I heard Mayor Johnson saying that all parents bereaved by gun violence shed the same tears and that NO-ONE deserves to die because of the insane proliferation of guns in the US. If it weren't for the latter, both Officer Preston and Adam Toledo would be alive.
Thank you for including the Mary Schmich posts. It's reassuring to be able to relate to her thoughts and recollections because they are so genuine and familiar.
Thanks for reintroducing me to Stan Rogers' "The Mary Ellen Carter," almost forgotten after 40 or so years of my first hearing it. The wonderful refrain "rise again, rise again," replaying on an endless loop in my aging mind's jukebox, has more meaning now than it ever could back then.
OMG. I just re-subscribed to you thinking you were done with the Kass diatribes.
Definitely not a "fervant fan", but do think he's right on a couple issues.
1. After his FIRST Soros article the Chicago Tribune Guild accused Kass of "invoking the odious anti-Semitic conspiracy theory". His article just said that Foxx and other prosecutors were Soros funded. A fact which Soros embraces. This CTG accusation was as false as the May 4th comment that you had a "sometime racist opinion of Willy Wilson".
2. If you go to work for a union shop, I think you should be required to join and support the union, but if the union comes to your shop, it is your right to try and find a "workaround". Do you really think he did not join so he could "freeload" or was it just his distaste for unions?
I sent you a comment when this first happened and asked: "Do you think the CTG would have written the letter accusing him of anti-Semitism if he wasn't the only metro columnist at the paper that didn't join their union?"
You replied: "A resounding yes." I respectfully disagree.
I thought the tears statement was spot on and very touching in that it focused on the grief of those who lose loved ones to violence, regardless of the perpetrator.
As for the community's grief, Adam was the victim of police brutality which has (or should have) as much of an impact on all of us as the death of a police officer. In some ways, it has even more. When some random person kills another it is an individual breaking the law. When a police officer kills someone it is betrayal of the public trust and an abuse of power. That hurts even more. Especially when the victim is a child.
Anyone notice the Scott Stantis penned "Prickly City" comic strip now has a one man band newspaper called "The Daily Peccary" which uses a font very similar to the one used here. In today's strip it is mentioned that the paper is owned by a hedge fund so I'm guessing Scott is going with a mashup of the Chicago Tribune and the Picayune Sentinel. That way he can do jokes about either or both of them. As a former Mincing Rascal I wonder if Scott asked permission before publishing this new character. Either way it is fun to see.
July is my favorite month. I love summer, which is at its zenith. Also, it begins with a wonderful celebration of America’s birthday, and ends with a wonderful celebration of my birthday.
I guess when it comes to politicians I am an abused child. Abused children do not listen to folks but watch what they do. So often they hear sweet things said only to be immediately hit or kicked. So they watch for action and ignore the talk.
I think Brandon Johnson was trying to be uplifting in his speech - but they were just words. I await his actions and accomplishments to judge his motives.
I see Johnson’s point in the sense that sorrow is sorrow in whatever context it is experienced, tears are tears, heartache is heartache – grief is grief. This is a reference to the internal emotional experience all grieving people have, whether death is a result of a morally tragic or reprehensible shooting or not. Like a bowl of s*** stew, few people after tasting it would eat it unless they had to; so, few people would welcome grief into their lives if they didn’t have to.
On the other hand, the external contextual status of the two morally different deaths makes it controversial – was Adam Toledo’s shooting a “good” one or not, indicating it was a justified shooting/killing or a coverup? People are largely not in agreement here and want a just, official judgment (which in Chicago they may never get) generally. They want “justice” as they see it, often mitigated civilly through aggressive, direct mob action.
Most people would agree on its face that both deaths are tragic losses, but the one can without question easily be viewed as morally reprehensible – the shooting of Chicago police officer Areanah Preston (perhaps a prestigious act amongst criminals) – while the shooting of Adam Toledo is viewed as a heroic act on the part of the CPD, the Chicago Police Department? Why not issue a commendation to Officer Eric Stillman?
This sounds more to me like a cookie-cutter judgment often generally and uniformly exonerating most every shooting by the CPD, Chicago Police Department; and, following their lead, it dismisses any claims to the contrary – like the questionable civil, legal/moral dichotomy inherent in these shootings.
What is the ethical and journalistic responsibility in this case, as well as the obligation on the part of the questionable veracity of the CPD and City Hall?
Both Adam Toledo and Areanah Preston were subject to lethal gunfire – we know this much is factually true, -- but what is the ethical journalistic and civil responsibility in this case?
Justice delayed is justice denied (Magna Carta, which states that nobody should be "denied or delayed right or justice") ... and in what sense?
I heard Mayor Johnson saying that all parents bereaved by gun violence shed the same tears and that NO-ONE deserves to die because of the insane proliferation of guns in the US. If it weren't for the latter, both Officer Preston and Adam Toledo would be alive.
Thank you for including the Mary Schmich posts. It's reassuring to be able to relate to her thoughts and recollections because they are so genuine and familiar.
Thanks for reintroducing me to Stan Rogers' "The Mary Ellen Carter," almost forgotten after 40 or so years of my first hearing it. The wonderful refrain "rise again, rise again," replaying on an endless loop in my aging mind's jukebox, has more meaning now than it ever could back then.
"Mayor Johnson's unwise decision to invoke the death of Adam Toledo" - nice start, first week, for the next 'Michael Jordan' of Chicago politics.
You won. John Kass lost. Enough.
The coat looks white to me as well, and NOVA had an excellent episode last night about perception deception:
https://www.pbs.org/video/your-brain-perception-deception-0mqxyc/
Correctly pronouncing "dour" has always been my forte.
OMG. I just re-subscribed to you thinking you were done with the Kass diatribes.
Definitely not a "fervant fan", but do think he's right on a couple issues.
1. After his FIRST Soros article the Chicago Tribune Guild accused Kass of "invoking the odious anti-Semitic conspiracy theory". His article just said that Foxx and other prosecutors were Soros funded. A fact which Soros embraces. This CTG accusation was as false as the May 4th comment that you had a "sometime racist opinion of Willy Wilson".
2. If you go to work for a union shop, I think you should be required to join and support the union, but if the union comes to your shop, it is your right to try and find a "workaround". Do you really think he did not join so he could "freeload" or was it just his distaste for unions?
I sent you a comment when this first happened and asked: "Do you think the CTG would have written the letter accusing him of anti-Semitism if he wasn't the only metro columnist at the paper that didn't join their union?"
You replied: "A resounding yes." I respectfully disagree.
I thought the tears statement was spot on and very touching in that it focused on the grief of those who lose loved ones to violence, regardless of the perpetrator.
As for the community's grief, Adam was the victim of police brutality which has (or should have) as much of an impact on all of us as the death of a police officer. In some ways, it has even more. When some random person kills another it is an individual breaking the law. When a police officer kills someone it is betrayal of the public trust and an abuse of power. That hurts even more. Especially when the victim is a child.
Can we vote sorta funny and tasteless on Coffin Flop?
The Coffin Flop survey needs another response “Not particularly tasteless and not particularly funny”.
Anyone notice the Scott Stantis penned "Prickly City" comic strip now has a one man band newspaper called "The Daily Peccary" which uses a font very similar to the one used here. In today's strip it is mentioned that the paper is owned by a hedge fund so I'm guessing Scott is going with a mashup of the Chicago Tribune and the Picayune Sentinel. That way he can do jokes about either or both of them. As a former Mincing Rascal I wonder if Scott asked permission before publishing this new character. Either way it is fun to see.
July is my favorite month. I love summer, which is at its zenith. Also, it begins with a wonderful celebration of America’s birthday, and ends with a wonderful celebration of my birthday.
I guess when it comes to politicians I am an abused child. Abused children do not listen to folks but watch what they do. So often they hear sweet things said only to be immediately hit or kicked. So they watch for action and ignore the talk.
I think Brandon Johnson was trying to be uplifting in his speech - but they were just words. I await his actions and accomplishments to judge his motives.
I see Johnson’s point in the sense that sorrow is sorrow in whatever context it is experienced, tears are tears, heartache is heartache – grief is grief. This is a reference to the internal emotional experience all grieving people have, whether death is a result of a morally tragic or reprehensible shooting or not. Like a bowl of s*** stew, few people after tasting it would eat it unless they had to; so, few people would welcome grief into their lives if they didn’t have to.
On the other hand, the external contextual status of the two morally different deaths makes it controversial – was Adam Toledo’s shooting a “good” one or not, indicating it was a justified shooting/killing or a coverup? People are largely not in agreement here and want a just, official judgment (which in Chicago they may never get) generally. They want “justice” as they see it, often mitigated civilly through aggressive, direct mob action.
Most people would agree on its face that both deaths are tragic losses, but the one can without question easily be viewed as morally reprehensible – the shooting of Chicago police officer Areanah Preston (perhaps a prestigious act amongst criminals) – while the shooting of Adam Toledo is viewed as a heroic act on the part of the CPD, the Chicago Police Department? Why not issue a commendation to Officer Eric Stillman?
This sounds more to me like a cookie-cutter judgment often generally and uniformly exonerating most every shooting by the CPD, Chicago Police Department; and, following their lead, it dismisses any claims to the contrary – like the questionable civil, legal/moral dichotomy inherent in these shootings.
What is the ethical and journalistic responsibility in this case, as well as the obligation on the part of the questionable veracity of the CPD and City Hall?
Both Adam Toledo and Areanah Preston were subject to lethal gunfire – we know this much is factually true, -- but what is the ethical journalistic and civil responsibility in this case?
Justice delayed is justice denied (Magna Carta, which states that nobody should be "denied or delayed right or justice") ... and in what sense?
I have to say that I found this week's crop of Tweets to be well below your usual standards. Pickings must be slim.