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The Left detests President Trump, but they can’t indict him just for being someone they don’t like, so they had to make up some kind of charges to file against him. In 2023, the route they chose for this witch hunt boils down to this claim: “He’s been lying about vote fraud.” The level of chutzpah this path of pursuit requires is worthy of psychology textbooks. That the party known for over a century as being the masters of vote fraud would be the one challenging their opposition for it is the height of irony. But as awful as it...

Sarai was 25 years old when she died of Wilson’s disease, an inherited disorder that causes liver failure. A liver transplant could have cured her, but she was uninsured and was denied an appointment at two prominent Chicago transplant hospitals, including my own. Sarai’s plight was brought to my attention when a local religious group held a hunger strike advocating transplant access for Sarai and other uninsured patients. When she died, her congregation marched seven miles, holding her photograph and lugging coffins emblazoned with her name, to launch a sit-in in front of Northwestern University Hospital. Her death certificate named...

Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois on Friday became the first Republican senator to call for an up-or-down vote on Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, saying on a Chicago radio show that his colleagues ought to “just man up and cast a vote.” That Kirk would be first to break with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other GOP colleagues, who believe the next president should pick the replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, is not particularly surprising: Kirk was already one of two Republican senators, with Susan Collins of Maine, to call for hearings.

Former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he’s returning to Chicago to work on improving opportunities for teens and young adults. Duncan said Thursday that he’ll join with Emerson Collective to work with people ages 17 to 24 who are neither working nor in school. The Emmerson Collective was founded by Laurene Powell Jobs. …

Backed by Gov. Bruce Rauner, top Illinois Republicans called Wednesday for a state takeover of the financially troubled Chicago Public Schools, which faces a nearly $1 billion budget deficit that could lead to thousands of teacher layoffs and a possible strike in a matter of months. Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno called the plan a "lifeline" for CPS, though Democrats quickly shot down the idea. Radogno and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin said the legislation would give the Illinois State Board of Education control over the nation's third-largest school district. They also noted that GOP lawmakers may reveal a bankruptcy...

Desperate to save his own head in the fallout over the recorded police killing of Laquan McDonald, Mayor Rahm Emanuel reached for another. Another head, that is. This one belonged to Garry McCarthy, Chicago's superintendent of police, who just the other day said he'd never, ever quit. "I never quit on anything in my life," McCarthy told reporters late last week, after protesters closed Michigan Avenue on Black Friday, after the mayor hid out, lying low, letting McCarthy and Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez take all the heat. "The mayor has made it very clear that he has my...

The Chicago Tribune is suing Mayor Rahm Emanuel over claims he violated open records laws for failing to disclose personal emails and texts used to conduct city business. Thursday’s lawsuit asks a judge to force the former White House chief of staff to produce documents. The lawsuit argues that the newspaper’s Freedom of Information Act requests to Emanuel’s administration have been “met with a pattern of non-compliance, partial compliance, delay and obfuscation.” …

Cook County Cook County Board Toni Preckwinkle Government and Politics Infrastructure More + Preckwinkle-seeks-pay-hikes-following-Cook-County-sales-tax-increase.com Photo by Manuel Martinez Just two weeks after raising the sales tax to pay for pensions, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is moving to give tens of millions of dollars a year in pay hikes to county workers. Legislation introduced yesterday by the county chief would extend raises of up to 6.5 percent throughout county government. Only those who make more than $200,000 in annual salary would be excluded. The proposal, sent to a Cook County Board committee for review, extends to other unionized employees...

Rahm Emanuel won re-election Tuesday as voters in Chicago’s first mayoral runoff decided that, despite his brusque management style, the former White House chief of staff was best equipped to deal with the many dire challenges facing the nation’s third-largest city. Emanuel was forced to campaign furiously across the city to beat Cook County Commissioner Jesús “Chuy” Garcia after failing to capture a majority against four other candidates in a February election. The mayoral runoff was the first since the city changed the way it conducts elections about 20 years ago. […] Emanuel raised far more money than Garcia, plastered...

With Illinois Senator Dick "Turban" Durbin running the Senate Democrat caucus while Harry Reid recuperates... and with Hillary Clinton still being discussed as a potential 2016 presidential candidate, and with two years yet to run on the Obama "presidency" before we're mercifully granted its end... it might be helpful to better understand the environment that bred these typical Chicago politicians. So, here are some more definitions of words and idioms that mean something else in Illinois; posted as a public service to the consumers of news. Art Institute: A building full of statues, much like the Chicago City Council when...

Definitions of words and idioms that mean something else in Illinois; posted as a public service to the consumers of news. AIRPORT TRANSIT: The latest, quickest way to convey campaign contributions from the restaurant to City Hall. BAILIFF: A well-armed and well-trained state employee, tasked with the duty of keeping defendants secure and harmless throughout the trial, until the judge gives the order to release them at the end, whatever the result. BLACK BEAR: An illegal alien (to Illinois), traversing the state with impunity all summer, as no one dares accuse an endangered species of being politically incorrect. BLACKHAWKS: Employing...

Definitions of words and idioms that mean something else in Illinois; posted as a public service to the consumers of news: ASIAN CARP: A destructive monster that devours everything in its path, and is therefore a terrible threat to its rival, the state government. AUTUMN: The hour or two in which summer gives way to winter. BAIL BOND: The criminal promises to pay if he doesn’t show up for trial, and the city promises to look the other way while he commits more crimes until then. BIKE ROUTE: Adding 20% to the cost of building a road, increasing the danger...

Just a few more definitions of words and idioms that mean something else in Illinois, posted as a public service to the consumers of news. Absentee Landlord: A landlord with sense. Bean: A huge fun-house mirror in downtown Chicago, providing tourists with the warped view of the business district that only lifelong Illinoisans come by naturally. Billy Club: An entertainment venue for billy goats. Billy Goat: A stadium’s pet peeve. (Alternate definition: Someone who uses a collar and leash for a purpose unusual for the neighborhood). Budget: Underestimated spending that you admit to. (Alternate definition: A justification for tax increases)....

Further definitions of common words and phrases that mean something else in Illinois, presented here at no charge, as a public service to the news consumer... ALDERMAN: A large and garish hat, occasionally with an even louder person underneath. BRIBERY: One of the few part-time jobs that can be practiced concurrently with one’s full-time job, leaving evenings and weekends free. (Alternate definition: the primary determinant in the award of competitive bids). CHICAGO RIVER: A 19th Century engineering experiment in reversing the flow of water out of Chicago, toward the southern states. This was to be duplicated in the 20th and...

Definitions of Words and Idioms that Mean Something Else in Illinois; posted as a public service for the consumers of news... City Council: A rectangular block of rubber, affixed to a rounded wooden handle. Ordinarily used in conjunction with an ink pad. (Alternate definition: a justification for tax increases). City Jobs: Political jobs. (Alternate definition: Bitter people who thought they were getting one of those cool ghost-payrolling jobs, but were surprised to find that they didn't). Collective Bargaining: The union boss talks; you listen. There’s nothing collective about it, and there’s no bargaining either. (Alternate definition: a justification for tax...

A former California transit executive tapped to clean up Chicago’s scandal-tarnished Metra commuter rail agency said Wednesday he was pushed out barely two years into the job for doing exactly that and resisting pressure from some of Illinois’ most powerful politicians. Alex Clifford was allowed to speak publicly for the first time Wednesday about his lucrative buyout, which critics have called hush money and a waste of taxpayer funds. Clifford alleged that House Speaker Michael Madigan pushed Metra staff for a pay raise for a political pal and that Madigan and another politician also sought patronage hires. Clifford also described...

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday that “cultural hesitation” makes it more difficult for some Hispanic parents to want to enroll their children in public pre-school programs because of their preference for family and friends. Duncan’s remarks came when asked about pre-school and the Hispanic community at an event to mark the anniversary of Educare of Washington, D.C., a preschool for children from six weeks to five years old. …

President Barack Obama is flying home to Chicago to give a boost to Democrats hoping to take back the House in 2014. Obama will headline a fundraiser Wednesday for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at the home of two longtime supporters. Tickets start at $10,000 per person and go up to $32,400 per couple. …

Desperation is in the air, and The Chicago Machine's ugliness is just starting to get ginned up. They've already all but accused Romney of being a "felon" and of murdering Joe Soptic's wife, but now that the polls are moving against Obama – and the President's closing argument has been reduced to Big Bird, binders, and bayonets – President Obama's about launch his own personal freak show starring Jeremiah Wright, Gloria Allred, and Andrew Sullivan. Today, things got improbably worse when the Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan, who has reportedly been a guest of Obama's at the White House, launched into...

Famed civil rights attorney Gloria Allred will be in a Boston area courtroom Wednesday in an attempt to unseal the sworn testimony given by Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, in a prior court case, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.