Columns Posts

As the sweet summer days turn into autumn nights, my family and I made our annual pilgrimage to  Michigan. The northern regions, that is.  AKA, MAGA land. It's hard to understand, much less explain, how a country so great could produce a political…

Once again LeBron James made a decision as to where to take his basketball-playing talents, and once again I don't like it. Harumph! Only this time my opposition is more, I don’t know—noble? At least to me. You decide. His first decision came in …

One day last week, I took the train downtown to meet with a gathering of residents in an Italian restaurant on South Michigan Avenue to talk TIFs. Marj Halperin asked me to do it. Said the residents were trying to make sense of the city’s scheme to…

The calendar on the wall says it's 2026, and yet I keep thinking I've gone back in time to 1984. That’s cause my beloved Bulls have a rookie who reminds me of--dare I say what I'm about to say? No, I can't. Seems too soon. Scared I'll jinx that ro…

On the road west, we tangent through the mountains outside Tucson, settling in a lodge that bills itself as a sanctuary for bird watchers. As such, the place's crawling with people, quietly scanning the horizon, binoculars out.  It’s my first enco…

In 1996, a magazine writer named Mark Singer got an assignment from his boss that he didn't want to do. Hang around with Donald Trump and write a story about it. I don't blame him for not wanting to hang around with Trump or write about him. Till …

A few days ago, my wife and I took off for California by way of Iowa, Nebraska and Arizona--by car. Yes, a real road trip. And before I left, I reminded myself... Benny, old, boy--it's a big country out there, and you'll be driving through MAGA la…

I've been writing and thinking about Chicago politics for so long that just about everything I see in politics reminds me of something I've already seen in Chicago. But sometimes Chicago fools me. Sometimes I'll see something in Chicago and think--…

As the self-appointed bridge between those who are addicted to sports and those who know nothing about it, I feel compelled to update the know-nothings about the latest brouhaha gripping Chicago's baseball world. So here goes... First, the name. …

The time has come for me to pay homage to the man who knows everything--Dwight Garner, book reviewer extraordinaire for the New York Times. One of my favorite Sunday morning moments occurs when, book review section in hand, I flop on the couch to r…

Went to the White Sox game the other day. Took the train. On the way, I broke out a paperback--Demon Copperfield by Barbara Kingsolver. Great read. Love reading on the subway. Makes the trip fly. Before you know it, the voice on the speaker’s sayi…

The strange saga of John Phelan's recently aborted reign as secretary of the Navy is one of those Trump-era political stories that's so preposterous it's easy to think it’s fake.  Unfortunately, it’s all too real. Please, follow. I'll streamline a…

Let me interrupt the horrors of Trump’s war against Iran to remind you of some good news that may have been lost amid the bombing. He fired Pam Bondi. Well, that’s not really the good news. The good news is why he fired her. Specifically… He fir…

As the man on the podcasting mic, I'm compelled to wade in on any rip-roaring controversy--especially the one involving Caleb, Skip, George & Jerry. So here goes... Caleb Williams is the sensational, young quarterback, who led my beloved Bears to …

In a sign of the insanity of our political times, the solar and wind-mill crowd in Texas has decided to advance its clean-energy cause by getting behind an oil-and-gas guy for attorney general. I know, that makes about as much sense as anything in …

When I was but a wee lad--young and fresh and new to town--Mayor Harold Washington enthralled me with his amazing ability to effortlessly throw around big-time words and phrases that sent me to the dictionary. Now that I'm an old dog, it's New York…

Ironically, I happened upon the obituary for Colman McCarthy as Trump and Netanyahu dropped their bombs on Iran.  I’ll get to the irony—but first, a few words about McCarthy. He was a journalist for the Washington Post—wrote a column on politics f…

For the last few days, reporters have been desperately searching for a logical explanation as to why Trump would do something so illogical as start a war with Iran. It's a challenging mission cause there's no logical explanation other than the one …

If I had a pantheon of super-smart lefties who influenced my life, Noam Chomsky would be right up there with Kurt Vonnegut. I loved Vonnegut's books. Still read Slaughterhouse Five from time to time. Vonnegut could reduce the atrocious hypocrisies…

On February 6, I woke to discover Trump had posted a video, depicting the Obamas as apes. Still half asleep, I thought... You gotta be kidding me--how low will this fucker go? A few minutes later the Associated Press offered their assessment, rep…

There I was, walking along Wabash Street through the heart of Boyle Heights, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Los Angeles, when who did I see looking back at me? Melania! Well, not in person. She was on a bus-shelter poster beneath a plate…

In the aftermath of the Bears' stunning come-from-behind playoff victory over the dreaded Green Bay Packers, it's time to reveal the inside story of the behind-the-scenes hero, who made it all possible. Here goes… I was in California, visiting fam…

In my desperation to find something positive to say about Trump's invasion of Venezuela, I've come down to this... He’s telling the truth—sorta. That is, after he's done lying. So you might say he's the most truthful liar in the history of America…

I need to make an apology and a correction, and I need to make them fast! They have to do with One Winged Dove, a song by Stevie Nicks.  You know the one–it goes… “Just like a one-winged dove–ooh, baby, ooh.” Now for my corrections, and I’ve got…