Perhaps it is because the founding fathers of Illinois could not yet fathom corruption of this nature that they did not offer an alternative solution for filling a vacant Senate seat when they ratified our state's first constitution in 1818. Certainly, it would seem placing the governance of such affairs...

This morning, CNN.com posted a commentary by Kent Redfield, director of the Sunshine Project and professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Illinois, titled "Illinois Voters Should Blame Themselves." He writes:

"Two years ago, most Illinois citizens suspected what they now know about Rod Blagojevich. But...

It was Chicago-native and future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that once said:

"Being a [Chicago] Cubs fan prepares you for life -- and Washington."

What the events of this week have shown us is that while Chicago may prepare politicians for Washington, nothing can adequately prepare a politician for...

In the wake of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's arrest this morning on federal charges relating to fraud, extortion, and efforts to "sell" President-elect Obama's vacated Senate seat, a chorus of Chicago and Illinois officials, Democrats and Republicans alike, have called for his resignation.

If convicted, Blagojevich will be...

This is more than slightly ridiculous.

As the Boston Globe reports today, a pregnant woman in labor and her husband, en route to the hospital in a traffic jam, pulled over in the "breakdown lane" to ask a state trooper for permission to remain in that lane until the...

During the presidential campaign and throughout this economically tumultuous time, the phrase "the American Dream" is tossed about with increased frequency. Yet when you ask various people to define the American Dream, you seldom get the same answer.

The Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP) hosted their first "Defending the...

My cousin Justin and I are speaking to each other for the first time in a decade. He tells me about the usual things that interest ten-year-old boys: his favorite restaurants, karate class, his new haircut, and Nintendo games. I find myself enjoying our conversation and hearing about the activities...

As a pet owner, I understand how the costs of feeding and caring for a pet can add up. But the CNN.com story "Mortgage meltdown results in pets going to pound" just about broke my heart.

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Furry signs of a down-trending economy peer dolefully...

Dear Obama transition administration:

On behalf of all my fellow Chicagoans, I'd like to thank you for launching the Chicago-Hawaii Cultural Exchange program, in which citizens of the city of Big Shoulders can apply for the opportunity to swap a year beside Lake Michigan for a year on the shores...

I am reading a book that is as delicious page-for-page as its mouth-watering subject matter: pie.

American pie, to be precise, and not of the Jason Biggs variety.

Pascale Le Draoulec's "American Pie: Slices of Life (and Pie) from America's Back Roads" is an adventure in crust, filling,...

At the base of the Statue of Liberty, a plaque reads this line by the poet Emma Lazarus:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp...

I received my special election issue of Newsweek yesterday (the November 17 edition), and having read it cover to cover, I have just set it down.

This is the finest piece of journalism I've seen in my lifetime.

Thanks to a monthly donation I give to Chicago Public...

As a lifelong public radio listener, I often hear stories on NPR that have the power to make me pull my car over and cut the engine in order to fully devote my attention to listening.

Last night was one such moment, and I maintain that what I heard...

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking about taking November 5th off from work so that you can recover from an overnight marathon of cable news, a night of either celebratory binge drinking or a night of weeping like a child.

Do it.

Really, the emotional toll this...

This is a compilation of statements and allegations made by John McCain or campaign surrogates on behalf of John McCain that have been repeatedly disputed or refuted, supported by the proof that these statements are mostly, partially, or completely false.

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10. William Ayers

John McCain aired an...

It seems that in every blog "argument" I enter with a conservative or Republican individual, I am inevitably identified as a "communist," a "pinko commie," or an "Obamunist." Now, I learned early on in my political blogging career that insults hurled in comment sections are often the product of an...

What do you do for a living? Do you work for a school? A non-profit? A small business? I bet you're exhausted. You deserve a break. How about a day off? How about a massage? How about an all expenses paid retreat for you and your colleagues to a ritzy...

Cubs fans may be 90% scar tissue, to quote George Will, but now they are also 10% heartache.

The Chicago Cubs, with their National League best 97 wins, sterling roster of pitchers, and should-be live bats, were swept in the first three games of post season for the second consecutive...

A sausage and provolone sandwich is responsible for turning a 28 year-old graduate student from Pennsylvania's coal region into a "gotcha journalist" at the center of the most important election in our nation's history. On Saturday, September 27, Michael Rovito, a PhD candidate in Public Health at Temple University, encountered...

Until last month, there was only one place in my neighborhood to get truly amazing quiche. Now, there are no places to get quiche, because my favorite bakery has closed up shop. Perhaps, like many other small businesses today, they found their line of credit reduced or their loan payments...