What's the most pathetic thing about this John Kass column?

[Cocoa]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0407290232jul29,1,5957970.column?coll=chi-news-col

BOSTON -- "They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning/No one you see, is smarter than he/And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder/Flying there under, under the sea!"

The last time I heard that joyous theme to the old TV show "Flipper"--about the smart-alecky dolphin and his boy, Bud--I was a kid, walking back to school after a lunch of grilled cheese and Campbell's cream of tomato soup.

But there it was again Wednesday, during the airing of a humorous Republican documentary on John Kerry's flip-flopping on Iraq as he angled for the Democratic nomination.

The Republican timing couldn't have been better, since Kerry makes his own important speech at the Democratic Convention here Thursday night and must convince voters he's decisive on national security, an issue that Democrats acknowledge has been their weak point for years.

more...

[never cry wolf]

1. What a sad sorry puke he is

After my beloved Royko passed, I gave Kass a chance, but it didn't take long for me to hate him. He is completely partisan and not worthy of Royko's jockstrap, much less his honored column spot.

[chiburb]

2. Will someone please email this to Kass?

I'm on his ignore list (for real)...

Pop Quiz

It is 1969. You are a 21 year old kid in the Navy, serving on a Swift boat in Vietnam. You might have joined the National Guard, but some Congressman’s kid jumped ahead of you in line, grabbing the last spot available.

Right now you are on patrol in the Mekong Delta, and you have run into an ambush. A mine goes off under your boat, throwing you in the water and injuring your skipper. Weighed down by guns, grenades, and ammunition, you sink to the bottom while five more boats pass overhead. You shed your gear and surface. As the boats disappear down the river, you are taking machine gun and small arms fire from both banks of the river. You can’t swim to either side without getting shot, and even if you did, getting captured means getting killed. You have one, and only one chance, to get out alive. You have to hope that your skipper turns his boat around, heads back into the crossfire over the mine infested water, reaches down with his bloody arm, and drags you back up on the boat.

Now for the quiz.

Who would you rather have as your skipper, George Bush or John Kerry?


Jim Rassmann is alive and well living on the Oregon coast because when it happened to him, his skipper was John Kerry

[Cocoa]

4. lol

please share the story of how you got on Kass's ignore list. :-)

[chiburb]

5. As you know, he was/is a war hawk...

I used to email him intelligent, thoughtful rebuttals and always signed my name and gave my phone # so he'd know I wasn't just some crackpot.
Well one day he wrote a column expressing his outrage about Richard Perle profiting from the war. At the end of it, he said he'd be watching this like a hawk and wouldn't let it rest. So, month after month, as new evidence of Perle, Haliburton, KBR, et al came to light I'd forward him the evidence. He never wrote another word on the subject, and one day...
I called him out. I asked him what happened to Crusader John. I asked him why he waves flags in his column, but ignores the chicken hawks who don't support the troops... unlike the TRUE patriots who try to shine a light but are ignored by those that reach the masses (hint, hint). Keep in mind that my tone was angry (this was at about 500 dead), but I was still polite.
He emailed back something like what did I want from him, that nothing he did would ever be enough for the left wing, and what was I accusing him of? I replied that all I wanted was for him to keep his word to stay after the profiteers. Nothing more, nothing less. His response was "no more".
So here we are today, another shot taken by him at Kerry. Since I'm on his ignore list, will one of you please send him the swift boat story?
Thank you.

[greatauntoftriplets]

6. A year ago in May, I emailed Kass....

He was doing the war rah-rah crap and boasting about what a strong leader numbnuts is and how much he LOVES the military and bends over backwards for them.

My email raised the point that he is cutting VA benefits right and left. And could prove it.

He responded and asked me to send some info via snail mail backing up my claim. It just so happens that a good friend of mine is a psych nurse at the Hines VA Hospital and active in a group called Veterans for Unification -- whose goal is to save the VA from the damn cost cutters.

With her help, I mailed him quite a thick package. Even an article or two from the American Legion magazine. Nothing from DU, because I didn't want to send anything that Kass might construe as biased.

Of course, nary a word ever appeared. I guess I challenged his mindset too much.

My friend was damn disappointed. Veterans for Unification needed the publicity because they are doing good stuff.

[chiburb]

7. "I guess I challenged his mindset too much."

Well said, GAOT...
Hard to believe he replaced Royko.

[greatauntoftriplets]

8. Royko is probably spinning in his grave.

I worked for years in the Equitable Building, right next to the Tribune. I frequently saw Royko in that area, and he was a giant of a man in more ways than one.

Also got to see the thoroughly creepy George Lazarus. The company I worked for at that time was a public relations agency, so people in the media were a frequent topic of conversation. When Lazarus had bypass surgery, the unanimous comment was..."He HAS a heart?"

[mopinko]

3. chest thumping moron

i give him props for writing about the mob in chicago. once in a great while, i read those columns. otherwise, i run away.