Division Street

The hottest meme in the political universe right now is the apparent inability of the media to find a way to have fun at Barack Obama’s expense, but what the media is missing is that when it comes to Obama, the media themselves have long been the target. The Obama Messiah Watch anybody?

Now comes the ever-dependable Onion once again to teach the media a few lessons with “Time Publishes Definitive Obama Puff Piece.”

Remember, it’s funny because it’s true.

Believe me, I would never besmirch the Special Olympics and Anne Burke deserves whatever credit she is due that comes her way, but are we ever going to find out the real story about how she, her alderman-husband and former judge Mary Anne McMorrow engineered her advancement to state supreme court judge?

After all, one story has been told over and over again, while the other has been quickly forgotten - and apparently, inexplicably, forgiven.

One of the most infuriating parts of Dane Placko’s “Clout Kids” series was the laughing Richard Lanyon blaming kids unaware of the summer jobs program at the Water Reclamation District - of which he is superintendent - for not “taking the opportunity” to make the right connections. You know, like being born the son or daughter of an alderman.

Here’s the text of the statement Lanyon issued in advance of the series’ airing.

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July 10,2008

Statement by Richard Lanyon, General Superintendent MWRD

As the General Superintendent of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago I am responsible for the hiring of our 2,000 employees, including our temporary relief summer workers. Every person at the District must complete a well established process of application for employment. Each person is subject to a vigorous background check and physical exam.

The District’s hiring practices are well within every established law, rule and regulation.

Our summer relief program, a long established one, is open to any one who is aware of it. We consider our summer relief worker program a community service for students wanting to consider future employment in fields relevant to District work; some examples are engineering, environmental research, and public policy and business administration.

Due to the distinctly short nature of the employment, it is not in the best interest of the taxpayer for our personnel departmentto be overwhelmed with applicants. Candidates for temporary summer work are from organizations such as Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, civic education, or community organizations.

Over the course of a 119 rotating period calendar year,we generally employ about 230people. They work in jobs suitable for their skills. They are subject to supervisory scrutiny as any employee. Of those 230 people, a very small percentage may be related to current employees or commissioners. In any case, no hirings lead to inferior employees.

In closing I would remind everyone that the main purpose of the District is to protect the environment, and the public’s health. We do this with an elected legislative body of nine Board of Commissioners who are the public face of the District and we do so with the highest integrity.

“Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has left a slot open in his schedule during the first weekend of August for an appearance at the Lollapalooza music festival in his hometown of Chicago, according to multiple sources familiar with the ongoing planning and logistics,” The Daily Swarm reports. (h/t: Jim DeRogatis)

But when this says “delivered by AT&T,” does it mean Lollapalooza or Obama?

“In November 2002, Joseph Gleiter sat at the breakfast counter of Plaza Cafe in Orland Park, eyeing Rod Blagojevich as he made his way through the crowd,” Kristen McQueary writes.

“Just days before the election that would crown him governor, Blagojevich stopped in the southwest suburbs to shake hands at a local hangout. Gleiter had one question for him:

“‘I’d like to know what you’re going to do about these facilities,’ he said, referring to the group home in which his mentally disabled son lives. ‘If you make cuts, these people are going to end up in state facilities.’

“Gleiter wagged his finger at an antsy Blagojevich who - naturally - was hours behind schedule that day.

“‘It’s a matter of setting priorities,’ the soon-to-be governor assured Gleiter before his handlers steered him toward another table.

“Priorities. Right.

“What were they again?”

Go read the rest of it to find out.

The Sun-Times cast a goofy-looking governor as John Wayne to illustrate its story about Rod Blagojevich’s offer to send the state police - and possibly the National Guard - to Chicago to help out the apparently hapless Mayor Daley. As noted the headline to this post, I think the Sun-Times missed a comedic opportunity.

Meanwhile, City Hall is pissed.

“We’re a little puzzled about how it would work,” mayoral spokesmonster Jackie Heard said.

Who isn’t? What a logistical nightmare.

“Daley administration officials also noted with some cynicism that Blagojevich had yet to respond to efforts by City Hall earlier this year to seek youth job and recreational programs to help prevent an onslaught of summer violence.”

It’s also classic Blagojevich grandstanding. “It is, at the very least, a little disconcerting that we’re only hearing about this as the media does,” Heard said.

Fortunately, classic Blagojevich grandstanding includes the fact that he never follows through with his grand pronouncements, so let’s declare this dead-on-arrival and move on.

The Transit Riders’ Alliance issued another “Action Alert” today urging its supporters to contact their state legislators and express their, um, displeasure at the governor and his budget cuts.

“Despite the urgent need to expand transit, Governor Blagojevich line-item vetoed funding for reduced student and ADA fares and the seniors-ride-free program he created in January. (The agencies still have to provide the reduced and free rides, so these cuts will impact the overall operating budget. Amtrak funding did not get cut.)

“The House is scheduled to meet again this week to deal with the line-item vetoes, but the Senate is unlikely to meet before November.

“Please click here to tell your senator and representative to expand transit, not cut it. We need to expand transit now.”

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“They’re good-paying summer jobs. Hundreds of jobs for teens and college kids that pay $13 and hour. But unless you have Chicago-style clout, chances are your kid won’t get one,” Dane Placko reports in the first part of his latest excellent investigation.

“A Fox News Chicago investigation into seasonal employment at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago found that many of their summer jobs are going to children of politicians, city and county officials and full-time employees of the District.”

My favorite part - aside from watching slimy weasels like aldermen Patrick Levar and Ike Carothers run scurry away from Placko during questioning - comes at the end when District Superintendent Richard Lanyon explains that A) it’s everyone else’s fault for not “taking the opportunity” to make the proper connections that would help them get these jobs and B) it’s too much of a hassle to go through a lot of applications anyway.

The investigation continues tonight with a look at the MWRD commissioners and employers who are giving their kids jobs.

“[The governor] cut more than $240,000 for the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois, Springfield, and $800,000 to address the state’s DNA testing backlog. Another $1 million to offset the cost of videotaping police interrogations was cut,” Kristen McQueary reported on Sunday.

I thought of this while reading these stories today:

* “Olympic Bid Raises $12 Mil, $37 Mil To Go.”
* “Mich. Ave Riverwalk To Cost City $8.1 Mil.“

I realize the funding sources for all of these things are different, but doesn’t it say something nonetheless about our priorities?

The New York Times on Sunday reported on dismay among Obama supporters upset over what Times columnist Bob Herbert calls “lurching with abandon.” But the Times did so in a way that marginalizes those supporters. Start with the headline: “Obama Supporters on the Far Left Cry Foul.”

Those upset with Obama are hardly restricted to the “far left.”

The Times continues with references to “left-wing bloggers” and “purists,” as if those stunned by Obama’s reversals are starry-eyed idealists (never mind that that’s how Obama the hopemonger has portrayed himself) who aren’t pragmatic (cynical?) enough to know how to win elections.

Memo to the Times: All those folks giving those $5 donations that impress you so much? That’s them!

But there’s no question that the most conservative of Obama’s supporters are upset too.

(Interesting aside: Those voting against the FISA bill include not just Hillary Clinton, but John Kerry, Dick Durbin and Harry Reid, among others. And in the veep watch, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd - neither of whom has a chance to be put on the ticket in my view - voted Nay. Evan Bayh, who I think has a very good chance, voted Yea.)

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