Peoria Pundit

I don”t want to hear ANYONE who has defended waterboarding to me to express anything other than indifference to this:

An Army sergeant who served in Iraq for 15 months has been restricted to his Washington military base after being accused of waterboarding his 4-year-old daughter because she refused to recite her ABCs.

Remember folks, the Bush administration says this is NOT torture. So don’t get upset. It’s just enhanced interrogation. It’s not a crime.

We have the right to do it to THEM, and therefore, they have a right to do it to US.

Yeah, this is going to p*** off a lot fo readers. But I’m trying to get people to realize how defending torture is never justified.

My condolences to the family, friends and co-workers of Steve ‘Ash’ Aeschleman.

A Chicago TV station is reporting that Scott Lee Cohen is looking for a way to resign from the race for lieutenant governor. This came second-hand and there’s no confirmation.

When CBS 2 called Cohen’s campaign to confirm that information, Cohen’s spokesman said “I’m not aware of anything like that” and said if reporters wanted to speak directly to Cohen, the candidate would be at the Vertigo nightclub at the top of the Dana Hotel and Spa in downtown Chicago Friday night.

[U.S. Senator] Durbin says he doesn’t see Cohen remaining on the ticket, and he plans to put pressure on him to get out of the race.

“He’s not going to be lieutenant governor,” Durbin said. “I’m just saying we have found ways legally to give voters an alternative.”

Surely a sad day for the GOP.

Here’s a rumor I’ve read. Suppose that Cohen leave or is removed from the ticket?. Who would be the ideal candidate? How about Dan Hynes? They have nine months to make and play nice. And it would certainly unify the party. 100 percent of primary voters voted for one or the other.

Amanda J. Eneman

Rich Miller has a wrapup of the most recent development in the saga of Scott Lee Cohen, the pawnshop owner who was once charged with attacking his ex-prostitute girlfriend with a knife. The Chicago Tribune paid a visit to a “spa” — and found she’s still working there.

I feel sorry for this woman. Prostitutes are more victims than victimizers, as the facts in this case bear out. My outrage is reserved for Cohen, who has no business asking to be put in a position of trust.

While Cohen has not given a detailed timeline for his relationship with Eneman, his statements indicate that he likely met her around April 2005. Glenview police shut the spa down after the April 22 arrests, and Cohen has said that his relationship with Eneman lasted “five or six months.” The incident that led to the battery charge occurred Oct. 14, about six months after her arrest. She pleaded guilty Oct. 27 to the prostitution charge, meaning she was charged and dealing with that case while they lived together at Cohen’s Gold Coast apartment.

When the Tribune first asked Cohen about the relationship on Wednesday, Cohen said through a spokesman that he met her in a bar. But Thursday he acknowledged that he met her at Eden Spa. Cohen said Thursday that the first explanation was a misstatement by his spokesman.

That this guy could get himself elected says a ton about the electoral process in Illinois and the media. There are good, honest people who haven’t attacked woman with knives who can’t get on the ballot because they aren’t millionaires and they are members of political parties OTHER than the Democrats and Republicans.