The [Monday] Papers

Um, if the surgery was successful, why is Derrick Rose out for the year?

The worst-case scenario was a four-month rehab. That leaves the month of April and the playoffs.

My guess is that the Bulls are playing it this way to avoid the drama of a possible Rose return before or during the playoffs that we witnessed last year.

But he'll be playing a summer tour for Adidas in no time.

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"According to a source in Rose's camp, indefinitely could last the season," the monstrous Joe Cowley reported over the weekend.

"Derrick is going to do what's best for him long-term, no matter how long that takes,' the source said. 'If it's the year, it's the year."

The source was not identified as Reggie Rose.

Children's Fund Follies
Here's Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown speaking about Rahm Emanuel's non-existent Children's Fund on last Friday's Chicago Tonight: The Week in Review:

"I don't want to jump to the mayor's defense on this, but he never said there was going to be a special line item and a specific fund . . . he's been very transparent about it."

THAT'S JUST NOT TRUE.

"I promised that the revenue from new speed camera enforcement in children's safety zones would go to keeping our children safe, and this budget does exactly that," Emanuel said as he presented his spending plan last month. "We will be creating a Children's Fund to ensure that this . . . new money is dedicated to keeping our kids learning and safe."

We will be creating a Children's Fund.

Moderator Eddie Arruza pushed back a little but Brown was never corrected.

"He said 'children's safety,' Laura Washington said.

NO! He said the money was going into a dedicated Children's Fund. Instead, it is going into the general fund to be spent any way Rahm pleases.

Occasional Tribune Op-Ed contributor and former longtime urban affairs reporter John McCarron said, "If there ever was a honeymoon between Emanuel and the press, it's over."

Not on this show it isn't!

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Earlier in the segment, Brown described the media's handling of CTA president Forrest Claypool: "We've definitely given him a pass."

Yes. Yes you have. Stop it. Even if someone friendly to the media doesn't like it.

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I have a slightly different view of "objectivity" than Jeremy Scahill, whom I admire greatly, but I agree wholeheartedly with his sad observation that most mainstream journalists have "a default position that the State is telling the truth and those in power are to be believed."

I always thought the default position of journalists was supposed to be the exact opposite.

Scahill reports on grave global matters far more important than the Ventra card, but the same dynamic plays out all across the country, where journalists give those with power "passes" and "honeymoons" and defend them when caught in the baldest lies. It's easy to fix - just stop doing it! But it takes overhauling a mindset and professional culture that seems largely immune to the critical thought it would take to change.

Obama Library Follies
What's next, Navy Pier?

It's All Relative
"A Yale University political science student from a Chicago suburb says he's still in a "state of shock" after being named one of 32 Americans selected as a 2014 Rhodes Scholar," AP reports.

"Vinay Nayak spoke in a telephone interview Sunday, shortly after the winners were announced.

"The 21-year-old from Oak Park worked on President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign and interned at the White House this past summer."

Oh, and his father is going to prison soon.

SportsMonday: Bush Whacked
Just because you want him to be a short-yardage specialist doesn't mean he is a short-yardage specialist.

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A lot of sports pundits excoriating the Bears defense like to say that injuries are no excuse for a terrible performance, and usually I would agree. But these are the same people who excused several editions of the Cubs, for example, based on injuries when it was far less warranted. In the Bears' case, the defense have more starters out (5) than playing. And in some cases, we're not just seeing the backups but the backups' backups. In this way the Bears defense is like recent Cubs teams: half-filled with minor leaguers.

And the defense did tighten up in the middle of the game on Sunday while the Bears got themselves back into that game. I just don't understand Marc Trestman's insistence on repeatedly using Michael Bush in the end zone instead of Matt Forte.

"It's taking us too long to score," Josh McCown said after the game.

And it's killing them.

Chicago's Baby-Making
Who in our city is giving birth? We've got the data.

The Weekend In Chicago Rock
Yet again, just tremendous.

Featuring: The Mowgli's, Cults, Zoe, Alestorm, The Avett Brothers, Black Uhuru, Agrimonia, Sky Ferriera, Capital Cities, Crown The Empire, Alesso, Paramore, Cat Power, August Burns Red, and David Cook.

Kill Fee
Never underestimate the determination of a small group of Chicago moms!

Hint: Yes
Could You Be Serving Up A Lawsuit With That Turkey Dinner?

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The Beachwood Tip Line: Turkey lurkey.

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