I have a lot of respect for Illinois Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson, but I think he's gone off his rocker. Watson strongly supports the candidacy of Alan Keyes for U.S. Senate in Illinois. One of his lieutenants, state Senator Dave Syverson (R-Rockford), was the guy who recruited Keyes in the first place, talked him up to the media, and then helped convince the GOP state central committee to offer the vacant Jack Ryan slot to him, over the objections of party chairperson Judy Baar Topinka.

Very excited to learn that President Bush was going to be in the Quad Cities last week, I immediately decided to take my students to the rally. What a wonderful way to teach young people about how our country selects its leaders, and an opportunity to see the leader of the free world in person! I called Jim Nussle's office and was told that there were tickets left but I'd better hurry, because they would be gone in two hours.

It is expected that Hargreaves Associates' "RiverVision Final Report 2004," which is a collaborative plan for the Mississippi riverfronts of Rock Island and Davenport, will be considered for approval by Rock Island's city council on August 9, and Davenport's council on August 18.

So Barb Caffrey wants to write for the River Cities' Reader. (See "Keep This Man from Writing Again," River Cities' Reader Issue 486, July 21-27, 2004.) I guess it's the recruiter in me that imagines what that job interview would be like ... "Well, Todd and Kathleen, you should hire me because Jeff Ignatius is incompetent, and the article on rental-property inspections was deplorable and horrible.