Chicago -
Weekend Desk editor Natasha Julius remains on assignment in India. Stephanie B. Goldberg once again fills in with her Five Dumbest Ideas of the Week.
1. Halloween is rapidly approaching, and we’re still searching for the perfect costume.
* Too obscure.
* Too weird.
* Too scary.
Posted on October 24, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
1. The mayor is not sorry at all about torture.
2. Will a reporter please ask Obama if the mayor he endorsed should share any portion of responsibility for Jon Burge?
3. “Daley said he suggested the United Center as an ‘easier’ and more ‘controlled’ alternative to Grant Park [for Obama’s Election Night party]. But, the mayor said he was turned down by Obama campaign staffers who insisted on holding an outdoor rally,” the Sun-Times reports.
“Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt countered, ‘We checked before we requested space [in Grant Park]. Celine Dion is booked for the United Center the night of the election.””
Gee, which one should I go to?!
Posted on October 24, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
A new Tribune poll shows that Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s popularity in Illinois is so low he has to look up to see George W. Bush.
Only 13 percent of registered likely voters surveyed said they approved of the governor’s job performance; only 10 percent said they wanted to see him re-elected in 2010 for a third term.
The president’s approval rating stands at 18 percent. Maybe Blago should invade Wisconsin.
Posted on October 23, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
The story of Jon Burge is as much a story of media failure as anything else. As noted in the Sun-Times’s editorial this morning, “As early as 1982, public officials got wind of rumors of Burge’s torture tricks in the basement of a South Side police station.” And as Mark Brown writes in his column this morning, “From the time the accusations were raised in 1983 by attorneys for cop killer Andrew Wilson until fairly recently, the collective attitude in this city was of disbelief, of not wanting to believe such a thing possible and perhaps worse – not caring enough to demand the truth.”
What could possibly account for the “collective attitude” of the city? Where in the world do people get their views? Were citizens carrying on conversations about Burge apart from what appeared in the media – somehow receiving information to shape their views from other sources like, say, transcendental meditation?
Posted on October 22, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
BREAKING: The news broke this morning that federal authorities have arrested Jon Burge and he will face and “charges that he obstructed a civil rights investigation by lying in a civil deposition.”
Message Control
“In the first day of City Council hearings on Mayor Richard Daley’s 2008 budget, several aldermen questioned why the administration spends millions of dollars to get out its message to the public,” the Tribune reports.
Posted on October 21, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
“It is hard to imagine the Bears executing better on offense (they basically put a half a hundred on ’em . . . half a hundred!) despite still not running the ball very well,” our very own Jim Coffman writes in SportsMonday. “Silly stories in both dailies late last week argued it was a problem that the Bears were getting away from their “identity,” which is of course pounding away at defenses with power backs. But even if such an identity really exists (and it hasn’t since Mr. Payton was running amok in the 70s – and he didn’t win a championship until he hooked up with a competent thrower for a little while in the 80s, did he?), it is mostly because the team’s last long-term star at quarterback was Sid Luckman.
“Maybe it is time for a new identity.”
Posted on October 20, 2008
Weekend Desk editor Natasha Julius remains on assignment in India. Stephanie B. Goldberg once again fills in with her Five Dumbest Ideas of the Week.
1. This election year has been notable for pols and pundits bleating a few hack phrases until most of us were ready to jump out a window. To rank their popularity, we turned to the Google Cliche-O-Meter. The winner by far: “Obama” and “change” with 79,100,000 results, followed by “McCain” and “experience” at 349,000,000. The runner-ups:
Posted on October 18, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
I sense that most of my readers will not want to believe this, but John McCain showed last night that he can deliver an outstanding comedy routine. See for yourself.
Posted on October 17, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
Now that was a debate!
An actual exchange of policy and theory – you hardly ever knew a moderator was there.
And the split-screen ruled!
We’ve got what you want over on Division Street today – our new installment of Mystery Debate Theater. It’s pretty good.
Posted on October 16, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
I’m swamped and I’ll be appearing on a panel this afternoon at the Strategic and Marketing Innovation Summit of the International Newspaper Marketing Association (!), so there will not be a Papers column today. But if you look to the right you’ll see plenty of quality Beachwood material to keep you occupied as you try to pass the time before tonight’s debate. ->>>
And oh, what a glorious debate it will be. In an alternate universe. This one is likely to be a snooze even if John McCain is desperate and needs a “game-changer.” What can he do, call Bill Ayers on his cell right there on the stage?
Anyway, we’ll have a Mystery Debate Theater installment tomorrow on Division Street, where I’ve been putting them lately. See you then.
Posted on October 15, 2008
