The audacity of Illinois politics.

A new poll posted online at http://www.sj-r.com/thedome suggests that Govenor Pat Quinn is proposing cuts to the operating hours of Illinois Museums and historic sites in order to save the state's budget. However, just a few days ago, Governor Quinn proclaimed March 22, "Illinois Museums Day" according to http://www.murphysboroamerican.com/newsnow/x760606848/Illinois-museums-generate-2-billion-in-economic-impact.

At this point I try to think of possible reasons for this kind of behavior. Was Illinois Museum Day just a coincidental precursor to the budget decision? Was the budget proposal known well before Illinois Museum Day and thus Museum Day was an attempt at mitigating political damage?

What would happen if hours of operation were cut at Illinois historic sites? Most of the historic sites are downstate, would cutting those hours of operation actually cause to increase the number of visitors to Chicago museums? Is that the goal?

Well, since the most money in Illinois politics comes from Chicagoland, it might be just as effective to mandate that school districts stop teaching history which will ultimately diminish interest in historic sites and further justify budget cuts with little opposition.


Over the decades, there have been many overt attempts to move the Capital of Illinois from Springfield to Chicago, but now the tactic of "Creeping Normality" is the better strategy as the tentacles of insatiable greed reach down from Chicago to snatch resources and well-paying state jobs away from rural areas of the state.

Perhaps in the extreme long-term, the earth of downstate Illinois will be returned to its origin of cultivation rather than being paved over with asphalt and concrete. After all, downstate Illinois has the richest soil on the face of the earth.