Political Arts & Letters

1. From Sue Fisher Yellen:

Chicago Politics As Usual

I watch TV, ad after ad, politicians smiling, showing their shiny white teeth...
Especially the dentist who wants to be something else...
The White man, naming all the Black men who, he says, love him most...
The young Greek, trying to look old, patting blue collars, promising new jobs...
The ubiquitous Irish machine-made man, grinning his Irish grin...
And some lady who has stolen a statue of a beautiful slave-woman in chains with deep scars on her bare back, trying to look like a hero...
Blaming, claiming, shaming...
Buying time so we can see these smiling faces,
all the white teeth,
all the promises...
Selling us hope...
Teaching us cynicism.

2. From David Rutter:

* After carefully considering the entire field of candidates in the pending primary, I have decided to take all the candidates' public views at face value. That means all the candidates - every one of them - are incompetent, criminal, creepy, devious, or once seemed to support Barack Obama. "How COULD he"?

Even Lake County Democrat Party chief Terry Link, who is running for LUTEGOV, says he promises not be a total, useless tool like the previous Lt. Gov. His radio ads in that regard end with loud snoring to reflect the previous Lt. Guv's toolishness. The previous Lt. Gov is, of course, Pat Quinn. Now THERE'S an opening-day-on-the-job chat I'd like to hear.

* Mike North and Dan Jiggetts will take up two hours of TV time every morning on WBBM-Ch 2. starting this week. Thus another victory for Chicago media kudzu. Useless but you can't get rid of it. Note to WBBM brain trust: Mike North and Dan Jiggetts? Really. I mean REALLY?

* RE: Cliff Kelley's radio debate moderation between Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes. Is Chicago the only city in the world where former crooks get their own radio shows to interview politicians about lack of integrity? And at the center of the issue, what did Harold Washington really think? Harold Washington? When Harold Washington (telephoning from the ranks of the dead) calls you an incompetent bozo with delusions of grandeur, brother you have some serious issues.

* Chicago is the only place in the world where calling Bozo the Clown a politician is an insult to the clown.

3. From Jerry Field:

We keep hearing about educational reform and we find that the Chicago Public Schools are now at it again. Along with most of its "reform partners" CPS is re-constituting schools, closing schools, transferring students, shuffling teachers, refusing to listen to the parents and still teaching to the test so scores are good and CPS looks good. When are the real reformers going to get a hearing at CPS?

The constant dealing with the effect and not addressing the cause is a continuing program that Vallas started and Duncan continued, and now CPS is a ship without a competent admiral and charted course.

The quality of teaching has antiquated standards, the curriculum is not relevant to today's students and the methods of instruction are as old. Adding a Power Point presentation and a few visuals is not updating. CPS is still living by Paddy Bauer's classic "We ain't ready for reform yet."

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Your comments welcome.