Chicago Daily Observer

A hilarious example of press bias against Palin occurred last FridayI on “The Diane Rehm Show,” a production of Washington’s WAMU-FM. The exchange between hostess Rehm, caller Tom of Norwich, Vt., and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne begins at about 46:10 of the “10:00 News Roundup”:

Tom: I just wonder why not more has been made of the statement by Palin during the debate last night that “Maliki and the Talabani”this is a quote from the transcript“also in working with us are knowing again that we are getting closer and closer to the point of victory.” The Talibani obviously are our absolute enemy and have been since 9/11; Maliki, our central ally in Iraq. This to me is a tremendous blunder, revealing a very superficial familiarity with these sorts of terms.

Rehm: Thanks for calling, Tom. . . . E.J.?

Dionne: I think that “superficial” is absolutely the right ... Read More...

Everything’s coming up…umm…roses.
(I always liked that saying.)

There is a continuing gradual uptick in Barack Obama’s national numbers and almost all the battleground state polls are following suit.

Even Karl Rove said last week that if the election were held now Obama would have a minimum 273 electoral votes—three above the winning 270. Liberal bloggers are calculating the size of the electoral landslide to come—and not without justification.

No, Sarah Palin did not stumble over that low hurdle at the debate, but the polls all said Biden won anyway, darn it—and subsequent tracking polls indicate no impact on Obama’s margin.

The one thing Palin made perfectly clear is that her administration will not be Bush III but more like Cheney Redux, doggone it.

But, even though I am sitting shiva for my Cubs and my retirement portfolio is on life-support, I continue to look at the ... Read More...

ennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, an all-out Hillary supporter, now supporting Obama in a state that will be key to McCain’s fortunes a month from now, continues to be a loose cannon.

It was Rendell who previously put on the table the subject that for much of the primary and general election race has been verboten; how many points will Obama lose to the voters who, often against their own best interests, refuse to vote for a black man.

Had Hillary been the nominee no one would doubt that Rendell would be the surrogate par excellence. The same cannot be said for his performance today on ABC‘s This Week with George Stephanopoulos”

Bill Ayers was the subject of a video clip (Sarah Palin denouncing Obama for his association with Ayers, who has confessed to participation in domestic bombings while a member of the Weather Underground in the 1960s).

Children who kill are called “super predators,” “people with no conscience,” “feral pre-social beings”—and “adults.”

William Ayers, author of A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court (Beacon Press, 1997), says “We should call a child a child. A 13-year-old who picks up a gun isn’t suddenly an adult. We have to ask other questions: How did he get the gun? Where did it come from?”

Ayers, who spent a year observing the Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago, is one of four panelists who will speak on juvenile justice at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, in the C-Shop. The panel, which marks the 100th anniversary of the juvenile justice system in the United States, is part of the Community Service Center’s monthly discussion series on issues affecting the city of Chicago. The event is free and open to the public.

Ayers will be joined by ... Read More...

His political opponents think Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s acquaintance with former Weatherman William Ayers is a weak spot worthy of attack, as certain Republican presidential nominee John McCain did again Sunday on a TV talk show.

But here in Chicago, home to both men, the charge that Obama has been friendly with the former political radical has gone nowhere.

Ayers’ extremist past has “has never bothered anyone in Chicago,” Chicago Sun-Times political columnist Lynn Sweet wrote after Obama was questioned about his relationship with Ayers in last week’s debate with Hillary Clinton.

“That’s why back in the day when Obama was starting his political career—making a visit to the Ayers home while running for a state Senate seat, and then agreeing to being on panels with him and serve on a foundation board together—it was no big deal, or any deal, to any local political reporters or to the editorial ... Read More...

When Archbishop Raymond Burke was promoted to the Vatican curia and left the archdiocese of Saint Louis where he had made waves insisting that the Church’s stand on abortion really means what it says, there were some who said his transfer was not just a promotion but also Rome’s way of removing a pesky prelate who antagonized political minions of the U.S.’s relativist culture. For an outspoken bishop, being promoted to a high office in the stratosphere of the Vatican can be analogous to what happened to New York Judge Joseph Force Crater who hopped in a taxi on the night of August 6, 1930 and was never seen again…becoming a “cause celebre” as the “missing-est man in the nation” prompting the line with standup comedians “Judge Crater, call your office!”

I confess I was one who thought Burke was slated for a future of ecclesial anonymity along with a ... Read More...

With that going against him, he’s running uphill, trying to remind Americans that he challenged his own party, and the Democrats, on corruption. Because of McCain’s opposition to politicians who feed from the public trough, there is a road open to him Tuesday. It’s the Chicago Way.

Obama definitely does not want to go there. It would be a forced march for him. Obama’s gauzy references to Chicago involve baseball and where he met Michelle and those blissful hours he spent as a community organizer. What he doesn’t want discussed is his evolution from independent Democrat to potential White House enabler of the corrupt Chicago Democratic machine.

The Chicago Way is a road the Beltway media establishment dare not travel. It must frighten them. It conflicts with their fairy tale about Obama as reformer, and they’re much too busy rummaging through garbage cans in Alaska to bother about Chicago’s political ... Read More...

It has been a difficult few weeks for the friends and political associates of Barack Obama.

In Detroit, Obama’s pal, former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has plead guilty to an assortment crimes and resigned his office to begin a prison term. Closer to home, convicted political fixer Tony Rezko is due to be sentenced shortly before election day. Reports have indicated that Rezko has begun cooperating with prosecutors in an effort to reduce his sentence. Federal investigators have also conducted a search of the home of Will County Executive Larry Walsh, who served with Obama in the Illinois Senate. Walsh was one Obama’s poker playing friends and questions have been raised about the number of federal grant dollars that Obama showered upon Will County after meeting with lobbyists employed by Walsh.

In the gone, but not forgotten category ... Read More...