Why the rush to judgment?
If you believe what is reported by hysterical Huffington Post contributors, you would think that the Republican presidential nominating process has been going on longer than the Hundred Years War.

In fact, only three states have passed upon the candidates in the Republican field to date. Fewer than eighty delegates have been awarded to the various candidates. No single candidate has even managed to obtain fifty delegates. No one is poised to wrap up the nomination. Less than a month ago, the media incorrectly reported that …

According to some child psychologists, there is a demonstrable tendency among children who have been victimized by bullies to progress to becoming aggressors themselves. Another symptom associated with bullies is a pronounced tendency for such persons to also be braggarts. It does make you wonder. What exactly happened on the playground at recess when Rahm Emanuel was growing up?

When it was announced that Bill Daley was leaving the position of White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel came to the defense of his successor at the White House. Emanuel …

No one will ever be able to accuse of Mayor Rahm Emanuel of lacking chutzpah.

It had been widely anticipated that Chief of Staff Emanuel was going to be asked to leave the White House in 2011. Fortuitously, Emanuel bailed out earlier and landed safely in Chicago after Richard M. Daley retired. Emanuel was spared the indignity of being sacked as the scapegoat for Democratic losses in the midterm elections. Ever the nimble dancer, Emanuel, has now hit the road on behalf of Obama’s reelection campaign. Emanuel has taken on a …

I have never had much use for the jurisprudence of former US Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, but I am in complete harmony with one of his daily rituals. Warren once noted that whenever he was reading a newspaper he invariably began by turning to the sports page.

Athletics have provided me with some of the happiest memories in my life. I am too old to be much of an active participant any longer, but I have continued to listen to ball games or to take my place in the …

I am not a devoted supporter of Herman Cain.
I have not purchased a pizza from the Godfather’s Pizza restaurant chain since I was a college undergraduate. As a Chicagoan, I was not particularly impressed with the deep dish product, but it was the best available alternative in the Land of Lakes region which Sinclair Lewis immortalized in print as “Gopher Prairie, Minnesota.”

Nevertheless, when I learned that Gloria Allred had scheduled a press conference in New York with one of the women alleging that Cain had engaged in sexual harassment …

Lavishly produced, including faithfully recreated period music and a treasure trove of archival films and photographs, the latest “documentary” from Ken Burns managed to narrowly miss the mark. In most American colleges and universities, Burns would receive an “A+” if he submitted an essay resembling his television documentary adaptation of Geoffrey Ward’s script, but that would be due to carelessness or an inattention to detail on the part of his docile professor.

As always, the film is beautifully composed. There are some seductive inserts of bottling plant assembly line machinery and …

Having read excerpts of “Whiskey Breakfast” which were available online, I eagerly awaited the publication of the full length book which was finally released by the University of Minnesota Press a few weeks ago. I was not disappointed when the autobiographical title arrived yesterday. I found “Whiskey Breakfast” so engrossing that I read it in its entirety in a single day.

In recounting the history of his Swedish immigrant ancestors who settled in Chicago, Richard C. Lindberg, historian and occasional “Chicago Daily Observer” contributor, has rummaged through the attic and recreated …

According to a gushing Carol Marin column, State Representative Deborah Mell (D-40th) “quietly made Illinois history last week” by marrying a woman in Iowa. Judging by Marin’s tone, this must have been the equivalent of Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.

Quietly making history? Really? If a same sex marriage conducted in Davenport is splashed across the front page of a daily Chicago metropolitan newspaper, does it make a sound?
Championing Deborah Mell’s quirky lifestyle choices seems to have become a minor cottage industry for Carol “The Triple Threat” Marin. She has …

As the 2010 prosperity summer has given way to the current summer of deficits, darkness and despair, what better possible antidote could be administered than hot buttered popcorn?
The Music Box Theater is playing host to the third annual Noir City film festival from August 12th to 18th. The week long series features four recently restored films and a portion of all ticket sales will be used to fund future film restoration projects conducted under the auspices of the not for profit Film Noir Foundation. Guest introductions and commentaries will …

The 2010 “Summer of Prosperity” has given way to the 2011 “Summer of Love” and, as the long, hot “Summer of Love” continues, the silence of the politically correct media elites is deafening.

On the opening day of the Wisconsin State Fair, August 5th, a near riot occurred in which eleven people were injured and thirty-one persons of interest were arrested. The governor had to call out the Wisconsin State Patrol to increase security at the fair and supplement local law enforcement. New restrictions have prohibited the entry of …