unPHILtered – Chicago Tonight Blogs

Last night we had former Reagan budget director David Stockman on the show.  He has a new (lengthy!) book out which argues that the Federal Reserve’s perennially low interest rates and the move away from the gold standard have put America on the path to financial ruin.  He himself considers it a polemic against the policies of both Wall Street and the federal government.  Before the interview started, I told him I really liked his glasses–I thought they looked really sharp.  Then I took a closer look at them.  Egads, they were identical to mine: same brand, same style.  Regardless of what I think of his polemic, he sure has great taste in eyewear!

Last night, we aired my interview with Ezekiel Emanuel about his new book, Brothers Emanuel: A Memoir of an American Family.  As you may know, nationally prominent bioethicist “Zeke” is the oldest of the three Emanuel brothers, Rahm is the middle brother, and Hollywood super agent Ari is the youngest.

At twenty-five minutes, our interview with Zeke is longer than most author interviews.  But given the insights into the mayor–and into his remarkable family–we thought it was worth the investment in time.  Plus, Zeke is a great talker.

What the book says about the mayor:  as a boy he was an underachiever, shy outside the house, stayed on the sidelines, he was an observer, a peacemaker.  At one point, he was so slow to talk his parents were worried about his development and took him to a specialist who assured them that Rahm was fine — he just didn’t feel like talking much.

A game-changer:  his near-death experience after he sliced his finger working at an Arby’s; it got infected and the ensuing sepsis put him in the hospital for six weeks.  According to Zeke, Rahm was a changed person after this.  His brush with death and realization of his own mortality lit a fire under him and made him impatient to accomplish things.

Another revelation:  the remarkable freedom and independence given the Emanuel boys.  Zeke writes that when the boys were six, four and three years old, they lived close to Foster Avenue beach in Chicago, and their mother would give them towels and beach toys and off they went without a parent.  They would leave their apartment, cross Marine Drive, walk under Lake Shore Drive and spend hours at the beach–again, a six-year-old watching a four-year-old and three-year-old.  Zeke acknowledges that no parent would get away with that today.

The author acknowledges there were topics the brothers agreed he should not include in the book.  But if you want to get some insights into the family forces that helped shape Chicago’s mayor–including the hyper-vocal, hyper-competitive dinner table conversations, I invite you to watch our full interview.  I think you’ll  find it as engaging as I did.

There are a host of issues attendant to the planned closing of 53 Chicago public elementary schools.  But from the perspective of many parents, a key issue is the safety of children.   Given the very real gang boundaries that exist in Chicago, it’s no wonder parents are worried if their children will have to walk a different route to get to a new school.

CPS officials say they are working closely with police officials to design safe routes for kids headed to new schools.  It involves the expansion of the so-called “Safe Passage” program, already in place for thirty-five high schools and four elementary schools.

On tonight’s program, we will have not only representatives from the CPS and the police department, but also some critics skeptical of the system’s ability to keep these newly displaced students safe as they go back and forth to school.  Among the questions we will ask:

• How good is the existing “Safe Passage” program working?
• Will there be enough resources to expand it effectively?
• Do downtown decision makers really have the experience or knowledge to how ever-shifting gang boundaries affect life for children?
• “Community watchers” will be posted along the route–but what about the blocks in between watchers where kids are on their own?

These questions are not academic.  They deal with matters of life and death of children.  And absolutely nothing matters more than that.

I hope you tune in. Click here for a live stream, online chat, timeline and more.

On a recent vacation, my wife and I went to Marfa, Texas.  Marfa is a west Texas community of about 2,000 which has become an arts mecca, particularly in the fields of minimal and modern art.  It has been featured numerous times on NPR and The New York Times.  It has a cracker jack NPR station run by a former Chicagoan, Tom Michael.  When I gave Tom a heads-up that I was going to be in town, he invited me to appear on the station’s talk show, Talk at Ten.  We taped the interview several weeks back and it aired today.  The topics included Obama, Blago, Jesse Jackson, Jr., and the perils of interviewing!  Check it out here.

As you may know, my sons and I performed the national anthem yesterday at the White Sox home opener.  It was an honor and a thrill.

But here’s the full story:

To their credit, when they invited us to perform, the Sox asked for a sample recording first.

We rehearsed three separate times before opening day.  I’m pretty sure the boys could have gotten by with two rehearsals but they probably suspected their old man needed the third one for his self confidence!

For the first time in years, I vocalized every day for about 10 days to get my voice back into shape.  My wife kindly accompanied me each time.

I actually printed out the words to the anthem to make sure I had them down cold.

On the drive down to U.S. Cellular Field, Dan told Anthony and me about national anthem etiquette:  be understated and make it about the anthem, not about the performer.  Afterwards, give the audience a brief, polite wave and then quickly get off the field.

One last thing about the performance.  If you watch the clip at the top, you’ll notice Dan is assertively directing.  That’s because the echo in the stadium threw us off slightly during the rehearsal so Anthony and I asked Dan to give clear visual cues because we couldn’t rely on our ears.

Some people have said that afterwards I looked intensely proud of my sons.  I was.  But, believe me, the overwhelming emotion was relief that we got through the one-and-a-half octave anthem without doing it any apparent permanent damage!

As you may know, there is a flap over the number of people who attended Wednesday’s school closings march and rally.  This article in today’s Chicago Sun-Times outlines the respective positions of the police–who had estimated the number between 700 and 900–and the Chicago Teachers Union–who put the number between 5,000 and 6,000.  The Sun-Times did its own count by using a photo of the rally and put the number at about 2,750.

This is not the first time there’s been a heated disagreement about attendance numbers at a high-profile event.  It happened at the Million Man March, too, as I recall.

It brings to mind an old joke about accountants.  A company interviewed three candidates for a job in the accounting department.  The first applicant was given a set of numbers and told to come up with the correct answer.  Applicant number one worked with the numbers and then said, “This is the correct result.”  He was told the company would keep him in mind.

The second applicant worked with the numbers and then said, “This is the correct result.”  He was told the company would keep him in mind.

The third applicant was given the same set of numbers, glanced at them and then told the interviewer, “What do you WANT the answer to be?”  He was hired on the spot.

You’ve probably heard of the Three Tenors, the Irish Tenors and the Ten Tenors, I assume?  Now comes word of a new group, the Three Baritones.  That’s what I’m calling a newly constituted group that will be singing the national anthem on opening day for the White Sox.  Those three singers happen to be me and my two sons, Dan (a reporter for WGN-TV) and Anthony (an anchor-reporter for NBC-5).  The Sox asked us and we couldn’t refuse.   For lifelong Sox fans, this is a huge honor!

As some of you may know, Dan was a professional singer (with the group he founded, Straight No Chaser) and Anthony has a nice singing voice, too.  Here’s a clip of them earlier this year singing at a charity event:

As for me, I haven’t performed the national anthem since I was part of a group called The Singing Ushers at East Chicago Washington High School in northwest Indiana.  We would sing the national anthem at basketball games and then help people to their seats.  Nice duty.

So we are rehearsing so we can try to do a decent job.  As I told my sons — to use baseball terminology — we don’t have to hit it out of the park, we just have to make contact with the ball.   Also, I hope that the law of low expectations will help carry the day!

I watched the Brian Williams interview with the Emanuel brothers — Rahm, Ezekiel and Ari — and was later surprised that brother Ari was upset with how it went.  The story aired Friday on “Rock Center” to promote brother Ezekiel’s new book, Brothers Emanuel: A Memoir of an American Family. According to reports, top Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel wrote NBC to complain about Brian Williams’ “contentious” interview with the three of them.

I thought the interview was largely light-hearted with only a couple of serious moments that didn’t seem untoward or overly aggressive.  What do you think?  Did Ari have reason to gripe?

Watch the interview here.

My reaction to it, frankly, was that it was fascinating to see three high-powered siblings interact with each other.  It’s unusual to see the mayor in a situation where he’s not center stage all the time, and from that standpoint alone, the segment held my interest.  Of course, so much of how an encounter is perceived depends on the editing.  Even so, these three must have had some remarkable dinner table conversations growing up.

The news that Brian Urlacher and the Bears have parted company got me thinking about one of my favorite poems.  In his heyday, it was impossible to think of the Bears without thinking of Urlacher.  Just as it was once impossible to not think Michael Jordan was the Bulls.  I’m sure at one point it was impossible to think of America without FDR or Rome without the Ceasars.

Each person of prominence, whether it’s on a sports team, a company, in politics–whatever–has his or her day in the sun but then it comes to an end.  Some people might be lucky enough to be honored by statues, memorials or a plaque.  But how many people has the world found it impossible to do without?  Read on!

“Indispensable Man” by Saxon White Kessinger

Sometime when you’re feeling important;
Sometime when your ego’s in bloom
Sometime when you take it for granted
You’re the best qualified in the room,

Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions
And see how they humble your soul;

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is a measure of how you’ll be missed.

You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop and you’ll find that in no time
It looks quite the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example
Is do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There’s no indispensable man

As the new pope was inaugurated today, it occurred to me how little I know about the rules of picking a pope.  For example, could the rules be changed to allow women who head religious orders to participate in picking a pope?  Could the rule that only cardinals choose a pope be changed?  Is that a rule a pope could change?  I’m sure that there are some very easy answers to these naive questions.  But I don’t know the answers.  So I resolve to ask them of my guests tonight when we take up the pope’s inauguration on Chicago Tonight!