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Myths And Metaphors "[New Jersey Governor Chris] Christie has in recent days tried to make President Barack Obama a synonym for 'Chicago ward politics' even though Obama has never been a part of that club in any real sense of that term," Carol Marin writes for the Sun-Times. I'm not sure his best pals Tony Rezko and Emil Jones would agree. Or these folks. Or Rod Blagojevich, whom Obama endorsed twice. Or any of the opponents he knocked off ballots. Or the poor constituents he left behind. What more would he need to do to be part of the club?...

In a curious column the Sun-Times' Mark Brown denies that President Obama has much to do with Chicago Politics. Curious because the preponderance of evidence that Brown offers is that President Obama is a typical Chicago politician, working in league with donors and other politicians to fleece their consituents and taxpayers. Here’s Mark Brown arguing against himself

Two people have been killed, and at least 24 other people -- one of them a 12-year-old girl -- have been wounded in shootings across the city since Friday afternoon. About 1:26 a.m. Sunday, Devon Paramore, 33, of the 8600 block of West 87th Street, was shot in the back and right armpit in the 1300 block of 13th Street and later pronounced dead at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. The other fatal shooting occurred at 9:09 p.m. on Friday in the city’s Far South Side Pullman neighborhood, where police said they found an unresponsive 16-year-old boy...

By thy rivers gently flowing, Illinois, Illinois. O’er they prairies verdant growing, Illinois, Illinois . . . or something like that. In elementary school, we had to learn the Illinois state song. Even more incredibly, we had to know the Star Spangled Banner and the Pledge of Allegiance before they were outlawed by liberals in all 57 states. I’m giving up my age here, but I grew up under the real Mayor Daley, not today’s cheap imitations, in Mayor Daley’s Chicago. As a child growing up in a politically engaged household, I was aware at an early age that Illinois...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: For the longest time, I, on this program, incurred the wrath of millions of you by suggesting, because you thought I had chosen sides, I still haven't chosen sides. You thought that I had it in for Romney when I pointed out that -- in my view, based on my instincts, my gut, study, my knowledge of who the left is -- I thought they wanted Romney as the nominee all along. I thought that's what Occupy Wall Street was all about was to set up Romney as the guy they were protesting. Romney is the kind...

Earlier this month, the city of Chicago wrote a check for $399,950 to the Second Amendment Foundation, a gun rights group located in Bellevue, Wash. The check was a reimbursement for legal fees the foundation incurred in the McDonald v. Chicago case, which resulted in the United States Supreme Court overturning the city’s ban on handguns. “The city lost that action,” said Julianne Versnel, the foundation’s director of operations. “

Joe Biden, Bill Daley warned of contraceptive backlashBy JENNIFER EPSTEIN | 2/8/12 1:01 PM EST Two top advisers to President Barack Obama — both Catholics — warned him of the potential for controversy over his decision to require religious organizations to cover contraceptives in their health insurance plans. Vice President Joe Biden and former White House chief of staff Bill Daley both told the president that the decision would be cast as a government intrusion on religious freedom and that it could alienate Catholic voters in swing states, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. The decision has whipped up a frenzy of criticism...

The last moderate leaves the Obama administration. Barack Obama has burned through his second chief of staff, Bill Daley. It was thought that Daley would remain on board until after the next election but that is not to be and Daley's departure is the opening salvo in what promises to be a war. Charlie Gasparino tells us why Daley left and what it means: a hard left turn. The announcement that Bill Daley will step down as President Obama’s chief of staff is further proof that as the 2012 election approaches, Obama is embracing his inner leftist on anything...

According to some child psychologists, there is a demonstrable tendency among children who have been victimized by bullies to progress to becoming aggressors themselves. Another symptom associated with bullies is a pronounced tendency for such persons to also be braggarts. It does make you wonder. What exactly happened on the playground at recess when Rahm Emanuel was growing up? When it was announced that Bill Daley was leaving the position of White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel came to the defense of his successor at the White House. Emanuel was quoted as saying, “Historically, the modern Chief of Staff...

Carney downplays friction as cause of Chief of Staff Daley's resignationBy Amie Parnes - 01/10/12 12:52 PM ET White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters to take William Daley's decision to resign "at face value" despite news reports that suggest that the departing chief of staff felt marginalized in recent months. Daley, who is leaving the White House at the end of the month, said he wanted to spend more time with his family in Chicago. "These jobs are tough," Carney said, comparing time at the White House to dog years. Carney credited Daley for helping President Obama navigate...

In a trade that made a lot of sense for Democrats, Chicago Mayor Richie Daley decided to take a powder as Mayor-for-Life in October 2010, while Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel succeeded Daley as mayor of the big, broken city by the lake. The player to be named later in the trade was William Daley, Richie’s brother. Bill Daley took Emanuel’s place as chief of staff with the charge to be the White House’s bridge to the business community. The Obama administration was hoping that Daley’s business savvy would help them repair a rocky relationship with big business- and...

Washington - When Michelle Obama worked in Mayor Daley's City Hall in the early 1990s, she was "distressed" by how a small group of "white Irish Catholic" families -- the Daleys, the Hynes and the Madigans -- "locked up" power in Illinois. And as she prepared to become first lady, Mrs. Obama naively wanted to delay a move into the White House for six months, so her daughters could finish the school year. Her initial thought was to "commute" to the White House from her South Side home. And Marty Nesbitt, one of President Obama's best friends, had been recruited...

Maggie Daley, the wife of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and a gracious promoter of the city's cultural and educational programs, has died. She was 69. (born July 1943) Maggie Daley, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, died Thursday night, family spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard told The Associated Press. Daley had been a reserved and dignified presence at her husband's side during his 22 eventful years as mayor. When she first learned she had breast cancer in June 2002, Daley said she was shocked. "But you pick up and you move on. ... I'm not alone here....

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is dumping all three city members of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority — including former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s nephew — in a housecleaning that could set the stage to renegotiate the White Sox lease, modify its restaurant deal and, possibly, have the state acquire and renovate Wrigley Field.

Ahead of what is expected to be a bruising re-election fight, President Obama is shaking up his White House staff—again. Bill Daley, who was hired as Obama's chief of staff less than a year ago, is ceding some of his management duties to Pete Rouse, a longtime Obama adviser who initially filled in as interim chief of staff when Rahm Emanuel exited the post in October 2010. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the management shuffle, cast the move as something of a demotion for Daley, who has drawn ire from both Democrats and Republicans in recent months over...

Media Outlets Struggle To Describe White House Chief Of Staff Bill Daley’s Demotionby Colby Hall | 7:39 am, November 8th, 2011 The nation is just waking up today to learn the rather huge political news that Chief of Staff Bill Daley‘s role at the White House is changing, with many outlets reporting that he is moving into a more of a “big picture” or “ambassador” role in the Obama administration. The news of Daley’s evolving role at the White House, however, is just about as unclear and muddied as the administration’s detractors claim the White House policies to be; is...

WASHINGTON—William M. Daley was hired to help resuscitate Barack Obama's presidency after deep Democratic losses in 2010. Ten months into his tenure as chief of staff, Mr. Daley's core responsibilities are shifting, following White House missteps in the debt-ceiling fight and in its relations with Republicans and Democrats in Congress. On Monday, Mr. Daley turned over day-to-day management of the West Wing to Pete Rouse, a veteran aide to President Obama, according to several people familiar with the matter. It is unusual for a White House chief of staff to relinquish part of the job. A senior White House official...

After reading the news and watching the videos of Sharon Bialek, the Herman Cain accuser, I noticed that many of the articles mentioned that Bialek was fired or let go ” from the NRA’s educational foundation.” However, none of them mentioned why. Being let go or fired is more serious than simply being laid off. I wonder why there is no mention of the reason she was fired? This might give more insight into her character and whether she is a trustworthy person or not. Why was she fired? Does anyone know or has anyone seen a report as to...

Bill Daley vents frustration with Congressional Democrats, RepublicansReuters 3:47 p.m. CDT, October 28, 2011 A top aide to President Barack Obama expressed frustration Friday with his fellow Democrats as well as Republican members of Congress for resisting the White House's domestic agenda. The comments by Obama's chief of staff William Daley, made in an interview with the Politico newspaper, could add to tension that has arisen between Obama and some congressional Democrats. “On the domestic side, both Democrats and Republicans have really made it very difficult for the president to be anything like a chief executive,” Daley told Politico. “This...

The White House is ordering a review of loan guarantees made by the Energy Department after a California solar company that got a half-billion-dollar federal loan went bankrupt. Congressional Republicans have been investigating the bankruptcy of Solyndra Inc. amid revelations that federal officials were warned it had problems but nonetheless continued to support it...