Thursday night, the Illinois Supreme Court reinstated Oswald Cobblepot’s name on the ballot to be Mayor of Chicago in time for the February 22nd election. You may be familiar with him by his other name: Rahm Emanuel.

You may remember Oswald Cobblepot, A.K.A. “The Penguin,” from the “Batman” films of Tim Burton. He was a wretched little man who was beloved by the City of Gotham and well on his way to being elected Mayor – that is until the heroic Batman played a looped recording of Oswald saying “You gotta admit, I’ve played this stinking city like a harp from Hell.” That is what I’ve envisioned Emanuel saying in my head over and over again since he began his campaign for Mayor of Chicago.

Except that Rahm Emanuel isn’t the only one who has played Chicago. The MSM have too.

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The face of TV and politics changed forever on this date in history. It was 50 years ago this evening that John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon held the first of their 4 debates. It was clearly the most remarkable of their debates—perhaps the most remarkable of all presidential debates.

Kennedy was seen as calm, cool and collected on TV. He was well tanned and healthy. Nixon was fighting illness, he refused a request for makeup and looked sweaty and worn out. Those who watched the broadcast of the first ever televised presidential debate declared Kennedy the winner, those who listened on the radio gave the nod to Nixon. Thus, the political world changed forever.

70 million people watched first of the Great Debates that night that was simulcast on each of the network.  More than half of the voters who watched on TV said that the debates influenced their decision on who to vote for in 1960.

Still, in spite of his performance, Kennedy won by only 112,000 votes and there were serious questions about voter fraud, especially in Illinois where under the Mayor Richard Daley the phrase was coined, “vote early and often.” (more…)

For those who may not know, Santelli has been a CNBC on-air editor since 1999, reporting a dozen or so times a day live from the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade whenever the exchange is open. To this casual viewer, Santelli’s genial, down-to-earth Midwestern persona always seemed a refreshing homespun relief from the high-voltage, East Coast, guru-on-steroids style of CNBC superstar Jim “Booyah!” Cramer.

Full disclosure: I am a modest-earning playwright, not a rich hedge fund manager, and currently have no money in the stock market. I merely began following the market about 10 years ago out of theatrical curiosity—it seemed like the next best form of drama after Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams. I never imagined names like Larry Kudlow, Maria Bartiromo, and Bertha Coombs would mean a damn thing to me, but soon like Miranda in The Tempest I found myself exclaiming “O brave new world, that hath such people in it!”

Back to Rick.

Rick Santelli delivered his now famous “Shout Heard ‘Round the World”—his impromptu suggestion that America needs a Boston Tea Party redux—on February 19, 2009. As a full-fledged CNBC geek, I happened to be watching “Squawk Box” that morning, my alternative to “The View.” (Not to take anything away from Babs and her bevy, but when it comes to looks and smarts, nobody can top CNBC morning money-honeys Melissa Francis and Trish Regan.) (more…)

Historians will someday document the pressure that Democrat Party leaders put on their members in Congress to vote for the “health care” bill. Until then, we mainly rely on leaked stories and accounts offered by House members willing to talk. But there is this one other source we can look to for hints of what’s happening to Democrat House members behind the scenes.

President Obama and Chicago’s Mayor Daley share a political advisor: David Axelrod.  Plus, Axelrod and Rahm “Rahmbo” Emanuel worked together on Democrat Paul Simon’s 1984 election to the U.S. Senate. It’s all in the family, so to speak.

Daley attacked the reporter when he was asked a question pertaining to the suicide death of Chicago School Board President Michael Scott. Watch His Honor’s response here.

It reminds you of this: (more…)

Machine politics in Chicago is an uncoordinated criminal enterprise.  It works more like the traditional Chinese Triad than the Sicilian La Costa Nostra. There’s room for criminal entrepreneurs. The rollout from Chicago Alderman Isaac “Ike” Carothers plea deal, covered in Big Journalism here, is a case study in how the Machine oils its gears.

Ike wore a mic for the Feds, specifically for the office of U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald.  The first rollup of Ike’s crooked connections began February 2.

A 51-year-old businessman from Naperville was formally charged Tuesday with offering bribes to Chicago Ald. Ike Carothers. Carothers, who pleaded guilty to fraud charges Monday and promptly tendered his resignation, said in his plea deal that the businessman, Wafeek “Wally” Aiyash, paid him $40,000 in bribes in exchange for help on developments in Carothers’ 29th ward. Aiyash’s attorney would not comment.

But Aiyash was charged in what is called a criminal information, rather than an indictment, which usually means the defendant will plead guilty. In previous court documents, Aiyash was accused of offering $100,000 in cash bribes to Carothers if he would help secure concessions contracts at O’Hare and Midway airports. (more…)

The Chicago media is having trouble picking a winner out of the line-up of likely suspects for the Machine’s chosen candidate for Barack Obama’s old, hardly even used U.S. Senate seat.  The dragnet doesn’t include anyone with an impressive rap sheet of accomplishments. So what’s up? Is the Machine sputtering?

The Illinois primary election for U.S. Senator is February 2. Senator Roland Burris isn’t running. No money. No support. No surprise.  After what the disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s hand-picked seat warmer had to go through just to get credentialed, it’s no wonder he just wants to pack up and go home to his monuments.

And the recent victory by Scott Brown in the Massachusetts special election for the U.S. Senate certainly has put the fear of God into party hacks from sea to shining sea. So, who’s the Machine’s candidate among the leading suspects? Here’s the line-up. (more…)