The [Wednesday] Papers

"There is every indication that Todd Stroger, miraculously installed by ward bosses following his father's illness, will run for a second term in 2010," Carol Marin writes this morning.

"There is every reason to believe that Mayor Daley and House Speaker Michael Madigan are already helping him lay the groundwork, raise the cash and turn out the vote."

Just so we're clear about who's to blame.

Two Americas
"It's hard to distinguish between people from the suburbs and the city at the Taste. But you can sometimes tell if they live further out west."
- John Trick, the city's Taste of Chicago guru

Coffee Klatsch
"Starbucks Closing 600 Stores."

And that's just in Chicago.

DUH
This may look like a cute story, but I think LG just got its money's worth in publicity by sponsoring the "National Texting Championship."

"Megan has had to adjust to texting on a new phone - the LG enV2 she was awarded as the Chicago regional champion and that she'll have to use in New York in a week," the Sun-Times reports via the Naperville Sun - because let's face it, they're the same thing these days.

Poor Megan. Just 14 and already a pawn in The Man's game.

More Change, Less Hope
"Barack Obama yesterday landed a right hook on one of his biggest left-wing supporters yesterday - blasting MoveOn.org for labeling Gen. David Petraeus 'General Betray Us,'" the New York Post reports.

[I am excerpting from the Post only because I happened to pick it up at the 7/11 yesterday. But this report is still true, I assure you!]

"Obama, in a patriotism speech in Independence, Mo., hit the Web site for taking out an ad in The New York Times last year that targeted Petraeus, then the top US commander in Iraq.

"While not naming names, the Democratic presidential candidate - who had been heavily supported by the Web site in his primary race - said, 'A general providing his best counsel on how to move forward in Iraq was accused of betrayal. We can no longer afford these sorts of divisions.'"

No, not that the primary is over now.

"Many of Obama's Senate colleagues already felt the same way - and had expressed their anger at the ad back in September, when they voted to 'strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of' Petraeus.

"Obama skipped the vote."

*

By the way, the Post's nickname for Obama is "Bam."

Deflation
Just to give you an idea about how the liberal netroots is feeling about Obama these days - because your local papers are not tuned in to the national political conversation - after so aggressively pushing his campaign in the primary, Kos has put his checkbook away.

"So many of you are upset that I pulled back my credit card last night, making a last minute decision to hold back on a $2,300 contribution to Obama. Let me explain further:

"First of all, obviously Obama is a great candidate who is running a great 50-state race. That much cannot be denied. But he's had a rough couple of weeks.

"First, he reversed course and capitulated on FISA, not just turning back on the Constitution, but on the whole concept of 'leadership'. Personally, I like to see presidents who 1) lead, and 2) uphold their promises to protect the Constitution.

"Then, he took his not-so-veiled swipe at MoveOn in his 'patriotism' speech.

"Finally, he reinforced right-wing and media talking points that Wes Clark had somehow impugned McCain's military service when, in reality, Clark had done no such thing."

Kos goes on to describe Obama as a cowering calculator.

The Real World
"[T]he signs that Obama was anything but a committed progressive reformer have been there for all to see, but a group blindness somehow developed in the blogosphere and comparable real-world circles - wishful thinking that can perhaps best be described as the 'Forer Effect,' where Obama mastered the art of saying something for everyone (and, ultimately, nothing at all)."

- Open Letter to Salon's Glenn Greenwald from VastLeft

Talking Points
"Sometimes when I keep on an issue like the Clark/McCain brouhaha, readers will write in and say things like, 'It's a losing issue.' 'Drop it.' 'It isn't helping Obama.' And so forth. But that's not our issue," Josh Marshall writes at Talking Points Memo.

Tell me about it! I'm not a Democrat (nor a Republican) and my job isn't to help Obama. That's Eric Zorn's job. My job is to parse through the bullshit and point you to reported truths.

If you click on the link to Marshall's post, you'll find one. The Wes Clark controversy was just the latest manufactured piece of baloney. If you look at the line of questioning, Clark hardly impugned John McCain's military service.

But then, the Obama campaign is quite familiar with clipping quotes and running to media enablers to express their faux outrage.

Tim Time
Just catching up with this, from the New York Times:

"Mr. Russert's own death provided an object lesson in how much things have changed. More than an hour before his death was announced by Tom Brokaw on NBC, his Wikipedia page was edited to reflect that he had just died."

Try To Deny It
Let's leave on a high note.

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The Beachwood Tip Line: Cherry red.