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Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail
editor@illinoistimes.com. ORGAN GRINDER AND HIS MONKEY Having read “A taste of his own
medicine” [Dusty Rhodes, Feb. 23], I have to wonder what goes
on in that sheriff’s department. A postread analysis: I am no
closer to knowing who did what, to whom, than before. But it is
clear that someone isn’t telling the whole story or truth. Chief Deputy Tony Sacco must think everyone
on this side of the page is an idiot, or maybe he got backed into a
corner and said whatever he thought would allow him an escape. Who
knows? But I challenge him to provide the facts to support his
contention: that similar complaints, reported by the average
citizen, are responded to with equal enthusiasm. Come on, we all know those people “in
the ivory tower” live much larger than the rest of society,
but most of them are smart enough, or at least have the common
dignity, to not shove it in our face. I see Sacco and Sheriff Neil Williamson as
having a close relationship: I just can’t figure out who
turns the handle and who holds the tin cup. Keep up the good work. Brett Cameron Mount Zion SURE, HE HAD HIS ROWDY MOMENTS I was totally dismayed as I read “A
taste of his own medicine.” If I remember correctly, Dusty
Rhodes is a more recent transplant to the Springfield area, and she
may not be aware of all the good this guy has done for central
Illinois. Over 18-plus years, [Don] Jackson has contributed hundreds and
hundreds of hours to fundraising efforts for local charities. In all
the years I listened to him, I never heard of him turning down one
family or organization that really needed his help. Keeping in mind that Dusty Rhodes has only
lived in our community a short time, could she list any efforts she
has personally taken to generate help for those in need? Yes,
Jackson has his rowdy moments and I loved them, as did most of his
listeners. With all due respect, I think Dusty
Rhodes’ article was terribly one-sided. Edie Miller Virden MIGHT AS WELL SLAM MOTHER TERESA Even when dismissing his tarnished radio
career and fireworks debacle, I still have trouble mustering up any
real sympathy for Don E. Jackson. Even at first glance, the
maelstrom of diatribes and accusations both he and his supporters
hurl at Dusty Rhodes [“Letters,” March 2] rapidly lose
impact and credibility when examined individually. — “It’s
hard to believe that she has nothing better to report than
this!” Jackson asked her
to. — “I
may not have had all of the facts because I had several people
telling me different stories, but they all were the same basic
story, and that tells me that there was a lot of truth to what I
was hearing.” The more
divergent rumors are, the more doubtful it is they contain any
truth at all. Reality doesn’t operate in cookie-cutter
fashion: You can’t necessarily separate inconsistencies and
call the remainder the truth (e.g. Iraqi WMDs, [George W.]
Bush’s preparedness for natural disasters, the Tooth Fairy,
and the Easter Bunny). Indeed, these unnamed informants could have
very well seen the entertainment value in his humiliation and corroborated their
stories with just enough of a divergence to incite him more. — “So
what if she didn’t find any evidence . . . ? Just because she
didn’t find the evidence doesn’t mean it isn’t
there.” And if it
doesn’t really exist, will Jackson blame Rhodes anyway? She
has no magic wand with which she can conjure up these things out of
thin air. If, on the other hand, evidence does exist, Jackson
should be well aware that no amount of prodding by any reporter
will guarantee [him or her] details on what has now turned out to
be a strictly internal affair. And what could he possibly do with
the evidence once he got it? Stand outside Tony Sacco’s
office, blow a raspberry, and shout, “Nyah, nyah”? — “I
. . . gave her what I had — names, positions, the timelines,
what to look for, and the right questions to ask ” — Jackson cites none — “and it was her job to sort it out and get
the whole story.” A courtesy at
best; Rhodes is not on his payroll. “But
she did not do that; she did everything possible to slant this her
way to make me appear foolish.” Certainly
no less foolish than approaching a reporter who should have no real
sympathy for him in the first place. Are there no other reporters
in Springfield he hasn’t derided on the air? Ones more
amenable to stroking a bruised ego? — “I
will take a lie-detector test to show that I am telling the
truth.” About believing
what other people tell him? — “Dusty
Rhodes couldn’t find enough facts to prove Osama bin Laden is
linked to al-Qaeda,” and yet
she’s done more to expose racial tension in the [Springfield
Police Department] and municipal government than any other
journalist in Springfield. The Renatta Frazier affair is arguably
the gravest racial crisis to hit this area since the race riot of
1908 — one the State
Journal-Register, for all its bravado,
wouldn’t touch until after the fact. You might just as well
slam Mother Teresa. — “Lady,
if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen,” yet how could she have avoided this dilemma?
Had she refused the story, Jackson would have taken that as revenge
for the willful (and somehow justified) on-the-air defamation of
one of her colleagues. Yet when she did and found no evidence that
he was a victim, he attacked her for the same reason. Her only
other option? To slant the story in Jackson’s favor, no
matter what the “facts” were. Jackson would’ve
been happy, but then she’d draw more virulent fire from the
sheriff’s office — all because of Jackson’s
inherent (and almost pathological) inability to examine this affair
from any other point of view except his own. I wasn’t able to examine this issue
with formal logic or calculus of statement because too many of its
elements are conjectural, despite the fairly consistent account
Rhodes has provided. Aside from opinions about Jackson’s character and
delightful allusions to the Three Stooges, I found nothing that
couldn’t be verified by outside parties. Nevertheless, between
her account and Jackson’s scathing, imprecise tirades, there
emerges a far more pertinent question: Who benefits from Don
Jackson’s vindication? None of us can begin to guess why anyone
would care, save for a declining horde of supporters who engage in
the same pattern of displaced aggression where nothing is ever
resolved or accomplished. This they do not out of any real sympathy
for Jackson but to vent frustration for their own inadequacies.
Thus they strike one as hardcore iconoclasts of decency, mutual
respect, and good taste, selectively inbred for sheer awfulness,
whose childhoods are spent in dark closets and wicker baskets and
who grow up to be muggers, dog thieves, and insurance salesmen.
Were they characters in an Anne Rice novel, they’d sharpen
their fangs with chisels and sandblasters because they think pain
is fun. But to a cyclopic curmudgeon with a
deep-seated fondness for making nasty telephone calls, the
advantages are evident and considerable. By focusing an inordinate
amount of attention on his supposed victimization, Jackson is able
to overlook the reasons he’s no longer on the air:
obsessions, paranoia, delusions of grandeur — disorders that
afford him the comfort of regarding himself as anything but a
vindictive shock-jock has-been who eats Blue Meanies for breakfast,
a realization he would naturally fight off like some sort of sick
death. Don Jackson has had his day, and it rained. Illinois Times will
fare far better by continuing its proud tradition of addressing
topics of more critical importance. Thomas W. Yale Springfield NOW I KNOW WHY IT IS FREE Just a comment on “A taste of his own
medicine” by Dusty Rhodes: After reading Dusty’s
article, it sounds to me as if her investigation included talking
to Sangamon County Chief Deputy Tony Sacco, talking to Tony Sacco,
and talking to Tony Sacco. Now, considering Sacco and
Jackson’s past dealings, that doesn’t sound like the
way to investigate. I guess, considering Rhodes’ past
dealings with and very apparent dislike of One-Eyed Jack, he was
kidding himself, thinking he would get a fair and balanced article
from her. It seems to me I’ve found one of the reasons Illinois Times is
a free publication. Nobody would pay for it! Donnie Wareham Taylorville BET SACCO’S STATEMENT ISN’T TRUE I currently do not live in Springfield, but I
do read the Illinois Times on the Internet. Concerning the column about Don Jackson, I have some concern [with this
statement]: “Sacco said the sheriff’s office routinely
responds to citizens’ complaints of telephone harassment with
this same enthusiasm.” If that’s true, which I doubt,
let’s see the records (real numbers) for the number of
citizens‚ complaints of telephone harassment investigations
conducted by the sheriff’s office. Let’s find out how
many complaints of telephone harassment (real numbers) that occur
in a year. Exactly how many (real numbers) are assigned to a
detective for further investigation? Let’s also see the
records (real numbers) that would confirm the number of times
sheriff’s-office personnel obtained a subpoena requiring a
phone company to provide the identity of the subscriber from whose
phone the call had been placed. I’m betting it doesn’t happen
very often. I’ll bet there are hundreds of complaints a year
and a handful are really investigated, if any at all. I’ll also bet that plenty of divorced
women would agree that they have filed complaints regarding
telephone harassment and nothing was ever done about it. I know
that I have gone through this myself, not only with telephone
harassment but [with] a stalker. Penni Matticks Columbia, Mo. MILITARY RECRUITERS MISLEAD STUDENTS I think it is awful that military recruiters
use misleading tactics to recruit students, especially at a time
when so many of our troops are in harm’s way in Iraq. The
promise of $70,000 for college is just factually wrong. If you
study the GI Bill, you will learn that very few veterans qualify
for the amounts that recruiters and advertisements quote. The U.S.
government needs to understand that today’s students are
smart and can read the fine print about how much money we will
actually receive for our education in return for military service.
The amounts typically received aren’t even close to the
ever-increasing costs of a college education. We need to work
together to end these misleading ad campaigns that entice young
people to enlist by offering false hope and empty promises. Surely
America can do better than that! Enlisting when you are told the
truth and have the facts you need to make an informed decision is
one thing, but enlisting when you are given misleading or false
information is just plain wrong. Silence Dogood Tolono BEMOANS ANTI-PIT BULL BIAS The headlines should have read “
‘Pit Bull’ Won Westminster Dog Show.” Bruce
Rushton’s media hype, “A dog’s life” [Feb.
2], suggests Madison Square Garden should have been terrified
[because] vicious “pit bulls” were everywhere in
Westminster, including bull terriers, American Staffordshire
terriers, bulldogs, Staffordshire bull terriers, and bull mastiffs.
Bully breeds certainly couldn’t compete
in the same show ring as other dogs, as they are vicious and attack
everything in sight, and their owners and handlers must be
gangbangers and hoodlums. Certainly responsible, educated taxpaying
citizens do not own “pit bulls.” Like many of you, I was afraid of pit bulls.
I thought they were vicious because of how the media portray the
breed. I was wrong. From poodle to Labrador, I’ve owned many
dogs. The last two years, I’ve had three pits in my life. All
three wanted to play and snuggle, loving people and other dogs. As a “bully” owner, I do not fool
myself. I must be a more careful and responsible owner. They must
be better dogs and serve as goodwill ambassadors for their breed.
These dogs want to live in peace, but ignorant humans force them to
fight, promote bad traits, and jeopardize public safety. Don’t get caught up in biased
reporting. Educate yourself about the “bully breeds.”
Visit Web sites such as www.understand-a-bull.com. And defend the
right to own the dog of your choice. Tracy Feger Bloomington HOORAY! THE CITY PURGED THE BIRDS I wrote some weeks ago about the bird
droppings downtown [“Letters,” Feb. 16]. The city has
done something. Wow! There were a couple of battered, ugly, and
half-dead trees on Adams between Fourth and Fifth that were used as
a major clubhouse for small birds that for some reason did not
choose to live in a greener neighborhood. The city removed those
eyesores on Feb 27. My car feels cleaner already. Thank you, city
of Springfield. I feel so embarrassed to sound like such a suck-up,
but I feel too good to care. Patrick Johnopolos Springfield LETTING IRRESPONSIBLE KIDS DRIVE Referring to the recent automobile accident
in which a young man lost his life, obviously there is heartbreak.
Giving an irresponsible teenager a car is like giving them a loaded
pistol. Sooner or later, someone is going to lose their life. Not
knowing either party involved, speeding was an invitation to
disaster. No amount of if, ands, or buts is going to bring back the
young man who lost his life. My sympathy goes out to his family. Perhaps severe, but the driver should have
her license revoked until she is 25 and also charged with
manslaughter. A message should somehow be conveyed to the
irresponsible drivers that they are putting people at risk with
their stupidity. Name withheld by request Divernon WITH BUSH, I SMELL A RAT What is going on with [President George W.]
Bush? It’s almost as though he has convinced himself that he
is a one-man show and the thoughts and opinions of the rest of the
country are meaningless. I have always said this is the worst
administration in our history; it has been plagued with secrecy,
many times not acted in our best interest, deceived and spied on
Americans — and just when you think it couldn’t break
any more laws or make any more ignorant or arrogant decisions, it
decides to sell six of our busiest ports to a company in the United
Arab Emirates. You may not believe in conspiracy theories, but I
smell a rat. Wake up, people — we have a serious problem
here. William Maas Springfield WE CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS There’s an odd and ironic California
buzz being heard in Illinois. Anesthesiologists in the Golden State
who professionally refuse to assist in criminal executions are
being held up as noble heroes of conscience. However, it is then
illogical and foolish to criminalize pharmacists in the Land of
Lincoln who hold to their own religious convictions and conscience
in the matter of dispensing dangerous abortifacients, such as the
so-called morning-after pill. We can’t have it both ways. Karen Hayes, Associate director Concerned Women for America of Illinois Palos Heights
This article appears in Mar 9-15, 2006.
