Chicago Daily Observer

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 290 points on Friday just before the US House of Representatives finally passed, and the President signed into law, the Treasury’s $700 billion bailout. But the Dow closed down 157 points anyway. It has fallen another 500 at the time of this writing, and the Dow is now down 1,300 points (or 12%) from its peak just prior to the failed Congressional vote.

Supporters of the bill, along with almost every pundit, argued the bill was absolutely necessary to stabilize the markets. But the markets are not cooperating. In fact, volatility and fear are spiking. One reason is that any Treasury purchases under the plan will not be made for at least two weeks, maybe more. Another reason is that missteps by the Federal Government have turned what was a large financial problem into a massive one.
Looking back to last year, ... Read More...

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...

Ray Coffey covered the Vietnam War for nearly three years in the 1960s, marching through swamps with U.S. soldiers and winning journalism awards in the process. ( from Chicago Sun Times) Click my post title for the tribute to Ray Coffey.

Mr. Ray Coffey was a great friend to the kids of Leo High School for whom he always had time – to listen.

God bless you Holly Coffey! God bless all of your kids! God Bless the heart of Ray Coffey that made his ear the organ and conduit of truth in Chicago Journalism.

Ray Coffey ‘gave his ears a chance.’ That rule is lost on too many of us who want to hear the sounds of our own voices rather than articulate a means to bring people together. In America’s most divisive war – Vietnam – Ray Coffey turned his ears to voices of the kids taking the ... Read More...

An alleged, top al-Qaeda figure accused of masterminding one of the deadliest car bombings in Iraq and the videoed execution of a Russian diplomat, has been killed in a shoot out with coalition forces in Baghdad, the US military said today.

Mahir Ahmad Mahmud Judu al-Zubaydi, better known as Abu Rami, is said to have controlled the eastern half of Baghdad, an area called Rusafa.

Coalition troops surrounded a building in Adhamiya last night and demanded the occupants to surrender. They were shot at and returned fire. In the exchange, Abu Rami and a woman, who was with him, were killed.

A military statement did not specify whether the “coalition forces” involved were American or British. British special forces regularly take part in operations to kill or capture high-level al-Qaeda targets in the capital.

Obama is rooted to William Ayers and his political ascendancy owes more to Ayers than it does to the urban myth – Obama as Chicago Machine Politician. Obama is no more a Democratic Machine Politician than Tony Rezko is a philanthropist, or the Chicago Sun Times is a newspaper.

For all the protestations from Obama’s journalists – worldwide – there has never been a serious inquiry, much less valuable study of William Ayers and his dangerous influence upon Obama by any Mainstream Media -including the cut-and-paste work of Sean Hannity.

The Washington Post has risen to defend Bill Ayers and Barack Obama, claiming “Obama and Ayers to have had only a casual association” in response to Sarah Palin pointing out that Obama is connected to Bill Ayers.

Of course Sen. Obama is associated with Bill Ayers; there is a library full of information proving the connections. At least 50 stories have been published in the Chicago Daily Observer detailining the connection, as well as some well documented research by the National Review. It boggles the mind why a writer at the Washington Post could claim otherwise.

Axelrod and Obama did not even need to bring their thug campaign to squash the news this time. The Washington Post did that for them.

Link to Washington Post story below

1. Question: On Motion to Concur in Senate Amendments
2. Bill: H R 1424
3. Vote description: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
4. Vote type: Yea-and-Nay (Help)
   A standard vote that requires a simple majority for approval or passage of the legislation.
5. Result: Passed, 263–171.
6. Date/time: October 3, 2008, 1:22 p.m.

The FBI on Wednesday raided the county offices of a former Illinois state senator who is a poker-playing buddy of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.

According to Chicago authorities, the FBI visited the offices in Joliet, Ill., of Will County executive Larry Walsh, a longtime friend of Mr. Obama’s, and his chief of staff Matt Ryan.

Mr. Walsh, who served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2005, was endorsed by Mr. Obama in his county executive election bid. With the support of some of Mr. Obama’s U.S. Senate volunteers, he easily defeated incumbent Republican Joseph Mikan.

Will County auditor Steve Weber confirmed that his office had been asked by the FBI to assist in an investigation, but he did not elaborate on the specifics.