CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Durbin poised to run in 2020: ‘Raising money and trying to lose some weight’ – Lynn Sweet
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/durbin-poised-to-run-in-2020-raising-money-and-trying-to-lose-some-weight/
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Anti-Trumps say “Trump’s reluctant backers sour on his leadership, policies.”
https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/trumps-reluctant-backers-sour-on-his-leadership-policies/
NBC5
— Did Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin Admit to Running in 2020? “We now have reached a depth of dysfunction that I’ve never seen before in Washington,” – Daniela Prizont-Cado
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Did-Illinois-Sen-Dick-Durbin-Admit-to-Running-in-2020-503409241.html
ABC7
— Trump: Mattis out as of Jan. 1; deputy to be acting chief – CNN (DIERSEN: Have you been let go earlier than your “planned departure.” I had planned to retire no sooner than 2003 when I would be 55 years old and eligible for a regular Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) pension. But in 1997, when I was 49 years old, my Democrat GAO superiors succeeded in forcing me to take their early retirement “offer.” Consequently, my CSRS pension is only 41% of what my GAO salary was in today’s dollars. In 1971, I wanted a successful career in the automotive industry. But EEOC ended all that when Oldsmobile withdrew a job offer that I had accepted saying that it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. That made me unemployed because Firestone had fired me for accepting that offer. I had to get a job fast because I had a financial hardship draft deferment to help support my mother and brother. Because of the aforesaid, I accepted a job offer from IRS.)
https://abc7chicago.com/politics/trump-mattis-out-as-of-jan-1/4954503/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: President Donald Trump announced on Sunday he would replace Defense Secretary James Mattis at the start of the new year, two months earlier than Mattis’ planned departure. “I am pleased to announce that our very talented Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, will assume the title of Acting Secretary of Defense starting January 1, 2019. Patrick has a long list of accomplishments while serving as Deputy, + previously Boeing. He will be great!” Trump tweeted. Mattis announced his resignation on Thursday with a letter saying his views were not aligned with Trump, who said Mattis would retire at the end of February. A source familiar with the matter said Trump was mad at the extensive coverage given to Mattis’ resignation and therefore was forcing him to leave earlier than he originally planned.)
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Anti-Americans promote anti-American activities.
https://abc7chicago.com/politics/response-to-viral-gofundme-page-seeks-ladders-to-defeat-border-wall/4943075/
DAILY HERALD
— Profiting off presidency? Trump biz takes hit since election – AP
https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20181223/news/312239970/
CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: An anti-Trump says “How history should guide a Trump impeachment inquiry.”
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/opinion/how-history-should-guide-trump-impeachment-inquiry
WBBM 780
— AS THE DEMOCRAT PARTY’S STRANGLEHOLD ON ILLINOIS TIGHTENS: Declining Illinois Population Likely To Set Off Congressional Remapping – CRAIG DELLIMORE
https://wbbm780.radio.com/articles/declining-illinois-population-likely-set-congressional-remapping
NORTHWEST HERALD
— Marijuana legalization a bad idea – Robert Gebhardt, Johnsburg
https://www.nwherald.com/2018/12/21/letter-marijuana-legalization-a-bad-idea/ad7mrpa/
BLOOMINGTON PANTAGRAPH
— Rauner shouldn’t have run in the first place – Editorial
https://www.pantagraph.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-rauner-shouldn-t-have-run-in-the-first-place/article_be551d94-edf1-52ba-9487-b22bcdc93db4.html
CHAMPAIGN/URBANA NEWS GAZETTE
— Lawmakers may gamble on a casino bill again – Tom Kacich
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-12-23/tom-kacich-lawmakers-may-gamble-casino-bill-again.html
MC HENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Northwest Herald Finally Recognizes Jack Franks Lies
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2018/12/23/northwest-herald-finally-recognizes-jack-franks-lies/
— “Franks was not immediately available for comment.”
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2018/12/23/franks-was-not-immediately-available-for-comment/
FOX NEWS
— President Trump, you must keep your promise to build the wall — You cannot buckle – Judge Jeanine Pirro
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jeanine-pirro-president-trump-you-must-keep-your-promise-to-build-the-wall-you-cannot-buckle
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Dick Durbin says Dems want to keep out drugs and guns, doesn’t mention illegals – Valerie Richardson
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/23/dick-durbin-says-democrats-want-keep-out-drugs-and/
— Trump insists on steel slatted fence with funding counteroffer to Democrats – Valerie Richardson and Stephen Dinan
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/23/donald-trump-concedes-wall-funding-not-steel-slatt/
— Group that escorts migrant caravans to U.S. border draws scrutiny – AP
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/23/pueblo-sin-fronteras-group-escorts-migrant-caravan/
CONSERVATIVE DAILY NEWS
— The Government Lost Billions More Bailing Out GM Than The $5.7 Billion Request For Wall Funding – Molly Prince
https://www.conservativedailynews.com/2018/12/the-government-lost-billions-more-bailing-out-gm-than-the-5-7-billion-request-for-wall-funding/
WORLD NET DAILY
— WAY TO FUND A BORDER WALL Lowell Ponte emphasizes ‘some kind of solution is desperately needed’
https://www.wnd.com/2018/12/way-to-fund-a-border-wall/
— MR. PRESIDENT, BUILD THE WALL! Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson slams Dems who ‘want power by any means necessary’
https://www.wnd.com/2018/12/mr-president-build-the-wall/
COLLEGE FIX
— Profs: Trump’s ‘anti-immigrant’ rhetoric harms health of Latino families
https://www.thecollegefix.com/profs-trumps-anti-immigrant-rhetoric-harms-health-of-latino-families/
CAMPUS REFORM
— Top 5 times higher ed cried ‘white supremacy’ this year – Celine Ryan
https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11676
NATIONAL REVIEW
— A Shutdown to Nowhere – Editorial
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/12/government-shutdown-trump-border-wall-funding-fight/
NBC NEWS
— What could go wrong with the 2020 census? Almost everything, GAO says The company printing the forms went bankrupt, there aren’t enough workers, and field tests have been cut back. Then there’s the citizenship question. – Dartunorro Clark
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/what-could-go-wrong-2020-census-almost-everything-government-watchdog-n947761
WASHINGTON POST
— Which boxes to check? College hopefuls weigh race, identity and affirmative action. – Nick Anderson (DIERSEN: What if I had claimed Swedish ancestry? What is your national origin? During the 1840s and 1850s, all my ancestors immigrated to northeast Illinois from what is now Germany. Of course, needless-to-say, my critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes have always used that against me. In my defense, I stress that my grandfather on my father’s side fought the Germans during WWI, that my uncles on my mother’s side fought the Germans during WWII, and that my father would have fought the Germans during WWII if he had not been 4-F. Further, according to http://dna.ancestry.com, my ancestry is 33% Europe West, 28% Scandinavia, 24% Great Britain, 11% Ireland, 2% Europe East, 1% Finland/Northwest Russia, and 1% Italy/Greece. What if I had claimed Swedish ancestry?)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/which-boxes-to-check-college-hopefuls-weigh-race-identity-and-affirmative-action/2018/12/23/d8458af0-f7d9-11e8-8d64-4e79db33382f_story.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Sabria Kazmi’s background defies easy classification. She has grandparents from Tennessee, Iraq and two countries in South Asia. So when the 18-year-old filled out her college application, she puzzled over what boxes to check. The task is all the more sensitive this year amid the mounting debate over the role of race and ethnicity in admissions. First, Kazmi came to white. Check. Then Asian. Check. Followed by Middle Eastern and Pakistani. Check, check. She found a blank space to write in her Bangladeshi roots. Kazmi, a high school senior in Northern Virginia, could have gone further because one grandmother is part Cherokee. But she stopped there. “I remember someone once telling me something like, ‘Oh, you should put Native American on your college applications. It will help you,’ ” Kazmi said. “I of course did not because it would not be fair for me to claim to have the same culture and to have faced the same obstacles as someone with a larger connection to their Native American ancestry.” The roiling national debate over affirmative action in college admissions has raised the stakes for these questions about identity. Hundreds of thousands of applicants are wrestling with whether and how to describe their race and ethnicity and what that information should mean to the gatekeepers reading their files.)
NEW YORK POST
— Dick Durbin blasts Trump’s ‘political insecurity’ – Marisa Schultz
https://nypost.com/2018/12/23/dick-durbin-blasts-trumps-political-insecurity/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Trump Administration Warns Shutdown Could Last Into January High-stakes spending fight could extend into new Congress with Democratic House – Stephanie Armour, Natalie Andrews and Kristina Peterson
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-warns-shutdown-could-last-into-january-11545580036
— The Phony Shutdown War Trump and Democrats put political symbolism over policy substance. – Editorial
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-phony-shutdown-war-11545593815
NEWSWEEK
— TRUMP HAS BEEN FORCED TO HIRE FORMER BUSH OFFICIALS AS HIS STAFF LEAVE, DESPITE PREVIOUSLY MOCKING THEM – TIM MARCIN (DIERSEN: Constructively, my Democrat GAO superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates mocked me. GAO audits IRS. When I transferred from IRS to GAO in 1980 when I was 31 years old, they did not want me to transfer, but failing that, they wanted me to transfer as a GS-4 Step 1 (currently $32,978/year) intern, that is, to suffer a $58,902/year (64%) pay cut in today’s dollars. They would not have done that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, or veteran. They viciously demonized, denigrated, and condemned the fact a) that I had worked for IRS for almost 9 years, the last 5 1/2 years of which at the GS-12 Step 1-5 levels, currently $81,071-$91,880/year, b) that much of what IRS Revenue Officers do is similar to what GAO Analysts do, c) that I had passed the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979, d) that I had earned an MBA from Loyola in 1976, and e) that I had almost completed the requirements for a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul. They were furious that I transferred with me almost 12 years of federal seniority, 30 days of unused vacation days, and 130 unused sick days.)
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-allies-suspicious-bushies-bush-family-hiring-conservatives-1269916
