Here's an interesting question:

Walmart is trying to bust into the Chicago market with a 2nd store, thus dragging down the wages and working conditions of employees at competitor companies, many of whom are represented by the good people at UFCW.

So, in order for them to grease the way so to speak, this monster corporation has flooded the airwaves with testimonials supposedly from employees of how awesome Walmart as an employer is.

I've heard the same commercial over and over again on the CBS affiliate WBBM the whole week.

Not a big deal but Kimbriell Kelly, editor of The Chicago Reporter, rattles off this cheap shot as her contribution to 'losers of the month' on WBEZ's 'Month in Review: Winners and Losers in May Headlines':

Jonathan Chait quotes a TNR account of Obama choosing to go all out on health care reform rather than piecemeal as recommended by Emanuel and Biden, among others:

It's nice to hear Mayor Daley's concerned about the 'forgotten middle class'.

Maybe the next time WalMart wants to move in, he'll go after them on improving their wages and conditions so they don't have an advantage over established businesses in Chicago that treat their employees better. The 'forgotten middle class' doesn't need a race to the bottom when it comes to bread-and-butter issues.

It's the easiest thing in the world to be cynical: 'all those politicians, they're only out for themselves', etc.

The chief attraction of this is that you don't have to grapple then with what the 'politicians' are actually trying to achieve.

Probably the most ironic thing is that many who take this easy road of cynicism -- particularly in the media -- are also the ones forever complaining about the supposed lack of bipartisanship in DC.

I'm not against development per se but why in the world do they call this a 'park'?

Wouldn't you think it's the most sacred duty of a United States legislator to protect our civil liberties, to enhance them even, rather than seek to tear them down as a cheap publicity stunt to get attention.

Works for me:

With all the economic turmoil happening in Greece and other European countries, it's interesting that no one is thinking of the potential fallout on the political side of the ledger. If the Great Depression of the '30s has anything to teach, it's that awful economic conditions can have absolutely toxic political consequences.

How far we have fallen from the glory days of the Fall of Communism — mostly due to Greenspan/Rubin style laissez-faire economics.

Great post (truly classic) by John Cole on what the Teabaggers really stand for: