A DAY IN THE LIFE (of Chicago): Are we being clownish in panic?

What is it these days with clowns?

Is Bozo now an ominous figure?

It seems that those face-painted figures of merriment and cheer are now becoming an ominous figure to way too many of us.

I REALIZE THERE have been a slew of crimes taking place in many places where a clown-like figure was at the scene. Which, to me, means that some lowlife with way too much time on their hands is taking to copying someone else’s stupid stunt.

Not that we have an epidemic of criminal clowns. Just too many people who are bored. But it’s getting to an absurd level. To the point where I really think people are going into panic-mode at the very thought of someone in face paint.

Just on Tuesday, I saw a video snippet on the Internet that depicted what looked like it could be the set-up for a drive-by shooting. We see from inside the automobile as a person pulls out a pistol and takes aim at a pedestrian passing by.

That pedestrian is a clown, which means we’re supposed to be cheering on the gunman as he takes out that mischievous character in a hail of gunfire? What next, we watch a gang-rape and cheer on the guys who are forcing themselves on some woman?

PERHAPS WE PRETEND that we’re Donald Trump, and that the woman is all too eager to have us force ourselves upon her. Then again, the Trump persona is so clownish in demeanor to begin with.

Now on Wednesday, I’m seeing serious news reports about how McDonald’s is making efforts to scale back the use of their famed marketing gimmick – Ronald McDonald himself.

But it seems that corporate officials think that all these criminal acts will cause people to react negatively to anything even remotely clownish – which could impact their bottom line on selling chicken nuggets, filets o’ fish and even the occasional Big Mac that they still sell.

What else is notable on the southwest shoreline of Lake Michigan these days?

CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!:  I fell asleep early Tuesday night, so much so that the San Francisco Giants had a 5-2 lead over the Chicago Cubs, and the Cubs were so ineffectual in the eighth inning that the game seemed over.

 

We're still waiting!

So I missed the ninth inning rally that produced the 6-5 victory that averted the need for a Game Five to be played Thursday night at Wrigley Field. It also means the Cubs have now matched the same level of success they achieved in 2015 – when they made it to the last level of the National League playoffs before losing.

To the New York Mets, who this year couldn’t even make it past the wild-card play-in game of the playoffs.

Four more wins by the Cubs means that the late Steve Goodman’s year about the Cubs last winning in “the year we dropped the bomb on Japan” finally becomes obsolete. Then again, it is the Cubs. Nobody should be counting on the National League championship until we have that pennant in hand.

VOTING STRATEGICALLY:  Former Illinois Commerce Commission Chairman Phillip O’Connor tells the Chicago Tribune he’s voting for Jill Stein to be president. Not because he cares about the Green Party, but because he’d like the Greens to get enough votes to qualify for established political party status come the 2018 election cycle.

But can she take 5 percent of the vote come Nov. 8?

Because if there’s a Green Party candidate for governor, he figures it would help take votes away from whomever the Democrats try running against Bruce Rauner.

Keep in mind that with all of this year’s presidential electoral chaos, the Libertarian Party likely will get enough votes to get established party status of their own. Which some fear would take votes away from Rauner.

All of which means that the level of nonsense we’ve been enduring from this year’s presidential election cycle has the strong potential for lasting after-effects. Something else we can blame Trump for.

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