Chicago -
By Tim Howe
Well, Blago and the president of NIU have hit a new low. They’re planning on tearing down Cole Hall to build something called Memorial Hall in its place, because – in the words of NIU President John Peters – students couldn’t be expected to return to Cole.
Pardon my insensitivity, but hogwash! They’re talking $3 million “upfront money” just to get the bonds issued. (Total project cost: $40 million.)
Posted on February 28, 2008
The Democrats, Episode 15
Once again the Mystery Debate Theater team of Andrew Kingsford, Tim Willette and Steve Rhodes gathered to add value to a presidential candidates’ debate in order to bring citizens a deeper understanding of our political system and the people inside it.
Well, Tim and Steve watched separately as each was felled by sniffles, congestion and ennui, while Andrew was . . . probably at Rainbo. Nonetheless, we have produced the most comprehensive and meaningful debate coverage on the face of the Earth. Remember, Texas and Ohio, you can take this with you into the voting booth.
As always, this transcript has been edited for space, clarity, sanity and comedy.
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CLINTON: As I have said many times, I have a great deal of respect for Senator Obama, but we have differences. And in the last several days, some of those differences in tactics and the choices that Senator Obama’s campaign has made regarding flyers and mailers and other information that has been put out about my health care plan and my position on NAFTA have been very disturbing to me.
You know, for example, it’s been unfortunate that Senator Obama has consistently said that I would force people to have health care whether they could afford it or not.
TIM: My plan forces people to pay for health insurance whether they can afford it or not.
Posted on February 27, 2008
By The Beachwood McRepublican Affairs Desk
A Beachwood investigation has learned that the following slogans and talking points are under consideration for the remainder of John McCain’s presidential campaign.
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1. One-term president, two-term Wal-Mart greeter.
2. McCain: Now with less POW angst.
3. War, not platitudes.
Posted on February 25, 2008
The Democrats, Episode 14
Once again the Mystery Debate Theater team of Steve Rhodes, Tim Willette and Andrew Kingsford settled in for a night of rollickin’ good times, brought to us by CNN and Univision. Well, I don’t know where Andrew was last night and me and Tim were in our separate quarters, but we managed to squeeze out another round of commentary that easily surpasses that of highly-paid pundits in both wit and wisdom. As usual, this transcript is edited for space, clarity and sanity.
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OBAMA: The problem we have is that Washington has become a place where good ideas go to die.
STEVE: As opposed to, say, Springfield.
OBAMA: They go to die in Washington, because too many politicians are interested in scoring political points rather than bridging differences in order to get things done.
STEVE: As opposed to, say, Springfield.
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UNIVISION’S JORGE RAMOS: Would you be willing to sit down with Raul Castro or whoever leads the Cuban dictatorship when you take office at least just once to get a measure of the man?
Posted on February 22, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
Just as many of us suspected, it’s really about the so-called Clinton Scandals. The Tribune editorial page, in defending Barack Obama from charges of plagiarism, has finally given away the game. Let’s take a look.
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TRIBUNE: Which reminds us of the infamous years when Hillary Clinton and her husband turned the White House into a school for scandal. A cruise through news stories of that troubling era elucidates some of the many lowlights:
– Early in Bill Clinton’s first term as president, the White House released documents showing that Hillary Clinton had parlayed a $1,000 investment in cattle futures into gains of $99,537 during 1978-79. The White House said Clinton “did her own trading” but received trading advice from James Blair, then outside counsel to Tyson Foods, a chicken company regulated by the State of Arkansas.
REALITY: “Mrs. Clinton violated no rules in the course of her transactions,” former Merc chairman Leo Melamed has insisted after reviewing the record.
Posted on February 21, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
See below for additional material posted on February 20.
“Before he bought his South Side mansion in 2005, Sen. Barack Obama took his friend and fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko on a tour of the premises to make sure it was a good deal, Obama’s campaign revealed Monday,” the Tribune reports.
“Weeks after saying he’d answered all questions about his controversial dealings with the now-indicted Rezko, Obama released new details about their purchase of adjacent lots from the same seller on the same day. But the disclosures by Obama’s presidential campaign left unanswered questions and raised new ones.”
No kidding.
Posted on February 19, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
A roundup of weekend Obama commentary and news about campaign finance, superdelegates, and the meaning of change.
Money Honey
“A year ago, before Barack Obama’s prodigious fund-raising powers were clocked in at $1 million a day, the senator made a great show out of raising a good idea: He would take the narrower road of public financing in the general election if he secured the nomination and his opponent did the same. Senator John McCain, then a long shot, agreed. Mr. Obama even secured a ruling from the Federal Election Commission that he could return unused private donations and then accept public financing,” the New York Times says in a Sunday editorial.
“Well, Mr. McCain is now the presumptive Republican nominee and says he is eager to take Mr. Obama up on the idea if he beats Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Sounds good? Not so fast.
“Representatives of Mr. Obama are cautiously saying this plan was an option, not a pledge, and it will not be definitively addressed unless Mr. Obama secures the nomination. An idea floated by a contender is now too ‘hypothetical’ for a front-runner.”
Posted on February 18, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
“Like Krugman, we’ve been stunned and saddened at the Dem-on-Dem hatred displayed in comments around the web,” Bob Somerby wrote this week. “(Our reaction to the South Carolina debate: Those are the three best candidates we’ve ever seen in a three-candidate forum.) We wouldn’t know how to quantify this. But, like Krugman, it’s our impression that more of this comes from Obama supporters. We can think of an obvious reason for that: There’s a sixteen-year catalogue of demonology to access about Candidate Clinton.
“For our money, it’s sad to see how many Democrats have purchased this RNC-inspired, MSM-driven package. But it’s understandable that this has occurred. To amplify something Krugman said: Many Democrats also believed that Al Gore said he invented the Internet. Indeed, why wouldn’t they have purchased that tale, and so many others like it? They heard these tales a thousand times. They rarely heard them contradicted.”
Somerby faults Obama supporters, but not Obama himself, though his campaign has counted on and exploited the Republican attack machine’s sliming of the Clintons instead of transcending and uniting. Let’s take a look.
Posted on February 15, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
Eric Klinenberg’s devastating account of the 1995 heat wave is coming to the stage.
“Pegasus Players in conjunction with Live Bait Theater present the World Premiere of Heat Wave by Steve Simoncic, based on the book by Eric Klinenberg,” Pegasus and Live Bait announced in a press release. “Heat Wave will premiere at Pegasus Players, 1145 W. Wilson Avenue in the O’Rourke Center at Truman College, February 21 – April 6, 2008. The official opening night is Monday, February 25, 2008 at 8:00 p.m.
“Based on the book Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (University of Chicago Press, 2002) by Eric Klinenberg, Associate Professor of Sociology at New York University, this moving new play looks at the heat wave of 1995 which took the lives of 739 Chicagoans.
“Chicago playwright and published author Steve Simoncic recreates the hot air that swirled between medical examiners, health officials, reporters, mayoral staff, and sweaty Chicagoans. This co-production with Chicago’s Live Bait Theater examines one of the country’s worst weather-related disasters from all perspectives, creating a vivid portrait of a city in crisis, but with its resources and humanity firmly intact.”
Posted on February 13, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
A collection of items gathered in the aftermath of Tuesday’s primaries.
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Inside the Numbers
* 38,362 Illinoisans voted for John Edwards
* 4,068 votes for Dennis Kucinich – more votes than Bill Richardson, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd each got.
* Ron Paul received 45,042 votes from Illinoisans
* Hillary Clinton won just 14 counties in Illinois, all very far Downstate
* Mike Huckabee won just two counties, as did Mitt Romney
* Hillary Clinton actually won 14 of Chicago’s 50 wards: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 22, 23, 25, 30, 31, 26, 38, 41, and 45.
* Clinton also won 8 of 30 townships: Berwyn, Cicero, Lemont, Leyden, Maine, Orland, Palos and Stickney.
Posted on February 8, 2008
