Bill Ayers is the education professor from the University of Illinois at Chicago whom social conservatives tried last year to turn into a millstone around the neck of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama because of Ayer’s activist days against the Vietnam War.
It failed. Most people saw through the cheap rhetoric and considered it a non-issue.
YET THOSE SAME conservatives seem to be trying the technique again. Only now, we’re hearing about the National Council of La Raza and the fact that Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, has been a supporter.
I’d like to think the cheap rhetoric will again be ignored (how else to explain the absurd comments from former Congressman Tom Tancredo). That means I’m putting my faith in the intelligence of the American people.
It just seems that the same people who remember the name “Willie Horton” and the way it helped take down the 1988 presidential dreams of Michael Dukakis will spend their lives trying to come up with symbols meant to scare the public, rather than trying to find a solution to the problem. Of course, those people largely ARE the problem.
For those interested in learning more about the latest demonization of La Raza, this site’s sister weblog The South Chicagoan (http://southchicagoan.blogspot.com/) offers a detailed commentary worth reading.
-30-
Showing posts with label Bill Ayers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Ayers. Show all posts
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
A DAY IN THE LIFE (of Chicago): Should Obama be able to “fire” GM CEO?
Whenever people suggest there ought to be some sort of bailout by the federal government to help prop up the news business (on the grounds that the information they gather is of great significance to creating an educated electorate), it makes me squirmish.
I wouldn’t want federal bureaucrats having any say in determining what gets covered. I don’t think they would have the slightest clue, and they definitely would put their political self-interest ahead of the information needs of the public.
THIS IS SOMETHING where the industry ought to succeed (or fail) on its own. And my attitude there is similar to what I think of President Barack Obama’s actions with regard to the automobile industry.
It bothers me that Obama was successful in getting the Chief Executive Officer of General Motors to agree to resign, as a condition of the federal government providing financial assistance to prop up the U.S.-based companies that manufacture automobiles.
Former GM CEO Rick Waggoner says he lost his job Friday when he met with officials of the Obama Administration, and had it put to him that he should “step aside.”
It may well be true that the new CEO, Fritz Henderson, is very qualified to head General Motors. But the governor of Michigan is correct when she says that Waggoner is being used as a “sacrificial lamb” for the auto industry.
I DON’T LIKE the idea of federal officials having a say in terms of who runs a private company. It ought to be up to the corporate types to figure out for themselves who is in charge and how they go about trying to resolve their economic struggles.
If it turns out that the federal government has that much of a problem with the thought of the current executives being able to take steps that could bring the company back to solid financial ground, then perhaps they should re-think the logic of providing such a company with any kind of financial assistance.
He might be well intentioned in thinking that the U.S. auto industry should not be allowed to wither away (even though the reason it is struggling is that the Japanese automakers these days often produce a better product). But a majority of the electorate last year voted for Obama to be president of the federal government. Trying to pick a new auto manufacturing CEO oversteps acceptable boundaries.
It would be as ridiculous as Mayor Richard M. Daley trying to pick new management for the White Sox. What other issues are in the news these days?
THEY BACKED DOWN: So much for Naperville North High School offering up controversial education professor (and one-time outspoken anti-war activist) Bill Ayers to speak to a new generation of high school students.
Officials at the school on Monday rescinded their offer to have Ayers talk to a select group of social studies students about contemporary issues. School officials told the Arlington Heights-based Daily Herald newspaper they received more than 100 negative e-mails and several hostile telephone calls.
In the words of Supt. Alan Leis, “any value here is completely lost.”
I still think the conservative types who resent the fact that anyone from the ‘60s who didn’t adamantly support U.S. involvement in Vietnam can be considered a respectable person screwed up by making this an issue. Had Ayers come and spoke, there’s a good chance that most of the youth who heard him would have quickly forgotten his message. Ayers’ opponents turned his public speaking into an issue, and made themselves look petty in the process.
FINALLY SEEING SOME STIMULUS MONEY: Many municipal governments throughout the Chicago area (and across the country, for that matter) are trying to figure out how they can get some of the money created by the economic stimulus package to pay for local construction projects.
Most accept that they’re going to have to wait a couple of months before they know whether or not they get any cash.
Which is why I find it ironic that Chicago city officials are upset to learn that O’Hare International Airport will get $12.3 million in stimulus funds to repave a runway and relocate a parallel taxiway.
City officials are quick to note that the expansion projects they yearn for at O’Hare cannot be covered with stimulus money. Instead of being thankful that they’re among the first to learn that they’re getting something (the airport is run by the Chicago Department of Aviation), they’re getting worked up over what they have to wait a little while longer for.
SNOWFALL IN SPRINGTIME: I was glad to see the snow that hit the Chicago area this weekend melt away by Monday. The act of having to brush my car clear of snow before I could drive on Sunday was depressing.
In fact, the thought I kept having that day was to wonder if the people in Glendale and Mesa in Arizona were snickering at the thought of wet, slushy weather conditions befalling our city.
The significance of those two Phoenix suburbs is that they host the training camps for the Chicago White Sox and that certain other ball club that likes to pretend it too has major league status.
It is just another reminder that baseball will soon be back. For Opening Day comes Monday. Just six more days until we get to see the Kansas City Royals in town to kick off the 2009 season, or get to watch the Cubs in Houston on Comcast Sports Network.
-30-
I wouldn’t want federal bureaucrats having any say in determining what gets covered. I don’t think they would have the slightest clue, and they definitely would put their political self-interest ahead of the information needs of the public.
THIS IS SOMETHING where the industry ought to succeed (or fail) on its own. And my attitude there is similar to what I think of President Barack Obama’s actions with regard to the automobile industry.
It bothers me that Obama was successful in getting the Chief Executive Officer of General Motors to agree to resign, as a condition of the federal government providing financial assistance to prop up the U.S.-based companies that manufacture automobiles.
Former GM CEO Rick Waggoner says he lost his job Friday when he met with officials of the Obama Administration, and had it put to him that he should “step aside.”
It may well be true that the new CEO, Fritz Henderson, is very qualified to head General Motors. But the governor of Michigan is correct when she says that Waggoner is being used as a “sacrificial lamb” for the auto industry.
I DON’T LIKE the idea of federal officials having a say in terms of who runs a private company. It ought to be up to the corporate types to figure out for themselves who is in charge and how they go about trying to resolve their economic struggles.
If it turns out that the federal government has that much of a problem with the thought of the current executives being able to take steps that could bring the company back to solid financial ground, then perhaps they should re-think the logic of providing such a company with any kind of financial assistance.
He might be well intentioned in thinking that the U.S. auto industry should not be allowed to wither away (even though the reason it is struggling is that the Japanese automakers these days often produce a better product). But a majority of the electorate last year voted for Obama to be president of the federal government. Trying to pick a new auto manufacturing CEO oversteps acceptable boundaries.
It would be as ridiculous as Mayor Richard M. Daley trying to pick new management for the White Sox. What other issues are in the news these days?
THEY BACKED DOWN: So much for Naperville North High School offering up controversial education professor (and one-time outspoken anti-war activist) Bill Ayers to speak to a new generation of high school students.
Officials at the school on Monday rescinded their offer to have Ayers talk to a select group of social studies students about contemporary issues. School officials told the Arlington Heights-based Daily Herald newspaper they received more than 100 negative e-mails and several hostile telephone calls.
In the words of Supt. Alan Leis, “any value here is completely lost.”
I still think the conservative types who resent the fact that anyone from the ‘60s who didn’t adamantly support U.S. involvement in Vietnam can be considered a respectable person screwed up by making this an issue. Had Ayers come and spoke, there’s a good chance that most of the youth who heard him would have quickly forgotten his message. Ayers’ opponents turned his public speaking into an issue, and made themselves look petty in the process.
FINALLY SEEING SOME STIMULUS MONEY: Many municipal governments throughout the Chicago area (and across the country, for that matter) are trying to figure out how they can get some of the money created by the economic stimulus package to pay for local construction projects.
Most accept that they’re going to have to wait a couple of months before they know whether or not they get any cash.
Which is why I find it ironic that Chicago city officials are upset to learn that O’Hare International Airport will get $12.3 million in stimulus funds to repave a runway and relocate a parallel taxiway.
City officials are quick to note that the expansion projects they yearn for at O’Hare cannot be covered with stimulus money. Instead of being thankful that they’re among the first to learn that they’re getting something (the airport is run by the Chicago Department of Aviation), they’re getting worked up over what they have to wait a little while longer for.
SNOWFALL IN SPRINGTIME: I was glad to see the snow that hit the Chicago area this weekend melt away by Monday. The act of having to brush my car clear of snow before I could drive on Sunday was depressing.
In fact, the thought I kept having that day was to wonder if the people in Glendale and Mesa in Arizona were snickering at the thought of wet, slushy weather conditions befalling our city.
The significance of those two Phoenix suburbs is that they host the training camps for the Chicago White Sox and that certain other ball club that likes to pretend it too has major league status.
It is just another reminder that baseball will soon be back. For Opening Day comes Monday. Just six more days until we get to see the Kansas City Royals in town to kick off the 2009 season, or get to watch the Cubs in Houston on Comcast Sports Network.
-30-
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Ayers returns “home” to DuPage, but some fear he will taint minds of the young
When I first learned that Bill Ayers, the one-time anti-war activist during the Vietnam era who took his opposition to explosive (literally) extremes, was scheduled to speak in a couple of weeks at a far west suburban high school, I thought it only appropriate.
Because Ayers himself was a one-time kid from DuPage County, growing up in Glen Ellyn. Some of his critics like to dredge up the fact that he is the son of a former Commonwealth Edison chairman – as though the fact that he did not grow up impoverished means he has no right to a social conscience.
SO THE IDEA that he will speak to students at Naperville North High School on April 8 strikes me as a perfect match. To those of us from the rest of the Chicago area, there isn’t that much difference between Naperville and Glen Ellyn.
He’s going to be speaking to students who are living a 21st Century version of the existence he grew up in. He can identify with them. And if he can help plant a social conscience in some of them, then perhaps his talk next month will have served some purpose.
Thus far, however, all it is doing is ticking off the social conservative nitwits who object to young people being exposed to his way of thought – believing instead that freedom of expression is all about expression of their beliefs only.
I’m hoping that Naperville high school authorities don’t wimp out when it comes to Ayers. I hope he manages to give his talk (which will be exclusively for students in select social studies classes), rather than be silenced by authorities who decide they’d rather have nothing resembling controversty.
TOO MANY COLLEGE campuses of late have cancelled Ayers appearances because of the conservative outcry.
Ayers will be forevermore remembered for the way in which the conservatives tried to link his activities of the 1960s with the Weatherman with the 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama (the two live a few blocks from each other, and have encountered each other on occasion).
In short, Ayers was supposed to be the 21st Century version of Willie Horton – the one-time Massachusetts prison inmate who committed crimes while on furlough, giving GOPers an “issue” to use against presidential opponent/Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.
But it failed.
THE PUBLIC HAS evolved to the point where the kind of stupid rhetoric that linked Horton to Dukakis in many peoples’ minds did not work last year. To many of the people who comprise the electorate, the sound of GOP types screaming “Bill Ayers!” every time Obama’s name came up merely made them sound desperate – even moreso than their later choice of Sarah Palin as a vice-presidential running mate.
If anything, that is what I think is behind the rhetoric that gets spewed whenever Ayers’ name comes up now.
People who are bitter that they couldn’t “take down” Barack Obama by bringing up someone who was opposed to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War are upset that our society has changed so much.
If the United States were truly the nation that they wish it was, then the Obama campaign would have withered away at the very thought of Ayers (if it hadn’t self-destructed at the previous mention of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright).
INSTEAD, MANY OF us think of Ayers’ anti-war activity as something out of the past – even though one must be honest and admit that the current University of Illinois at Chicago education professor engaged in acts that went far beyond symbolic gestures such as burning a draft card or participating in a march or sit-in somewhere.
Since it was tied to a military action that many of those of us who are of age to remember it (I was only 2 years old when my uncle Carlos was drafted into the U.S. Army and served his year in Vietnam) don’t remember fondly, somebody like Ayers serves as evidence that the “hawks” didn’t win – even though they try to rewrite history to claim that they prevailed and that anyone with an anti-war background is tainted goods.
Now I know some are going to claim this is just an issue of balance – the students of today ought to hear from some of the ‘60’s hawks just as much as someone of Ayers’ background.
But I remember my high school social studies classes as being so generic in their approach – usually intended to provide as little sentiment or substance as possible out of fear of offending someone.
STUDYING HISTORY, POLITICAL science, sociology or any of the other social “sciences” is about studying issues and concepts that have no single correct answer (there is no equivalent to “1 + 1 = 2” to social studies, and that is what makes them intriguing). This ought to be a case of letting Ayers have his say, then letting students figure out for themselves what they think.
Because the cynic in me can’t help but thinking that some of those students will have a shallow view of our society that they may just view Ayers as another old man who once was somebody (these kind of people probably think the ’08 Obama election is ancient history).
Ayers’ appearance would come, and go, and probably not stir up any resentment on the high school campus – except for the social conservatives who are determined to soil the pot’s content so as to gain more attention for their own perspective.
Because that’s what all the protest we’re going to hear is truly about – people who are upset that anybody is paying attention to anyone other than themselves.
-30-
EDITOR’S NOTES: Bill Ayers will “do” the Naperville experience (http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=281691) in the coming days.
Not everybody is (http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=34326) as willing as I am to have Ayers speak at a high school in the county of his childhood.
Some people want to (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123819009072860721.html) continue to fight the battles of the ‘60’s.
Because Ayers himself was a one-time kid from DuPage County, growing up in Glen Ellyn. Some of his critics like to dredge up the fact that he is the son of a former Commonwealth Edison chairman – as though the fact that he did not grow up impoverished means he has no right to a social conscience.
SO THE IDEA that he will speak to students at Naperville North High School on April 8 strikes me as a perfect match. To those of us from the rest of the Chicago area, there isn’t that much difference between Naperville and Glen Ellyn.
He’s going to be speaking to students who are living a 21st Century version of the existence he grew up in. He can identify with them. And if he can help plant a social conscience in some of them, then perhaps his talk next month will have served some purpose.
Thus far, however, all it is doing is ticking off the social conservative nitwits who object to young people being exposed to his way of thought – believing instead that freedom of expression is all about expression of their beliefs only.
I’m hoping that Naperville high school authorities don’t wimp out when it comes to Ayers. I hope he manages to give his talk (which will be exclusively for students in select social studies classes), rather than be silenced by authorities who decide they’d rather have nothing resembling controversty.
TOO MANY COLLEGE campuses of late have cancelled Ayers appearances because of the conservative outcry.
Ayers will be forevermore remembered for the way in which the conservatives tried to link his activities of the 1960s with the Weatherman with the 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama (the two live a few blocks from each other, and have encountered each other on occasion).
In short, Ayers was supposed to be the 21st Century version of Willie Horton – the one-time Massachusetts prison inmate who committed crimes while on furlough, giving GOPers an “issue” to use against presidential opponent/Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.
But it failed.
THE PUBLIC HAS evolved to the point where the kind of stupid rhetoric that linked Horton to Dukakis in many peoples’ minds did not work last year. To many of the people who comprise the electorate, the sound of GOP types screaming “Bill Ayers!” every time Obama’s name came up merely made them sound desperate – even moreso than their later choice of Sarah Palin as a vice-presidential running mate.
If anything, that is what I think is behind the rhetoric that gets spewed whenever Ayers’ name comes up now.
People who are bitter that they couldn’t “take down” Barack Obama by bringing up someone who was opposed to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War are upset that our society has changed so much.
If the United States were truly the nation that they wish it was, then the Obama campaign would have withered away at the very thought of Ayers (if it hadn’t self-destructed at the previous mention of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright).
INSTEAD, MANY OF us think of Ayers’ anti-war activity as something out of the past – even though one must be honest and admit that the current University of Illinois at Chicago education professor engaged in acts that went far beyond symbolic gestures such as burning a draft card or participating in a march or sit-in somewhere.
Since it was tied to a military action that many of those of us who are of age to remember it (I was only 2 years old when my uncle Carlos was drafted into the U.S. Army and served his year in Vietnam) don’t remember fondly, somebody like Ayers serves as evidence that the “hawks” didn’t win – even though they try to rewrite history to claim that they prevailed and that anyone with an anti-war background is tainted goods.
Now I know some are going to claim this is just an issue of balance – the students of today ought to hear from some of the ‘60’s hawks just as much as someone of Ayers’ background.
But I remember my high school social studies classes as being so generic in their approach – usually intended to provide as little sentiment or substance as possible out of fear of offending someone.
STUDYING HISTORY, POLITICAL science, sociology or any of the other social “sciences” is about studying issues and concepts that have no single correct answer (there is no equivalent to “1 + 1 = 2” to social studies, and that is what makes them intriguing). This ought to be a case of letting Ayers have his say, then letting students figure out for themselves what they think.
Because the cynic in me can’t help but thinking that some of those students will have a shallow view of our society that they may just view Ayers as another old man who once was somebody (these kind of people probably think the ’08 Obama election is ancient history).
Ayers’ appearance would come, and go, and probably not stir up any resentment on the high school campus – except for the social conservatives who are determined to soil the pot’s content so as to gain more attention for their own perspective.
Because that’s what all the protest we’re going to hear is truly about – people who are upset that anybody is paying attention to anyone other than themselves.
-30-
EDITOR’S NOTES: Bill Ayers will “do” the Naperville experience (http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=281691) in the coming days.
Not everybody is (http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=34326) as willing as I am to have Ayers speak at a high school in the county of his childhood.
Some people want to (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123819009072860721.html) continue to fight the battles of the ‘60’s.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
A DAY IN THE LIFE (of Chicago): “R-word” pleas just as much a joke as Burris
It must stink to be Roland Burris these days.
Just a couple of days after the nationally-known mayor of his h
ometown wouldn’t endorse his continued stay on Capitol Hill, both his governor and the president (whose old job Burris is filling these days) had negative things to say. He’s getting it from all sides – even the youthful state treasurer felt the need to chip in with his thoughts.
IN THE CASE of Gov. Pat Quinn, he wants Roland to resign from office, and he’s using the excuse to say that he’d consider backing a special election – rather than using his state Constitutional authority to pick a replacement. I guess Pat wants to strengthen his own position from the people who have been eager to drag out this whole debacle for politically partisan reasons.
When it comes to President Barack Obama, there’s a little bit of positivity. Obama had his press secretary say that Burris should spend the weekend contemplating how badly he wants to be a Senator, and ought to come out with a complete account of how he came to be former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s choice for the U.S. Senate.
It seems that if Burris were to give a thorough account now, and quit citing the fact that he honestly answered the limited questions put forth by an Illinois House impeachment panel, Obama might be willing to consider letting Burris remain for the two years that remain on the Senate term to which Obama was elected in 2004, and which he abandoned last year when he was elected president.
Not that I expect Burris to be swayed by any of this. In fact, I’m still convinced that the people who are so eager to have a Burris resignation are doing it to advance their own partisan causes. Concern about the public good is the farthest thing from many of their minds.
IT MAKES THIS whole process seem like a lot of political people piling on Roland just to get their moment of attention, as though they are afraid of being the last political person left who has NOT criticized Burris. In today’s partisan mindset, that would be interpreted as supporting Roland.
Of course, Burris doesn’t help his cause when he acts like he did Friday when visiting the Veterans Administration hospital in suburban North Chicago. He snuck in through a side entrance so as to avoid the view and the shouted questions of reporter-types who were there to see him meet with aging military veterans.
I’m sure Burris thinks that the public will assume he’s just snubbing some broadcast twinkie who doesn’t have a clue what he/she is talking about. But instead of mentally applauding him for that, they’re going to assume he has something to hide. It makes the whole situation appear even more ludicrous.
What other news nuggets were worth noting on Friday?
ILLINOIS AG WANTS TO PURGE BURGE CASES FROM THEIR ROLLS: In theory, it makes sense for the Illinois attorney general’s office to try to remove cases involving the one-time Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge from their duties.
Burge is the one-time South Side commander whose station in the Pullman neighborhood developed a reputation for use of torture tactics against people who happened to be arrested there. The state got stuck overseeing the appeals of people who claim they were tortured after it was learned that former Cook County State’s Attorney Dick Devine’s law firm had represented Burge – thereby creating a potential conflict for his ability to handle the cases.
But now that Anita Alvarez is our county’s state’s attorney, state Attorney General Lisa Madigan argues the Cook County state’s attorney’s office ought to take the cases back.
The problem with all of this is that there are about 25 people currently in prison whose convictions potentially are tainted enough by Burge’s activity that they have a shot at a successful legal appeal. All this back-and-forth between offices is causing continued delays. This is one instance where Madigan may have to keep custody of these cases, just to ensure that “justice” (what this is all supposed to be about) gets done as promptly as possible.
A POLITICAL LITMUS TEST, OF SORTS: The University of Colorado campus at Boulder is going to have a pair of speakers next month, and it probably says a lot about your own political beliefs as to which one you consider to be more controversial.
Is it University of Illinois at Chicago education professor Bill Ayers? Or is it Ward Churchill, who was fired from his University of Colorado post due to allegations of plagiarism and comments he made about victims of the World Trade Center attack of 2001 being comparable to Nazis and Adolf Eichmann?
Comparing anyone or anything to the Nazi era in German history is going to lead to some people being grossly offended. Questioning the whole idea of Sept. 11, 2001 being less than a tragic moment in U.S. history will offend as well.
But it amazes me the way to which some people of socially conservative ideological beliefs remain miffed that the existence of the one-time Weatherman (an anti-war group of the Vietnam era that took its activism way too seriously) among Barack Obama’s acquaintances did not immediately send his campaign crashing to the ground – and give us a “President John McCain.”
WILL THE OLYMPICS FOLLOW THE WORLD CUP LEAD?: Officials who are
trying to bring the 2016 summer Olympic Games to Chicago admit they are willing to share some of the activity with other cities.
When it comes to staging Olympic soccer, they are willing to have preliminary matches played in stadiums in other cities, with the medal-round matches played in Chicago. Such venues as the Rose Bowl could be used, along with stadiums in Minneapolis, Philadelphia and St. Louis, along with the suburbs of New York and Washington, could be used.
Now I’m sure that some people affiliated with the bids of Toyko, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro will argue this as evidence that Chicago is incapable of hosting the games by themselves.
But it strikes me as similar to the way they conduct the World Cup tournament held every four years to show off the top international squads for soccer. That tournament is merely awarded to a country, with matches spread throughout several cities. I remember the 1994 World Cup held in the United States – where Chicago held the opening ceremonies and first matches, then games were moved to stadiums in cities such as Dallas, Detroit and Orlando, Fla., with semi-final matches in New York and Washington and Brazil beating Italy 3-2 in the championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
-30-
Just a couple of days after the nationally-known mayor of his h
ometown wouldn’t endorse his continued stay on Capitol Hill, both his governor and the president (whose old job Burris is filling these days) had negative things to say. He’s getting it from all sides – even the youthful state treasurer felt the need to chip in with his thoughts.IN THE CASE of Gov. Pat Quinn, he wants Roland to resign from office, and he’s using the excuse to say that he’d consider backing a special election – rather than using his state Constitutional authority to pick a replacement. I guess Pat wants to strengthen his own position from the people who have been eager to drag out this whole debacle for politically partisan reasons.
When it comes to President Barack Obama, there’s a little bit of positivity. Obama had his press secretary say that Burris should spend the weekend contemplating how badly he wants to be a Senator, and ought to come out with a complete account of how he came to be former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s choice for the U.S. Senate.
It seems that if Burris were to give a thorough account now, and quit citing the fact that he honestly answered the limited questions put forth by an Illinois House impeachment panel, Obama might be willing to consider letting Burris remain for the two years that remain on the Senate term to which Obama was elected in 2004, and which he abandoned last year when he was elected president.
Not that I expect Burris to be swayed by any of this. In fact, I’m still convinced that the people who are so eager to have a Burris resignation are doing it to advance their own partisan causes. Concern about the public good is the farthest thing from many of their minds.
IT MAKES THIS whole process seem like a lot of political people piling on Roland just to get their moment of attention, as though they are afraid of being the last political person left who has NOT criticized Burris. In today’s partisan mindset, that would be interpreted as supporting Roland.
Of course, Burris doesn’t help his cause when he acts like he did Friday when visiting the Veterans Administration hospital in suburban North Chicago. He snuck in through a side entrance so as to avoid the view and the shouted questions of reporter-types who were there to see him meet with aging military veterans.
I’m sure Burris thinks that the public will assume he’s just snubbing some broadcast twinkie who doesn’t have a clue what he/she is talking about. But instead of mentally applauding him for that, they’re going to assume he has something to hide. It makes the whole situation appear even more ludicrous.
What other news nuggets were worth noting on Friday?
ILLINOIS AG WANTS TO PURGE BURGE CASES FROM THEIR ROLLS: In theory, it makes sense for the Illinois attorney general’s office to try to remove cases involving the one-time Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge from their duties.
Burge is the one-time South Side commander whose station in the Pullman neighborhood developed a reputation for use of torture tactics against people who happened to be arrested there. The state got stuck overseeing the appeals of people who claim they were tortured after it was learned that former Cook County State’s Attorney Dick Devine’s law firm had represented Burge – thereby creating a potential conflict for his ability to handle the cases.
But now that Anita Alvarez is our county’s state’s attorney, state Attorney General Lisa Madigan argues the Cook County state’s attorney’s office ought to take the cases back.
The problem with all of this is that there are about 25 people currently in prison whose convictions potentially are tainted enough by Burge’s activity that they have a shot at a successful legal appeal. All this back-and-forth between offices is causing continued delays. This is one instance where Madigan may have to keep custody of these cases, just to ensure that “justice” (what this is all supposed to be about) gets done as promptly as possible.
A POLITICAL LITMUS TEST, OF SORTS: The University of Colorado campus at Boulder is going to have a pair of speakers next month, and it probably says a lot about your own political beliefs as to which one you consider to be more controversial.
Is it University of Illinois at Chicago education professor Bill Ayers? Or is it Ward Churchill, who was fired from his University of Colorado post due to allegations of plagiarism and comments he made about victims of the World Trade Center attack of 2001 being comparable to Nazis and Adolf Eichmann?
Comparing anyone or anything to the Nazi era in German history is going to lead to some people being grossly offended. Questioning the whole idea of Sept. 11, 2001 being less than a tragic moment in U.S. history will offend as well.
But it amazes me the way to which some people of socially conservative ideological beliefs remain miffed that the existence of the one-time Weatherman (an anti-war group of the Vietnam era that took its activism way too seriously) among Barack Obama’s acquaintances did not immediately send his campaign crashing to the ground – and give us a “President John McCain.”
WILL THE OLYMPICS FOLLOW THE WORLD CUP LEAD?: Officials who are
trying to bring the 2016 summer Olympic Games to Chicago admit they are willing to share some of the activity with other cities.When it comes to staging Olympic soccer, they are willing to have preliminary matches played in stadiums in other cities, with the medal-round matches played in Chicago. Such venues as the Rose Bowl could be used, along with stadiums in Minneapolis, Philadelphia and St. Louis, along with the suburbs of New York and Washington, could be used.
Now I’m sure that some people affiliated with the bids of Toyko, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro will argue this as evidence that Chicago is incapable of hosting the games by themselves.
But it strikes me as similar to the way they conduct the World Cup tournament held every four years to show off the top international squads for soccer. That tournament is merely awarded to a country, with matches spread throughout several cities. I remember the 1994 World Cup held in the United States – where Chicago held the opening ceremonies and first matches, then games were moved to stadiums in cities such as Dallas, Detroit and Orlando, Fla., with semi-final matches in New York and Washington and Brazil beating Italy 3-2 in the championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
-30-
Friday, February 6, 2009
A DAY IN THE LIFE (of Chicago): Conservatives still haven’t got over Ayers
Either the Illinois Senate has a member who does not understand the concept of innocent until proven guilty, or else he’s devoting his life to undermining the academic concept of tenure for long-time professors.
The only other possible explanation for the bill being introduced in the Illinois Senate is that there are still some Republicans who haven’t got over the fact that they were unable to make much of a campaign issue last year out of Bill Ayers, the one-time anti-war activist during the Vietnam era who has since become a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
THAT SEEMS TO be the case with Larry Bomke. He’s the state senator from Springfield proper (nobody would pay much attention to him if he came from anywhere else). And he has come up with a bill to be considered this spring that would prevent anyone who ever attacked a government in this country from being on a public university payroll.
Now I understand that among the ranks of people who back in the 1960s opposed U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, Ayers ranks as a tad extreme. His involvement with the Weathermen went so far as to mess with explosives and other acts that created vandalism as a symbolic way of attacking the establishment of this country as it existed some four decades ago.
If that sounds a bit hokey, that is because it is. Even most of the liberal activists of the era thought the “Weathermen” were a little nuts.
But the fact is that Ayers managed to come out of that era without any felony convictions on his record (largely because the FBI of that era – the tail-end of the J.Edgar Hoover years – was so overzealous that all their evidence against Ayers was illegally obtained).
SO BY THE letter of the law (which is what the conservatives usually try to argue is all important), Ayers is not guilty of anything. Do we really want a situation where illegally-obtained evidence is what is used to try to fire someone from his job?
For the fact is that in the past couple of decades, Ayers has become a respected educator who has tried coming up with methods to better teach troubled youth to read and write. One poll taken last year showed that commentator Rush Limbaugh had a lower approval rating among the U.S. electorate than Ayers.
This bill is pure bull. It reeks of partisanship from people who just can’t accept the fact that a majority of the country didn’t care last year about the fact that Ayers and President Barack Obama know each other. It makes me wonder if Obama left Springfield (the two served together for Obama’s nearly eight years in the Legislature) owing Bomke some money, and this bill is some sort of payback.
What else was notable about the news of the world, as perceived from the shores of Lake Michigan?
WHO WILL BE LEFT TO TURN THE LIGHTS OUT?: There’s a job opening in Chicago – one that includes a CEO title and the appearance of influence and prestige. But I’m curious to learn if anyone is going to be enthused about taking the job.
It involves being president and Chief Executive Officer of the parent company that operates the Chicago Sun-Times and various daily and weekly newspapers throughout the suburbs.
Cyrus Friedheim and his allies on the board were removed following a power dispute; a New York hedge fund was displeased with the company’s finances these days and pushed for a change.
But with the public perception that it is just a matter of time before newspapers start dying off altogether (without any appreciation for the significance of the product they produce on a daily basis), I can’t think of many people who would want the job. Friedheim will likely be remembered as a guy who gave it a shot during his just over two years, but was overcome by outside economic circumstances. The next CEO could literally be the one who presides over the death of the Sun-Times, if not the company as a whole.
HOLY NAME SUFFERS ITS SECOND FIRE: Holy Name Cathedral on the Near North Side always gets more than its share of attention because the church provides the home base, so to speak, for Cardinal Francis George – and all his predecessors who have led the Catholic Archdiocese for Chicago.
Yet the fire earlier this week that managed to destroy a significant chunk of the renovations that had been done to the building in the past year is not the first.
Holy Name Parish dates back to Chicago’s earliest years, and the original church located about one block from the current site was among the structures that perished in the Chicago Fire of 1871 (the Water Tower that miraculously survived the fire is located about three blocks to the east).
I have no doubt that the church will again be repaired, and the parish in one of Chicago’s wealthiest neighborhoods will resume its life as the church where the Cardinal performs mass – while also being the site where mobster Dion O’Bannion got shot to death near the cathedral steps.
CHICAGO PELOTEROS NOT INCLUDED DOWN MEXICO WAY: Just across the border from the town of Calimex, Calif. (pop. 13,757), some of the best baseball to be played this year is taking place.
So naturally, there aren’t any major leaguers with Chicago ties among the ranks. The closest we get is former White Sox outfielder Timo Perez, who played this winter for the Dominican champion Licey Tigers before moving on to play for the Detroit version of the Tigers this summer.
What’s at stake is the Caribbean Series, the annual week long tournament between the champions of the professional baseball leagues in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela – being held this year in Mexicali, Mexico. The winner gets bragging rights as champions of Latin American baseball.
What makes it intriguing is the fact that some U.S. major leaguers like to play in the Latin American leagues either to make some extra money or improve their skills. So it creates the potential that the guys playing in Chicago this summer are at work now in the weeks before spring training.
-30-
The only other possible explanation for the bill being introduced in the Illinois Senate is that there are still some Republicans who haven’t got over the fact that they were unable to make much of a campaign issue last year out of Bill Ayers, the one-time anti-war activist during the Vietnam era who has since become a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
THAT SEEMS TO be the case with Larry Bomke. He’s the state senator from Springfield proper (nobody would pay much attention to him if he came from anywhere else). And he has come up with a bill to be considered this spring that would prevent anyone who ever attacked a government in this country from being on a public university payroll.
Now I understand that among the ranks of people who back in the 1960s opposed U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, Ayers ranks as a tad extreme. His involvement with the Weathermen went so far as to mess with explosives and other acts that created vandalism as a symbolic way of attacking the establishment of this country as it existed some four decades ago.
If that sounds a bit hokey, that is because it is. Even most of the liberal activists of the era thought the “Weathermen” were a little nuts.
But the fact is that Ayers managed to come out of that era without any felony convictions on his record (largely because the FBI of that era – the tail-end of the J.Edgar Hoover years – was so overzealous that all their evidence against Ayers was illegally obtained).
SO BY THE letter of the law (which is what the conservatives usually try to argue is all important), Ayers is not guilty of anything. Do we really want a situation where illegally-obtained evidence is what is used to try to fire someone from his job?
For the fact is that in the past couple of decades, Ayers has become a respected educator who has tried coming up with methods to better teach troubled youth to read and write. One poll taken last year showed that commentator Rush Limbaugh had a lower approval rating among the U.S. electorate than Ayers.
This bill is pure bull. It reeks of partisanship from people who just can’t accept the fact that a majority of the country didn’t care last year about the fact that Ayers and President Barack Obama know each other. It makes me wonder if Obama left Springfield (the two served together for Obama’s nearly eight years in the Legislature) owing Bomke some money, and this bill is some sort of payback.
What else was notable about the news of the world, as perceived from the shores of Lake Michigan?
WHO WILL BE LEFT TO TURN THE LIGHTS OUT?: There’s a job opening in Chicago – one that includes a CEO title and the appearance of influence and prestige. But I’m curious to learn if anyone is going to be enthused about taking the job.
It involves being president and Chief Executive Officer of the parent company that operates the Chicago Sun-Times and various daily and weekly newspapers throughout the suburbs.
Cyrus Friedheim and his allies on the board were removed following a power dispute; a New York hedge fund was displeased with the company’s finances these days and pushed for a change.
But with the public perception that it is just a matter of time before newspapers start dying off altogether (without any appreciation for the significance of the product they produce on a daily basis), I can’t think of many people who would want the job. Friedheim will likely be remembered as a guy who gave it a shot during his just over two years, but was overcome by outside economic circumstances. The next CEO could literally be the one who presides over the death of the Sun-Times, if not the company as a whole.
HOLY NAME SUFFERS ITS SECOND FIRE: Holy Name Cathedral on the Near North Side always gets more than its share of attention because the church provides the home base, so to speak, for Cardinal Francis George – and all his predecessors who have led the Catholic Archdiocese for Chicago.
Yet the fire earlier this week that managed to destroy a significant chunk of the renovations that had been done to the building in the past year is not the first.
Holy Name Parish dates back to Chicago’s earliest years, and the original church located about one block from the current site was among the structures that perished in the Chicago Fire of 1871 (the Water Tower that miraculously survived the fire is located about three blocks to the east).
I have no doubt that the church will again be repaired, and the parish in one of Chicago’s wealthiest neighborhoods will resume its life as the church where the Cardinal performs mass – while also being the site where mobster Dion O’Bannion got shot to death near the cathedral steps.
CHICAGO PELOTEROS NOT INCLUDED DOWN MEXICO WAY: Just across the border from the town of Calimex, Calif. (pop. 13,757), some of the best baseball to be played this year is taking place.
So naturally, there aren’t any major leaguers with Chicago ties among the ranks. The closest we get is former White Sox outfielder Timo Perez, who played this winter for the Dominican champion Licey Tigers before moving on to play for the Detroit version of the Tigers this summer.
What’s at stake is the Caribbean Series, the annual week long tournament between the champions of the professional baseball leagues in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela – being held this year in Mexicali, Mexico. The winner gets bragging rights as champions of Latin American baseball.
What makes it intriguing is the fact that some U.S. major leaguers like to play in the Latin American leagues either to make some extra money or improve their skills. So it creates the potential that the guys playing in Chicago this summer are at work now in the weeks before spring training.
-30-
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
ELECTION DAZE: Obama 952, Mac 250
That was the “vote” painted on the front window of a bakery in south suburban Homewood, a town I happened to pass through on mid-day Tuesday.
Nielsen’s Bakery is like a lot of other businesses, making an effort to sell its products with an Election Day theme. In the case of the bakery, it was cookies. They sold edibles touting both the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain, and kept track of how many of each were sold in an attempt to come up with a “winner.”
WHEN IT COMES to cookies, Barack beat McCain big time.
Now I’m not about to claim that cookie sales really mean much, no more so than all those 7-Eleven franchises that are selling drinks in special Obama and McCain cups (big surprise – in Chicago, Obama wins. In Arizona, it’s McCain).
But this neighborhood bakery is in an area that was once the heart of a strong Republican Party organization in the Chicago southern suburbs of Cook County. There was once a time when the idea of hinting that locals liked Democrats would have warranted a brick through the bakery’s window.
You want to know how Illinois went from being the ultimate bellwether state (siding with the winner in all but two of the presidential elections held in the 20th Century) to being such a hard-core Democratic state that the only reason any candidate pays attention to us is our proximity to Indiana?
IT IS THIS very suburban trend. The GOP that used to be seen as the mechanism by which suburbs were able to withstand the political might of Chicago Democrats is now the party that is so blatantly rural in its view of the world that those same suburbs now see they have more in common with Chicago than they do Cairo.
Hence, Obama’s campaign has been sending out e-mails to his Chicago-area supporters, asking if they could work phone banks to try to get the good people of Gary, East Chicago and Hammond to get off their Election Day duffs and vote.
And the closest Mayor Richard M. Daley came to appearing at a campaign rally is when he made a trip last week to Highland to speak to the Hoosier faithful to get them to want to back Barack. Gary Mayor Rudy Clay was on hand, which led to countless jokes about which one could provide the other with more examples of how to steal an election.
What other items were notable about activity taking place on Election Day?
EVERYBODY HAD AN “EXCLUSIVE” STORY: Insofar as I can tell, long-time Chicago newsperson Pam Zekman of WBBM-TV gets credit for “breaking” the story that some polling place workers were so lax about checking lists of early voters that those people could have voted again on Tuesday.
There were people in Chicago who showed up at their polling places, just to see if they would be given a second ballot to use. When they were, they high-tailed it for the telephones to call the local television stations.
I first heard the story reported by Zekman, only to see it reported about two minutes later on WTTW-TV’s “Chicago Tonight” program. For all I know, every other Chicago television station also had the story shortly after 7 p.m.
Not to trivialize the seriousness of the issue, but I have but one question. If those people who felt the need to check on their ballots had the time to wait in line at the polling place on Tuesday, why didn’t they wait until today to cast their ballot?
JACKING UP THE PRICE, VS. GIVING A DISCOUNT: Downtown Chicago business interests reacted in differing ways to the proximity of Obama’s Election Night rally being held in their proximity.
While some parking garages are taking advantage of the street parking bans for the day by jacking up their fees (as much as $50, depending on the garage’s proximity to Grant Park), the Chicago Tribune notes that theatergoers are getting a break on tickets, if they choose to attend tonight’s shows.
Tickets that can go for as much as $90 apiece are being sold today for $44.
So for those of you who are too cheap to pay the usual rates but still want to catch a theatrical experience (http://www.broadwayinchicago.com/specialoffers.php), this was your chance. Of course, parking your car near the theater meant you got caught in the higher-than-usual rates caused by Obama. So it all balances out in the end.
NOT MUCH CONCERN FOR CON-CON: When I was handed the card that I needed to insert into the touch-screen device so I could cast my ballot Tuesday, I was also handed a blue sheet of paper telling – both in English and en Español – the proper wording for the portion of the ballot related to whether or not to hold a Constitutional Convention.
Not that many people around me were too concerned about the issue. Most of the people I witnessed in my polling place (which doubles as a Lutheran church the rest of the year) barely glanced at the sheet.
The man ahead of me in line to get a ballot literally crumpled his up and tossed it into a trashcan before voting – without even reading it.
So how does this lack of concern about the issue play out? Did people vote out of ignorance, moving on to the issue (U.S. president) they really care about? In short, this portion of the ballot has the potential to have less thought put into it than all those judges.
DID THEY EXPECT THE ‘TERRORIST’ FIST JAB?: My chuckles for the day came from the various accounts being published about how University of Illinois at Chicago education professor (and onetime Weatherman activist) Bill Ayers was seen voting at the same polling place where Barack Obama cast his ballot earlier in the morning.
Do people seriously expect Ayers to go into seclusion, or to be denied his vote at his polling place at Shoesmith Elementary School in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Or perhaps they seriously expected the two to schedule simultaneous appearances so they could (http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/11/04/obama-ayers-cast-ballots-in-same-polling-station/) give each other an Election Day dap?
-30-
Nielsen’s Bakery is like a lot of other businesses, making an effort to sell its products with an Election Day theme. In the case of the bakery, it was cookies. They sold edibles touting both the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain, and kept track of how many of each were sold in an attempt to come up with a “winner.”
WHEN IT COMES to cookies, Barack beat McCain big time.
Now I’m not about to claim that cookie sales really mean much, no more so than all those 7-Eleven franchises that are selling drinks in special Obama and McCain cups (big surprise – in Chicago, Obama wins. In Arizona, it’s McCain).
But this neighborhood bakery is in an area that was once the heart of a strong Republican Party organization in the Chicago southern suburbs of Cook County. There was once a time when the idea of hinting that locals liked Democrats would have warranted a brick through the bakery’s window.
You want to know how Illinois went from being the ultimate bellwether state (siding with the winner in all but two of the presidential elections held in the 20th Century) to being such a hard-core Democratic state that the only reason any candidate pays attention to us is our proximity to Indiana?
IT IS THIS very suburban trend. The GOP that used to be seen as the mechanism by which suburbs were able to withstand the political might of Chicago Democrats is now the party that is so blatantly rural in its view of the world that those same suburbs now see they have more in common with Chicago than they do Cairo.
Hence, Obama’s campaign has been sending out e-mails to his Chicago-area supporters, asking if they could work phone banks to try to get the good people of Gary, East Chicago and Hammond to get off their Election Day duffs and vote.
And the closest Mayor Richard M. Daley came to appearing at a campaign rally is when he made a trip last week to Highland to speak to the Hoosier faithful to get them to want to back Barack. Gary Mayor Rudy Clay was on hand, which led to countless jokes about which one could provide the other with more examples of how to steal an election.
What other items were notable about activity taking place on Election Day?
EVERYBODY HAD AN “EXCLUSIVE” STORY: Insofar as I can tell, long-time Chicago newsperson Pam Zekman of WBBM-TV gets credit for “breaking” the story that some polling place workers were so lax about checking lists of early voters that those people could have voted again on Tuesday.
There were people in Chicago who showed up at their polling places, just to see if they would be given a second ballot to use. When they were, they high-tailed it for the telephones to call the local television stations.
I first heard the story reported by Zekman, only to see it reported about two minutes later on WTTW-TV’s “Chicago Tonight” program. For all I know, every other Chicago television station also had the story shortly after 7 p.m.
Not to trivialize the seriousness of the issue, but I have but one question. If those people who felt the need to check on their ballots had the time to wait in line at the polling place on Tuesday, why didn’t they wait until today to cast their ballot?
JACKING UP THE PRICE, VS. GIVING A DISCOUNT: Downtown Chicago business interests reacted in differing ways to the proximity of Obama’s Election Night rally being held in their proximity.
While some parking garages are taking advantage of the street parking bans for the day by jacking up their fees (as much as $50, depending on the garage’s proximity to Grant Park), the Chicago Tribune notes that theatergoers are getting a break on tickets, if they choose to attend tonight’s shows.
Tickets that can go for as much as $90 apiece are being sold today for $44.
So for those of you who are too cheap to pay the usual rates but still want to catch a theatrical experience (http://www.broadwayinchicago.com/specialoffers.php), this was your chance. Of course, parking your car near the theater meant you got caught in the higher-than-usual rates caused by Obama. So it all balances out in the end.
NOT MUCH CONCERN FOR CON-CON: When I was handed the card that I needed to insert into the touch-screen device so I could cast my ballot Tuesday, I was also handed a blue sheet of paper telling – both in English and en Español – the proper wording for the portion of the ballot related to whether or not to hold a Constitutional Convention.
Not that many people around me were too concerned about the issue. Most of the people I witnessed in my polling place (which doubles as a Lutheran church the rest of the year) barely glanced at the sheet.
The man ahead of me in line to get a ballot literally crumpled his up and tossed it into a trashcan before voting – without even reading it.
So how does this lack of concern about the issue play out? Did people vote out of ignorance, moving on to the issue (U.S. president) they really care about? In short, this portion of the ballot has the potential to have less thought put into it than all those judges.
DID THEY EXPECT THE ‘TERRORIST’ FIST JAB?: My chuckles for the day came from the various accounts being published about how University of Illinois at Chicago education professor (and onetime Weatherman activist) Bill Ayers was seen voting at the same polling place where Barack Obama cast his ballot earlier in the morning.
Do people seriously expect Ayers to go into seclusion, or to be denied his vote at his polling place at Shoesmith Elementary School in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Or perhaps they seriously expected the two to schedule simultaneous appearances so they could (http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/11/04/obama-ayers-cast-ballots-in-same-polling-station/) give each other an Election Day dap?
-30-
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)