Monthly Archives: March 2009

Upon the news that the Freedom Tower would be renamed the much more conventional “World Trade Center One” there has been much uproar. The New York tabloids have charged that the name change is unpatriotic, Mayor Bloomberg insists that New Yorkers will still call it Freedom Tower, like they refer to Avenue of the Americas as Sixth Avenue. In my hometown of Chicago, I suspect people have yet to start referring to the Sears Tower by whatever its name is now.

The Freedom Tower has been a storied symbol of rebuilding on the sacred ground of Ground Zero. It will have 1,776 floors to symbolize our year of independence as a nation.

Ironically, it already has become a symbol — a symbol of all the inaction of corporate largess, greedy landlords, and egotistical developers eager to get their name on the corner stone of the new landmark. Like so much else in America since 2001, it has flourished with the housing bloodlust, and withered in the bubble burst when cash-strapped firms really didn’t want to pay top dollar in huge bulk. Read More »

As pointed out here on Huff Po by Earl Ofari Hutchinson, the drawn-out battle between the White House and Rush Limbaugh has served to expand Limbaugh’s ratings numbers. Back in his sweet spot as an underdog, Limbaugh’s ballooning numbers have matched his inflating ego ever since President Obama first suggested to Republican leaders: “You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.”

This frank acknowledgment to me indicates what a normal guy Obama is, still grappling with the Presidency that transcends him. This same simple talk slipped last week at his town hall when he stopped himself from referring to low-paying jobs at “Mickey…” (as in Mickey D’s, how many other Chicagoans refer to McDonald’s) then correcting himself to say “fast food.” Read More »

Many people want to yell at their TV news. During the 2008 campaign, many did. In Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted, John Ziegler does that for you. And if you get the DVD, you can yell at Ziegler yelling at the media.

Media Malpractice is a two-hour documentary that alleges the media’s broad infatuation with Barack Obama led the press to do everything imaginable to crush Sarah Palin’s chances. The film was made in just a few months.

Essentially the entire film is news footage with John Ziegler saying what all the news reporters should have said, according to him. The only significant interview is with Sarah Palin, which itself was widely covered in the media in January. At the end of the film there are interviews in L.A. on Election Day, wherein Obama voters appear as clueless as guests on a Jay Walking bit from The Tonight Show. Read More »

I would like to wholeheartedly endorse the movement to mandate drug tests for welfare recipients. I know that many here might disagree with me, but I think it is the only responsible thing to do.

After all, aren’t these freeloaders given our tax dollars? (Hence the new site notwithmytaxdollars.com) Shouldn’t we know if they are harming themselves, and affecting their judgment? Plus, once someone takes America’s money, they accept being judged by other Americans. And I am sure we all disapprove of this kind of drug abuse.

Exactly how high were the welfare recipients at AIG, Citi Group, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, GM, and Bank of America? Based on their judgment and lack of responsibility, the clinical diagnosis would be “really fucking high.” Read More »

Nobody does St. Patrick’s Day like Chicago.

Thanks to the Obamas’ full-on display Tuesday, now the rest of the world knows it, too.

A St. Patty’s bash at the White House is one thing I’m sure Irish presidents have held in the past. But green water in the White House fountain? Chicago’s time-honored tradition of dying the river green (at least a brighter green) has finally reached the Beltway. Read More »