I gave the 'Working Man's Pal: The New Chicago Sun Times a day off yesterday to praise good people - The Leo Men who went the extra mile for a Foundation that fights childhood brain tumors. Not a very 'edgey' story, but it got a lot of hits according to my nifty new SITE METER.
Today, the paper that seems determined to get Chicagoans ( once solidly divided by race and mistrust in Law Enforcement) to take to the streets with wild outrage over alleged police abuse, scams and hand-wringing about God knows what is back at it. It seems that this paper is not content unless a Durkin Park incident takes places everyday - giving oaffish, unelectable political hacks something to wring hands over and snuggly judge working people's hearts.
E.G. Today's issue:
Daley attends Sharpton Rally that Sharpton does not attend
Police kill youth for no reason after chasing him for a year - a year??? That is some run. Shot in the back - Coroner's Inquest on speed dial???
Taser Guy's Mom and Jackson - oddly, the neighbors ( just around the corner from LEo H.S. BTW) seem to think that the Police of the 6th District handled things very well. Any Sun Times reporters talk to the working women and men on Green Street?
Consequences for Individual and Collective Action? That is what Jon Loevy and the Lotto Ticket Lawyers are for.
I'm reminded of the Chicago Way column and the aftermath. Tom Mc Namee wrote:
In a column July 23, I argued that a Deerfield mom and dad who have been found guilty by a jury of turning a blind eye to underage drinking at their house should not have to do jail time.
As horrible as the consequences of their bad judgment were -- two kids died in a booze-soaked car crash after leaving the party -- I argued it's enough that the parents, Jeffrey and Sara Hutsell, stand to lose a fortune in civil suits, must live with the shame and scorn, and will struggle forever (assuming they are sufficiently human) with the guilt.
The consequences of human decisions and actions (or omissions) are Horrible, but the Consequences incubant upon those actions, omissions and decisions are no big deal. Facing those consequences seems too much for the new editorial agenda of The Chicago Sun Times
The Women and Men who protect our communities are villified at every opportunity and the phonies and monsters are portrayed as community activists. The very people inciting a mob action on the West Side the other night, many it seems with ties to drug-lords and Vice Lord middle management, are given hozzannas and huzzahs!
Working people do not live that way. A much more gifted writer and thinker than your humble dope from the neighborhoods, Dan Proft, wrote a wonderful summary of the CST Group thought and its author Cyrus Friedham:
Cyrus Freidheim, the CEO of the Sun-Times Media Group, is the subject of a grand jury probe and 173 wrongful death suits related to his previous tenure as CEO of Chiquita Brands International during which some $1.7 million in payments were made by the banana-producer to a U.S. State Department-designated terrorist group in Colombia.
Invoking the “working class” on behalf of a paper run by Herr Freidheim, a morally ambiguous corporatista, is a Kristi Yamaguchi-caliber rhetorical salchow.
While Ms. Reed is slashing facts and reason from the editorial pages of the Sun-Times like Cyrus Freidheim through a Colombian rain forest, someone might also let her know that “Bush’s War” to which she referred was supported by more than 70% of the U.S. Congress, including by reputed “liberal, working class” icons Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.
A Cincinnati Post has this:
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070802/BIZ/708020340
Jeepers, others think that CST is not worth a husky and hard earned half-a-buck!
My Dad always said that a good litmus test for how I was doing with my life would be to look around at the people who call me friend ( black, white, Asian, Pacific Islander, a veritable cornucopia of diversity - how's that happen?). Being a good guy, an adequate father, a solid employee, a sympathetic natured neighbor, grudging Mass attender, a thoughtful driver, and respectful citizen is very hard work, but it is worth the effort. I am blessed.
Working people do not look for someone to blame or bring to court to clean the slate of their lives; 90% of all Chicagoans do just that. A newspaper should reflect the people it wants to hawk papers to and respect the conduct of their lives.
I associate with some great people.
Sun Times Editorial Board and faun-like complicit writers - like the company you keep?
Hickey Fairness Doctrine:
Outstanding Sports Coverage! Brilliant Cartoonist in Jack Higgins - quit outsourcing to hacks! Franie Spielman - hard-working newsie! Neil Steinberg - the last sane man! Steve Huntley - Solid Work
http://www.humanevents.com/search.php?author_name=Dan%20Proft