Illinois' number one manufactured product is corruption. More than 95 percent of the Illinois legislature is safe in gerrymandered districts. The incumbent governor has three current federal investigations of his administration, but the Attorney General/state's attorney class can't find public vice anywhere.
So what can the law abiding citizen do? The answer is coming from some regular guys in southern Illinois who decided to hold public officials accountable. They call themselves the "Watchdogs."
Kirk Allen and John Kraft live in Edgar County which may be the most corrupt county in the country. For a couple of watchdogs, it's a target rich environment.
In 1985, New York prosecutor Rudy Giuliani indicted the local pizza owner during the mob "Pizza Connection" prosecutions. For twenty years, State trooper Michale Callahan staked his career on reversing the false double-murder convictions of Randy Steidl and Herb Whitlock and became a local legend. In a county of only 18,000 residents, just four units of government have amassed $79 million of bonded debt.
During the summer, the Watchdogs used a little known provision of law to "citizen arrest" an entire unit of government. The story was featured on Chicago broadcast news and garnered the front page in most downstate daily newspapers.
Comment: The Watchdogs have combined a close knowledge of their local statutes covering good governance in their state, and applied it. Every level of government from the Constitution on down has provisions for openness and transparency written into the law. It is up to the governed to make sure the law is being followed. Unfortunately, the pathocratics who have been allowed to shape our society have made it so complex and exhausting simply to survive, it takes extraordinary effort to do so. Hats off to these gentlemen. We need more of them.
Comment: Pathocrats will always push for war. It's up to each of us to stop it by not accepting it. It's truly a shame so many are dead or injured because too few worked to prevent it. History repeats itself.