So glad you wrote about John Kass. I’d read his column from time to time, trying to find some reasoning for his opinions and conclusions, but he was too in love with his own words, his own “image”, and he appeared to believe he was a great satirist. I think he was a very lazy journalist. It seemed that he dashed off those columns without any research into whether or not it was the truth. Or if it was even logical. I felt his columns existed so he could do some liberal bashing. I’m sure you could put my thoughts into a more coherent and cohesive paragraph, but I will have to live with my own deficiencies. Thanks for your meticulous and insightful research into all matters, Especially Lori Lightfoot and Columbus.
As a Mincing Rascals fan I'm sorry to see Lisa Donovan moving on. I hope she is replaced with another female voice. Sometimes the Rascals can be a bit of "sausage fest". I would love it if they would bring back Kristen McQueary, she was terrific.
When I read Kass column when it first came out, I was struck how many times Kass felt the need to repeat his name, over and over again. To me it just smelled to high heaven of anti-Semiticism, as though he had to pound into the reader's brain that this notable Jewish financier was behind all the giving. So I am a bit skeptical of your contention that Kass did not know he was repeating anti-Semitic tropes. Had it been a revelation to him, don't you think he would have said something like "I didn't know"? His defense of his column would have been much more persuasive, and probably honest.
I enjoyed Kass for a long while after he earned a column. However, when he wrote his column in support of the 2003 Gulf War (I think he referenced Saddam Hussein as a "rat in the corner") whereby he appeared to greedily eat up all the crap that Cheney & Co spun about WMD, I started to read him with a more skeptical eye. If I remember correctly, in that column he acknowledged that he was taking Cheney & Co's WMD assertions on faith, and would gladly cop to a mea culpa if he was wrong. To his (partial) credit, he did write a "mea culpa" column (again, this happened 15 years ago, and my memory is not what it used to be), but I remember finding it to be grudging and churlish. Thereafter, I found more his column less entertaining. From the election of Obama onward, his column drifted rightward, gathering speed in that vector until it appeared that he embraced the tenets of bad faith Tea Party talking points , then fully drinking the MAGAland Koolaid. Since he left the Trib, it appears that he has felt a great deal more comfortable "letting his freak flag fly". Watching his opinions evolve from his early columns to his current positions has been disappointing.
The deterioration of John Kass into right-wing grievance has been evident since the Obama years, and has accelerated since Trump became president. From what I've seen since he left the Tribune, and without supervision from respected editors, he's sunk even further. I don't understand the QAnon type madness that infects certain media personalities, but there it is.
"It was not, however, Kass’ right to decline to “join” the union once the company recognized it. Illinois is not one of those “right to freeload” states where employees in unionized shops can refuse to join the union while still enjoying the protections and benefits afforded by collective bargaining. Once the Tribune recognized the union, all of us were in."
The wrongness of this point of view seems so clear to me that I'm surprised it hasn't generated any discussion (yet). Why is it wrong? Well for one thing, it's just as much mob rule as your having been cancelled before your speaking engagement. The idea that once a union was voted in everyone had to join denies an individual's right to free speech and the right to be left alone. The forcible extraction of "dues" amounts to extortion. ("Those are some nice benefits. It'd be a shame if anything happened to them.") What you see as benefits may not be what others see.
Further, pro-union sentiments rightfully call into question the ability of member journalists to report objectively on anything related to unions and labor relations.
This opinion has nothing to do with Kass, who I found often right but more often tiresome. "Right" and "tiresome" are not mutually exclusive, however. I like reading opinion that I find both right and not tiresome.
“I have the biggest dick in Chicago.” -- L. Lightfoot
One solution to the Chicago controversy over the Christopher Columbus statues “. . . in Grant Park, Arrigo Park and a Southeast Side traffic island . . .” is to unify all in civic agreement and remove every last antiquated landmark but simultaneously replace them with robust, bronze statues of our more modern Mayor, Lori Elaine Lightfoot – and please everyone!
Lori Lightfoot isn't ignoring a possible Wilson run for mayor. She's calling his bet with gas cards worth $150 each for as many as 50,000 drivers, and transit cards worth $50 each for as many as 100,000 riders.
So glad you wrote about John Kass. I’d read his column from time to time, trying to find some reasoning for his opinions and conclusions, but he was too in love with his own words, his own “image”, and he appeared to believe he was a great satirist. I think he was a very lazy journalist. It seemed that he dashed off those columns without any research into whether or not it was the truth. Or if it was even logical. I felt his columns existed so he could do some liberal bashing. I’m sure you could put my thoughts into a more coherent and cohesive paragraph, but I will have to live with my own deficiencies. Thanks for your meticulous and insightful research into all matters, Especially Lori Lightfoot and Columbus.
As a Mincing Rascals fan I'm sorry to see Lisa Donovan moving on. I hope she is replaced with another female voice. Sometimes the Rascals can be a bit of "sausage fest". I would love it if they would bring back Kristen McQueary, she was terrific.
When I read Kass column when it first came out, I was struck how many times Kass felt the need to repeat his name, over and over again. To me it just smelled to high heaven of anti-Semiticism, as though he had to pound into the reader's brain that this notable Jewish financier was behind all the giving. So I am a bit skeptical of your contention that Kass did not know he was repeating anti-Semitic tropes. Had it been a revelation to him, don't you think he would have said something like "I didn't know"? His defense of his column would have been much more persuasive, and probably honest.
Two things: first time I’ve ever seen “wroth.” Great word. Also loved the Lee Elia reference.
You had me at Lori Lightfoot's hello.
While I mourned your, Mary's, Rex's and Heidi's departure, not having Kass with a pulpit was a blessing.
I enjoyed Kass for a long while after he earned a column. However, when he wrote his column in support of the 2003 Gulf War (I think he referenced Saddam Hussein as a "rat in the corner") whereby he appeared to greedily eat up all the crap that Cheney & Co spun about WMD, I started to read him with a more skeptical eye. If I remember correctly, in that column he acknowledged that he was taking Cheney & Co's WMD assertions on faith, and would gladly cop to a mea culpa if he was wrong. To his (partial) credit, he did write a "mea culpa" column (again, this happened 15 years ago, and my memory is not what it used to be), but I remember finding it to be grudging and churlish. Thereafter, I found more his column less entertaining. From the election of Obama onward, his column drifted rightward, gathering speed in that vector until it appeared that he embraced the tenets of bad faith Tea Party talking points , then fully drinking the MAGAland Koolaid. Since he left the Trib, it appears that he has felt a great deal more comfortable "letting his freak flag fly". Watching his opinions evolve from his early columns to his current positions has been disappointing.
The deterioration of John Kass into right-wing grievance has been evident since the Obama years, and has accelerated since Trump became president. From what I've seen since he left the Tribune, and without supervision from respected editors, he's sunk even further. I don't understand the QAnon type madness that infects certain media personalities, but there it is.
"It was not, however, Kass’ right to decline to “join” the union once the company recognized it. Illinois is not one of those “right to freeload” states where employees in unionized shops can refuse to join the union while still enjoying the protections and benefits afforded by collective bargaining. Once the Tribune recognized the union, all of us were in."
The wrongness of this point of view seems so clear to me that I'm surprised it hasn't generated any discussion (yet). Why is it wrong? Well for one thing, it's just as much mob rule as your having been cancelled before your speaking engagement. The idea that once a union was voted in everyone had to join denies an individual's right to free speech and the right to be left alone. The forcible extraction of "dues" amounts to extortion. ("Those are some nice benefits. It'd be a shame if anything happened to them.") What you see as benefits may not be what others see.
Further, pro-union sentiments rightfully call into question the ability of member journalists to report objectively on anything related to unions and labor relations.
This opinion has nothing to do with Kass, who I found often right but more often tiresome. "Right" and "tiresome" are not mutually exclusive, however. I like reading opinion that I find both right and not tiresome.
“I have the biggest dick in Chicago.” -- L. Lightfoot
One solution to the Chicago controversy over the Christopher Columbus statues “. . . in Grant Park, Arrigo Park and a Southeast Side traffic island . . .” is to unify all in civic agreement and remove every last antiquated landmark but simultaneously replace them with robust, bronze statues of our more modern Mayor, Lori Elaine Lightfoot – and please everyone!
Lori Lightfoot isn't ignoring a possible Wilson run for mayor. She's calling his bet with gas cards worth $150 each for as many as 50,000 drivers, and transit cards worth $50 each for as many as 100,000 riders.