I was among several peace activists who met with Congressman Ray LaHood in his Springfield office.  LaHood, to his credit allowed each of us to make a short presentation, and we hit all the main points- the loss of lives, the WMD deception, the expense, the will of the Iraqi people.

Then LaHood spoke and it was sadly clear that he was still drunk on Wingnut Koolaid.   According to LaHood:

•   We will maintain a military presence in Iraq for at least 50 more years- as long as we were in Germany or Japan.

•   We invaded from the highest motives of toppling an evil dictator.   Our motives have nothing to do with oil, and current high oil prices establish that we are not trying to take over Iraqi oil.

•   The Iraqi people love us (yep, he said that).   They love us in Baghdad because we keep opening new hospitals.

•   Our invasion was authorized by the UN Security Council  (at this point I shook my head, which peeved LaHood  :-) )

•    The troops are strongly behind the mission, which he knows from having visited the wounded at Bethesda.

The whole encounter left me feeling sick, hopeless, and frightened.  I mean, LaHood is supposed to be a moderate.  Is the political establishment still hell-bent on following this disastrous course right over the cliff?  

Bad, bad.

 n.  cross-post at Kos

"But, in the end, I had to remind myself that I was dealing with children."  
Alex Kotlowitz, There are No Children Here.
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I urge all progressives in Illinois to contact their state house members and ask them to support HB 180.  This is a chance to really help vulnerable children AND contribute to a long-term reduction in crime!

Under proposed legislation, Illinois would adopt a "therapeutic" rather than a "punitive" model for treating incarcerated juveniles.  In so doing, it would follow the much-praised Missouri model of youth incarceration (yes, Red Missouri has led the way on this issue- go figure!) Missouri has been amply rewarded with a significantly reduced youth recidivism rate.

Specifically, HB 180 would accomplish the following:  1) separate the juvenile justice system from the adult Department of Corrections and set up a new agency to deal specifically with juvenile detainees;  2) requires juvenile detention personnel to have four year degrees in a field such as psychology or social work.

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It has been convincingly shown that the changes would not impose additional costs on the much-stressed Illinois budget.  The Senate version of the bill passed by a vote of 42-15, with a surprising level of Republican support.

The opposition, unfortunately is led by the AFSCME, the state employees union.  AFSCME fears salary and pension losses among members who are currently juvenile jailers, but under the new system will no longer meet the qualifications to work with juveniles and will have to transition into the adult system.   I am wildly pro-union and specifically adore AFSCME, but it is wrong on this one and must be opposed.

The following links provide more information on this matter:  (1)  The text and status of HB 180; (2) A Decatur Herald article on the bill;  (3)  AFSCME's statement in opposition.  

LEGISLATIVE TEXT (SEE AMENDMENT ONE)

NEWS REPORT

AFSCME STATEMENT