By Steve Rhodes
“Durbin hits GOP for debt limit ‘brinkmanship,’ while refusing to accept short-term deal,” WBEZ reports.
Doesn’t that just about say it all? And vice versa.
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“President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner went on TV Monday night where neither explained what precisely will happen to force a solution to avoid a first-ever U.S. default in a week,” Lynn Sweet writes in “Obama, Boehner: Speeches Without Solutions.”
Among Sweet’s observations:
“Obama’s team figured that with a crisis looming, he needed the prime-time address to show he is deeply involved in the debt limit negotiations, which he is. Obama’s suggestion in prodding a divided Congress to make a deal he will sign – was asking people to contact their congressman to urge a compromise. That’s it?”
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Obama may be deeply involved in debt limit negotiations now, but for months he left the negotiations to Joe Biden.
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Winner: Jesse Jr.; runner-up: Bobby Rush.
Back to Black
“The family of Amy Winehouse gathered at a north London cemetery on Tuesday to bid farewell to their ‘angel,’ three days after the troubled singer was found dead at her home,” Reuters reports.
I wonder if those who made Winehouse a punch line still think addiction is funny; apparently they do if the last couple of days on Twitter and Facebook are any indication.
Here’s the thing, though: It’s not funny. Addiction is a terrible, ravaging disease. It’s not something to be exploited for our entertainment. Amy Winehouse was an actual human being, with friends and family who loved her and were torn apart by her affliction.
And it’s simply not true that Winehouse refused to go to rehab and that those around her didn’t step in to help. She went to rehab several times, and friends and family tried to intervene even before her first record, Frank.
Finally, a message to Score radio host Dan Bernstein: When you defiantly defend your right to make fun of the dead Amy Winehouse on the air by screaming “She’s a crack whore!”, well, that says a lot more about you than her.
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Winehouse also had a history of battling eating disorders and had been diagnosed as manic depressive. If someone thinks that sort of pain is funny, well, then you are the one I feel sorry for.
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Actually, I don’t. Let me amend that. You are the one I think is a joke.
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Remembering Amy Winehouse in Chicago: Taking a look at the reviews and video of her performances here.
Two-Tiered Justice
I lost the source on this, but it came to me in an e-mail or maybe my Facebook feed:
“If one of the Daleys or their friends or donors had been killed, NO stone would have gone unturned and no witnesses would have gone unquestioned!”
True enough. All you have to do is contrast the Koschman case with the Michael Scott case.
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Funny, some people still have conspiracy theories about Scott’s death. I think that’s nonsense. But there is a conspiracy in the Koschman case – a conspiracy of silence.
Whales And Pigs
“Nearly three-fourths of the lawmakers who voted on doubling the number of Illinois casinos accepted political contributions in the last 18 months from the gambling industry – a practice several states ban,” the Tribune reported over the weekend.
“Casinos, racetracks and video poker interests shelled out about $812,000 to lawmakers, the governor and Chicago’s new mayor since the beginning of 2010, leading up to the landmark vote on a measure to allow five new casinos, permit slot machines at the horse tracks and fast-track video gambling in bars and truck stops.
“The cash flowing from casino companies, horse-track tycoons and video poker investors shows just how much attention the titans of those industries pay to the politicians who legalize and oversee their business.
“In the last 10 years, the industry has given Illinois politicians nearly $10 million, a Tribune analysis of campaign fundraising data found.”
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It’s called the house edge.
Blago Tells Truth
Blago Asks For New Trial Citing Judicial Bias.
He’s right. Judge James Zagel is totally prejudiced against assholes.
Mail Call
“The U.S. Postal Service is studying whether to close 13 Chicago-area post offices, a spokesman said,” the Tribune reports.
I tried several punch lines here but none of them satisfied me, so come up with your own.
The Big Skirt
And it will look like this.
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See, ’cause Frank Thomas’s nickname was The Big Hurt, but some called him The Big Skirt.
I know, if you have to explain it . . .
Collective Bargaining
Maybe the NFL ought to step in and help Washington out.
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I know that’s probably not terribly original. One thing though: I think a lot of Americans probably figure a deadline deal will get done on the debt ceiling, just like a lot of football fans figured an NFL agreement would come at the 11th hour.
On the other hand, there’s the NBA . . .
Uncollective Bargaining
Hyatt Fires Manager Who Heat Lamped Strikers.
Maynard vs. Toub
And Gould takes Maynard’s side.
From Banks To Byrd
Honoring African-American Cubs.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Sooey.
Posted on July 26, 2011