All theory is against freedom of the will; all experience for it.
Samuel Johnson
Phil Krone is missed. He was the last of the Gentleman Liberal Patriots. Phil Krone invited debate, drank in opposing ideas and courteously offered thoughtful rebuttal without ever raising the volume, let alone insulting his combatant.

My political beliefs differed from Mr. Krone, though we both registered and tended to vote as Democrats.
Phil was an ideological Keynesian Liberal -like John Kenneth Galbraith, Paul Simon and the great Paul Douglas, with just a pinch of Henry Wallace.
I adhere to the …

Suspending Bea Reyna-Hickey over an e-mail that suggested more police ticket writing gave Chicago Mayor Daley an opportunity to do what he does best – not answer a question. I think that this might be Mayor Daley’s Mosque Moment – kind of like President Obama’s embrace and subsequent walk back from the Cordoba Initiative at Ground Zero in New York. Mayor Daley said this when he was questioned about the e-mail, “It’s just stupid. Some bureaucrat sent that out, This is a stupid e-mail. There will be appropriate discipline.”
Some …

Illinois’s premier political info warehouse Capitol Fax Blog is managed by Rich Miller who has a column for the Chicago Sun Times. Today Mr. Miller laments the lack of statesmen in politics – well there are statesmen but they are all too often crooks like Charley Rangel, the late Dan Rostenkowski, and so many other talented ‘sharp’ guys and gals.
Miller weeps -
“It’s tragic for Illinois that true statesmen such as Ryan and Rostenkowski turned out to be crooked. Their nefarious behavior led directly to Rod Blagojevich’s rise to …

L. Cassius ille quem populus Romanus verissimum et sapientissimum iudicem putabat identidem in causis quaerere solebat ‘cui bono’ fuisset. Pro Roscio Amerino

The famous Lucius Cassius, whom the Roman people used to regard as a very honest and wise judge, was in the habit of asking, time and again, ‘To whose benefit?’ M. Tullius Cicero
“misuse of official power over public employees . . . created a substantial, perhaps massive, political effort in favor of the ins and against the outs.” Shakman I, 435 F.2d at 270. We concluded that “these interests …

July 12, 2010 – 10:15 AM
Ed Yohnka ACLU Spokes-guy could not get back to me about whether or not The American Civil Liberties Union will take up the cause of Professor Kenneth Howell, the religion professor and Roman Catholic, fired for making Hate Speech in an e-mail response to a student – “Natural Moral Law says that Morality must be a response to REALITY,” he wrote in the e-mail. “In other words, sexual acts are only appropriate for people who are complementary, not the same.”

According Professor Howell’s Department Head who …

Wearing crisp white shirts, black slacks and determination on their baby smooth faces, Leo freshman arrive at the venerable Catholic High School before 7 A.M. for an immersion course that prepares the entering class for their career at Leo.

At 7:15 A.M. Executive Secretary Natasha Adams, asked, “Mr. Hickey, did you see the student run past your office?” I had not paid much attention as kids are always running past my office on their way up to the second floor. “He was being chased by three men into the building.”
We …

What do Helen Thomas, Bill Maher and Eric Zorn all have in common? Helen wants Jews to leave the homeland from whence they built civilization and were forced to leave in 670 BC by the Babylonians and then by the Romans in 70 AD only to return in 1947 AD. Bill Maher wants to use his detestation of religion (all religion because Bill Maher needs the field) to tell people to shut up other than those who fully agree with him in his HBO studio. Eric Zorn …

From Pat Hickey
I met Mike Joyce when I went to work here at Leo High School in 1995. Mike helped coach football and served on the Leo Advisory Board.

He developed a Boxing Program here at Leo that has produced half a score of Golden Gloves Champions, Heavyweight Pro Thomas Hayes ( 27-1) and the Captain of Team U.S.A. Lamar Fenner. More importantly, hundreds of young men developed confidence and dignity in the Square Ring.
Mike Joyce cared for an octogenarian boxing legend, Hermann Mills. Mike took the fighter into his home; …

The anger is genuine and needs no mongering. Democrats and Republicans detest the Obama Care Bill. I am a Democrat and my neighbors are Democrats. We do not like this force fed boondoggle any more than a poor goose likes having corn forced down its throat.

Ironically, the very same band of nitwits in public life who hate smoking, fat kids, fois gras and American History crafted the Obama Care Legislation and stand poised to make America go the way of Greece, Ireland and Portugal once the Obama …

I got a call from a lovely sounding woman who attended the long closed Mercy High School. I tried to reassure her by explaining that the wide and varied support for Leo continues, but rumors are tough to address. This wonderful woman was not alone, nor was she the first to call the Leo Development Office with this vigorous chestnut – Leo is closing in June. The lady did not want to see another great Catholic high school close as did Mercy, Mendel, St. Willibrord, Weber, Longwood and …