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Daughter of imprisoned IL Governor pens raw open letter to ‘spineless’ Obama for not pardoning her father January 27, 2017 | Carmine Sabia | The daughter of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich laced into former President Barack Obama for not pardoning her father who is in prison for corruption. Amy Blagojevich, 20, called the former president “spineless” for not commuting her father’s sentence as he did for American traitor Chelsea Manning. “You’ve betrayed the concept of justice like many other heartless individuals have done before you. I thought you were different. I thought you had a moral compass. Turns out...

You’ve heard about the “American carnage.” But how bad is it out there, really? Pretty horrible, actually. I am referring of course to what was probably the most memorable phrase in President Donald Trump’s inaugural address. Here it is in context: “Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public.

Republican Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger charged on CNN's New Day Friday that President Donald Trump was undermining America’s electoral system and Constitution by calling for a review of voter rolls in search of evidence for massive voter fraud. "This basically undermines the idea of an election, this undermines the Constitution," said Kinzinger, a frequent critic of Trump’s policy who refused to endorse him during the election.

“Everyone seems to be mourning your exit from office,” Amy wrote in the lengthy screed, posted on her mom Patti’s Facebook page. “I’m glad you’re gone. I’m not delusional — you’re not a saint. You were a mediocre president with unoriginal ideas.” “I thought you would finally right this wrong,” she told Obama. “You didn’t have to pardon him, only commute the sentence. You just had to let him come home. You didn’t. You released others, like Chelsea Manning or FALN terrorists, who actually committed reprehensible crimes, but you failed to release an innocent man.”

SHEPERDSTOWN, WV—U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Democratic Whip and Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, today issued the following statement after President Donald Trump signed executive orders cracking down on immigrant communities, that, among other things, dramatically increase the number of immigration agents and strip federal funding from communities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.   “Creating a mass deportation force and depriving cities of millions of dollars in critical federal funding will make our communities and nation less safe,” said Senator Durbin. “After railing against the use of executive power, President Trump is bypassing Congress...

I’ve long since lost track of how many stories we’ve covered here about the skyrocketing murder rate and gang violence problems in the Windy City. (Talk about American carnage.) It seems that the new President hasn’t forgotten about it either and he took to Twitter this week to deliver something of an ultimatum to Mayor Rahm Emanuel… get your crime problem under control or I’m going to fix it for you. This is obviously a move designed to pick a fight with a high profile Democrat while reinforcing his plans to bolster law enforcement, so it’s going to lead...

President Trump on Tuesday evening threatened to send government officials to the Windy City if the Democratic mayor and city police cannot turn around the city's rocketing homicide rate. "If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!" Trump tweeted around 9:30 p.m. EST Tuesday. Gun-related violence in Chicago is outpacing the same period in 2016, which was one of the most deadly years for the city in recent history. From Jan. 1 through Monday, 37 people were killed and 250 people were...

At the Modern Language Association (MLA) annual convention in Philadelphia this year, we got to see some of the "Creative Responses to Black Lives Matter." They included: • A filmed street theater presentation on "The Shooting of Africa," presented by Kimberly Welch of UCLA, and featuring actors with signs. • A group called #Justice for Flint, that did a rap & music video which featured such lyrics as "Flintstones, yabba dabba do is a negro spiritual" and "Ready for your poison, the girls and boys in…," which was presented by Elizabeth Anne "Betsy" Wheeler of the University of Oregon. •...

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 1m1 minute ago More If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!

<p>Shootings and homicides in Chicago are higher than this time last January, a month that marked the deadliest start to a year in the city in nearly two decades.</p> <p>As of early Monday, at least 228 people had been shot in Chicago so far this year, a 5.5 percent increase from the 216 shot in the same period time last year. There have been at least 42 homicides, up 23.5 percent from the 34 homicides from the same period in 2016.</p>

Just as Chicago is moving ahead with new technology that could help reduce gunfire deaths, Congress and the Illinois Senate are considering misguided bills that could shoot Chicago’s effort to pieces by making gun silencers easily available. Chicago’s new technology, called ShotSpotter, alerts police as soon as bullets start flying, instead of making them wait for a phone call. Officers can respond more quickly — sometimes within seconds. By arriving faster, detectives are more likely to find witnesses, and crime scene personnel have a better chance of scooping up evidence, such as shell casings. Victims can get medical care faster....

A Northwestern University freshman who recently came out as transgender tried to join a sorority this month, yearning for deeper friendships on campus. The case is unusual because the student is a transgender man, born with a female body but identifying as male, and already beginning to make that transition. Eighteen-year-old Adam Davies said he was drawn to the tenets of Greek life — philanthropy, bonding and leadership — but that with his changing body he might not feel comfortable living in a fraternity

A badly burned body found on the floor of a River North parking garage early Tuesday has been identified as a 60-year-old real estate attorney, officials said. Louis S. Cohen, 60, was of the 200 block of Ivy Lane in Highland Park, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy Wednesday was pending and did not determine a cause and manner for Cohen’s death, the office said. Just before 6 a.m. Tuesday, police and fire crews responded to a fire in the 11th floor of a parking garage in the 300 block of North LaSalle Drive and found...

At least 39 people have been shot across Chicago over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend, leaving 10 dead. The latest killing happened at 11:36 a.m. Monday in the West Side Austin neighborhood, where a vehicle pulled up to 24-year-old Allante Elmore on a porch near his home in the 4800 block of West Hubbard, and shot him repeatedly, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died.

The most important statement in the Justice Department’s damning report on the Chicago Police Department has nothing to do with police behavior. Released on Friday, the report found the Chicago police guilty of a “pattern or practice” of unconstitutional force. But it turns out that the Justice Department has no standard for what constitutes a “pattern or practice” (the phrase comes from a 1994 federal statute) of unconstitutional police conduct. “Statistical evidence is not required” for a “pattern or practice” finding, the DOJ lawyers announce, citing unrelated court precedent. Nor is there “a specific number of incidents” required to constitute...

I re-read Barack Obama's autobiography. I revisited the book to help me think through Obama's relationship with Chicago, and what his departure means for our since he's not coming back here. I found a lot of reminders that as much as Chicago loves to claim Obama as its own, he was never really ours. Obama settled in Chicago by happenstance. He wanted to be a community organizer and he couldn't find a job anywhere else. He arrived in 1985 at the age of 24. He'd already lived in New York, California, Hawaii, and Indonesia. The son of a man from...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Park District are entranced by the prospect of a gorgeous, challenging golf course on the South Side near the yet-to-be-built Obama Presidential Center. It is a project with star appeal, beginning with Tiger Woods. But we have to ask: Does a fancy, professional-caliber golf course like this best serve Chicagoans, especially those on the South Side? Or is this about helping President Barack Obama improve his golf game?

Is it fake news when on MLK weekend Loretta Lynch issues a scorching 164 page report blasting Chicago police for using force on Blacks 10 times more often then Whites... but nowhere mentioning that Blacks are murdered 15 times more often than Whites, or that Blacks are the murders 20 times more often than Whites, or that Police are 30 times more often to be killed by a Black than by a White? Seems like a shot in the face at Jeff Sessions and a gift to BLM and civil rights leaders, in the final hour... Statistical Ideas' blog's Salil...

Pinned to the ground by officers who kneed and struck him, Lawrence Crosby screamed whatever he could think of to convince them that he was a law-abiding PhD student, not a violent car thief. “This is my vehicle, sir,” he said, his voice captured by the dashboard-camera video. “I have evidence. . . . I purchased this vehicle Jan. 23, 2015, from Libertyville Chevrolet.” It wasn’t enough. The officers placed him in handcuffs in the driveway of a church, two blocks from the police station in Evanston, Ill.

A new commemorative coin from the U.S. Mint and Treasury features a fresh depiction of Lady Liberty. With a crown of stars in her hair and a toga-like dress, she's as patriotic as ever. She's also, for the first time on an officially minted coin, portrayed as a black woman. The United States Mint unveiled the 24k gold coin in commemoration of their 225th anniversary. Gaze upon her beauty in full: