS on May Day

— Education advocates: Illinois should not scrap indicator that shows whether students can succeed after high school

— Before adding new rules on homelessness, let’s enforce the ones we have

— Chicago video gambling terminal fight continues as aldermen try to jump-start approval. DD: In 2009, I led the successful effort to ban video gambling in Wheaton.

— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG PICTURE IN NAPERVILLE SUN: Naperville receives another ‘best places to live’ in US honor

DAILY HERALD

— Wheaton officials favor stop signs over other traffic calming measures at intersection. DD: I led the successful effort to stop the stop light at Harrison and President in 1981. I handed out 1,000 “Stop the Stop Light” post cards at the intersection that were addressed to the Wheaton City Council. Motorists signed, put a stamp on, and sent in 400 of those post cards to the City Council. Ever since then, those who wanted that traffic signal have done everything that they can to destroy me. I should write a book about that.

WBEZ

— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more LGBTQ.

https://www.wbez.org/lgbtq/2026/04/14/same-sex-couple-households-chicago-increase-census-data-shows

FOX ILLINOIS

— DD: Anti-conservatives ever-increasingly fight Turning Point USA.

https://www.foxillinois.com/news/nation-world/turning-point-usa-s-high-school-push-in-gop-states-meets-free-speech-and-religion/article_80ecc50c-e6bc-5382-ad65-0b0d043fd09c.html

CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD

— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more hatred against Trump.

https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/world/ap-vatican-visitors-slam-trump-over-attacks-on-the-us-born-popes-message-of-peace

WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO

— After 20-point Supreme Court loss, Wisconsin Republicans look for who’s to blame. Some conservatives want state Republican Party Chair Brian Schimming fired. DD: I should write about my critics/opponents who have blamed me the most for the losses that Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct have suffered since 2000. I would focus on those who still have lots of clout and who have blamed what I have done as the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000, what I did as the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois chairman 2005-2012, and what I did as an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee member 2003-2007. 

DUPAGE COUNTY

— DD: Under the Democrats, soon, everyone in DuPage County will be a) handing out welfare and/or b) receiving welfare.

https://www.dupagecounty.gov/county_board/giving_dupage_days_provides_support_to_local_charities_1682.php

WHEATON PATCH & POSITIVELY NAPERVILLE

— DD: Under the Democrats and under the RINOs, soon, everyone in Illinois will be a) handing out welfare and/or b) receiving welfare.

https://patch.com/illinois/wheaton/amp/33959638/giving-dupage-days-to-kick-off-7th-year

POLITICO ILLINOIS

— Don’t call Darren Bailey MAGA. DD: In the March 17 Republican primary, in my DuPage County Milton Township Precinct 59 in Wheaton, Dabrowski got 66 votes, Bailey 32, Mendrick 27, and Heidner 11.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/04/15/dont-call-darren-bailey-maga-00872323

(FROM THE ARTICLE: NOT SO MAGA: Darren Bailey, the Republican who once eagerly aligned himself with President Donald Trump and his political movement, is now drawing a more careful distinction: He’s not MAGA — he’s just a Republican. In an interview, the GOP gubernatorial candidate said a MAGA Republican would accept whatever Trump said without question. Bailey says that’s not him. And to back it up, he has doubled down on criticizing Trump’s recent attack on Pope Leo XIV and his posting a meme appearing as Jesus. “It’s divisive. I wish President Trump would simply apologize and acknowledge that he messed up, and I think that would correct a lot,” Bailey told your Playbook host. It’s a notable bit of daylight between Bailey and a figure he once courted aggressively on the campaign trail. It also suggests that some Republicans may be recalibrating their stance as they try to balance Trump’s lasting influence with the realities of appealing to voters in a tough national climate in November. Bailey says he’s “concerned” about how the Trump v. pope exchange could affect the midterms “and Americans” in general, though he also acknowledges it’s too early to know. Besides, he said, “there’s going to be a bunch of drama in the next several months.” He also resisted predicting whether the controversy will impact key Republican constituencies, including Catholics. “I don’t know the political makeup of the church,” he said, before pivoting to campaign mode. Bailey criticized Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, whom he says is to blame for a state “spiraling out of control” with rising costs and what he sees as mismanagement in Springfield.)

CAPITOL FAX

— Morning briefing

https://capitolfax.com/2026/04/15/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-716

CAPITOL FAX

— Afternoon roundup

https://capitolfax.com/2026/04/14/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-503

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WIREPOINTS

— John Deere Quietly Choosing Indiana and North Carolina Over Illinois, Springfield Moving to Mandate Homeless Encampments in Suburban Parks. DD: My critics/opponents would love to see a homeless encampment in the Prairie Path Park in my precinct.

CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS

— State Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, is raising concerns about a proposal he says would expand access to in-state tuition for illegal immigrants in Illinois.

https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_54b71d86-623a-425c-aea3-cc81caf05de4.html

GOPUSA ILLINOIS

— Under the Democrats, your demographics are going to ever-increasingly impact your future. Democrats will ever-increasingly a) give more preference to those who have demographics that vote for Democrats and b) destroy those who have demographics that vote for Republicans. Demographics that vote for Democrats include: liberal/moderate, minority, female, younger, poor, unmarried, LGBTQ, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, and noncitizen. Demographics that vote for Republicans include: conservative, White, male, older, non-poor, married, heterosexual, Protestant, German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time. Ever-increasingly, to get more votes from those who have demographics that vote for Democrats, RINO leaders give them more preference and destroy those who have demographics that vote for Republicans. – Dave Diersen

http://www.gopillinois.com

— What is your Republican Precinct Committeeman doing to get more votes in your precinct for Republican candidates on November 3? I am in the process of hand-delivering a letter to the 140 (39%) voters of the 361 registered Republican voters in my precinct who cast a Republican ballot in the March 17 primary. In that letter, I thanked them for voting. For the contested races, listed the candidates and how many votes each got in the precinct and which candidates won in their political jurisdictions. I listed the candidate in the uncontested races who got the most votes. I urged the voters to consider helping elect the candidates who won the primary to win the November 3 election. – Dave Diersen

http://www.gopillinois.com

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES

— Unrestricted birthright citizenship devalues America. U.S. nationality a privilege, not a right.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/apr/14/unrestricted-birthright-citizenship-devalues-america

WASHINGTON EXAMINER

— Pope Leo attacked Trump first, on several occasions, not the other way around.

NEW YORK POST

— Pope’s stance on Iran war is shocking and ignores Tehran’s evil.

https://nypost.com/2026/04/14/opinion/popes-stance-on-iran-war-is-shocking-and-ignores-tehrans-evil

CHRISTIAN TODAY

— Young men are demoralized. DD: Under the Democrats and under the RINOs, the future is ever-increasingly bleak for those who are American, conservative, Republican, White, male, older, heterosexual, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly give more preference to those who are noncitizen, liberal/moderate, non-Republican, minority, female, younger, LGBTQ, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time.

https://www.christiantoday.com/news/young-men-are-demoralised-not-apathetic-says-report

FOX BUSINESS

— DEI policies cost US economy by promoting unqualified managers. DD: All my coworkers who my Democrat superiors in the federal government promoted over me were Democrats a) who had less work experience than I had, had less education than I had, had no professional certifications or fewer than I had, and/or had no professional license like the one I had and/or b) who were minority, female, younger than me, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or had ancestors who had not been in America for a long time.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/white-house-study-claims-dei-policies-cost-us-economy-promoting-unqualified-managers.amp

FREE PRESS

— Colleges Will Never Give Up Racial Preferences

https://www.thefp.com/p/will-colleges-ever-give-up-racial

NEWSMAX

— Illegals Pull Back on Filing Taxes as IRS Data Sharing Sparks Fear.

https://www.newsmax.com/us/illegals-taxes-irs/2026/04/14/id/1252935

PATRIOT POST

— Republican Amnesty? The ‘Dignidad’ Act Ignores the Will of the People. A bipartisan bill that seeks to bring dignity to illegal aliens misses what voters are screaming for with regard to immigration enforcement.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/126712-republican-amnesty-the-dignidad-act-ignores-the-will-of-the-people-2026-04-14

WESTERN JOURNAL

— FAA puts DEI in the crosshairs, threatens any airline that doesn’t hire by merit. DD: My Democrat superiors in the federal government always put their meeting their Affirmative Action quotas, goals, and targets ahead of everything. That ever-increasingly rendered worthless my job-related bachelor’s degree, my three job-related master’s degree, my six job-related professional certifications, and my job-related professional license.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/faa-puts-dei-in-the-crosshairs-threatens-any-airline-that-doesn-t-hire-by-merit/ar-AA1WmEzJ

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ASSOCIATED PRESS

— Trump promised tax relief, but polling shows most Americans still think they’re overpaying. DD: Ever since I became an IRS employee when I was 22 years old in 1971, my critics/opponents have wanted me to pay more taxes.

https://apnews.com/article/poll-tax-season-refunds-trump-republicans-costs-7c51405c441d56bcc4d5747fb587742c

MSN

— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) promote LGBTQ and b) destroy traditional marriage and family. What helped you become marriage material? By the time I got married when I was 29 in 1978, I had worked for IRS for almost 7 years and my salary was $110,066/year in today’s dollars. I had earned an MBA from Loyola in 1976 and I was taking graduate evening accounting courses at DePaul. I lived in a one bedroom condo in the Outer Drive East building that I had bought in 1976. I was renting out a town home in University Park that I had bought new in 1972. I owned a 1972 Corvette that I had bought new in 1971. Things that impressed me about my outstanding wife included that her first job after high school was working for the FBI. She soon became the Corporate Secretary of the U.S. League of Savings Institutions. She did much to help elect Big Jim Thompson governor in 1976. She earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from DePaul in 1986.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/relationships/11-reasons-why-more-women-are-walking-away-from-men-and-marriage/ss-AA1YvbfS?ocid=winp2fp

NEW YORK TIMES

— After Charlie Kirk’s Death, a Fight for the Youth Vote. A fledgling Democratic group and the far-right white nationalist Nick Fuentes seek to make gains on college campuses that have recently been dominated by Turning Point USA

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/us/politics/charlie-kirk-turning-point-youth-democrats-fuentes.html

— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more LGBTQ.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/nyregion/pride-flag-stonewall-trump.html

— DD: Anticipate/expect that Democrat leaders will ever-increasingly focus on getting young people to protest Trump.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/opinion/trump-protest-ai-phones-social-media.html

CONCORD MONITOR

— DD: According to my critics/opponents, when those who are conservative, Republican, White, male, older, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time do better than those who are not the aforesaid, it is because those who are the aforesaid benefit from discrimination against those who are not the aforesaid.

WSJ

— Why Pope Leo Is Such a Challenging Opponent for Trump. Pontiff is more popular than the president—and is a methodical political operator.

https://www.wsj.com/politics/trump-pope-leo-catholic-church-41d834ce

— DD: Pot is poison. If I had used pot, I would not have been able to a) earn a job-related bachelor’s degree, b) earn three job-related master’s degrees, c) earn six job-related professional certifications, or d) earn a job-related professional license.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/should-pot-be-legal-af972838

(FROM A LETTER: Using marijuana diminishes one’s ability to reason clearly and make sound judgments—a core human capacity. From an ethical standpoint, reason isn’t only a biological function, it’s what enables moral discernment, responsibility and self-governance. Many would say our ability to have a conscience is a gift from God. Impairing this faculty through habitual drug use shrinks human dignity and weakens the moral foundation of society. When individuals voluntarily dull their reasoning, they become more susceptible to poor decisions that hurt not only themselves but their families and communities. The data reinforces this concern. According to research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana use is associated with impaired memory, attention and learning. Even more concerning, studies show that regular use, especially in younger people, can reduce IQ and long-term cognitive performance. If a substance measurably degrades the very capacity that allows people to think, choose wisely and act responsibly, its widespread legalization raises serious ethical and societal questions. Ultimately, laws exist not only to protect freedom, but to preserve the conditions that make freedom meaningful. Normalizing substances that impair reason risks eroding personal responsibility and moral accountability. If reason is a divine gift, then safeguarding it should be a priority, not something we compromise through legalization.)

POLITICO

— ‘They’re not getting what they voted for’: Jesus meme lays bare GOP frustrations with Trump. The president’s attacks on the first American pope and a deleted Jesus meme are deepening fractures within his MAGA coalition.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/14/trump-jesus-meme-pope-backlash-00872163

THOMPSON REUTERS

— 20 ways employees are motivated by their work. DD: GAO’s mission is to fight government fraud, waste, and abuse. That helped me endure tremendous efforts by my Democrat GAO superiors to get rid of me. IRS’s mission is to administer tax laws. That helped me endure tremendous efforts starting in 1974 by my Democrat GAO superiors to get rid of me. The Post Office’s mission is to deliver mail. That helped me endure tremendous efforts by my Democrat Post Office superiors to get rid of me. My aforesaid superiors wanted to get rid of me because I was not a Democrat, because I avoided the Vietnam War draft, because I was not a minority, female, or younger, because I complained about their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, and age discrimination, and because I became an active member ii a class action lawsuit when I was 40 in 1988 that charged them with the aforesaid.

https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/careers/careers-blog/20-ways-employees-are-motivated-by-work

FEDERAL NEWS NEWORK

— Civilian job training program for transitioning service members. DD: While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997, because of Republican-led budget cuts, they got rid of thousands of their employees, including me. There was no transitioning service. Worse yet, they despised/hated/punished their Republican employees like me because Gingrich and other Republicans cut GAO’s budget dramatically. When they succeeded in forcing me to retire when I was 49 in 1997, they did everything that they could to a stop me from getting a job appropriate for my work experience, education, professional certifications, and professional license. I should write about the aforesaid. 

(FROM THE ARTICLE: The Department of the Air Force and Space Force have limited the amount of time active-duty service members can spend gaining civilian work experience before separating from the military. The Defense Department’s SkillBridge program connects transitioning military personnel with private and public-sector organizations that offer internships and training opportunities to help them prepare for civilian careers. Service members could previously begin the program six months before leaving the service. The updated Air Force policy still allows Airmen and Guardians to participate in SkillBridge during their final 180 days of service, but caps participation time within that 6-month window based on rank.)

MEDIUM

— Investing in Yourself. DD: When I was in high school, no one thought that I was college material. Nevertheless, I took college preparatory courses, got an ACT score of 24, graduated in the upper 20% of my class, worked my way through college, earned a job-related bachelor’s degree, earned three job-related master’s degrees, earned six job-related professional certifications, and earned a job-related professional license. My father’s often decrying his not having a bachelor’s degree put me on track to do the aforesaid.

https://watermelonx.medium.com/investing-in-yourself-why-its-more-important-than-your-career-aeab480301e0

NTD

— All New York City employees have to take mandatory critical race theory training, which says that America is systematically racist. DD: Ever-increasingly, those who come to America hate Republicans, and especially Republicans who are conservative, White, male, older, non-poor, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.

https://www.ntd.com/ntdplus/all-nyc-employees-ordered-to-take-critical-race-theory-training-report_898095.html

TPM

— How a Texas City Became the Far Right’s Next Example of the Great Replacement Theory. DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly replace those who have demographics that vote for Republicans with those who have demographics that vote for Democrats and for RINOs.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/frisco-texas-great-replacement

Author: David Diersen

The opinions that I express in GOPUSA ILLINOIS emails are based on experience that I have gained doing many things since 1948. I base my opinions on what I learned a) working for the federal government for almost 30 years -- Post Office 1966-1969, IRS 1971-1980, and GAO 1980-1997, serving on the Executive Committee of the Association of Government Accountants Chicago Chapter 1983-1996, and being a union member while I worked for the Post Office and IRS; b) earning an MBA from Loyola in 1976, a masters degree in accounting from DePaul in 1980, and a masters degree in financial markets and trading from IIT in 1997; c) passing the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979 and passing the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981; c) serving as a Republican Precinct Committeeman since 1999, the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000, the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois Chairman 2005-2012, a member of the 2008 Illinois Republican Party (IRP) Platform and Resolutions Committee, a Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee member 2003-2011, the Milton Township Republican Central Committee webmaster 2008-2010 and 2000-2004, an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee member 2003-2007, and an American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter board member 2001-2004; d) attending the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 IRP State Conventions as a delegate; e) being the subject of a nasty 4-page article in the February 1978 issue of Money Magazine; f) pursing litigation including Diersen v. GAO and Diersen v. Chicago Car Exchange; g) being married since 1978; h) living in Crete 1948-1972, in University Park 1972-1976, in Chicago 1976-1978, and in DuPage County, Milton Township, and Wheaton since 1978; and i) being baptized, raised, and confirmed as a Missouri Synod Lutheran.