By Steve Rhodes
The Sun-Times endorsed Richard M. Daley again today, saying they take the mayor at his word when he says he’s learned from his corrupt past, and warning Daley they expect him to be more vigilant in the future.
He’s been in office 17 years.
B.O.
Barack Obama was right when he said he wasn’t clear on Hillary’s war plan.
Media War
Obama’s getting a lot of credit from the media for opposing the war from the start, but I don’t see any pundits or reporters apologizing to Howard Dean, who displayed the most masterly judgement on the matter when it counted.
Nor do I see very many in media apologizing for their own support of the war, nor acknowledging the 180-degree shift in the way they now frame politicians in terms of their war position.
Obama Alert
The new Obama Kool-Aid Report that I promised yesterday – taking up, in part, the absurd comparisons of Obama to Lincoln, as well as noting the ridiculous statements in Obama’s announcement speech – got waylaid as my attention was unexpectedly diverted. I hope to have it posted today.
ConEd
ComEd CEO Frank Clark made $3.92 million last year. His boss at Exelon, John Rowe, pulled in $16.4 million in total compensation.
Enjoy your rate increase!
(Brought to you, by the way, by Emil Jones, Barack Obama’s political godfather.)
Line Charge
Rowe’s charity-giving is heartwarming, but I need the money more than they do.
Rowe Model
Rowe defends deception.
Credibility Gap
Even the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff doesn’t believe the Bush Administration anymore.
Truth Tellers
* “al-Qaeda’s No. 2 said President Bush was an alcoholic and a lying gambler who wagered on Iraq and lost.”
* “Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered an in-your-face speech accusing the United States of being an arrogant, dangerous super power, and of provoking a new nuclear arms race and instability in the Middle East.”
* “[Hugo Chavez] also said the U.S. government was the ‘first enemy’ of its people. ‘Their freedoms are restricted through the Patriot Act. They are sent to die in Iraq for no reason. The people of the United States are being deceived,’ he said.”
Are any of them wrong?
And outside of his virulent anti-Semitism, who can argue with the Iranian president’s analysis of our current state of affairs?
Rock Stars
Don’t you think the Geico cavemen could be the basis for a sitcom?
Who Fooled Who?
“When Roger sang [‘We Won’t Get Fooled Again’], suddenly it became almost the anthem of the counterculturalists,” Pete Townshend said in Rolling Stone recently. “You say to somebody, I’m not doing it. Like, ‘I’m not going to tell you that I think President Bush is a bad man.’ And people go, ‘Oh, OK, so President Bush is a bad man.’ Let me tell you again: He is not a fucking bad man, you fucking idiot. And the debates I had backward and forward with Harvey Weinstein with Michael Moore were beyond belief. He wanted to use my song [in Fahrenheit 9/11]. I said to Harvey: The guy wants to misuse the misuse of the song.”
Townshend is right about the song and wrong about the president. That’s why “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is indeed rock’s greatest conservative anthem.
Selling Cars
Townshend licensed the song for a Nissan Maxima commercial in 2000, Wikipedia says. Moore had no such luck.
“Michael Moore requested to use the song over the end credits of his 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, as it tied in with both Moore’s sentiments over George W Bush’s impending re-election, and the movie’s last line, delivered by Bush – ‘There’s an old saying in Tennessee – I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee – that says, fool me once, shame on – shame on you. Fool me – you can’t get fooled again.” However, permission was refused, and Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World was ultimately used instead. Townshend later said that Moore ‘bullied’ him about his refusal, and defended his decision by saying that he was ‘not convinced’ by Moore’s previous film, Bowling for Columbine.”
Z-Man
Carlos Zambrano won’t get fooled again.
Logistically Speaking
This has been troubling me lately: How exactly did Fantasy Island work? Actors and sets? I mean, how did they pull it off?
Free Store
“A free store is exactly what it sounds like, a store with out money. Bring things, take things.”
The Free Store, Gosia Koscielak Studio & Gallery, 1646 N. Bosworth Ave.
Beaver Nuts
A faithful Beachwood reader writes:
“Arenda Troutman had a good run there with All Politicians Are Hos, but I think Bill Beavers has more legs. I googled the phrase ‘the hog with the big nuts and found 52 references. I added the word ‘beavers’ and found 32 references. Which is to say, that 61.5% of the time when people around the world talk about the hog with the big nuts, they’re talking about beavers. Indeed, 55.8% of the time, they’re talking about William Beavers. Which really says something. The phrase ‘all politicians are hos’ came up only 6 times; every one was about Troutman, but the numbers favor the hog. With the big nuts. (Not Roger Stanley, AKA The Hog, who was convicted in Operation Safe Road. Just to be clear).”
Radio Daze
Overheard during a crappy jukebox run at the Beachwood: “Who put ‘XRT on?”
Earworms
Why songs stick in your head.
Grammy Mammy
Don on Dylan.
Sweet Dreams
Where tired Truckers need to go before they go to hell.
Illegal Occupation
Given the federal investigations at the state, county, and city levels, I think it’s fair to say that if you live in Chicago, you live under three illegal governments. And of course, then there’s Bush . . .
Daley’s War
September 2005 – “At a meeting on Wednesday, the [Chicago city] council passed a resolution 29-9 calling for the ‘orderly and rapid’ withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
“Daley, whose son, Patrick, is in the Army, described the council action as ‘very thoughtful,’ and he said that supporters of the measure ‘don’t want to see any young man or woman, whether Muslim or Arab or American killed.’
“I wonder . . . in the Revolutionary War why France kind of sided with the U.S.,” he said sarcastically. “They were wrong to do that.” And “why would people side with the North in the Civil War? I wonder why.”
“The people dying in Iraq ‘are dying for a purpose,’ Daley declared. ‘They want our freedom that we have here in this country. Some people don’t believe they should get freedom. Some people don’t believe in the Muslim world. Certain people don’t believe they should have a right to a democracy and be able to vote and have a constitution.'”
The Beachwood Tip Line: Don’t be afraid of your freedom.
Posted on February 14, 2007