By Steve Rhodes
Sorry for the delay on The [Endorsement] Papers promised yesterday. Hope to wrap it up and post today.
1. Rick Morrissey says it so I don’t have to.
2. “Democrat Alexi Giannoulias borrowed more than $1.4 million from his mother for the final leg of his campaign against Republican Christine Radogno for the treasurer’s office that Topinka is vacating,” the Sun-Times reports.
Choose from among these punch lines:
A) Why doesn’t his mother just run for the office?
B) Can’t his mom just put that money directly into the state treasury?
C) Hey Mrs. Giannoulias, ever think about funding a website?
D) No? Well, nobody likes a 30-year-old rich kid whose mom is still paying the bills.
E) And then the Sun-Times endorsed him! Ba-dum-dum.
Oh. D is actually true.
3. It’s a bit unfair to review The Rod & Todd Show while its still workshopping.
4. Todd Stroger says he’s a consensus builder, and he’s right: He’s done an extraordinary job building a consensus that he’s an idiot.
5. Oscar is a wiener.
6. The Daily Herald reports the governor is maintaining that the indictment of Tony Rezko surprised him. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think he’d be engaged in something like that,” he told the paper’s editorial board. That makes him the only person in the state’s political sphere to be so clueless – doesn’t he read the papers? Or it makes him a liar. Also: the governor returns to his story that that $1,500 check to his daughter was a birthday gift.
7. Does the naming of Alan Trammel of Cubs bench coach make him the heir apparent? After all, Lou Piniella is only planning on being around for four or five years “at best.” Just as Dusty Baker’s home remained in California, Lou Piniella’s home remains Tampa. It would be nice to have a Cubs manager who actually decides to live here and is in it for the long haul, but enough about Joe Girardi.
8. Maybe Lou Piniella is part of a Tribune Company plan to spruce the team up for sale, as opposed to rebuilding a real baseball organization.
9. If Madison Dearborn wins ownership of the Tribune, would that put John Madigan – the guy who got this mess started with his acquisition of Times-Mirror – back in the catbird’s seat?
10. Is the mayor green? Greenish, says Mick Dumke.
11. Dumke (“He’s Not the Mayor They Married“) and Ben Joravsky (“The Saint Who Came In From The Cold“) have turned in the most interesting city stories recently.
12. “Who Killed Ryan Harris?” A rare Reader cover story worth reading.
13. I mean, Alpana Singh?
14. Rick Telander asks the questions about a Chicago Olympic bid that no one else is interested in yet.
15. Betsy Hart’s kids are only a few years away from fronting one hellacious metal band.
16. Bob Mehr is leaving as the Reader’s chief music critic; Miles Raymer is his replacement. It doesn’t seem to matter as much as it once did. Besides, Jessica Hopper is the best thing they’ve got going.
17. The Sun-Times recently asked “Why Are Women So Fixated on Their Weight?” The real question might be why newspaper and magazine editors are so fixated on women’s weight.
18. Time for this year’s story on Marie’s Rip Tide Lounge. Expect a feature on poetry slams next.
19. Both the Tribune and Sun-Times reported recently that department stores are back. According to a report from the National Retail Federation. Expect the annual story from the menswear industry that suits are back next.
20. Virtually no one in the political world believed the Sun-Times poll cited in this piece was valid.
21. QT on the Blogs.
22. If you haven’t been clued in to Keith Olbermann’s “Special Comments,” it’s time.
23. Todd Stroger says there is no place in government for patronage. So he’s endorsing Peraica.
24. Someone ought to ask Stroger, then, if he agrees with the county’s effort to get rid of the Shakman decree.
25. Barack Obama, please go away now.
26. I saw Al Sharpton live on cable access speaking at Operation Push on Saturday and found it hard to believe the God he talks to is the same God George W. Bush talks to. I’d like to hear someone ask the president about that.
27. How great is YouTube?
28. Fallen Soldier.
29. I’d Love To Change The World.
30. Marilyn Ferdinand wraps up her coverage of the Chicago International Film Festival.
The Beachwood Tip Line: Bees make honey.
Posted on October 24, 2006