Very beautiful. Chopin turned the piano into another instrument altogether. I see that the movie The Pianist was based on Szpilman, very interesting. One's thoughts turn to WWII and Warsaw in particular these days. Yes, that reviewer really was too nitpicky in my view.
Madigan’s demise is just delicious. I am going to savor every moment. Most of my adult life, he was effectively running this state—practically into the ground. He gave Dems a bad name, not single-handedly, but close. Get him.
Yes - he will go to his grave as a rich man who wielded out-sized power for longer than anyone. But his satisfaction at that will be diminished by realizing that he wasn't as slippery as he thought.
This makes the stain on the state's current Democratic party permanent. No one blew the whistle, no one opposed him, everyone voted for him all the way until the very end.
You're right, Eric, the crooks don't learn. But they don't want to - they will always want to take a shortcut to money and power. That's what crooks do. The question is, when will the "honest" politicians, bureaucrats, journalists, and most of all voters, learn to reject all the obviously self-dealing, power-craving sleazebags like Madigan? Unfortunately, they too will never learn, if the sleazebags are helping their team. Ultimately, hurting the cause is the unforgivable sin.
Rauner's statements were only 'whiny and petulant' to anyone that was willing to turn a blind eye to what was obviously happening in Springfield throughout Madigan's speakership. Madigan's Enterprise was very well known and often reported on. Nothing in the indictment is any surprise to anyone that has been paying attention. Madigan's many supporters and admirers have often commented on how clever, wily, and cautious he was. It is also no surprise that Lisa Madigan turned a blind eye on the pervasive corruption while she was state AG, and there is no reason to believe that she was not fully aware of it. Her replacement Kwame Raoul was asked if he would address corruption and answered, 'I am not going looking for it but will act if something comes up'. What Illinois politicians have learned is that they can get away with crimes for decades in a system that sees the self-dealing as a perk of office. Like most crooks, they think they are smarter and more slippery than the ones that get caught. And they know that only the Feds are occasionally looking.
It is true that Pritsker was only in office for Madigan's last year. It is also true that he would not be governor if he had not been sought out by Madigan and that none of the legislation that he wants to claim would have happened if he wasn't 'playing ball' with Madigan. Pritzker was also happy to 'play ball' with Blago when that felon was in office. He also never said anything about corruption before the stuff started hitting the fan. He also supported and signed the blind and toothless oversight legislation. His current statements ring hollow given the little he has done on corruption and his lack of any new initiatives. Pretending that he and Chris Welch are the dawn of a new day, or don't carry the stink of the past, is what helps to ensure the continuation of the corrupt status quo.
I agree with you on Duncan. I have also thought 'why would one want to be mayor?'. There is also the painful and disgusting process of running. Which was confirmed by Toni Preckwinkle. A seasoned and successful politician that would have a good shot, was asked about running again and said, 'no way, worst year of my life, I would never do it again'. What does that say about the sad state of our local politics when one of the most powerful politicians in the state says, 'it isn't worth it'?
I agree with your comment on "Defund the Police" as a slogan for reasonable police reform and investment is other services. While some activists may 'stubbornly cling to it" as they try to clarify, you can't ignore the actual meaning of the people that created the slogan. The Black Visions Collective wants to eliminate the police and replace them with community-led-safety. Many of the BLM organizations have expanded the concept to Abolition. Abolition means the complete elimination of police and prisons, which they say will no longer be necessary when there is real justice for Blacks. They meant exactly what they said with the slogan. It is good to have the President make his remarks, but the Democrats did not take your advice and for almost two years have not made the clear statement that Biden made. So, they will now have a hard time shrugging off the criticism.
I agree with you and Chapman on Putin and Ukraine. I am hopeful that Ukraine will be able to forestall complete defeat and be able to negotiate an end to the current invasion. Particularly given the apparent incompetence and ineffectiveness of the Russian army. Hopefully, Putin is smart enough to back down and settle for 'half-a-loaf'. But the fact that there are people foolishly rationalizing and accepting Putin is no more surprising than the American leftists that did the same for Stalin and Mao. And like them, they are of no consequence, as the vast majority can see clearly.
Spelling and pronunciation. We had a Ukrainian exchange student that said the 'i' was sounded out in Kyiv. Not Keev. But when she said it, the 'iv' sound seemed very muted to me. So not Kee-iv, but more like Keyi-v. Some of the reporters do this pretty well. A tough one for my mouth.
The vast majority of Americans are moderate. The vast majority of liberals are moderate. The vast majority of conservatives are moderate. I am not sure that is true of Democrats or Republicans. And I would like to believe that Biden is moderate, which is the reputation that he ran on, but since in the state-of-the-union he just restated everything that is in the BBB bill I am not sure how he can claim to be moderate. He seems to believe that we need to radically remake the American economy, or maybe he is just trying to moderately appease the progressive left.
Mincing Rascals was fun as always. When you were talking about the future of the Madigan prosecution, I had two thoughts - why wouldn't the defense use every delay possible, since that is the best chance for an old man to avoid conviction: and Madigan is using the Blago defense that he was just doing what politicians do. Getting jobs for his foot soldiers was just constituent services. I was also glad that there was at least one extortion charge, since everyone knew that the merits of a bill were irrelevant if one hadn't first paid the freight with Madigan and failing to continue paying the freight would bring retribution. Even if one of his cronies hasn't rolled on him, the Feds may now be able to connect the dots for a jury with all of the circumstantial evidence and statements that have been made.
Yes, thank God. I grew so tired of arguing about that slogan with my political allies and friends. Oh, they would go on and on telling me what they actually meant by it. The same things I wanted. I knew what it meant, I insisted repeatedly, and it's still an inaccurate slogan - and astonishingly stupid, to boot.
On Madigan - in view of the incredible dump truck loads of dirt that Madigan undoubtedly has on dozens if not hundreds of other corrupt people in the Illinois establishment, the big intrigue for me is whether he would roll over on some of them in exchange for a better plea deal. Can you imagine the fallout throughout Illinois and particularly Cook County if that were to happen?
On Lightfoot - even though her political perspective and policy views are far to the left of my own, I was excited and supportive when she was elected because she is distinctly outside the Democratic establishment that has ruled and mismanaged Chicago for so long now. However, Lightfoot has a definite anger management issue as well as a demonstrated gift for alienating virtually every different constituency in the city. I do not see her re-election chances as great at this point, however one thing we know for certain that is if she makes it to the runoff against a non-black candidate that the racist card will be played over and over and over again.
I had viewed Arnie Duncan as the anointed one of the Obama / Emmanuel/Democratic establishment, and was very surprised at the announcement that he would not run for mayor. The candidate that would excite me now is Paul Vallas as he seems to have both an understanding of the real problems affecting Chicago as well as the courage to address them. However, I would anticipate that the establishment would fight tooth and nail against another mayor outside of their circle.
On the Ukraine - I have a pretty broad circle of friends and family who are varying degrees on the right end of the political spectrum, and I do not know a single person who is supportive of Putin. In fact, you will notice that conservatives and Republicans are leading those demanding more severe sanctions against Putin now without further delay. So ascribing support of Putin to conservatives is truly fake news.
I am very hopeful that Biden will announce further restrictions against Putin, the oligarchs and particularly sanctions of all Russian oil which truly contain human blood at this point. People in the Ukraine are dying by the thousands and we cannot wait to see if the current sanctions have an effect. We must continue to take whatever measures are possible now until Putin stops.
(Eric - I had to change my credit card when I saw what appeared to be a fraudulent charge on it and I need to update that information in your billing system. How do I do that?)
I too had high hopes for Lightfoot; I happily voted for her with warm feelings. I'm now convinced that she's not so good at this mayor thing. She seems to have a talent for alienating everyone. (Not to mention that she likes to play the race card in pretty awkward, non-credible ways.) More like Heavyhand. I have no idea who should follow her.
Biden's exit from Afghanistan was a disaster (I personally think we should have stayed indefinitely, a minority view), but his response to Ukraine, I think, has been, to quote Francis Fukuyama (via Bari Weiss's podcast), "pretty good." Several remarkable things stand out: (1) The clever broadcasting of declassified U.S. intelligence in advance, "pre-bunking" (Fukuyama's word) Putin's planned baloney beforehand, no doubt helped in rallying a global response. (2) That global response has been surprisingly strong. We were led to believe that sanctions couldn't bite. That's proved untrue. Germany's about-face, influenced no doubt by the Americans, has been amazing. Two seconds ago, they were saying they should feel bad about how Nazis treated Russians during WWII. Now, they're shutting off Nordstream II and sending weapons. People whined about SWIFT and then we learn that we can freeze huge chunks of their central bank reserves, turning their money into fiction. The Wall Street Journal just reported that oil companies and traders and refiners are acting as if there are already energy sanctions. And, most unbelievably, FIFA and the IOC grew spines! (3) Russian forces have proved surprisingly unimpressive, while (4) Ukrainian forces have proved surprisingly impressive.
The overall sense now is that Putin spectacularly miscalculated, underestimating western response, underestimating the impact of sanctions, overestimating his army's effectiveness and esprit de corps (they don't want to do this and don't know how), and spectacularly underestimating Ukrainian resistance and resolve. It's not clear how he can plausibly hold the country, even if he were to simply bomb it into submission like Assad which he doubtless doesn't want to do. He will have a population the size of California's that mostly hates his guts and won't go along. Meanwhile, he has just done more than anyone could imagine to revive NATO, the cause of freedom around the world, and to galvanize opposition to his ambitions. As Fukuyama nicely put it, arguing with Niall Ferguson, if you think China is looking at all this and thinking get me some of that, "you're crazy."
Jake - all good thoughts. However, I believe the US must broaden and deepen the sanctions against this brutal communist tyrant and his regime in an attempt to save Ukrainian lives.
The US Treasury Department today advised that they believe Putin will try an end run around US sanctions by funneling money through lesser banks and individuals not presently within the scope of our sanctions. While these are not going to compensate nearly for the effect of the sanctions, it represents a hemorrhaging of the pain that Putin and his regime must feel in order to make them stop. I would like to see the entire Russian economy removed from the Swift system along with all the oligarchs and their entire extended family members. As soon as Putin halts his attack, we can remove some of the sanctions. When he withdraws from the Ukraine allowing them to remain a free country, we can remove more of them - carrots and sticks, although in this case we need the sticks first.
Further, it seems unconscionable to me that the US continues to buy Russian oil and provide revenue to feed Putin's military machine. That oil has blood in it. Republicans and even Speaker Pelosi and other leading Democrats are urging President Biden to just say no to Russian oil, and even if this involves additional cost for us consumers, we must be willing to incur the sacrifice to save the Ukrainian lives that are being slaughtered by the day. 🇺🇦🙏
I just heard the Emerson Quartet play their last performance in Chicago -- they're retiring -- and the highlight of the program was Beethoven's late quartet, the Opus 132 in A minor. The slow movement was similarly "gut wrenching in its beauty." Here's a review at chicagoclassicalreview.com: https://chicagoclassicalreview.com/2022/02/nearing-the-end-of-a-45-year-run-the-emerson-quartet-makes-a-final-chicago-stop-at-depaul/
Very beautiful. Chopin turned the piano into another instrument altogether. I see that the movie The Pianist was based on Szpilman, very interesting. One's thoughts turn to WWII and Warsaw in particular these days. Yes, that reviewer really was too nitpicky in my view.
Madigan’s demise is just delicious. I am going to savor every moment. Most of my adult life, he was effectively running this state—practically into the ground. He gave Dems a bad name, not single-handedly, but close. Get him.
Yes - he will go to his grave as a rich man who wielded out-sized power for longer than anyone. But his satisfaction at that will be diminished by realizing that he wasn't as slippery as he thought.
This makes the stain on the state's current Democratic party permanent. No one blew the whistle, no one opposed him, everyone voted for him all the way until the very end.
You're right, Eric, the crooks don't learn. But they don't want to - they will always want to take a shortcut to money and power. That's what crooks do. The question is, when will the "honest" politicians, bureaucrats, journalists, and most of all voters, learn to reject all the obviously self-dealing, power-craving sleazebags like Madigan? Unfortunately, they too will never learn, if the sleazebags are helping their team. Ultimately, hurting the cause is the unforgivable sin.
Rauner's statements were only 'whiny and petulant' to anyone that was willing to turn a blind eye to what was obviously happening in Springfield throughout Madigan's speakership. Madigan's Enterprise was very well known and often reported on. Nothing in the indictment is any surprise to anyone that has been paying attention. Madigan's many supporters and admirers have often commented on how clever, wily, and cautious he was. It is also no surprise that Lisa Madigan turned a blind eye on the pervasive corruption while she was state AG, and there is no reason to believe that she was not fully aware of it. Her replacement Kwame Raoul was asked if he would address corruption and answered, 'I am not going looking for it but will act if something comes up'. What Illinois politicians have learned is that they can get away with crimes for decades in a system that sees the self-dealing as a perk of office. Like most crooks, they think they are smarter and more slippery than the ones that get caught. And they know that only the Feds are occasionally looking.
It is true that Pritsker was only in office for Madigan's last year. It is also true that he would not be governor if he had not been sought out by Madigan and that none of the legislation that he wants to claim would have happened if he wasn't 'playing ball' with Madigan. Pritzker was also happy to 'play ball' with Blago when that felon was in office. He also never said anything about corruption before the stuff started hitting the fan. He also supported and signed the blind and toothless oversight legislation. His current statements ring hollow given the little he has done on corruption and his lack of any new initiatives. Pretending that he and Chris Welch are the dawn of a new day, or don't carry the stink of the past, is what helps to ensure the continuation of the corrupt status quo.
I agree with you on Duncan. I have also thought 'why would one want to be mayor?'. There is also the painful and disgusting process of running. Which was confirmed by Toni Preckwinkle. A seasoned and successful politician that would have a good shot, was asked about running again and said, 'no way, worst year of my life, I would never do it again'. What does that say about the sad state of our local politics when one of the most powerful politicians in the state says, 'it isn't worth it'?
I agree with your comment on "Defund the Police" as a slogan for reasonable police reform and investment is other services. While some activists may 'stubbornly cling to it" as they try to clarify, you can't ignore the actual meaning of the people that created the slogan. The Black Visions Collective wants to eliminate the police and replace them with community-led-safety. Many of the BLM organizations have expanded the concept to Abolition. Abolition means the complete elimination of police and prisons, which they say will no longer be necessary when there is real justice for Blacks. They meant exactly what they said with the slogan. It is good to have the President make his remarks, but the Democrats did not take your advice and for almost two years have not made the clear statement that Biden made. So, they will now have a hard time shrugging off the criticism.
I agree with you and Chapman on Putin and Ukraine. I am hopeful that Ukraine will be able to forestall complete defeat and be able to negotiate an end to the current invasion. Particularly given the apparent incompetence and ineffectiveness of the Russian army. Hopefully, Putin is smart enough to back down and settle for 'half-a-loaf'. But the fact that there are people foolishly rationalizing and accepting Putin is no more surprising than the American leftists that did the same for Stalin and Mao. And like them, they are of no consequence, as the vast majority can see clearly.
Spelling and pronunciation. We had a Ukrainian exchange student that said the 'i' was sounded out in Kyiv. Not Keev. But when she said it, the 'iv' sound seemed very muted to me. So not Kee-iv, but more like Keyi-v. Some of the reporters do this pretty well. A tough one for my mouth.
The vast majority of Americans are moderate. The vast majority of liberals are moderate. The vast majority of conservatives are moderate. I am not sure that is true of Democrats or Republicans. And I would like to believe that Biden is moderate, which is the reputation that he ran on, but since in the state-of-the-union he just restated everything that is in the BBB bill I am not sure how he can claim to be moderate. He seems to believe that we need to radically remake the American economy, or maybe he is just trying to moderately appease the progressive left.
Mincing Rascals was fun as always. When you were talking about the future of the Madigan prosecution, I had two thoughts - why wouldn't the defense use every delay possible, since that is the best chance for an old man to avoid conviction: and Madigan is using the Blago defense that he was just doing what politicians do. Getting jobs for his foot soldiers was just constituent services. I was also glad that there was at least one extortion charge, since everyone knew that the merits of a bill were irrelevant if one hadn't first paid the freight with Madigan and failing to continue paying the freight would bring retribution. Even if one of his cronies hasn't rolled on him, the Feds may now be able to connect the dots for a jury with all of the circumstantial evidence and statements that have been made.
Yes, thank God. I grew so tired of arguing about that slogan with my political allies and friends. Oh, they would go on and on telling me what they actually meant by it. The same things I wanted. I knew what it meant, I insisted repeatedly, and it's still an inaccurate slogan - and astonishingly stupid, to boot.
So much in the news...
On Madigan - in view of the incredible dump truck loads of dirt that Madigan undoubtedly has on dozens if not hundreds of other corrupt people in the Illinois establishment, the big intrigue for me is whether he would roll over on some of them in exchange for a better plea deal. Can you imagine the fallout throughout Illinois and particularly Cook County if that were to happen?
On Lightfoot - even though her political perspective and policy views are far to the left of my own, I was excited and supportive when she was elected because she is distinctly outside the Democratic establishment that has ruled and mismanaged Chicago for so long now. However, Lightfoot has a definite anger management issue as well as a demonstrated gift for alienating virtually every different constituency in the city. I do not see her re-election chances as great at this point, however one thing we know for certain that is if she makes it to the runoff against a non-black candidate that the racist card will be played over and over and over again.
I had viewed Arnie Duncan as the anointed one of the Obama / Emmanuel/Democratic establishment, and was very surprised at the announcement that he would not run for mayor. The candidate that would excite me now is Paul Vallas as he seems to have both an understanding of the real problems affecting Chicago as well as the courage to address them. However, I would anticipate that the establishment would fight tooth and nail against another mayor outside of their circle.
On the Ukraine - I have a pretty broad circle of friends and family who are varying degrees on the right end of the political spectrum, and I do not know a single person who is supportive of Putin. In fact, you will notice that conservatives and Republicans are leading those demanding more severe sanctions against Putin now without further delay. So ascribing support of Putin to conservatives is truly fake news.
I am very hopeful that Biden will announce further restrictions against Putin, the oligarchs and particularly sanctions of all Russian oil which truly contain human blood at this point. People in the Ukraine are dying by the thousands and we cannot wait to see if the current sanctions have an effect. We must continue to take whatever measures are possible now until Putin stops.
(Eric - I had to change my credit card when I saw what appeared to be a fraudulent charge on it and I need to update that information in your billing system. How do I do that?)
I too had high hopes for Lightfoot; I happily voted for her with warm feelings. I'm now convinced that she's not so good at this mayor thing. She seems to have a talent for alienating everyone. (Not to mention that she likes to play the race card in pretty awkward, non-credible ways.) More like Heavyhand. I have no idea who should follow her.
Biden's exit from Afghanistan was a disaster (I personally think we should have stayed indefinitely, a minority view), but his response to Ukraine, I think, has been, to quote Francis Fukuyama (via Bari Weiss's podcast), "pretty good." Several remarkable things stand out: (1) The clever broadcasting of declassified U.S. intelligence in advance, "pre-bunking" (Fukuyama's word) Putin's planned baloney beforehand, no doubt helped in rallying a global response. (2) That global response has been surprisingly strong. We were led to believe that sanctions couldn't bite. That's proved untrue. Germany's about-face, influenced no doubt by the Americans, has been amazing. Two seconds ago, they were saying they should feel bad about how Nazis treated Russians during WWII. Now, they're shutting off Nordstream II and sending weapons. People whined about SWIFT and then we learn that we can freeze huge chunks of their central bank reserves, turning their money into fiction. The Wall Street Journal just reported that oil companies and traders and refiners are acting as if there are already energy sanctions. And, most unbelievably, FIFA and the IOC grew spines! (3) Russian forces have proved surprisingly unimpressive, while (4) Ukrainian forces have proved surprisingly impressive.
The overall sense now is that Putin spectacularly miscalculated, underestimating western response, underestimating the impact of sanctions, overestimating his army's effectiveness and esprit de corps (they don't want to do this and don't know how), and spectacularly underestimating Ukrainian resistance and resolve. It's not clear how he can plausibly hold the country, even if he were to simply bomb it into submission like Assad which he doubtless doesn't want to do. He will have a population the size of California's that mostly hates his guts and won't go along. Meanwhile, he has just done more than anyone could imagine to revive NATO, the cause of freedom around the world, and to galvanize opposition to his ambitions. As Fukuyama nicely put it, arguing with Niall Ferguson, if you think China is looking at all this and thinking get me some of that, "you're crazy."
Jake - all good thoughts. However, I believe the US must broaden and deepen the sanctions against this brutal communist tyrant and his regime in an attempt to save Ukrainian lives.
The US Treasury Department today advised that they believe Putin will try an end run around US sanctions by funneling money through lesser banks and individuals not presently within the scope of our sanctions. While these are not going to compensate nearly for the effect of the sanctions, it represents a hemorrhaging of the pain that Putin and his regime must feel in order to make them stop. I would like to see the entire Russian economy removed from the Swift system along with all the oligarchs and their entire extended family members. As soon as Putin halts his attack, we can remove some of the sanctions. When he withdraws from the Ukraine allowing them to remain a free country, we can remove more of them - carrots and sticks, although in this case we need the sticks first.
Further, it seems unconscionable to me that the US continues to buy Russian oil and provide revenue to feed Putin's military machine. That oil has blood in it. Republicans and even Speaker Pelosi and other leading Democrats are urging President Biden to just say no to Russian oil, and even if this involves additional cost for us consumers, we must be willing to incur the sacrifice to save the Ukrainian lives that are being slaughtered by the day. 🇺🇦🙏
Thank you for introducing me to the word "groundpawing" -- an apt description of pretrial litigation!