Biography
John Kass has covered a variety of topics since arriving at the Chicago Tribune in 1983.
The son of a Greek immigrant grocer, Kass was born ...
John Kass: Tornadoes sound like eerie silence — then evil
May 22, 2013
Does a killer tornado really sound like a freight train?
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IRS scandal a reminder of how I learned about The Chicago Way
May 19, 2013
The Internal Revenue Service scandal now devouring the Obama administration — the outrageous use of the federal taxing authority to target tea party and other conservatives — certainly makes for meaty partisan politics.
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Kass: Mayor's shell game should have taxpayers clutching their wallets
May 17, 2013
I've got a feeling that in some weird, alternate universe, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is making a decent living playing hide-the-pea.
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D-Wade — and others — come up short when dressing up
May 16, 2013
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade is leading millions of American men along the path of career destruction.
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Proliferating scandals expose truth about Obama
May 15, 2013
Dogged by scandal, and with his press secretary presumably now curled up in the fetal position and breathing into a brown paper bag, it's obvious President Barack Obama is in need.
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Why won't Emanuel talk about Mayor He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named?
May 12, 2013
One subject that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel never touches involves a legendary political figure:
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It's hard to put a finger on why the Heat would tolerate its No. 1 fan
May 10, 2013
There is no way Chicago will ever allow Derrick Rose to play one second of basketball against the Miami Heat.
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I hate to say it, cyclists, but the other bike shoe has just dropped
May 9, 2013
Don't be angry, Little Bike People of Chicago. Please don't be upset at what happened at City Hall on Wednesday.
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How the unassimilated are transformed into terrorists
May 8, 2013
If you're the child of an immigrant, like me, or perhaps an immigrant yourself brought here as a child, you know what it's like to have one foot planted in the old world and the other planted in the new, in this amazing, sometimes frighteningly free American culture.
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Lamb of God takes away the cares of the world
May 5, 2013
The first domesticated lamb turned over coals in Mesopotamia, literally the land "between rivers," some 10,000 years or so ago.
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Lives lost mean 'Benghazi' should be more than a political buzzword
May 3, 2013
Mention the word "Benghazi" to Republicans, and chances are, they'll become eager, animated, even predatory, seeking weakness in President Barack Obama.
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Wrigley Field would make a great coliseum
May 2, 2013
If Cubs owner Tom Ricketts actually made good on his threat to leave Wrigley Field for a more baseball-friendly neighborhood, what would be the best use of the site at Clark and Addison?
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D.C. press competes with Tsarnaevs' mom for a Nah!
May 1, 2013
The U.S. Census Bureau reports there are some 316 million Americans, which translates to about 632 million human hands.
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Is Chicago turning its back on D-Rose?
April 28, 2013
Is Chicago turning on Derrick Rose?
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Going Mowgli? Just be careful where you step
April 26, 2013
The no-diapers movement is reportedly gathering great force in New York, where a cadre of hipster moms in SoHo and Brooklyn are trying to save the environment and let their little ones go free.
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Judge did right thing by banning cellphones in courtrooms
April 25, 2013
Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans kept hearing complaints from his judges about street gangs in their courtrooms using cellphones to photograph witnesses.
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American football industry is on its deathbed
April 24, 2013
With all that college beef on parade this week, the NFL draft is a wonder of sports marketing, a televised pageant for the multibillion-dollar American football industry.
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Boston tragedy can't be packaged neatly for American audiences
April 21, 2013
If you're looking for the big speech about the Boston Marathon bombings and the motivations of the Tsarnaev brothers, wrapping it all up like a nice veal roast in white butcher paper, don't worry.
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Backyard gardeners can grow apart from the busy world
April 19, 2013
It's not a garden yet, just the promise of a garden now, a large square of mud bordered by timbers to keep the dirt from washing out over the backyard grass.
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Dear CNN: It's OK to say, 'We don't know'
April 18, 2013
Here's an idea for CNN, Fox News and all the other TV news shops running those ominous crawl lines under their breathless broadcasts of the Boston Marathon bombings.
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In the world of acts, the urge to help overwhelms
April 17, 2013
There is the world of acts and there is the world of words. And America saw both the other day when the bombs went off at the finish of the Boston Marathon.
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'42' may open the eyes of a new generation
April 14, 2013
Somewhere in the middle of watching the movie "42," about Jackie Robinson's historic rookie year breaking baseball's color barrier, I decided something.
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Sure, blame the Greek White Sox fan for Wrigley goat head prank
April 12, 2013
Whenever ethnic profiling raises its ugly head, you can usually count on a great newspaper to express its outrage.
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In our state, politicians are protected — but not the rest of us
April 11, 2013
Illinois — where politicians force law-abiding citizens to bring a bat to a gunfight.
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Slain diplomat from River Forest was a girl with an adventurous mind
April 10, 2013
Before she was a young U.S. foreign service officer stationed in Afghanistan, before she and others were blown up by a bomb, before she was eulogized at Fenwick High School on Tuesday, Anne Smedinghoff was a girl.
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Here's some poetic justice for gun-control advocates
April 7, 2013
I know why the caged bird shoots.
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Kass: Republican Bruce Rauner takes no position on gay marriage
April 5, 2013
Bruce Rauner, the multimillionaire Republican businessman who wants to become governor of Illinois, sat down with me for an interview Thursday and dodged questions about same-sex marriage.
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Samoa Air obesity policy weighs heavy on some
April 4, 2013
Mr. Puni weighs about 440 pounds, and these days he's one big angry Samoan.
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March Moutzness brackets point to Villa Park upset
April 3, 2013
Here it's already April — the White Sox have opened the season to the victorious stylings of pitcher Chris Sale — and I'm way late in giving out the March Moutza of the Month.
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Homeless man living in a tent hits it big with a scratch-off
March 31, 2013
Good things hardly ever happen to homeless men. They live in all sorts of places, some under viaducts and bridges, others in cardboard boxes, in fields or under trees in the summertime.
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'Game of Thrones' returns — and it's spellbinding
March 29, 2013
The wildly popular epic fantasy series "Game of Thrones" opens its third season on HBO on Sunday.
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The detectives who remember the children
March 28, 2013
The other day at lunch, two Chicago police detectives, Bill Sullivan and Michele Moore-Grose, were talking with me about the murder cases they've been working and the young people shot dead.
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As times change, will tolerance for tradition be tolerated?
March 27, 2013
With the issue of same-sex marriage argued before the Supreme Court and raging elsewhere in America, a question:
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Some federal grants are just monkey business
March 24, 2013
Would you turn down a job paying $227,000 if all you had to do was look at animal photos in the National Geographic magazine?
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No blubbering from Beavers despite guilty verdict
March 22, 2013
Just after Bill Beavers left the federal courtroom guilty on all counts — but before he'd go downstairs to play the defiant old-school Chicago pol for the TV cameras — he gave me a quiet shrug.
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Ald. Lingonberry could get famous driving the Cubs from Wrigleyville
March 21, 2013
If there's one surefire way for a lowly Chicago alderman to surpass the worldwide fame of Michael Jordan and Al Capone, it's this:
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Where have all the rabbits gone?
March 20, 2013
Zeus the wonder dog scared up a rabbit near the house the other day.
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Dwoyne Baker wasn't perfect, but we shouldn't forget his killing
March 17, 2013
Calling someone a "perfect homicide victim" sounds terribly callous. But it explains the political/media liturgy that we all know so well.
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Old-school Beavers by the numbers in federal court
March 15, 2013
There's nothing like watching a defense lawyer in federal court playing three-card monte with his mouth.
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Kass: Pope Francis should heed warning of his predecessor
March 14, 2013
Jorge Bergoglio, the son of Italian immigrants born in Buenos Aires, doesn't fit the image of a high and mighty churchman in charge of an empire of more than 1 billion people.
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For parents, the worry that never leaves
March 13, 2013
If you're a parent, there are certain fears you can't put to words when you learn of children being killed.
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Kass: A Senate battle between a libertarian whippersnapper, crotchety establishment
March 8, 2013
Republican Sen. John McCain is pushing 80 now, but he still has those jaws and the Teddy Roosevelt teeth that look as if they could chomp through a baseball bat.
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Cermak's death offers lesson in Chicago Way
March 7, 2013
The assassinated Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, who died 80 years ago this week, is often portrayed by official histories as just an innocent victim of bad luck and bad aim.
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Cemetery thieves steal a lot more than metal
March 6, 2013
Michael Solaya has a routine when visiting the graves of his extended family at Cedar Park Cemetery.
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Years later, mob enforcer may decide it's time to talk
March 3, 2013
Chicago Outfit enforcer Mario Rainone, a loyal reader of this column, once called me to insist that "I'm no beefer!" — mob slang for talking to the feds.
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Elk heads made this month's Moutza easy
March 1, 2013
Is it possible that a husband and wife could win the coveted February Moutza of the Month award, for buying stupid stuffed elk heads with other people's money?
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Illinois Republicans: Get ready for Bruce Rauner
February 28, 2013
Bruce Rauner, the multimillionaire bull in the quaint Illinois Republican china shop, sat down with me Wednesday morning at a diner on LaSalle Street to talk about politics.
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Sky's the limit for sequester scare tactics
February 27, 2013
The sky is falling, the sky is falling. That's the message shrieked by President Barack Obama about those mandated federal spending cuts called "sequestration."
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Cardinal George: Is there now such a sea change in Western culture that people can't believe?
February 24, 2013
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago had gone through a long 16-hour day of meetings and travel, a day that began at 5 a.m., and it was just about 9 at night. He was tired, with one more meeting to go.
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Could you love a dog with a Steve Buscemi face? A dog with a face only Steve Buscemi could love
February 22, 2013
That dog with the face of Steve Buscemi has stuck in my mind and it won't leave.
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Jesse Jackson Jr. didn't read his own book: 'It's About the Money!'
February 21, 2013
There's no way America can fully understand the odd expenditures of guilty former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. — like those $7,058 stuffed elk heads — without reading a special book.
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Why is New York's Bloomberg butting into Chicago politics?
February 20, 2013
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is butting his way into Chicago politics like some Mayor Buttinski.
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Kass: Junior lacked discipline to make it in Chicago
February 17, 2013
This being Chicago, where political dynasties have their hands kissed by journalism and commerce, expect the following about former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, Sandi, the former 7th Ward alderman:
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President's visit anything but welcome for the Rahmfather
February 15, 2013
The big guy is coming to Chicago, and that can't be good for the not-as-big guy on the fifth floor of Chicago's City Hall.
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Kass: A Valentine's Day gift fit for a Khaleesi
February 14, 2013
Of all my dumb Valentine's Day gift ideas, today's offering is perhaps the best ever:
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Kass: Chicago's forgotten innocents need our attention too
February 13, 2013
Baron Banks wasn't in Washington to witness President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
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On this lonely street, nobody heard, nobody saw
February 10, 2013
In the hardscrabble burb of Schiller Park near O'Hare Airport, you'll find a street with a few two-flats and isolated houses, plenty of space between them. The kind of quiet block where everyone minds their business.
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First lady's attendance at Hadiya's funeral necessary and vital
February 8, 2013
Michelle Obama is not only first lady of the United States. She's also a mother of two young daughters. And she's coming home to the funeral of a girl who was killed in a park about a mile from the Obamas' Kenwood home.
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Secret drone strikes simplify Obama Doctrine
February 7, 2013
For years, scholars and journalists have struggled without much success to define the Obama Doctrine — the president's foreign policy principles.
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Kass: Symbolism buried with an imperfect shooting victim
February 6, 2013
Norman Dumone "Mone" Stokes wasn't the perfect poster child for victims of violence in Chicago.
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Oh, for a simpler Super Bowl, with gerbils shot from cannons
February 3, 2013
Do you ever wish for the simple Super Bowl days, the Super Bowls involving gerbils?
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The gang crisis: Emanuel owns it now
February 1, 2013
"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel a few years ago.
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Kass: Moutza of the Month — now with preferential treatment
January 31, 2013
Big Jim Thompson and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons insist there was no "preferential treatment" for formerly imprisoned former Gov. George Ryan.
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No pity, no ridicule for Ryan out loud
January 30, 2013
We'll probably want to reach for ridicule when the George Ryan media circus is finally unleashed upon us.
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Republicans trying to find their way should visit Illinois
January 27, 2013
With President Barack Obama embarking on his second term, the Republicans have proceeded through their stages of grief:
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This soldier's skill had nothing to do with gender
January 25, 2013
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a hunter.
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Making a pet project out of Neanderthals
January 24, 2013
In the most depressing scientific news in years, it turns out that the scheme to clone a Neanderthal baby is about as real as Manti Te'o's girlfriend.
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Doctor probes teen on guns in the home
January 23, 2013
In pro-gun-regulation Illinois — where politicians would rather play gun control politics than fight the murderous street gangs — a young man was admitted to the hospital.
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Possibilities, painful reality coexist in the virtual world
January 20, 2013
Notre Dame football hero Manti Te'o is denying he had anything to do with that hoax about his dead girlfriend who didn't exist.
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Praetorian Guard is key in Vanecko investigation
January 18, 2013
The Praetorian Guard of Chicago won't be part of the formal hearing Friday in what's now called the Vanecko case.
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Notre Dame hoax has more than its share of baloney
January 17, 2013
Now we know why Notre Dame's football hero Manti Te'o played so poorly against Alabama in the national championship game Jan. 7.
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At gathering of readers, neighbors made a bad week better
January 16, 2013
It's been a terrible week, not a week to entertain, or be cute or flip about anything.
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Jane Doe beaten to death in '11, deserves to be identified
January 13, 2013
Murder victims don't stop telling their stories. They continue speaking even after death. Not in words, but in healed broken bones and old wounds, or hair and teeth and fingernails.
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Spielberg stops 'Robopocalypse,' perhaps on orders of evil master robot
January 11, 2013
Robot-domination fans around the world are grieving now that Hollywood director Steven Spielberg has suspended production on the long-anticipated science fiction extravaganza "Robopocalypse."
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A new title for Burris: Professor
January 10, 2013
Ever want to learn how to become a politician? Then you can still sign up for the famed "Burris School of Politics."
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Kass: Chicago Way Casino — where pols can take to the pole
January 9, 2013
A sad comment on the cynicism around us is that some are scoffing at a beautiful idea:
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Any judge in Vanecko case should be judged — and 'scrubbed'
January 6, 2013
Within seconds of McHenry County Judge Maureen McIntyre being appointed to preside over Illinois' political heater manslaughter case on Friday, you could almost hear her being "scrubbed."
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'Zero Dark Thirty' nails it
January 4, 2013
You know the beginning and you know the end, but it's the way director Kathryn Bigelow tells the middle in her riveting movie "Zero Dark Thirty" that amazed me.
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Reality TV: How deep can it sink?
January 3, 2013
I can't believe I'm actually going to type the words "reality TV has hit a new low."
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John Kass: Remembering what matters on Christmas Eve
December 24, 2012
For all the children who should be loved always, but especially on this wondrous night, with our arms around them and a long good-night kiss on the temple, a kiss more precious than anything wrapped in a box.
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The Rahmfather gets 'Rahmfather' portrait
December 23, 2012
It's not every day that the ruthless mayor of Chicago, the Rahmfather, can be humbled and overcome by a spectacular Christmas gift presented by a newspaper columnist.
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As the world was about to end, I foolishly wrote this column
December 21, 2012
You're probably all dead — me too — swallowed by the Mayan apocalypse that many of us (foolishly) thought was utter nonsense, once.
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Don't do Dibs before it gets deep
December 20, 2012
The lack of measurable snowfall is but another sign of the apocalypse, yet snow it will and soon, and when it does, there is one thing you must understand.
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Tuesday jailbreak joins new chapter to colorful history of downtown lockup
December 19, 2012
There's something fascinating about jailbreaks, like the one that happened Tuesday when two bank robbers escaped the bleak federal lockup called the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
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Groping for explanations when there aren't any
December 16, 2012
As a parent, the only photo I could bear to look at from that slaughter at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut on Friday was that picture of a little boy and a little girl.
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Vicious cycle awaits little bike people
December 14, 2012
The Rahmfather probably won't be riding a Stingray bike with a banana seat, pulling back on his chrome ape hangers, popping wheelies down Dearborn Street on Friday with Cubs baseball cards in his spokes as all the little bike people of Chicago scream deliriously with joy.
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Time to stop spinning wheels on punishment for rogue cyclists
December 13, 2012
It's heartbreaking to see how the little bicycle people treat their benefactor, Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
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Outside judge could clear dirty air surrounding Vanecko case
December 12, 2012
Chicago is such a political town that it's only natural that public cynicism is growing over whether a Cook County judge should preside over the highly political manslaughter case against R.J. Vanecko.
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Pistol-packing lawmaker deserves a high-caliber nickname
December 7, 2012
What's worse for a distinguished, pro-gun-control Chicago politician who sports a cool goatee and an always-natty wardrobe:
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Juror bristles over Emanuel's move to erase 'code of silence' verdict
December 6, 2012
Many in Chicago were upset when they heard Mayor Rahm Emanuel was cutting a deal over the federal civil jury's decision involving the big cop who beat the tiny female bartender.
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Let the sun shine on Chicago Way
December 5, 2012
The phrase "code of silence" sounds dry, like that powder cops use to dust for fingerprints. But now, politically, it's not dry any longer.
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Silence painful as Koschman's mom speaks
December 4, 2012
The terrible part wasn't what Nanci Koschman said about the nephew of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley who was finally indicted Monday in the death of her son.
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Surprise in Koschman case -- well-connected suspect charged
December 3, 2012
This doesn’t happen in Chicago: the nephew of former Mayor Richard Daley facing a charge of involuntary manslaughter in a case that was either ignored or bungled by local cops and local prosecutors for years.
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A street corner, a fight and a case that won't go away
December 2, 2012
On the corner of Division and Dearborn, the shadows creep up the fronts of buildings as a neighborhood changes its skin.
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Rep. Highlife, a 'Lotto' disappointment and tat boy wonder
November 30, 2012
Another Chicago politician has been indicted, this one for bank fraud after he allegedly burned through hundreds of thousands of dollars that weren't his on casino gambling, car loans and other high-rolling pursuits.
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Thankfully Chicago women have both feet on the ground
November 29, 2012
This column scares the heck out of me.
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Deep-seated doubts about Jesse Jr.'s seat
November 28, 2012
That horde of candidates in the 2nd District trying to succeed former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Bud Light, is a wondrous sight.
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Here's one hot potato issue that's tasty to solve
November 17, 2012
No matter what all those fuzzy-thinking idealists say, America remains a nation divided.
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Likability's labor lost
November 16, 2012
Is the Rahmfather of Chicago — Mayor Rahm Emanuel — his own worst enemy?
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Greedy voters banished from Chumbolone Nation
November 15, 2012
Can an entire congressional district — like the one that just re-elected federally challenged U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Bud Light — be exiled from Chumbolone Nation?
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Sweet stench of Petraeus scandal shouldn't mask the stink of Benghazi
November 14, 2012
U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith. Former Navy SEAL commandos Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
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No happy tears in this political drama
November 11, 2012
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a big crybaby.
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Isn't it time for a TV show about a South Side political dynasty?
November 9, 2012
Now that the elections are over, what's good on TV?
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The next election already: Bill Daley serious about running for governor
November 8, 2012
Illinois Gov. William Daley.
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Optimism of 2008 replaced with dishing out 'revenge'
November 7, 2012
With the economy still in shambles and millions out of work or underemployed, President Barack Obama was still able to celebrate re-election on Tuesday. But the man from Chicago paid a price.
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Thanks, voters, for caring enough to argue
November 7, 2012
To every American who argued and fought and squabbled, day after day during this long and often bitter presidential election, I'd just like to say one thing:
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The mighty fine state of our political system
November 4, 2012
My fellow taxpaying chumbolones. With only days before Tuesday's election — between a big-government Republican and a big-big-big-really-big-government Democrat — why don't we wrap things up?
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It's Romney by a head
November 2, 2012
There's only one race in America that matters, and we have the exclusive on the winner:
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The moutza is for what really bugs us
November 1, 2012
Is it bad manners to give the moutza to a dead man who killed himself by cockroach?
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Sandy swoops in to save Obama
October 31, 2012
What a difference a storm named Sandy makes, eh, Mr. President?
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A little escapism — with social conscience thrown in
October 28, 2012
Some time back, I put out a call for your favorite political movies.
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Change in Madiganistan starts at home
October 26, 2012
Wind-swept Madiganistan, that arid economic wasteland once known as Illinois, is in absolute ruins.
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Benghazi not as sexy as Trump, Allred
October 25, 2012
What news stories are perching up high on the top rocks, screeching down at undecided voters with less than two weeks left in a long presidential campaign?
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Don't monkey around with Facebook
October 24, 2012
There's nothing quite like a world-renowned neuroscientist Facebooking about the lack of hot chicks who study the brain.
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Watch the debate or get yer mouth shut
October 22, 2012
Chicago has a TV choice to make tonight, between a presidential debate on foreign policy and that Bears-Lions game at Soldier Field on “Monday Night Football.”
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Illinois a thankless land when it comes to heroes
October 21, 2012
When former Republican Gov. George Ryan gets out of prison, it'll be a big story, and his pal and former Gov. Big Jim Thompson will put an arm around old George and they'll pose for the victory photograph.
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A tax on politicians? It's an offer they can't refuse
October 19, 2012
American politicians are always on the lookout for "new sources of revenue," which sounds a lot nicer than "sinking their fangs into our necks." But however you describe it, they just can't stop sucking our blood with their unending tax increases on the national, state and local levels.
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For Madigan Democrats, there is such a thing as a free lunch
October 18, 2012
Finally, in the sea of envy that is Illinois politics — with all those nasty, mean and negative campaign ads — we have some heartwarming news to report.
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In next debate, remember Benghazi
October 14, 2012
By the time President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney meet in their second debate Tuesday, what happened last week in the vice presidential debate should be almost forgotten.
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The gift, the girl and the firefighter
October 12, 2012
The girl and the firefighter lived in the same part of town, the Mount Greenwood neighborhood on the Far Southwest Side of Chicago, a neighborhood of cops, firefighters and city workers.
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Droopy Chia candidates get a do-over
October 11, 2012
I have terrible news to report to Chumbolone Nation (aka American taxpayers) in the matter of the presidential Chia Heads.
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The other side of the emergency room curtain
October 10, 2012
When you're in the ER alone, do you ever listen to what happens on the other side of the curtain? And afterward, what do you tell yourself about what you've heard?
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Forget the debate: Happy days (for Obama) are here again
October 7, 2012
The presidential campaign is over. So pack it up, Mitt Romney. Forget about that post-debate bump in the polls. Just find a dog, put it on the roof and drive away.
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Combine boss William Cellini gets prison, but all he'll miss is baseball season
October 5, 2012
Combine boss William Cellini sat at the defense table, blinking, head bowed, a tiny man who was Mr. Big in Illinois politics, waiting, finally, for what was coming to him.
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FBI gives Chicago student a peek at his potential
October 4, 2012
Jeremy Clark is a serious young man from a serious neighborhood: Roseland on the South Side, the kind of place most of you see only from a distance, in a crime story.
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Reverse Mortgage Guy could win this debate
October 3, 2012
As we prepare for the great debate between President Barack Obama (blessed be his name) and that guy with the Mr. Fantastic Four haircut unloved by the media, I ask you to keep someone in mind:
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Kass: Have mercy, your honor, for Illinois
September 30, 2012
To the Honorable U.S. District Judge James Zagel
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Schoolchildren's stomachs rumble; drama queens grumble
September 28, 2012
As nominations poured in for the stupendous Moutza of the Month award for September, President Barack Obama was avoiding meeting with world leaders because he had something more important to do: hang out on daytime TV with the ladies of "The View."
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Turning away when sacrilege purports to be art
September 27, 2012
Politics is by nature a brutalizing business. It is a business of ambition and lies. Stay around it too long, and your heart becomes coarsened. It thickens and gets numb.
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Chia Obama vs. Chia Romney: May the best greenfro win
September 26, 2012
The campaign for president is so close, so mean and nasty, what with Democrats and Republicans each denigrating the other guy's poll numbers, that there is only one thing Americans can do.
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Obama's pricey gaffe that's worth talking about
September 23, 2012
Under President Barack Obama, the national debt has ballooned past the $16 trillion mark — a number once inconceivable — and is growing by the second as the federal leviathan feeds on borrowed money.
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Kassopedia: The cure for Verpes, Rahmifications and Karen Lewis Withdrawal Syndrome
September 21, 2012
As I light my pipe, take up my quill pen and sheepskin and once again prepare to write another volume of The Kassopedia — the repository of the world's great knowledge — I'm reminded of a snarky reader.
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May I have this dance, sweetheart? ACLU says no.
September 20, 2012
Every so often I have this odd fantasy: that I join the American Civil Liberties Union and its fight for free speech.
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Strike lessons learned
September 19, 2012
What are the lessons learned from the Chicago Teachers Union strike and its battle with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and what does the future look like going forward?
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We want justice in the Middle East — but we're tired of war
September 16, 2012
What do Americans want done with killers in Libya who murdered U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others on Sept. 11, our national day of mourning?
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With bitter campaign in full swing, you need to watch some movies
September 14, 2012
What are the three most important films for American voters to watch as we prepare for Election Day in November?
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Rahmpelstiltskin could come out any day now
September 13, 2012
If the striking Chicago teachers wanted to see the mayor as some angry Rahmpelstiltskin — stamping his feet in those in curly-toed boots, shrieking to be paid for spinning all that straw into gold — they'll have to wait a few more days.
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CPS kids would need vouchers to attend 'unreal' schools
September 12, 2012
When Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis led her members out on strike this week, she said real school would be closed.
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Rhetoric can't mask unemployment numbers
September 9, 2012
So now we know why President Barack Obama was so flat and desperate in his important convention speech from Charlotte, N.C., last week. It wasn't from the strain of comparing himself to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Democratic holy ghost of the federal leviathan.
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The trouble with Obama's rhetoric: It bites the man who reads it
September 7, 2012
Once it was all about "hope and change."
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Things get a little foggy for Democrats in Charlotte
September 6, 2012
When President Barack Obama asked stoners Harold & Kumar to help with his message, the inevitable was bound to happen.
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Rahmfather, please come home. And get the good chips.
September 5, 2012
In what someday may be considered a stroke of absolute genius, President Barack Obama has decided to send Mayor Rahm Emanuel back home to watch TV in Chicago.
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Schools chief Brizard, the mayor's human shield
September 2, 2012
Before there was a looming teachers strike and before the mayor had to go through Friday's charade of giving Chicago Public Schools frontman Jean-Claude Brizard a vote of confidence, the schoolmaster was engaging in social networking.
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Romney hopes to harness disappointment in Obama
August 31, 2012
Mitt Romney wasn't speaking to the delegates at the Republican convention in Tampa on Thursday night.
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When it comes to Prentice, don't sacrifice the future to save the past
August 30, 2012
Every day I come to work and look up at our building, at the neo-Gothic splendor of the Tribune Tower, a landmark and protected icon, part of the old in an ever-changing city famous for her crooked politicians and her amazing architecture.
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Romney, as extreme as grilled cheese and tomato soup
August 29, 2012
Psst. Mitt Romney is some kind of conservative extremist.
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A naked prince and Preacher Joe. Who wins the Moutza? Nah!
August 26, 2012
It's not every day that a Moutza of the Month comes with a free online video demonstrating how to flick your fingers and palm and say "Nah!" as you aim the ancient Hellenic curse at some deserving moron. But more on that later.
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Republicans afraid of the storm? Come to Chicago
August 24, 2012
With Tropical Storm Isaac threatening to turn into a hurricane and menace the Republican National Convention in Tampa early next week, Republicans must make a decision.
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Taxing bikers: The wheels begin to spin
August 23, 2012
Good news, beleaguered taxpayers! A consensus is building in support of our plan to collect revenue from the One Percenters of the Commuter Class — the bicyclists who pay nothing, not even fines when they zoom past stop signs, as politicians smooch their sweaty behinds.
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Introducing bike tolls and the Rahm-PASS
August 22, 2012
The thousands of Chicago bicyclists who've been pedaling to work each morning better finally realize something.
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For all that's changed, at Istanbul church, all is the same
April 15, 2012
At midnight a single flame is brought forth in the darkened and ancient church of St. George and quickly it is shared, candle by candle, until all is illuminated.
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2 weeks, 2 countries, now time to come home
April 14, 2012
Before heading home after two weeks on the road, it was clear that I needed a shave and a haircut.
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Izmir bears testament to the procession of civilizations
April 13, 2012
IZMIR, Turkey — My grandfathers called this port city Smyrna, but the name of it came out of their mouths with regret and pain, because they remembered it as a Greek city, and the great fire and the unspeakable things that happened as the Greeks tried to run when the Turks took it in the 1920s.
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Tea, politics and tears mix in Turkey's capital
April 12, 2012
— This capital city is like all other capital cities: It is about power and reach.
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With faith and hope, Turkey builds a new identity
April 11, 2012
The kind and gracious man has many visitors waiting and piles of paperwork on his desk that require his attention, as his is a working office and ministering to millions across the world takes up so much of his time.
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Saying goodbye to Greece — as hordes of young people do the same
April 10, 2012
— I traveled to Greece to see the land of my fathers, to see its beauty and its economic crisis firsthand.
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Going home to Rizes
April 8, 2012
RIZES, Greece — When I mention our family's village in Greece, I usually write that Rizes is the most beautiful village in the universe.
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In Greece, books beat rocks
April 6, 2012
ATHENS, Greece — It is easy to throw a rock, and there have been plenty thrown here lately, a common ritual, almost not newsworthy, with the anarchists and hooligans smashing big pieces of marble and throwing the chunks at police, at the government, at each other.
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A suicide, an angry protest, and a nation in agony
April 5, 2012
— The old man, reportedly ill with cancer and exhausted by the agony devouring Greece, just couldn't take it anymore.
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John Kass at scene of angry Athens protest
April 4, 2012
ATHENS -- It all started Wednesday morning when a man in Constitution Square reportedly shouted that he didn't want to leave his children in debt and then fatally shot himself in the head.
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While Parthenon glows, pain and despair overshadow Athens
April 4, 2012
At night with all but a full moon overhead, the Parthenon is lit and golden, almost a place of dreams as it sits there on that high rock over the city.
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Not all of Blagojevich's missteps were criminal, some were just stupid
March 15, 2012
There he was outside his Chicago bungalow Wednesday, well-coiffed and determined to star in his own crazed fantasy, the Prisoner of Zenda giving us the long goodbye.
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Federal immigration official warns Preckwinkle about policy
January 12, 2012
The nation's top immigration official has written a stern warning to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle about her policy that allowed Saul Chavez to skip bail and run out on felony charges.
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A long prison term — and a stern warning
December 8, 2011
In sentencing the second consecutive Illinois governor to prison on political corruption charges on Wednesday, federal Judge James Zagel prodded the people of this corrupt state to reclaim their birthright.
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It's not where you start, but where you finish
December 7, 2011
There were two Judge Zagels in the cavernous ceremonial federal courtroom on the 25th floor, each looking down on upon one desperate Rod Blagojevich.
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Kass: Ozzie's leaving with a hole in his heart
September 27, 2011
It wasn't like going to the doctor and he tells you some bad news. It wasn't like being called into the boss' office, thinking he's going to drop a promotion in your lap and instead he tosses you a pink slip.
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Union bosses love taxpayers' wallets
September 22, 2011
What if lawmakers passed a bill that allowed two dozen hand-picked political insiders to fan out across the state and walk up to you and demand your cash?
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Rich and me: How we fell out
May 5, 2011
For two decades you've known Richard M. Daley as mayor and boss of Chicago. As a columnist, I've been his chief critic. But there are a few things you probably don't know about the mayor and me.
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When Daley defeated his 'Mayor Chucky'
April 30, 2011
At a news conference in 2009, Mayor Richard Daley battled with his inner Mayor Chucky.
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Weis talks uniforms, politics, case of Daley's nephew
March 30, 2011
Former Chicago police Superintendent Jody Weis said Tuesday that the 2004 death of David Koschman — after a confrontation in the Rush Street nightclub area with a nephew of Mayor Richard Daley's — should be reinvestigated by an independent law enforcement agency.
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Looking back at when race clouded City Hall
September 19, 2010
Will Chicago once again become the city of tribes, racial and otherwise?
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What's the stupidest thing Daley has ever said?
May 21, 2010
One of the great debates in American politics can be summed up with this question:
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Emanuel as the successor to Daley is a scary thought
April 21, 2010
The American media is absolutely turgid with emotion over White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's ambitious plan to become mayor of Chicago once Mayor Richard Daley leaves office.
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Lottery commercial redefines joy in spirit of Chicago Way
December 10, 2009
When it comes to greetings during the Winter Shopping Spree vaguely associated with the 25th of December, I guess I'm hopelessly old-fashioned.
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Numbers could add up for downstate guy in race
November 13, 2009
State Sen. Bill Brady, the Bloomington Republican running for governor in the Illinois Republican primary, isn't your typical lawyer politician.
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Hope smokes eternal when it's Chia-grown
September 11, 2009
It sure is a good thing that the bumper Hopium crop from my Obama Chia heads has finally come in.
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Honor freedom with a beer can, chicken
July 1, 2009
Nothing quite says 4th of July -- and American independence from unreasonable taxation and those intrusive federal regulations -- like a chicken with a beer can stuck up its behind, roasting silently over wood charcoal.
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To raise loyal fans, try tough parenting
June 18, 2009
Here are perhaps the two most important questions in the known universe:
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Outfit's faithful reader has many a puzzle to ponder
February 5, 2009
One of my loyal readers, Chicago mob boss James Marcello—captured on grainy federal recordings eating salty corn chips while discussing my column—will be sentenced in the "Family Secrets" case on Thursday.
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Fear, not passion, drove Outfit killer
February 3, 2009
Even Outfit hit men have feelings.
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Don't ask mayor to discuss 'Secrets'
February 3, 2009
As Outfit killer Nick Calabrese was testifying Wednesday about murders, about the killings of gangsters Tony and Michael Spilotro, about Tony asking to say a prayer before dying and about holy pictures burning in Nick's cupped hands during an Outfit "making" ceremony, someone else was burning, too.
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Mob boss' tale offers peek at city's 'secrets'
January 29, 2009
With the national media finally interested in Illinois corruption, it's too bad they were focused on Springfield's dancing monkey show and not on what happened in a federal courtroom in Chicago on Wednesday.
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Chicago cop's acquittal in Iowa fight is long overdue, but appreciated
October 1, 2008
Great news from baseball-loving Iowa:
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Chicago cop in Iowa prison while drunk is on the loose
August 3, 2008
Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis and Cook County State's Atty. Dick Devine have asked Iowa Gov. Chet Culver for justice in the case of Chicago cop Mike Mette.
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There's no real justice in Iowa politics
January 4, 2008
The assault on the people of Iowa by national politicians telling them what they want to hear is now over and done.
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Bad PR for officers claims wrong man
November 1, 2007
What do you talk about when you're driving your son to prison?
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Self-defense is, inexplicably, no defense
October 28, 2007
On Sunday, Bob Mette and his son, Mike, 30, will go to the game at Soldier Field to watch the Bears play the Lions. On Monday, Bob will drive Mike to Iowa, to prison. Mike Mette, until recently a Chicago police officer, is scheduled to begin serving a 5-year prison sentence.His crime? According to the judge's ruling, Mike threw one punch at an angry drunk who chased Mike down the street and attacked him verbally, physically, repeatedly.
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Outfit's fate signed, sealed, delivered
September 30, 2007
The letter that spilled the Outfit's Family Secrets arrived at the Chicago offices of the FBI in November 1998.
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Case closed, but coffin on Outfit isn't
September 28, 2007
Is the Chicago Outfit dead, now that the historic Family Secrets trial has ended?
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Without feds, we'd never hear the 'lies'
September 12, 2007
Federal prosecutor Mitchell Mars was telling the jury about a litany of 18 Outfit murders -- solved by federal investigators, not locals -- and he put several corpses at the feet of convicted mobster Frank Calabrese Sr.
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Required reading: Closing argument
August 31, 2007
As the Family Secrets trial was put into the hands of the jury, City Hall offered up poetic symmetry in choosing a book for all Chicagoans to read as part of its One-Book-One-Chicago program:
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Why I can't let 'Family Secrets' slide
August 30, 2007
There was a break in the courtroom action at the Chicago Outfit trial called Family Secrets, so I took a walk outside the federal building, wondering how to explain my obsession to you.
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Luck of the Irish won't be with Outfit
August 29, 2007
The last thing you'd expect at the Outfit trial would be a big green shamrock next to Jimmy Marcello's name.
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Finally, wronged cop gets some support
July 22, 2007
Michael Mette -- the young Chicago police officer sentenced to an Iowa prison for 5 years for the crime of defending himself against an angry drunk in Dubuque -- wanted to thank the readers of this column.
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Mob trial hits on badge, buried secrets
June 22, 2007
How do 18 Chicago Outfit murders remain unsolved for decades?
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News about us is just part of the news
April 3, 2007
A.fter a week of a relaxing family vacation, watching the cherry blossoms pop in Washington, D.C., I came back to work to the news that Tribune Co. had been sold and the Cubs are up for sale.
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It's end of the run for fugitive mobster
December 18, 2005
The union boss slipped into a booth in a restaurant on Jackson Boulevard. He was wearing a federal wire, trembling, as the waitress brought over some ice water.
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Mayor swayed by shiny objects, such as badges
May 5, 2005
Mayor Richard Daley is an extremely complex man. He's been Mayor Little Big Man, Mayor Fredo, Mayor Idunno, Mayor Details, Mayor Fedheimers and Mayor Queeg.
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Mob charges tell a story, but more isn't told
April 26, 2005
How could the Chicago Outfit prosper and survive without the help of corrupt local police, politicians and judges?
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Hull learning nothing fair in Illinois politics
February 29, 2004
Blair Hull is the multimillionaire Democrat spending his own cash to campaign for the U.S. Senate in Illinois.
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Small talk ends when GOP boss' name comes up
January 29, 2004
Illinois Republicans campaigning to replace outgoing U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) got a bit testy with each other during a Tribune editorial board meeting Wednesday.
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Bring on lights, camera--we've got mob action
November 5, 2003
If you care about movies, you've probably noticed that Illinois politicians from the mayor to the governor have been eagerly promoting Chicago as a setting for Hollywood movies.
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This Sox fan leads cheers: Ozzie! Ozzie!
October 29, 2003
With Ozzie Guillen coming to town Wednesday to interview for the job of manager of the Chicago White Sox, I hope Sox boss Jerry Reinsdorf remembers what he owes me.
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DNA test could have Outfit guys grinding teeth
August 6, 2003
Discovering a human tooth in Bridgeport is like finding a seashell at the seashore: Find a seashell, and chances are that you're at the beach.
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FBI digs not just for body, but for mob secrets too
July 30, 2003
When the FBI began carefully digging on the edge of the parking lot at White Sox park on Tuesday, they were looking for:
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One witness at a time, feds turning up heat
June 6, 2003
With her nice black suit and pearls at her throat, Andrea Coutretsis Prokos, political girlfriend and alleged perjurer, was properly dressed for federal court.
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Outfit bosses dive for cover as enforcer talks
February 21, 2003
Until recently, the bosses of the Chicago Outfit felt relatively safe, with their connections in politics and local law enforcement.
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Time to bury dead, take care of living
September 12, 2001
As this horrible morning breaks, as the first light falls on New York and Washington, falling on the rubble covering thousands of Americans murdered by terrorists, we are confronted by our obligations.
