By Steve Rhodes

A very revealing discussion on Chicago Tonight last night about Jesse Jackson wanting to rip out Barack Obama’s nuts.
Delmarie Cobb, an African-American woman and longtime political insider who supported Hillary Clinton, said Obama’s Father’s Day speech was “demeaning” and aimed at the traveling press, not the folks in the church that day.
Laura Washington said that Jackson genuinely supported Obama “but he’s had a discomfort with his campaign all along.”
Washington didn’t put it exactly this way, but I will: It’s because Obama seems to blame black people for their problems the same way conservatives do, as if blacks are inherently morally inferior. Jackson is more apt to blame an economic structure that keeps the poor not only down, but preyed upon by payday lenders, unscrupulous landlords, tobacco and alcohol companies and so on, while ignored by government and left to rot without health insurance, employment opportunities, decent schools or basic public safety.
White people growing up in similar circumstances would not somehow show more character than blacks do, but that seems to be the flip side of the Obama message.

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Posted on July 11, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

The fact of the matter is that Jesse Jackson is right: Barack Obama talks down to (poor) black people. His Bill Cosby routine is downright offensive and positively Reaganistic. See, if poor blacks just wouldn’t spend all their money at Popeye’s maybe they’d make something of themselves!
I’ve written before about this here, but Obama hasn’t been challenged on the point by the media because, by and large, they agree with the message. It’s been a long time since the media championed the poor – the afflicted, if you will – instead of, um, afflicting them.
Not only that, but as I’ve pointed out (see the item “Father’s Day Farce“), Obama has by his own account been missing-in-action as a father – and he’s had a wealth of opportunities his poor brethren haven’t had.
Jesse Jackson feels bad because he – I believe – sincerely doesn’t want to hurt Obama’s campaign. But the words he uttered reflect – I’m sure – his true beliefs. And he’s right.

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Posted on July 10, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

Pat Ryan, the insurance impresario and civic titan leading the city’s Olympic effort, is presumably a pretty smart guy. So I imagine him reading stories like “Olympic Boss Doubts Violence Will Affect 2016 Bid” and thinking, man, they’ll just print anything I say! Because he’s never going to say something like, “Yes, come to think of it, I do think the recent violence will hurt our Olympic bid.” Or “Yes, come to think of it, I do think our mess of a transit system will hurt our Olympic bid.” Or “Yes, come to think about it, ongoing police brutality and political corruption will hurt our Olympic bid.” So can we please stop asking him whether every spate of bad news in the city will adversely affect Chicago’s Olympic bid?

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Posted on July 9, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

We have some new features here at the Beachwood that I’ve never properly introduced, so here we go:
* I Shot the Band is the brainchild of our music guru Don Jacobson, who is now reviewing amateur videos of mostly local bands. He has three in the can so far:
– Company of Thieves at Welles Park.
– Funhouse at the Kankakee Fish Fry.
– Lady Tramaine Hawkins at the Millennium Park.

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Posted on July 8, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

1. Rod Blagojevich finally broke away from Cubs games and fundraisers long enough to issue 19 pardons – on July 3rd, when few people were looking. It’s almost as if he didn’t want anyone to know that the cases included “a dead man who served more than a dozen years in prison for a rape and murder he didn’t commit” and “three men who were exonerated in 2002 after a federal investigation forced Chicago police to re-examine the 1997 kidnapping and murder that led to their convictions,” according to the Tribune.
“The men spent years in jail before authorities determined they were not involved in the crimes, and have been awaiting the pardon decision for some time.”
2. At least those folks made it to trial. The Sun-Times reports today that 36 inmates at the Cook County Jail have been waiting for their day in court for more than five years. Andre Crawford – the alleged Englewood rapist – has been in jail since Jan. 31, 2000 without trial. “A total of 430 prisoners have waited two years or more,” the paper says.
3. “While presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama likes storylines to focus on micro donors, the Democratic apparatus he sits on top of is dependent on big fund-raisers who can deliver – and in turn want to be treated well at the convention. Obama’s campaign finance operation will be running a VIP convention operation, with at least 300 rooms in the best hotels in Denver set aside for its very top bundlers,” Lynn Sweet reports this morning.
“For top Democratic donors, the convention at the Pepsi Center in Denver in August means access to hard-to-get credentials, VIP parties, special briefings, concierge service and coveted rooms in the city’s top hotels.”

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Posted on July 7, 2008

By Natasha Julius

Have a safe weekend on the roads, but remember: you may need to plan a little extra time on the way back.
Independence Day
Congratulations, America! It’s been 232 glorious years and, as long as we don’t try to communicate with anyone or enjoy ourselves, we’re still totally free!

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Posted on July 5, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

1. “Dear Miss Manners: Sometime this morning, a small vinyl American flag on a wood dowel was put on my lawn next to my driveway, and frankly I’m offended by the presumption of this anonymous person to express my national pride for me on my property.
“I’ve looked at various Web sites for information on the proper display of the flag, and I can find no mention of the issue of displaying it on other people’s property. I assume this is because it’s out-of-the-question acceptable or out-of-the-question unacceptable.
“Furthermore, I am also offended that I have been charged with dignified destruction of a flag that was clearly intended to be disposable. Could you please clarify these flag-etiquette issues?
“Gentle Reader: Happy Independence Day to you too. How did the American flag come to be a weapon that loyal citizens brandish against one another?”

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Posted on July 4, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

1. The bad news: “Mike North Mulling 4 Offers To Stay In Town.”
And how many to leave?
2. The good news: Steve Stone may move to the Sox TV booth.
3. The bad news: Hawk Harrelson would still be there, so the broadcasts would still be unviewable.

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Posted on July 3, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

“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.

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Posted on July 2, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

“A Japan-bound commercial airliner landed safely at O’Hare International Airport Monday afternoon after one of its engines malfunctioned over the northwest suburbs – but not before it had to dump about 4 percent of its total fuel load over Lake Michigan in order to land,” the Tribune reports.
“To make the half-million-pound jetliner, which carried 189 passengers, light enough to land safely, the pilot swung over the lake and dumped about 1,450 gallons of jet fuel. Only a miniscule portion of that made it to the water, which officials said remains safe for drinking and swimming.”
So what happened to the rest?
“When fuel is dumped above 5,000 feet, in temperatures above freezing, about 98 percent of it can be expected to evaporate before hitting the ground, Isham Cory said. In this case, that would leave about 32 gallons, all of it in widely dispersed fuel droplets.”
Pander Bear
“Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans that would expand President Bush’s program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups and – in a move sure to cause controversy – support their ability to hire and fire based on faith,” the AP reports.
Wait, which candidate is running for Bush’s third term again?

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Posted on July 1, 2008