Chicago Daily Observer

No unelected presidential candidate in U.S. history has received more media coverage…and more FAVORABLE media coverage …than Barack Obama. While liberals mock Fox News Network’s motto of being “fair and balanced,” they have nothing to say about the preponderance of so-called mainstream broadcast and print media escorting Obama for his second trip to Iraq (the first to Afghanistan) especially in view of his declaration that the trip will change nothing about his withdrawal strategy concerning Iraq.

In fact, it is not just a presidential entourage to cover a non-president, it is of the papal style, akin to when the pontiff of the Roman Catholic church travels…with the exception that the pope represents 986 million adherents, half the world’s Christians and one-sixth of the world population. “If this were John McCain’s first trip to the war zone that would be a story and we would cover it big time,” said ... Read More...

It’s not quite clear what Obama meant by this. If he meant that the military had taken over too many functions that normally should be handled by the State Department, then that echoes what Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this week. It seems to reference the costs associated with reopening consulates and doubling the Peace Corps, but that wouldn’t come close to matching what we spend at the Pentagon. The phrasing of it — a “civilian national security force” — sounds much more like a quasi-military organization operating within the US under the control of the federal government.

The media needs to ask Obama about it ... Read More...

About the only Chicagoan who comes out looking good in Ryan Lizza’s recent New Yorker profile of Barack Obama (yeah, it’s in the issue with the cover) is Fourth Ward alderman Toni Preckwinkle.

She’s depicted as a person of independence, integrity, and selfless dedication to her community—one of the few politicians or activists in town who’s not a sellout, hack, or Daley suck-up.