Don't treat government as a game

In fairness, one must consider the context in which a speech is given, and the audience it's given to. And so we can't be too hard on Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross for giving a political speech in East Peoria on Sunday to a political crowd convened for political purposes.

Specifically the Republican Cross was in town to give something of a pep talk to the faithful about how to get more Republicans elected, which ought to be easy enough in a state where Democrats are so dysfunctional and divided. Alas, we're talking Illinois Republicans, who blew their shot at leadership when they had it with some of the same nonsense - infighting, corruption, inertia - we're getting from Democrats now.