By Steve Rhodes

“It’s time for the president and his administration to exercise the moral leadership of the highest office of the nation that is supposed to embody the ideals found in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights,” the Sun-Times said in an editorial in 1986.
“We are diminished as a nation and as the guardian of precious human freedoms when we fail to act in support of those principles.”
For more, including a Mike Royko column on Nelson Mandela, see Flashback: Time To Act On S. Africa.

Read More

Posted on December 6, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Lawmakers who passed a sweeping overhaul of the state’s government worker pension systems are hoping that what the measure giveth workers will be enough to survive a court challenge over what the plan taketh away,” the Tribune’s Monique Garcia writes in a nice summary of the legal fight to come.
“On Wednesday, union representatives said they are busy preparing their case but have yet to determine when and where they will file suit. The question of jurisdiction is important, as a circuit court judge in Springfield might be more inclined to side with the unions than one in Chicago, where Madigan wields influence in selecting jurists for the bench.”
This is really an extraordinary sentence to write in such a matter-of-fact way in an “objective” news article.

Read More

Posted on December 5, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

1. It’s not reform when Illinois politicians pass it.
2. The Political Odds have now been recalculated.
3. “There is no indication that former city Comptroller Amer Ahmad, who faces public corruption charges in Ohio, engaged in any wrongdoing at City Hall, according to a legal review released Tuesday by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration,” the Tribune reports.
“The review did find that Ahmad failed to recuse himself from some pension fund votes involving a financial firm that had city business while he was actively seeking a job with the firm, but it concluded there was no harm to the city.”
Um, there may not have been harm to the city but I’d classify that as wrongdoing.

Read More

Posted on December 4, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Former Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez, convicted on federal charges of rigging hiring to benefit political foot soldiers, filed Monday to run for the Cook County Board seat previously held by William Beavers – who is headed for prison,” the Tribune reports.
“For some Cook County voters, the Democratic primary could become known as the election of second chances. Another convicted felon, former Chicago Ald. Issac ‘Ike’ Carothers, also filed for a primary bid for the County Board.”
They just can’t stay away.

Read More

Posted on December 3, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

The Papers will return on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, our very own Jim Coffman joins the chorus of those blasting Marc Trestman for attempting a field goal on second down in overtime in Sunday’s game against the Vikings instead of taking one more play to try to move the ball closer than 47 yards for Robbie Gould.
I wholeheartedly disagree, and I hope I have the time to explain why tomorrow.

Read More

Posted on December 2, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

Saturday Update:

Look like @RonanFarrow will learn: the most controversial thing to do in US political discourse is tell the truth http://t.co/rfur9ccnA6

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 29, 2013

Read More

Posted on November 28, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Attorneys for former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s nephew want a judge to force three reporters working for the Chicago Sun-Times to turn over their interview records, saying their investigation may have contaminated key eyewitnesses who will testify at the nephew’s upcoming manslaughter trial,” the Tribune reports.

The Sun-Times reporters did more than simply interview the witnesses; they acted as pseudo-law enforcement officers by conducting photographic lineups, playing on witnesses’ emotions to get information, and feeding them information,” said the filing signed by Marc Martin, who along with Thomas Breen and Terence Gillespie are representing Vanecko.
The attorneys argued that eyewitness accounts to police in 2004 and 2011 that Koschman would not let the confrontation go and aggressively approached the other group “transformed into an incident of Koschman getting sucker-punched during a non-threatening verbal dispute.”
“Either CPD officers are lying about what witnesses said to them, the witnesses lied to the Sun-Times, or the Sun-Times has altered or not reported the full account of what the witnesses told reporters,” the attorneys wrote. “The answer to this conundrum will be a central issue at Vanecko’s trial.”

A few thoughts:

Read More

Posted on November 27, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner and lieutenant governor candidate Evelyn Sanguinetti filed 10,000 signatures with their nominating petitions,” his campaign announced Monday.
That’s 1,111 PHO – per homes owned.
Or .00000018867925 PDE = per dollars earned.

Read More

Posted on November 26, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

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.

Read More

Posted on November 25, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

Natasha Julius is away this weekend on a mission of national import, so I’m filling in. One clue: the first, fifth and seventh letters to her name. We hope she returns soon.
DRose By Any Other Name Is Jay Cutler
Bulls former star and standardized test activist Derrick Rose will have an MRI on Saturday while the rest of the city will be given oxygen. At least that will distract the whiners from being reminded they live in Chicago.

Read More

Posted on November 23, 2013