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* UPDATED x1 - Double-down * They really make this too easy…

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* The same editorial board which defended candidate Bruce Rauner’s refusal to talk specifics about his magic beans budget ideas during the campaign, and has since refused to write about specifics of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed budget cuts, is now demanding to know specifics about Chuy Garcia’s budget ideas.

* And that very same editorial board, which was so unconcerned about specifics during the 2014 campaign and the FY 2016 budget, is now demanding that Mayor Rahm Emanuel get specific and “tell us the whole truth” about how he’ll keep the city’s finances on an even keel.

Care to guess which editorial board that is?

*** UPDATE *** The editorial board doubled down this afternoon with a little ditty entitled: “Emanuel, Garcia: Tell voters how you’ll fix CPS”…

We’ve been waiting — along with voters — to hear mayoral candidates tackle the budget issue head on, with specifics. […]

The campaign debate so far has focused on hot-button education issues — charter schools, the closing of those elementary schools, student standardized testing and whether to elect a Chicago school board. All of those are important. But none matters as much as the looming budget crisis.

Hilarious.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:07 am

Comments

Self-parody.

Comment by Wordslinger Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:09 am
I’m going with the Dewitt Daily News, because there’s no way it could be a large influential newspaper like the Chicago Tribune.

Comment by AC Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:14 am
The Vandalia Leader-Union?

Comment by Lil Squeezy Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:16 am
Reasons I will not subscribe to their paper or digital edition. A once proud paper now a partisan disgrace.

Comment by Tim Snopes Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:17 am
I’m with AC, couldn’t be a paper with any credibility — the National Enquirer?

Comment by ash Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:17 am
The Daily Planet?

Comment by NewWestSuburbanGOP'er Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:18 am
The World’s Greatest Newspaper? Self-parody.

Comment by Cubswin7 Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:23 am
As long as we are calling B.S. on the Trib edit board’s inconsistency, did you catch Kristen McQueary’s column this week? She hits Chuy (deservedly) for his “ferry dust” promises and lauds Rahm for making tough choices, but then says she didn’t vote for Rahm because of his arrogance. Then who did she vote for? Wilson, Fioretti, and Walls were spreading the same ferry dust. Maybe she wrote in Bruce Rauner….he does have a home in Chicago.

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82913842/

Comment by Richard Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:23 am
We pick the ERV Free Press, Stu Levine editor.
They apparently lost their radio septic tank this week too. What a heartbreaking loss. First Uline pet rock, Proft, then fasteddie kewpie doll Kassamoron. What will the Raunerville knuckleheads tune into?

Comment by Anonin' Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:23 am
OOOH! I KNOW! I KNOW!

Comment by South of Sherman Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:24 am
Streetwise.

Comment by Toure's Latte Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:24 am
The Onion?

Comment by Left Leaner Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:26 am
Jeff Spicoli, editor of the Ridgemont High Times?

Comment by Past the Rule of 85 Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:26 am
Change the name to the DuPage Tribune and the Ed Board is no longer an issue.

Comment by From the 'Dale to HP Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:26 am
- Large influential- not sure any of those exist anymore
I am going with the Walnut Leader

Comment by Annon3 Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:27 am
Unless Chicago elections allow non residents to vote we don’t McQ gets a ballot

Comment by Anonin' Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:28 am
I’m going to guess Slugline in honor of House of Cards Day.

Comment by Dirty Red Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:30 am
@FakeStatehouseChick - Our editorials are really fact check based. The fact our checks were on the line with Rauner, that was a fact. #ConsistentHypocrisy

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:32 am
We can make light of it but the Trib’s editorial board consists of Very Serious People™!!1!

– MrJM

Comment by MrJM Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:34 am
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”

Oh, ye hobgoblins.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:36 am
The We’re in Bankruptcy but We Throw Stones at Others’ Financial Houses Daily.

Comment by Grandson of Man Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:39 am
The daily herald? Southtown star?

Comment by Jerry 101 Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:40 am
The “Editorial Board” output is so inconsistent, I sometimes wonder if they have a “writer of the day contest” where the loser gets to put his or her own opinion up as the editorial, and the others don’t even bother to read it.

Comment by walker Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:40 am
oh, the Trib’s inconsistencies on endorsements even goes to the Aldermanics. it’s clear that they know/care more about certain races, almost to the point of the personal and ignore/treat with barely surface knowledge some races. funny, but the Sun Times just got back in the endorsement game and their aldermanic coverage was way deeper than the Trib’s.

Comment by Amalia Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:41 am
“Daley’s failure was the stretching, the spending, the pretending that nothing bad would ever put Chicago on the road to Detroit.”

“Explain not just why, but how, you won’t let that road take us all the way to Detroit.”

:-/

Comment by whetstone Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:45 am
Angel Martin’s “Quentin Courier”?

Comment by Big Joe Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:45 am
Um - an archaic old rag of a paper in a death spiral of stupidity and bankruptcy?

Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:48 am
Got to be The Gilman Star

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:53 am
–The “Editorial Board” output is so inconsistent, I sometimes wonder if they have a “writer of the day contest” where the loser gets to put his or her own opinion up as the editorial–

Editorial boards are a weird beast. They hew to a particular ideological slant despite changes in personnel, some of whom don’t, writing under their own name, share that ideology.

So editorials are, lots of times, conceived by committee and written by individuals on behalf of the board as a whole. I’m not surprised when many of them turn out to be gibberish because the process is… odd. In some ways, I think unsigneds are dumb and counterproductive, because that process leads to bad writing and bad arguments.

On the other hand, as someone who writes a fair amount about history, they can be really useful for taking the temperature of politics at a certain time. As a look into Chicagoland establishment ideology, the Trib’s unsigneds can be really useful.

E.g., they basically said “we’re sick of Quinn, you are too, vote for Rauner on gut instinct that he’ll be awesome even if he hasn’t said anything about what he’ll actually do.” Is that good for guiding and educating the citzenry? Well, no. Does it reflect a significant reason why Rauner got elected? Yeah, I think it does.

Comment by whetstone Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:54 am
The Clay County Advocate-Press. It made a nice change from the high school sports reports and church service notices.

Comment by PolPal56 Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 10:58 am
The Mayberry Journal?

The Trib is plumbing new depths, which, sadly, says it all.

Comment by bwana63 Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 11:13 am
Anyone who plays the “Detroit” card is just hopelessly stupid, and knows absolutely nothing about Chicago or Detroit. It’s beyond reason.

It should be noted the “another Detroit” card first got played in the runup to the 1987 mayoral election. The idea was if you kept on electing black mayors they would be as corrupt and incompent as Coleman Young.

The irony, of course, was that the long dictatorial reign of
The Great White Hope was chock fulla corruption and stupefyingly incompetent when it came to the city government’s long term fiscal condition.

All these fiscal time bombs set to go off can be laid right at the feet of the World’s Greatest Mayor, whose Indispensable Man cult of personality was in large part a creation of the World’s Greatest Newspaper.

Comment by Wordslinger Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 11:26 am
Alex, I’ll take ‘Midwest Hypocrites’ for $800.

Comment by Tornadoman Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 11:27 am
The Oquawka Current is just relentless!

Comment by QCLib Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 11:40 am
I can’t help but think that writers who regularly write some crap are beyond the power of not only reason but shame and embarrassment. In its own way, it’s rather sublime.

Comment by vise77 Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 11:41 am
Tribune hypocrisy part 1,000

Comment by Obamas Puppy Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 11:43 am
Thank you McQ for the scolding that I am just a dumb voter who cares only about personality. Now that you’ve enlightened me, I’ll ignore all of Rahm’s bad policy decisions and embrace him like a cuddly teddy bear. Keep spinning the “there’s nothing worng with Rahm but his personality” narrative. I’m sure the 1% will be very happy with thinking that.

Comment by anon Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 11:50 am
MAD Magazine?

Comment by Wensicia Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 11:55 am
The Weekly Shopper?

Comment by Crafty Girl Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 11:55 am
The Tribune always finds a way to blame the Left.

During the Bush administration when the GOP controlled both houses of Congress, the Trib found a way to blame Democrats for two bombs in Turkey.

I read Tribune editorials very infrequently after that.

The double standard on fiscal policy is pervasive in corporate media. The Left is expected to present specific plans and take the heat for them. And “Conservative” pols aligned with 1%, banks & corporations can campaign on vague platitudes.

Comment by Carl Nyberg Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 11:56 am
@FakeStatehouseChick - when we endorced Rauner in the primary it was simple. What I was trying to say was how simple-minded it is when paychecks enter the endorsement. #IncredibilyLessCredibile

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 11:57 am
Makes me wonder what is hidden in the dark depths of the world of private equity. Sigh.
It would not surprise me if there was a link between Rauner’s GTCR and Tribune Publishing or Tribune Media. (I could only find Rauner’s 1040 without any supporting schedules so hard to tell where that $53million AGI in 2012 was generated)

Comment by cdog Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 11:57 am
Jack Clarke has returned as Publisher of the State Journal Register?

Comment by Anyone Remember Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 12:12 pm
@Tornadoman 11:27

Name the newspaper located in the midwest best known for its hypocritical editorials.

Comment by Kurt in Springfield Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 12:28 pm
Kurt in Springfield buzzes in first.

“What is the Chicago Tribune?”

Comment by Kurt in Springfield Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 12:30 pm
=== The double standard on fiscal policy is pervasive in corporate media. The Left is expected to present specific plans and take the heat for them. And “Conservative” pols aligned with 1%, banks & corporations can campaign on vague platitudes. ===

Well said!

Comment by anon Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 12:34 pm
Steve Rhodes ripped them pretty good yesterday. http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/column/the_thursday_papers_446.php

Comment by Precinct Captain Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 12:38 pm
Back in 1984 Rupert Murdoch acquired the Chicago Sun-Times. The late great Mike Royko promptly quit the Sun-Times to work for the Chicago Tribune stating “no self-respecting fish would want to be wrapped in Mr. Murdoch’s newspapers”.

Now fast forward to today with the Tribune’s current devolution to a newspaper of inconsistency, irrelevance, and editorial hypocrisy becoming just another basic partisan rag. If Mr. Royko was still with us today at what point would he have made this same assessment of the Tribune?

Comment by HGW XX/7 Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 12:43 pm
Tribune Publishing is still controlled by the institutional investment funds that that were left holding the bag when Tribune Co. emerged from bankruptcy.

The largest is Oaktree Capital Management. The single largest investor group with Oaktree is public pension funds.

In effect, the Tribbies are owned by public employee pension funds. Go figure.

Comment by Wordslinger Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 12:52 pm
Maybe it is time for Bruce & Page to retire and get some new blood. How about KASS???

Comment by scott aster Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 12:54 pm
HGW

Royko would ask Rich for a job!

Comment by very old soil Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 1:16 pm
Scott, Kass is a truly terrifying thought, besides he gets paid more than most of the current executives for basically cranking out a lot of hot air and doing almost no serious journalism. Why would he want to actually work?

Comment by Rod Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 1:24 pm
The Red Herring Times

Comment by Enviro Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 1:35 pm
Bruce Dold has the same creditability as Sammy Sosa did at his congressional hearing pertaining to steroids.

Comment by Buzzie Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 2:12 pm
Precinct Captain — thanks for that link. I read that McQueary column and strained my neck trying to follow her logic. Pick a freaking lane!

Comment by Cotts Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 2:18 pm
The BeaconFused. (Nod to my hometown paper.)

Comment by Norseman Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 2:25 pm
No Kass. Never. Ever. Ever. Ever.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 2:26 pm
Agree with its politics or not, McQueary is dragging down the quality of the writing on the ed page. Come back, Cornelia!

Comment by Redux Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 3:28 pm
Streetwise?

J/K

Comment by Stones Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 3:39 pm
To the Update;

@FakeStatehouseChick - we learned from Bruce, if you want to be a hypocrite, double down, and people forget how preposterous it sounded in the first place #HowsThatTheTwoBruces

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Feb 27, 15 @ 4:51 pm