The devil is in the details and the details are a colossal mess. Last night, I went to pick my daughter Clare and her pal Caitlin Cruz at St. Rita of Cascia High School at 77th & Western Ave. The pre-Thanksgiving rains were pouring down.

The parking lot of St. Rita was packed. There was the McGovern Basketball Classic – the southwest Catholic 8th Grade Tournament… St. Rita Soccer Awards Banquet was in full buzz and the 80 plus Varsity and JV Cheerleaders were doing calisthenics and routines …

Gery Chico is the Latino candidate for mayor . . .in the same way that the old Hollywood character actor J. Carrol Naish* was a smiling Irishman. Naish was as Irish as a firm handshake but almost never appeared as a Harp in a movie. J. Carrol Naish was always an Italian, Greek, Jewish, or Cherokee Indian character. The man could do dialect. I believe that the only Irishman played by J. Carrol Naish was as General Phil Sheridan in a John Ford western. Gery Chico has played …

Governor Pat Quinn won his first election for Governor by dint of his personal honesty and respect for genuine labor. Governor Pat Quinn respects labor so much that too often he allows public sector monster unions, like SEIU and the assortment of teachers unions which operate more like Political Action Committees than real labor unions, to lead him around by the lapels. SEIU has purple painted veneer of trendy leftist social agenda’s sparkling up its public presentation –LGBTQ issues; Alien Amnesty; Anti-War; Pro Hamas; Abortion Rights & etc.

These …

“Time and memory are true artists; they remould reality nearer to the heart’s desire.”
John Dewey

John Dewey is the father of American Progressive Thought. Progressive thought arrives at a conclusion long before the evidence is heaped on the platters. John Dewey sparked American education and his daffy hand still guides too many teachers. If memory serves . . .
Before heading to a wedding at Gaelic Park on Saturday, I noticed the Chicago Tribune Breaking News:
“Attorney withdraws in Northwestern’s battle with prosecutors
October 22, 2010 10:00 PM …

A guy with a clipboard knocked on my door the other day. Usually it is a kid from one of the Catholic grammar or high schools selling magazines, raffle tickets, or Jimmy Perbo from down the street looking for my pipe wrench. In political season it is someone with a clipboard and pen.

This fellow looked like he had spent more than a few days marinating his epidermis at the Lucky Leprechaun. He was wearing a faded green softball windbreaker – The Twin Dukes, a Blackhawks knit hat …

Last week the F.B.I. targeted terror suspects in Illinois and Minnesota. In Illinois one of the suspects was a Wright College teacher and the other an SEIU leader.

Joseph Iosbbaker is an SEIU Leader. The sheepish Chicago Media went weak in the knees when Mr. Iosbaker and SEIU used the closing of the Republic Windows factory several years ago as a forum for disgraced Governor Blagojevich. Now,  Iosbaker is being investigated in a terrorist plot.
The Chicago media is following the lead of what they are told and tasked. SEIU is disappearing …

Politics is Chicago’s Blood Sport and no one draws blood like a Progressive. Once upon a time, Alderman Bernie Hansen’s bag-man and rat-catcher Mike Quigley wanted to be a Cook County Commissioner so bad that he’d beat up a little girl who owned a bridal shop. Mike Quigley had run against Helen Shiller for Alderman of the 46th Ward and required the aid of Ward and precinct foot soldiers from the bad old Machine and the diminutive carpet bagging opportunist was soundly defeated by Shiller who garnered 53% of …

From Pat Hickey’s Blog With Both Hands
A few days ago, Mark Rhoads, a former Illinois legislator and journalist, informed me of a meeting that he had with Robert Emmett Tyrrell –founder and editor-in-chief of The American Spectator. Bob Tyrrell told Mr. Rhoads of his desire to enter the race the upcoming race for Mayor of Chicago.
I spoke with Bob Tyrrell on Monday September 13th and he confirmed this fact.

“I plan to run of Mayor of Chicago”
Read more at With Both Hands

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 …