Diary of a Newspaper Hawk

The rains soaked every ounce of this city, most of which landed in my bones. Ain't coffee that I need, but more rest. Papers won't sell themselves tomorrow. But, I'm sick, bedridden, barely focused enough to use my laptop. The news has been a wild lot lately. With John McCain's campaign surging, with a woman helping him lead, I cannot help but think Barack Obama might be worried. It looks like he hasn't got this campaign and the media as wrapped up in bed like it looks. Of course, we need Obama out of Illinois if we want a real man (or woman) in the Senate again. Old Obama has been chasing the White House so much he forgot he has a day job as a senator. I mean, who does he think he is, Carol Moseley Braun? That's true incompetence . Carlos Zambrano threw a no hitter for the Cubbies. Chicago had a half marathon yesterday, as wet as the rest of the city. This was the 2008 Banco Popular Chicago Half Marathon. I gotta give a salute to those crazy runners who decid...

I sat in a restaurant watching the Cubs. It occurred to me how often I do this now. It helps the Cubbies are winning, but the places are smoke free now. I'm sinking my cash into joints I'd never go to five years ago. No griping from the tobacco addicts. No one says you can't smoke. Just do it outside. Chicago needs more pollution if we're going to beat Beijing in the Olympics. Smokers, you go ahead, light up until the clouds are dark, and windows are covered with a yellow dinge. We can't do this alone. Of course, we need to get the Olympics first. Daley's on it. And, more importantly, Cubbies are up 5.5 games and the White Sox are clinging to a 0.5 game lead. We'll take it. The News Meanwhile, nepotism is hitting the streets again. Barack Obama mentor Illinois Senate President Emil Jones is trying to get his kid into politics . Cook County boss John Stroger (now deceased) put his son into office too. There's a new political machine in town, and it looks ...

The news is sad. Although the Olympics started amazingly (Mayor Daley cameos throughout), the morning's joy is squashed by the death of Bernie Mac . He had his ups and down. The Bernie Mac Show was a class act. His support of Barack Obama gave us some low notes. But, he was through and through a Chicago man. White Sox fan to the hilt. Rest in peace, Bernard Jeffrey McCollough. Bernie Mac, I'll miss you.

Big news. Not exactly fresh, but it should be. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn died. A real man, and real writer, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970 because of books like One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich , and later wrote The Gulag Archipelago . To the punks who think they know what freedom is, read what not having freedom looks like. The News Two words: World Series. We dream it. Two teams, one city, one series. Let's duke it out. Might be. Could be. But will it be? Hopefully, if Harry Caray is in Heaven (and no one is taking bets on that one), I hope he whispers to God to let it happen. Democrat Arenda Troutman. What Chicago be without a corrupt Democrat in the news? Speaking apparently of herself as well as others (Clients? -- I hope not), she was recorded on tape saying, "Most aldermen, most politicians are hos." The Chicago Sun-Times writes that she guilty , having "admitted to taking bribes and extorting developers seeking zoning preferences....

While politics continues to be run by salary girls and imbeciles, we have two decent baseball teams. I don't mean the Kane County Cougars. Something bright. The News Jerome Holtzman, Dean Of Chicago Baseball Writers, Dies At 82 Not so bright. Sad. He knew the Chicago Cubbies and White Sox as well as could be known. Time to read No Cheering in the Press Box . There's no cheering tonight.

Our early leaders, though war ached their hearts, stood fast against tyranny in favor of freedom. Do our leaders now have the same sober valor? originally posted here: Let Freedom Ring! The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-...

Gas prices aren't that high. Are you a taxi driver? No? Barely making ends meet? No? Then quit yapping about how bad the gas pump is. I get it. Higher than ever. But the gas isn't anything like the hot air people have coming on that life is now hard. What are you paying more a month? $100? Sure, burning through $100 a month is not unimportant, and adds up at year's end, but Henny Penny 's sky didn't fall as fast as yours. The News Rush Limbaugh just signed on for eight more years . What does this mean? All those smug people who hate George W Bush might have John McCain as their next president, or Barack Obama is bound to be a one-term president. Either way, Limbaugh's getting the money because he has lots of listeners. How many? $400 million worth. Chicago White Sox are kicking tail . Cubbies too. Both are 2.5 games into first place. Ol' Hawk was getting some laundry done when the counter maven groused about the success of the Cubs. I told her that any true ...