May 25, 2025

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Memorial Day weekend ceremony remembers DuPage County residents killed in U.S. military operations
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/24/memorial-day-dupage-county-veterans/

NBC5
— More than a dozen arrested after teen gathering on Near West side. Among the 13 taken into custody was a teen driver who allegedly struck multiple police officers with a vehicle. DD: How soon will Democrat teens takeover your downtown?
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/more-than-a-dozen-arrested-after-teen-gathering-on-near-west-side/3939999/

CBS2
— Teens shot, officers hit by car in violent Memorial Day weekend in Chicago. DD: How soon will Democrat teens takeover your downtown?
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/teens-shot-officers-hit-by-car-violent-memorial-day-weekend-chicago/

RIVER BENDER
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote SPLC, that is, Democrat leaders ever-increasingly use SPLC to promote more hatred against Republicans.
https://www.riverbender.com/news/details/attorney-general-raoul-urges-funds-to-reevaluate-decision-to-cut-off-donations-to-southern-poverty-law-center-93642.cfm?

CHAMPAIGN/URBANA NEWS GAZETTE
— Trump’s slush fund goes way beyond bounds of propriety. DD: Just kidding, but should I apply? Democrat leaders in Illinois had my Democrat GAO, IRS, and Post Office superiors waste my career and take many big adverse actions against me. My Democrat GAO superiors a) forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997, b) always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance, c) delayed my promotions and never promoted me beyond GS-13, and d) forced me to take a $23,699/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO in 1980. My Democrat IRS superiors a) never promoted me beyond GS-12, b) disallowed my education deductions in 1978, and c) disallowed my travel vouchers in 1974. My Democrat Post Office superiors a) forced me to resign in 1969 and b) disallowed my sick leave requests in 1969 and 1968. My critics/opponents have always stressed that in Diersen v. GAO, not only Bush’s DOJ sided with my Democrat GAO superiors against me, but that no Republican federal elected officials in Illinois came to my defense, that is, they sided with my Democrat GAO superiors against me. To side with my Democrat GAO superiors, is to promote Affirmative Action and DEI, that is, to promote race and gender based preference giving, patronage, political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination.
https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-trumps-slush-fund-goes-way-beyond-bounds-of-propriety/article_7cf44ce9-f366-42db-8003-2e46cf0e621b.html

JOURNAL GAZETTE TIMES COURIER
— Pritzker and Trump agree housing affordability is a major problem. How do we fix it? DD: My critics/opponents want the north end of my DuPage County Milton Township Precinct 59 in Wheaton to be rezoned for public housing.
https://jg-tc.com/opinion/column/article_dfcc5b01-554a-54c9-8da3-b0a01e4ce3ad.html

NORTHWEST INDIANA TIMES
— Illinois is closed for business
https://nwitimes.com/opinion/article_c1843271-f1c9-5e16-bc01-6bb9ddc4ff3f.html

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS
— Illinois DHS appointment sparks backlash over alleged voter registration mailer practices
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_65a52879-f8e6-4ec8-9dc2-7e879a618c91.html

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

NEW YORK POST
— 5 officers struck by car after ‘teen takeover’ hits Chicago’s West Side — as 19 people hurt in shootings. DD: How soon will Democrat teens takeover your downtown?
https://nypost.com/2026/05/24/us-news/5-officers-struck-by-car-after-teen-takeover-hits-chicagos-west-side-as-19-peopkle-hurt-in-shootings/

CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES
— GAO Report Confirms Everything the Center Told You About Biden’s Parole Schemes. Bland government document that’s chock-full of scary details.
https://cis.org/Arthur/GAO-Report-Confirms-Everything-Center-Told-You-About-Bidens-Parole-Schemes
— DHS and DOJ Begin Imposing (Often Massive) Fines on Aliens Who Refuse to Leave
https://cis.org/Arthur/DHS-and-DOJ-Begin-Imposing-Often-Massive-Fines-Aliens-Who-Refuse-Leave

DAILY SIGNAL
— DNC 2024 Autopsy Reveals Why Democrats Won’t Shake Their Worst Political Liability: Woke Makes Democrats Radioactive. DD: To be woke is to be against those who are conservative, Republican, American, White, male, older, non-poor, married, Protestant, German American, and/or those who have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. My  critics/opponents are either woke or are operatives or dupes for those who are woke.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/05/24/democrats-worst-political-liability/

FOX NEWS
— Scalise urges Pritzker to ‘look at the man in the mirror’ after he blames Trump for political violence
https://www.aol.com/scalise-urges-pritzker-look-man-024806224.html

HERITAGE FOUNDATION
— Stamping Out Food Stamp Fraud
https://www.heritage.org/welfare/commentary/stamping-out-food-stamp-fraud

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

THE HILL
— 50 years since conservatives broke through in the Republican Party. DD: When will conservatives break through in Illinois?
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5892184-ford-reagan-1976-republican-primary/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Conservatives had been marginalized ever since Herbert Hoover’s defeat in 1932. . .Reagan’s popularity showed the ideas of the right — limited government, sound money, liberty, staunch anti-Communism, belief in the traditional family unit — could find a receptive audience. The Republican Party had been transfixed by FDR’s success and had spent decades fielding candidates who seemed to accept the basic architecture of the New Deal. Roe v. Wade, Watergate, stagflation, racial strife, the fall of Saigon, détente, these were the birds now coming home to roost, and increasingly Republican voters accepted that the party needed a correction. Reagan’s performance consolidated a conservative revival which had begun with Goldwater in 1964 and was soon to reach its apotheosis.)

AOL
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation. All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have.
https://www.aol.com/news/settlement-rnc-requires-nc-elections-185456739.html

MSN
— Hegseth tells West Point class of 2026 they may soon see combat
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/insight/hegseth-warns-west-point-grads-they-may-soon-face-war/gm-GME3A1ECEE
— Trump defends ballroom project as GOP unease grows over costs
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/tillis-warns-trump-feud-risks-gop-midterm-chances/ss-AA23S2HS
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly destroy traditional marriage and family. If you are a product of a traditional marriage, you are far more likely to be successful and vote for Republicans.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/relationships/11-reasons-why-more-women-are-walking-away-from-men-and-marriage/ss-AA1YvbfS

BOSTON GLOBE
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation. All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/05/24/metro/trump-green-card-impossible-choice/

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Five Takeaways From the DNC’s 2024 ‘Autopsy.’ Democratic officials disowned their own deep dive on how the party can learn from its election losses.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/dnc-2024-election-autopsy-kamala-harris-b3138cb9
— Did Democrats Learn Anything from Losing in 2024?
https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/opinion-potomac-watch/did-democrats-learn-anything-from-losing-in-2024/0e267af4-fffb-4074-a7e5-1a66383cd76f
— This Summer’s Teen Job Market Is the Toughest in Decades. DD: When you were young, what did you do after-school, weekends, and summers? I did yard work in 1962, 1963, and 1964. I delivered newspapers 1962-1966. I washed dishes 1964-1966. I cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966. I delivered mail 1966-1969. I worked on an automotive assemble line in 1970. According to my critics/opponents, the aforesaid proves that I have always been an unmitigated loser.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/teen-summer-jobs-f3ffdbfa

BARRON’S
— Teens Face Challenging Summer Job Prospects. DD: When you were young, what did you do after-school, weekends, and summers? I did yard work in 1962, 1963, and 1964. I delivered newspapers 1962-1966. I washed dishes 1964-1966. I cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966. I delivered mail 1966-1969. I worked on an automotive assemble line in 1970. According to my critics/opponents, the aforesaid proves that I have always been an unmitigated loser.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/teens-summer-jobs-retail-045ed2c0
— Your Political Affiliation Could Be Hurting Your Returns. DD: Anticipate/expect that Pritzker will ever-increasingly destroy Republican businesses in Illinois.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/politics-and-investing-dont-mix-why-your-political-affiliation-could-be-hurting-your-returns-25735778

FORBES
— DD: Employers have always been under ever-increasing pressure from Democrat and RINO leaders to give more preference to their Democrat and RINO employees who are minority, female, and/or younger.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2026/05/19/the-myth-of-meritocracy-and-other-outdated-beliefs-women-are-told-at-work/

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
— Most Performance Evaluations Are Biased. DD: My Democrat superiors and supervisors in the federal government used the subjectivity in their performance evaluation systems to get rid of their Republican employees. My Democrat GAO superiors used that subjectivity to a) force me to retire when I was 49 in 1997, b) always rank me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance, c) delay my promotions and never promote me beyond GS-13, and d) force me to take a $23,699/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO in 1980. My Democrat IRS superiors used that subjectivity to a) never promote me beyond GS-12, b) disallow my education deductions in 1978, and c) disallow my travel vouchers in 1974. My Democrat Post Office superiors used that subjectivity to a) force me to resign in 1969 and b) disallow my sick leave requests in 1969 and 1968. They used that subjectivity to ignore/dismiss/belittle a) my 1970 job-related bachelor’s degree, b) my 1976, 1980, and 1997 job-related master’s degrees, c) my 1979, 1981, 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1997 job-related professional certifications, and d) my 1981 job-related professional license. They would not have done any of the aforesaid if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, or veteran.
https://hbr.org/2019/01/why-most-performance-evaluations-are-biased-and-how-to-fix-them

BUSINESS INSIDER
— Challenges federal workers face pivoting into the private sector. DD: My critics/opponents have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that I was forced to retire when I was 49 in 1997 because of performance problems. They have always stressed that my superiors had delayed my promotions, never promoted me beyond GS-13, and always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance. In my defense, I have always stressed that I had earned three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. I have always stressed that I had been an active member in a class action lawsuit since I was 40 that charged them with reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation. I have always stressed that they replaced me with my Black subordinate who had less work experience than I had, had less education than I had, had one professional certification while I had six, and had no professional license like the one I had.
https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-workers-private-sector-job-search-challenge-2025-3
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Fighting stigma. DOGE-led job cuts have pushed layoffs to their highest level since the pandemic, and more positions will likely be cut. DOGE has said that the reductions, in part, have targeted “low performers,” a narrative that some federal employees have pushed back on. Still, any stigma could prove challenging for one-time government staffers, said Ken Crowell, founder of EmployTest, which creates assessments for job candidates. Tropes about bureaucrats and inefficiency could emerge as a headwind, he told BI. “We can talk about fair and not fair, but you know, at a personal level, it’s going to be tough for them to get through,” Crowell said. Still, he said many former government workers have vast experience and substantive leadership and management skills that employers would be foolish to dismiss out of turn.)

FED WEEK
— Reductions in force. DD: My critics/opponents have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that I was forced to retire when I was 49 in 1997 because of performance problems. They have always stressed that my superiors had delayed my promotions, never promoted me beyond GS-13, and always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance. In my defense, I have always stressed that I had earned three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. I have always stressed that I had been an active member in a class action lawsuit since I was 40 that charged them with reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation. I have always stressed that they replaced me with my Black subordinate who had less work experience than I had, had less education than I had, had one professional certification while I had six, and had no professional license like the one I had.
https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/if-opms-proposed-rif-rules-become-final-what-federal-employees-should-do-now/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Under current RIF rules, agencies consider several retention factors, including tenure, veterans’ preference, length of service, and performance. Proposed changes could increase the role of performance ratings in that calculation. . .Many employees disagree with a performance rating but never create a written record. That can be a serious mistake. . .If RIF activity appears possible in your agency, ask HR specific questions. General assurances are not enough. . .Many RIF appeals turn on records. Unfortunately, employees often lose access to government systems quickly after separation, demotion, or placement on administrative status. . .The possible expansion of performance ratings in RIF decisions should change how federal employees think about their records. Performance appraisals may no longer be just annual paperwork. They may become a deciding factor in whether an employee keeps a job during a workforce reduction. Federal employees should act now: download records, correct errors, challenge unsupported ratings, document accomplishments, and preserve evidence. If a RIF comes, the employees best positioned to protect themselves will be those who prepared before the notice arrived.)

FROM FOREIGN SOURCES

YAHOO UK
— Having wealthy parents leads to young adults being six times better off. DD: My critics/opponents had wealthy parents. I should write about those whose parents were the wealthiest. I had to work my way through college. That harmed my GPA. I spent far too many hours washing dishes and delivering mail instead of studying.
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/having-wealthy-parents-leads-young-230100398.html

GUARDIAN
— A college degree once ensured prosperity – but gen Z is finding ‘just not much out there.’ DD: What was your entry-level job? When I earned a bachelor’s degree in management from NIU when I was 21 in 1970, potential employers saw me as being draft bait. They did not believe my application for a financial hardship draft deferment would be granted. Further, they were under tremendous pressure to hire minorities, females, and veterans. Further, I had the stigma of having been a federal employee who had been forced to resign. I had to have a job. Consequently, I accepted the only job offer that I got. It was from Firestone Stores for a sales job that did not really require a college degree. My Chicago Heights store boss would never had hired me, but his boss had assigned me to him. He did not have a college degree. He refused to let me start until after I passed a probationary period in Indiana. He disapproved of my avoiding the Vietnam War draft. He disapproved of my being Protestant, my being German American, my having ancestors who had been in America since 1844, and my living in Crete. Under him, I saw that my Firestone career was bleak, if not nonexistent. Consequently, I accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile in early 1971. But Oldsmobile withdrew that offer saying it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. My Firestone Store boss rudely, if not violently, fired me because I had accepted that offer. I had to have a job. So I accepted the only job offer that I got. It was to be an IRS Revenue Officer.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/may/24/gen-z-college-degree-employment

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.