Free Republic

They came Saturday carrying photographs of their sons and daughters who were murdered with guns. Some wore the children's pictures on T-shirts or lapel buttons. Rev. Jesse Jackson led them, almost 200 people in south suburban Riverdale, with rhetorical flourish. "Futures not funerals!" Jackson exhorted the crowd. "Sons not guns!" Chuck's Gun Shop, 14310 S. Indiana Ave., was the target of the protest. The protesters blamed Chuck's, which is just across the border from Chicago, for many of the guns on the city's streets. Marching with Jackson were Tommie and Pamela Bosley, whose 18-year-old son, Terrell, was shot to death...

An unprecedented wave of union support propelled at least four challengers to victory Tuesday over incumbent aldermen backed by Mayor Richard Daley, including veteran Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd). But despite a multimillion-dollar infusion of union cash and campaign workers, incumbents Bernard Stone (50th) and Howard Brookins (21st) survived strong challenges in Tuesday's runoff election, with the mayor's help. Labor claimed its most notable victories in the 3rd Ward, where Pat Dowell unseated Tillman, and the 16th Ward, where Joann Thompson easily defeated 16-year council veteran Shirley Coleman. Tillman, a self-styled maverick, had gratefully accepted Daley's help against Dowell, who works...

Nothing is more costly or dangerous than a failed presidency. The powers of the office are without rival. The scope of responsibility spans the globe. When a presidency fails, we all pay the price -- no matter what our politics. As George Bush serves up his State of the Union address, his presidency is in virtual collapse. None of this will be apparent on the TV screen. The address will be "interrupted" with numerous standing ovations. The pundits will be respectful. The Democratic response will seem muted. As Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton understood, a president never looks better than...