I took some time off to handle some important tasks. Life interferes with everything. It looks like spring may come early to Chicago. Except for a few brutal days, winter was mild this year. I hate to see the dry-cleaning bill for all my sweaters. The weather is still like a Yo-Yo, but it appears the worst is behind us.
I thought the Chicago mayoral runoff election would heat up. Instead, the two candidates, Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson, have gone relatively silent. Both are accumulating endorsements from Chicago pols and organizations. I have not followed the money flowing into their campaign funds since Lori Lightfoot’s loss. I only know Vallas has a roughly 2-1 lead over Johnson in fundraising so far.
From all the polls, public safety is the number one issue on the ballot. Crime, especially violent crime, is still out of control in Chicago. It affects all the neighborhoods. People are tired of being victimized or their friends and family members being victimized. People are tired of living in terror when they leave their homes, especially in the evenings.
It is all irrelevant if people do not come out to vote in droves. If you do not vote, pack up and leave. You do not deserve to live in our city. We need to break the curse of only one third of voters coming out in a municipal election.
Baseball is back with spring preseason games. The Cubs and the Sox look pretty good and I hope they can stay the course during the season. I may break the bank and go to one or two games this year. It is a pity tickets, food, and drink are so expensive. Baseball is no longer a sport for all. Like most professional sports, it is for those who can afford to splurge.
The other day I was watching rugby, the Chicago Hounds vs. the Utah Warriors. The Hounds lost. A friend reminded me that Irish Football was more brutal than the British style. I will have to see if Irish football is on any channels in the saloon. Rugby, like soccer, is real football, unlike the NFL’s fakeball.
I have been keeping tabs on the circus, the Greatest Show on Earth, both houses of Congress. I cannot believe people elected so many clowns in public office from both parties. It seems the electorate are as ignorant as the people they elect to Congress. We truly are a nation of backwoods, bark chewing, pecker heads. Both of houses of Congress rendered themselves useless. They are not doing the people’s work. They are playing political, cultural, and morality war games. We are in for a long term of no accomplishments and a lot of hot air from these useless farceurs.
I also have been tracking the war in Ukraine. Russia proved one thing. Their armed forces are not the most feared in the world, as many western leaders, including our own, believed. Their armed forces are incompetent, undertrained, and were never ready to fight a war. The Ukrainians proved they could hold off what was once thought of as one of the best armed forces in the world. Pity the Russians duped the West through all these decades.
Now is the time for western nations to stop pussyfooting around and dragging their feet. They should act with speed to give Ukraine all the weaponry they need and want to defeat Russia and take back all their land, including Crimea. They should even send long range munitions they keep refusing. Those calling for negotiated appeasement should be ignored. If Russia keeps even one acre of Ukraine, who knows where they will strike next in Eastern Europe.