Free Republic

One of the great debates in American politics can be summed up with this question: What's the stupidest thing Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has ever said? One of my all-time favorites is when he threatened to take his pants off to prove his political loyalty to a Democrat he betrayed. But that's just my opinion. You've got your opinion. So why not put it to a vote? The other day, Chicago Reader reporter Mick Dumke dared ask the mayor why Daley felt the city's handgun ban was effective, what with so many shootings and murders in Chicago. Daley picked up...

His frustration over Olympic outcome was apparent at volunteers' final gathering ### When Mayor Richard Daley spoke at the private and final meeting of Chicago 2016 volunteers, he was, according to one attendee, "in rare form." Another described him as "on a rant. It was straight off the cuff. ... He looked angry, and he was angry." Now, we weren't there. The press was barred from last week's meeting at the Aon Center and the reception that followed at the private Mid-America Club on the top floor of the building. About 150 to 200 volunteers attended, and four shared their...

Grief and anger, like clouds of a coming storm, moved back and forth across the landscape of Mayor Daley's face in public appearances last week. And why not? Michael Scott, his longtime, loyal friend, was dead. Suddenly. Violently. By his own hand, according to the Cook County medical examiner. When we lose someone we love, particularly like that, don't we ask ourselves what it was we failed to see? Or failed to do? Our own helplessness adds rage to sorrow. It's understandable. It's human. That's the best explanation I can come up with for what happened Wednesday at the mayor's...

Mayor Richard Daley today declined to answer questions about a Tribune story on how a member of his Olympic bid team arranged to develop city-owned land near a park that would be transformed for the 2016 Summer Games, potentially positioning himself to cash in if the Games come here. Developer Michael Scott Sr., an early member of the mayor's Olympic committee, leads a group planning a residential and commercial project on lots kitty-corner from the proposed Douglas Park sporting venues, a location where land values could jump if the city gets the Olympics. *snip* Daley's public schedule indicated he would...

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. That wasn't a monkey dancing on a string. It was an ape. The kind of ape that pulls the strings on the dancing monkeys. His name is Frank Calabrese, the former Chicago Outfit Chinatown crew boss, convicted of racketeering conspiracy involving seven murders in the FBI's historic Operation Family Secrets case of 18 unsolved hits. Six other bodies were attributed to Calabrese at his sentencing.

Sun-Times and NBC5 exclusive: WIN-WIN LOSES | Everybody was supposed to benefit. But things didn't turn out as planned It was supposed to be a quintessential City Hall deal. Help the homeless. Remove an eyesore from a booming neighborhood. And help Mayor Daley’s pal build a multi-million-dollar condo development. The deal cost Chicago taxpayers at least $13.5 million. But it hasn’t worked out as planned. One of the city’s oldest homeless shelters left its crumbling home in Greektown for a new $25 million, state-of-the-art building. But the deal left the homeless shelter on the verge of bankruptcy, desperate to raise...

it's a Christmas tradition for the boss to give gifts to the workers. At Chicago's City Hall, the boss--Mayor Richard Daley--also gets a gift. A memorandum sent out last month on city stationery asks department heads and senior staffers to give a "$35 voluntary donation (no checks please)" toward a gift for the mayor and his wife, Maggie. The offering will be presented at the Daleys' annual holiday party for staffers to be held Friday at Kendall College. In past years, employees have given the Daleys gifts such as a saltwater aquarium and a piece of artwork from China. This...

Two Democratic congressmen who could have mounted formidable challenges to longtime Mayor Richard Daley announced Thursday that they will not run for mayor next year because of their party's new found power in Congress. The power shift on Capitol Hill bodes well for both Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Luis Gutierrez. "More than any time since I took my initial oath of office, I am excited, eager, and downright giddy about the prospects in Washington," said Jackson, the son of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. "In short, Tuesday's election made for a big night, and a new day." Jackson said...

CHICAGO, April 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA): The ISRA is warning employees of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) that the department's Chicago Anti-Gun Enforcement (CAGE) unit may soon swoop down on their homes. The warning comes after the release of CPD Notice 02-18, which directs CPD employees to dispose of many of their personally owned firearms by May 1, 2002 or face the consequences. Firearms subject to the disposal order include a previously published list of so-called "assault weapons" as well as many ofthe rifles typically used to hunt...