Category Archives: Uncategorized

By the mid-fall of 1969, Spiro Agnew’s improbable Vice Presidency was—compared with the duties assigned his predecessors—turning to be very probable after all.  After a campaign relegated to handle the talking points that the ticket needed to woo the lunch … Continue reading →

On October 28, 1893, shortly after giving the closing address at Chicago’s wildly successful Columbian Exposition, popular five-term Mayor Carter Harrison was shot to death in his home by erstwhile campaign supporter and self-styled single tax and rail safety advocate, … Continue reading →

I didn’t imagine it possible, but I think he was considerably more statesmanlike when he was telling Senator Leahy to go fuck himself. For a man who spent the previous eight years lurking in the shadows, the former Vice President … Continue reading →

Well, nothing like having your life’s thesis eroded in a matter of months. I’ve devoted years of my life and owe the lion’s share of my four-figure fortune to one truism that I had studied to believe was unimpeachable: Our … Continue reading →

I suppose looks are deceiving. My grandmother seemed harmless, but she used to lock my sisters in the basement if they screwed up their Acts of Contrition. And that was when she was in her bridge club and support hose … Continue reading →

As much of an empathetic posture he managed to present, no one really expected him to spend his retirement building houses with Jimmy Carter, but after the bypass it was hard to see him chasing poon again. Elective office was … Continue reading →

“This is a sad day for Illinois government. Governor Blagejovich has taken us to a truly new low.” That was U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald (of Scooter Libby fame) decrying the corruption that’s rendered the unpronounceable governor’s office a political SuperFund … Continue reading →

There are good days, and there are bad days, and there are horrible days, and there are great days. I was on my way into work this week and went to get gas, and was pleased to find that the … Continue reading →