Chicago Daily Observer

Q. Can you tell me how you first met Sen. Obama?

A. I met him when I went to work for Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland in January 1994, a civil rights law firm on the near north side of Chicago on Erie Street. I got the job through a friend who I worked with at a temporary job two years before. She worked at the firm and gave me a good reference. She was Sen. Obama’s legal secretary.

Q. You told me the law firm you worked for dealt with civil rights. So would it be safe to say Obama was a champion for the downtrodden and less fortunate? What were your personal impressions of Obama? Did he seem like helping the poor was his primary agenda?

A. I didn’t feel at the time Obama cared about the downtrodden and less fortunate and I still don’t feel that way. ... Read More...

Well, that’s not entirely true. As Dennis Byrne notes in the Tribune today, Obama’s website states that “Throughout his political career, Barack Obama has fought for open and honest government,”

Which is something that Obama’s critics just don’t get. For example, consider the talking points dispensed by this Obama Action Wire, including this gem:

LIE: “When Veteran Cook County Boss John Stroger faced a strong and credible challenge in the 2006 primary election from a reform-minded liberal Democrat, Obama said nothing . . . Obama’s silence had probably saved Cook County’s political kingpin.” [pp. 8, 14]

TRUTH: Obama’s Neutrality Sent “A Silent Signal” That Was Helpful To Claypool. [Chicago Sun-Times, 3/16/06]

So, you see, Obama is probably just sending another silent signal. Isn’t that enough?

The new Democratic mantra about the background of Sarah Palin vs. that of Barak Obama is, “Jesus was a community organizer; Pontius Pilate was a governor.” This, they apparently hope, will somehow help their messianic candidate for president compete more effectively with the GOP’s candidate for vice-president.

They’re right about one thing: Their candidate’s background as a Saul-Alinsky-style community organizer does resemble the background of a character in the New Testament; the only problem is that they’ve got the wrong character.

Hardly an Alinsky-style political activist, Jesus eschewed political aspirations and avoided any efforts by others to make him a political leader (John 6:15).

Nor did Jesus organize people to pressure political authorities for benefits from the public purse; rather, he admonished them to render unto Caesar only what is Caesar’s (Mark 12:17) and even utilized St. Peter’s fishing trade as a tax shelter (Matthew 17:27).

When Pontius Pilate ... Read More...

On the eve of today’s 221st anniversary of the U.S. Constitution’s adoption, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told conservative lawyers in Chicago that the University of Chicago Law School — where he used to teach — has lost its edge and gone liberal.

Back in the days when Scalia — the court’s most vocal supporter of adhering to the text of the constitution — used to teach at the school, which was then more associated with conservative economist Milton Friedman. The courses had more rigor and the school had a more conservative ethos, Scalia told 500 members of the conservative Federalist Society of lawyers at the Union League Club Tuesday.

One must pity whoever becomes Governor of Illinois when Rod Blagojevich finally leaves. The next governor will have to be a genius just to raise the state’s financial rating back to basket-case status. He (or she) will have to be considered a smashing success to accomplish that much.
To get a handle on the magnitude of the problem, imagine for a moment that the governor is head of an estate dependent on rents.
The first thing he did was to start trying to sell off revenue-producing assets (the Tollway, the Lottery, the Thompson Center) to cover current obligations. This is, simply, to sacrifice long-term health for short-term windfalls – and even the windfalls are not enough to satisfy the spending appetite of this profligate. The head of such an estate who starts selling off the very things that keep the estate afloat is heading for big trouble.
... Read More...