Statesmen stand in Hamilton's shadow
Two hundred years ago Sunday, July 11, 1804, the greatest founding father except for George Washington fell mortally wounded at age 49 in a duel on the heights at Weehawken, N.J., overlooking what is now the Manhattan skyline. Now a new biography has restored him to deserved front-line eminence -- greater than Jefferson, greater than Adams, greater than Franklin, greater than Madison. Simple justice demands that America become more aware of him. Which is why I write today about one the most imperishably prescient Americans of all time: Alexander Hamilton, whose full merit is portrayed stunningly by Ron Chernow in Alexander Hamilton [Penguin Press, 2004].
Saturday, July 3, 2004
Consider Rauschenberger
SPRINGFIELD -- State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger wonders if the Illinois GOP is serious about running a candidate who can defeat Barack Obama. That's what he's going to ask U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert this weekend.
Friday, June 25, 2004
Why Ryan should go -- McKenna's the man
On June 5, I wrote a doomsday scenario on Jack Ryan, maintaining that the Los Angeles judge's ruling on his divorce records could sink his candidacy. The Ryan people protested angrily. But being an old goat sometimes pays off in experience.
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Time of reckoning is coming due for Mayor Daley
Corruption has so tainted the administration of Mayor Daley that history may repeat itself before the next mayoral election in 2007. Once, routine crony hirings and contract favoritism were the worst criticisms of Daley. Not so now. You have the Hired Truck scandal unearthed by the Sun-Times and a likely bigger string of contractor payoffs, but where's the outrage? If these scandals had hit Harold Washington, the reformers would be beating up on him in a minute. Daley has co-opted every liberal interest group. Whether it's savvy or racism, late though it may be, the outrage is coming.
Chicago's $475 million project opens Friday.
