Standing room only for Karen Lewis at the Hideout

The Hideout

Last night was political junkies' standing-room-only night at the Hideout. CTU President Karen Jennings Lewis was on stage, being interviewed by Reader writers Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke. What a step up from last month's show when former Ald. Dick (aptly-named) Mell hijacked the conversation and left me double-tasting my beer.

Lewis had just come off her roof-raising speech at the den of inequity they call the City Club, where she tore the mayor a new rear end. That's not hard to do these days when all you've got to do for fresh material is pick up the Sun-Times, DNAinfo, the Trib or turn on WBEZ. Yesterday it was about Rahm's limo speeding through red lights in school zones (was he flipping the bird out the window to passersby?). Or was it his snub of Whitney Young's Lady Dolphins? Using $60 million in TIF funds (Joravsky's favorite topic) to open another selective-enrollment high school (Barack Obama College Prep) for his Lincoln Park base? Or maybe the resignation of his deputy comptroller hired by Rahm's former money man and convict on-the-lam, Amer Ahmad.

Or you could have just settled for another Tribune Rahm is an arrogant asshole story.

Emanuel has stretched the continuum in opposite directions. His arrogance is oversized for the record he has amassed. He's beyond bossy. He's a walking personality disorder. But his audacity exceeds his accomplishments. That's a dangerous combination.

Could he beat Rahm?

We need to throw a pity party for the army of Rahm flacks who have the 24-7 job of damage control. Even another round of Chicagoland won't do the job. Not when every driver in Chicago (especially me) is yelling "F*CK YOU RAHM!" as hub caps fall off and axles crack as they bound over another unfilled pot hole. I wish I had a piece of Pep Boys' action.

All this and more led to Karen's best line of the night. After being asked about the prospects for the 2015 election and assessing the chances of Preckwinkle (She would mop the floor with Rahm) or Fioretti (Has a more difficult challenge but could also win), Karen cracked: "Bozo the clown could beat Rahm!"

She's right.  Problem is, Bozo hasn't announced yet. I think he's waiting until after the November election.