The Polls Are In
Maybe the Trib will endorse … no one. —The_Little_Pig
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Little Pig—the Trib declined to endorse when Braun ran against Williamson for the U.S. Senate in ’92. The editorial, as I recall, was disdainful of both candidates. I can’t see it being similarly disdainful of both McCain and Obama. Even if it were, it’d still pick McCain. See, for example, its endorsement of Reagan in ’84. —Flyby Reader
The revolt against the “loudness war” is hardly surprising. As in real war, those who usually suffer the most are the innocents—in this case the listeners. Uber-loud records are fatiguing to listen to and studies have shown that they may even be harmful to your ears. Meanwhile war profiteers—like Clear Channel programmers, major label CEOs, and advertising execs—cash in on the masses’ misery. At some point, the public will no longer endure being sacrificed for the benefit of an elite few, and they will turn on the powers that be, as evident during the Vietnam War.
My five siblings and I are graduates of the CPS system. We all ran in those “horrible hallways” for four years while attending Steinmetz HS, and my brother and I went on to become scholarship athletes at UIC and Lewis University as a result. These men have a valid argument in that training in such inadequate facilities is harsh on your mind, body, and spirit. The point that [community activist] Conrad [Worrill] and [developer Elzie] Higginbottom are stressing here is that the money to implement such an event as the “Olympics” is controversial due to the lack of interest among “Olympic” supporters to invest a small portion of the money raised to prepare the inner-city children (our future) to take part in it. Issues of self-esteem, inferiority, and even self-worth come into play here. I know from experience, possibly like some of you, the negative feelings associated with being given the shorter end of the stick. Yes, one could say “get over it,” which is exactly what God helped my siblings and I do as we succeeded in cross-country and track in both high school and in college (thank God for such success). But, the greatest question that these two are posing is, How can a city (Chicago) say to the inner-city children “Become successful” but then not invest money in ways to mentor and facilitate that success in the schools? —Monieka Thompson
