The Woe Is Me Award...

Poor Lura Lynn. It’s the holiday season, and she wants her hubby home. In a recent interview she said, "I was hoping we could get him home by Thanksgiving, but that's not going to happen…” Poor Lura Lynn.

Poor Lura Lynn. Having her husband gone has affected her health, she told the Chicago Sun-Times this past Tuesday. She’s receiveing treatments here in Chicago for an aneurysm, and not having her man to stand by her during this trying time is taking its toll on her. "I'm alone. . . . It is very, very difficult, “ she told the Sun-Times. Poor Lura Lynn.

Despite her health challenges, 74-year-old Lura Lynn spends every weekend visiting her husband. She drives down to Terre Haute, Indiana each and every weekend, without fail. Poor Lura Lynn. Such a tireless trooper she is. Lura Lynn was hoping to have her man home by Christmas, but it looks like that’s not going to happen either, and she doesn’t want to get her hopes too high, according to a quote in a recent edition of the Sun-Times.

Who is Lura Lynn and who is this husband she loves so much you may be asking, as that lump in your throat gets bigger, and your sympathy wells up. It is, afterall, the season of giving, forgiveness and goodwill toward all! Lura Lynn is Lura Lynn Ryan, former first lady of the state of Illinois. And her hubby that she misses so much? None other than George Ryan, 74-year-old former Illinois governor, liar, cheat, swindler and scumbag; now serving a six and a half year prison term at the Federal Correction Center in Terre Haute, Indiana.

For those of you non-Illinoisans reading this, let me get you up to speed. Former Governor Ryan once served as our Illinois' Secretary of State. As Secretary of State Ryan committed various crimes ranging from the illegal sale of government licenses, contracts and leases by state employees. In a nutshell, all of Secretary Ryan’s illegal activities began to come to light in 1999 in regards to a 1994 traffic accident in Wisconsin. In the accident which involved a semi-truck and van, six children of Reverend Scott Willis and his wife were killed. But what does this accident have to do with George Ryan, you may ask? The driver of the semi-truck was an unqualified driver who could only obtain his licesnce illegally through a bribe to a Secretary of State’s driver’s license facility. In turn, this bribe money (and countless other bribes by countless other unqualified drivers to obtain licenses) was funneled into Mr. Ryan’s campaign coffers. The very campaign coffers that he used to carry him to the governor’s office.

Now George Ryan is serving his time in Terre Haute, Indiana. Which brings us back to poor Lura Lynn. In the Sun-Times interview she goes on to say, “He hasn't seen his grandchildren since he started serving his sentence a year ago…He doesn't want them to see him in that light.” Poor Lura Lynn and her grandchildren. I ask you this Lura Lynn: how do you think Revernd and Mrs. Willis feel this holiday season? Do you think their grief is less than yours? Do you think they miss their six children, six children needlessly slaughtered by an unqualified truck driver that had it not been for your husband’s greedy hand, wouldn’t have been on the road in the first place? The thing you want the most is your husband home for the holidays. What do you think Mr. and Mrs. Willis want? You ma’am are disgusting and your whining and pleading are vulgar and insulting. I dare you to look the Willis family in the eye and make your case for your husband’s freedom.

In the Sun-Times interview, poor Lura Lynn goes on to state, "It's such a waste for him [Ryan] to be sitting down there [Terre Haute prison] doing absolutely nothing.” She made mention that if he were released he could take part in community service. Community service? You’re joking, right? Your husband’s greed is directly responsible for the death of six children, and the pain at least one family will endure for the rest of their lives, and you think your husband should be allowed community service? I think your scumbag husband SHOULD sit in jail with absolutely nothing but time. Time to ponder his deeds and how his greed changed the lives of so many. So many he will never meet, and so many that will never have what you so selfishly pray for, their loved ones home for the holidays.

I think a fitting job for your husband when he’s finally released would be driving a van on a Wisconsin highway. A highway filled with unqualified semi-truck drivers. Drivers who obtained their licenses with bribes through your husband’s office and his greedy desire for money and power. Always wondering, always frightened that the next truck to blow by him, or perhaps the truck behind him will be the one that causes an accident. An accident that will forever sever him from his family at future holidays. Perhaps then he’ll know how the Willis family feels right about now.