Monday, September 28, 2015

EXTRA: ‘Kirk’ nowhere to be found

So much for the guess that the big “hit job” on Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., merely got delayed a day in the pages of the Chicago Tribune.

Monday’s paper has come, and there’s nothing resembling an “exclusive” about the state’s junior senator who has to face re-election next year if he wants to remain in Washington for another term.

OF COURSE, THERE was merely a wire service account published on Sunday of the stink that has arisen among political people – as Kirk’s camp seems to be so fearful of this story that they’re going to extremes to undermine it before it becomes reality.

Which makes me wonder about the rationality level of the Kirk camp.

For if this story really were as flawed as Kirk and his people want to believe it to be (supposedly, the Tribune is preparing to write about how obnoxious Kirk’s behavior can be when dealing with his own staff), they’d let it be published – then deal with it once it becomes a reality.

Drag the Chicago Tribune into court, let the lawsuits ramble and let the judicial system find the degree to which the newspaper (allegedly) acted irresponsibly.

THAT WOULD SWAY the general public (and humiliate the newspaper) more than any effort to undercut the story in advance. This merely appeals to the hard-core who already are determined to vote for Kirk (or, in reality, against anyone who carries a “D” after his – or her – name).

I’m sure the Kirk camp is now going to boast about how they subdued the newspaper into backing off of something. Which makes me think that once the story does wind up being published, it’s going to have a harder edge than was originally anticipated.

And if the Kirk camp winds up being hurt by all of this, one could argue they merely brought it on themselves.

Besides, when it comes to Monday morning “news,” I’m sure the Tribune’s decision to play up big on Page One the Chicago Bears is a more popular decision than running any politically-oriented story.

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