While I was prepping for and then participating in a business meeting Wednesday, accompanied by enough Old Style that I wasn’t sufficiently motivated to write a column, FBI agents were raiding the Far South Side ward office of Ald. Carrie Austin.
I’ll have more on that later, but for now, can you guess why I’m so annoyed by these “reporters'” behavior this morning?
Was live on FB then Alderman Carrie Austin came out of her home. Here’s what happened, @fox32news. pic.twitter.com/0UqlUHhdVK
— Tia A. Ewing (@TIA_EWING) June 20, 2019
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JUST NOW: 34th ward Ald. Austin says she doesn’t have a comment regarding FBI raid of her office yesterday. Told me “NOT RIGHT NOW!” Closes door on my phone. My fault?? @nbcchicago @MaryAnnAhernNBC pic.twitter.com/JazpLdTzCy
— Chris Hush (@ChrisHushNBC) June 20, 2019
Answer: Real reporters don’t ask for a statement or if a news subject has “anything to say.” Real reporters ask actual questions. Obviously I have no idea if a specific question would have elicited a response, but asking for a statement is inviting a rote, content-free response.
(Possible questions – and ask just one at a time, please – could include: “Have you spoken to the FBI? Have you hired a criminal defense lawyer? Were you warned about the raid ahead of time? What did they take out of your office? Where is your God now?”)
Anyway, like I said, more on Austin to come, as well as some material on Willie “Casino” Cochran, though he’s a far less consequential mope than Austin.
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Im🍑ment Inquiries
“Freshman Rep. Sean Casten, an Illinois Democrat who flipped a suburban Chicago congressional district in 2018, told the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday he backs launching an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump,” Lynn Sweet reports.
“Casten is among the 44 House Democrats facing the toughest GOP challenges in 2020, according to a ‘frontline’ list compiled by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
“His public call stands out because Casten is only the third in this group of 44 to support an impeachment inquiry. Casten joins freshmen Katie Porter of California and Tom Malinkowski of New Jersey – a friend whose office is down the hall from Casten’s.”
Good for Casten. But even more significant:
“Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., also on Wednesday called for a Trump impeachment inquiry, notable since she is part of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership team and the speaker has counseled restraint.”
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Some might say I wrote this item just because I wanted to use the peach emoji. Sources say that’s not entirely true, but it’s also quite delicious that “Thanks to its distinctive cleft, the emoji is commonly used for ‘buttocks.”
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As for the rest of the delegation:
“Rep. Bobby Rush, through a spokesman, is the only one from Illinois calling for impeachment. Reps. Mike Quigley, Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia, Danny Davis and Schakowsky support launching an impeachment inquiry.”
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Also:
Maybe I've missed it: Has every member of the Illinois congressional delegation been asked if they've read the Mueller Report? If not, Assignment Desk, activate!
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) May 29, 2019
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For those not ready to call for an impeachment inquiry, I would ask: What have you yet to learn about the president that would change your position? Does the Mueller report, in your estimation, provide evidence of the President of the United States committing crimes?
Of course, impeachment needn’t be limited to what’s detailed in the Mueller report. Trump has provided a laundry list of impeachable actions, any one of which might have derailed any other president. The good folks in Congress should be pressed harder to explain why Trump has not yet, in their minds, reached the bar for impeaching and removing a president.
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New on the Beachwood . . .
Joe Biden Just Pledged Fealty To The 1% And Got Wistful About White Segregationists
Oh, Uncle Joe. Do we really have to invite him to Thanksgiving?
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See also:
Maybe he's trying to appeal to Trump voters. https://t.co/gEJRWNBcD2
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 20, 2019
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— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 20, 2019
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— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 20, 2019
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Remembering Sleezy D
Chicago acid house pioneer dies of kidney failure.
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Rand McNally Releases Updated Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas Line
The annual editions are anticipated by professional drivers.
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Boeing Moving Launch HQ To Space Coast
Not to be confused with Space Ghost.
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The Premier Lacrosse League Was Here
See the super-cool highlights.
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Meat Is Masculine
More great work about advertising and gender. (With lessons for news media, too.)
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ChicagoReddit
Any michelin star restaurants I can go to without feeling bad about wearing very casual clothes? from r/chicago
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ChicagoGram
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ChicagoTube
Duke of Chicago / Dancing Shoes breakdance.
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BeachBook
Hormonal Birth Control, The Pill And Wellness Creep.
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Knox College Has A Massive Collection Of Documents With Famous Signatures.
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Amazing Wood Sculptures Carved To Look Like Figures Are Trapped Inside.
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TweetWood
A sampling.
"I’ve heard and studied the Laffer Curve for many years in the Wharton School of Finance," @realDonaldTrump (@Wharton '68) said today at the White House as he honored Art Laffer, who famously drew the curve on a napkin… in 1974
— Margaret Talev (@margarettalev) June 20, 2019
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How Teach for America Evolved Into an Arm of the Charter School Movement https://t.co/1noewuZQxM
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 19, 2019
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Ex-GOP staffer who racially assaulted black woman and wrote for white supremacist site VDare now writes for WSJ, Forbes https://t.co/qQpqOIqVz5
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 19, 2019
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I’m not even going to hate read you anymore.
— Oandlomom (@oandlomom) June 19, 2019
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The Beachwood McRipTipLine: Monetize.
Posted on June 20, 2019