May 29, 2024
COLUMNIST RUSS STEWART BEGINS 52ND YEAR AT NADIG NEWSPAPERS
This is not a farewell column. I pondered that eventuality last year. Was it time to step aside after writing this political stuff weekly for more than 51 years? Am I getting tiresome? Am I not sufficiently mocking people who deserve it? Do they not despise me enough? The tipping point came when one of my detractors told me to my face that I “need to be fair.” What is “fair?” These days the notion of “fair” is writing an article the reader agrees with. I always thought the fundamental premise of journalism was to be factual. But the hallmark of contemporary journalism has become this: Make the facts fit the predetermined narrative, even if the writer has to ignore them. The economy is great. Inflation is transitory — or everybody is earning more so they can afford it. The border is closed. Biden is competent. Trump will be a dictator. Some journalists have become propagandists. But not me, so, much to some people’s disappointment, I will keep writing this column because I believe in DIVERSITY — not DEI, which is drivel for Diversity/Equity/Inclusion, but diversity of differing points of view regardless of identity. The key to longevity is persistence, non-concern about what my journalistic peers think, and no over-exposure. Everybody in the media and politics gets tiresome eventually. Just minimize it. Full Article...
May 22, 2024
NO ARTICLE THIS WEEK
May 15, 2024
MENDACITY, POLARIZATION HAVE BECOME THE NEW U.S. POLITICAL NORM
Mendacity is defined as speaking untruthfully, lying and/or uttering falsehoods. Mendacity is the new norm in American politics. Polarization is defined as a separation of people into diametrically opposed, antagonistic groups with rigid viewpoints who detest and despise those who disagree with them. Polarization is also the new norm in American politics. Let’s take a look at some of this mendacity. Those on the Far Left so revile those on the Far Right, who are perceived as a Threat-to-Democracy, that it is perfectly alright to lie and spout disinformation so as to block them from gaining power, which means they lose power. That goal thereby justifies their mendacity. Likewise, those on the Right view their Leftist brethren as threats to the American way of life and to Judeo-Christian culture and as election thieves. The whole focus of politics has transitioned from attempting to persuade voters of the rightness of their respective viewpoints to the manipulating and deceiving of voters through lies. And shame on Biden, who lies when he says the U.S. commitment to Israel’s survival is “ironclad” and then aborts weapons’ shipments needed to take Rafah with minimal civilian casualties. Full Article...
May 8, 2024
NO ARTICLE THIS WEEK
May 1, 2024
COMPTROLLER MENDOZA THINKS A LATINA SHOULD BE ILLINOIS' NEXT GOVERNOR -- MEANING HERSELF
“GREAT” is Susana Mendoza’s favorite 5-letter word. The Illinois Comptroller, first elected in 2016, says she is doing a great job in her current job, has proven herself to be a great vote-getter in past contests. And she insists that a Latina candidate could be a good choice for governor if and when JB Pritzker (D) – whom she calls a “great governor” – moves on (as in retirement) or moves up (as in running for president in 2028) or treasury secretary in Biden-Harris II. Mendoza said that Illinois is ready for a Latina governor in the future. And why not, right? But she made it clear she is not running and is concentrating on doing her comptroller job. “I’m not interested” in running for Secretary of State, she said. That post is occupied by Alexi Giannoulias (D), who likely wants to be governor. Likewise for attorney general Kwame Raoul. “They’re both doing a GREAT job, as is our governor.” In the labyrinthine swamp of Democratic identity politics, especially in Chicago and Cook County, the past general presumption was that a woman beats two men and that a woman of color beats a White man or a Latino man. DISSING WEST SUBURBAN DEMOCRATS: It was “democracy in action’’ on April 26 as Cook County’s 80 committeepersons (CCDP) provoked a seismic shift in suburban political power. Black politicians from the west suburbs were disrespected while those from the heavily Black south suburbs emerged dominant. Full Article...
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