My favorite section of the Journal Star is the editorial page and not because of anything editor Mike Bailey writes. I rarely read PJS editorials since they represent the far left. Thankfully the newspaper reprints columns by Charles Krauthammer versus the kookie ramblings of E.J. Dionne, Gene Robinson, Leonard (the) Pitts, and other radical leftists.

No, my favorites are the people of Peoria and central Illinois. Some of the letters are interesting and informative and some are just ridiculous devoid of facts, logic, and common sense. But then, everyone has a right to their opinion. Take the letter written by Suzanne Mullen. Some would consider it an attack, poison pen letter using former Charter Oak principal, John Wetterauer, as her victim. She falsely claimed

Wetterauer’s recent letter about a “toxic environment” under superintendent Grenita Lathan failed to provide any supporting details.

Where has Ms. Mullen been? Did she not read or hear that Lathan was personally held accountable by an administrative law judge for inappropriate behavior toward the district’s security personnel? A long-time employee at the district’s office on Wisconsin reportedly quit because of how she was treated by Lathan. And then Lathan allegedly fired a top administration employee via phone at 10:30 at night. I could go on, but the most ludicrous and false assertions made by Ms. Mullen was the statement, “John needs to stop stirring the pot with his revenge tactics.”

Ms. Mullen failed to provide any examples of those alleged tactics; probably because there are none. Truth is, for someone who was unfairly treated and has had his excellent educational record tarnished, John has been devoid of any revenge behavior. Mullen failed to disclose where she worked as a

system analyst. Guess who signs her paycheck. You got it. Grenita Lathan is her boss. Mullen works in Data Processing at district offices on Wisconsin. Surprise.

NEW CHAIRMAN

The Peoria County Board has a new chairman. He’s Andrew Rand who also is executive director of Advanced Medical Transport, the outstanding emergency medical services organization owned by the three hospitals. Rand is probably the best prepared board member to ever become chairman. First, he’s not a political partisan as virtually every chairman has been, Republican and Democrat. Secondly, he has sound business experience. He prepares and manages a multi-million dollar budget with some 300 employees. Rand is and has been active in community projects. He graduated from

Clemson University with a degree in Finance. Finally, he has an open mind and listens to taxpayers and board members regardless of political affiliation. It was a great choice, long overdue.

SHODDY REPORTING

Speaking of County Board business, PJS reporter Andy Kravetz sure blew it when he wrote that Sharon Kennedy, long gone from the County Board, received leadership credit for the walking trail at Hanna City. Credit goes to current member, Sharon Williams, who represents District 1. Kravetz has egg nog on his face.

TAMI LANE UPDATE

Woodruff High School and Bradley graduate, Tami Lane, has been busy applying her prosthetic makeup skills in several movies from another “Spiderman” film to actor Ben Armstrong in a yet to be named flick about Lance Armstrong. Her latest job is working on Albert Brooks in Pittsburgh in a movie about athletic concussion injuries. The Academy award winner is not free to release details. She was recently interviewed on “Breakfast with Royce and Roger” on 90.7 FM. By the way, another guest on the show was Lucinda Winters, the daughter of the late and great comedian, Jonathan Winters. Like Tami, she was a delight.

PASSING THOUGHTS—

Thanks to radio stations WBNH and WCIC for their wonderful Christmas music. On the other hand, bah humbug to WSWT for calling itself “The Christmas Music Station.” . . . more like the Christmas commercial station since in one 20 minute period close to 6 p.m. I heard 15 commercials and three Christmas songs. And I couldn’t tell you the name of a single company in the 12 actual commercials. Three of the 15 were station promotions. WSWT is representative of Stan Freeberg’s famous “Green Christmas” parody of the profit in Christmas.  But hey, that’s capitalism.

Senate Democrats, after getting trounced in the November elections, decided to smear America’s CIA and our military for alleged torture of captured terrorists. The left leaning media quickly seized on the opportunity once again to denounce those who risk their lives every day protecting Americans all over the world. I wonder where those critics were when Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to imprison thousands of Japanese-Americans following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Men, women and children, all innocent of anything other than being of Japanese descent, were pulled from their homes, mainly on the west coast, and sent to barb-wired camps all over the U.S. Where were the critics when Harry Truman ordered the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? The two bombs killed an estimated 226,000 men, women and children.

And Diane Feinstein and her ilk are worried about sleep deprivation, loud music and water-boarding for suspected terrorists? Give me a break. Tom Maher, a Marine who served in Vietnam, said he worked with South Korean Marines who used so-called “enhanced interrogation.” Maher said, “It works despite what Diane Feinstein, who’s never served, claims.” Maher added about supporters of the Feinstein report, “Were they there?” The answer is no and neither was the liberal PJS editor.

Karl Schmidt, who was awarded three Purple Hearts fighting in the South Pacific, bluntly said about the terrorists, “I would’ve just got rid of them.” Dick Reynolds knows about prison camps more than anyone who signed off on the Senate report critical of the United States. Reynolds, a Navy veteran, was a prisoner of the Japanese for over three years. He said, “On a scale of one to 10, Gitmo is a three compared to what I experienced. I saw Americans tortured for no reason and watched many, too many, die. We were treated like dogs.” He added, “That Senate report was nothing but politics by a bunch of hypocrites.”

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?” –Abraham Lincoln