Ward on Words

On Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, millions of Americans poured into the streets to participate in the nation-wide "No Kings" protest. Early estimates places this as one of the largest national protests, if not the largest, with millions of people protesting in communities across every state . In the cities, large crowds assembled to protest the authoritarianism of the Trump administration.                                                      Other 98 Instagram collage of No Kings protests                                                                 across the country The New York Times decided to place the story...

I think it is safe to say that Goldman Sachs is one of the leading investment banks in the United States today - if not the  leading bank. Our financial sector has become so shrunken, who else could rival the golden boys for the title of America's Greatest Bank? Perhaps JPMorgan Chase, but as I understand it, they're weighed down by the debt-laden consumer side of banking. That's why it is incredible that the nation's leading bank is so very busy this year fending off corruption charges . Sad for the nation when the leading financial institution is alleged to be acting corruptly in multiple instances.

I know the people who work at Optimus, a commercial editing house in Chicago. They're hard working people, good people. They've worked very hard to build and maintain a successful business in a tough market during a difficult economic time. But they have horrible party planners, choosing as they did, to bring in disgraced governor Rod Blagojevich to entertain the revelers. I liked it better back in the day when disgraced politicians slunk off to the Siberia of self-imposed isolation. Richard Nixon comes to mind... Maybe - just maybe - this is Blago giving us a rehearsal of his next act - Jailhouse Rock? Here's a REAL entertainer giving us some Jailhouse Rock of his own... (FULL DISCLOSURE - I'm an Elvis fan, so comparing Blago to Elvis gets me riled up good.) Here's the story in full... "Blagojevich shakes, rattles, rolls as party pro Two men known in part for their hair stepped out from the back of a white Hummer limousine Friday evening ...

Full confession: I'm not a Fox News fan. When I watch the channel, I end up like Krugman's proverbial boiled frog . I watch and watch, then find myself boiling over in rage, hurling curses at the screen, particularly when Hannity is running at the mouth. Since becoming a mother, I've tried to limit the "swears" (as my son calls them) and thus limit my time with Fox News. But I saw this clip and realized that Glen Beck and I are kindred spirits, at least when it comes to our thoughts on Goldman Sachs. Beck uses a low-tech blackboard and some signs to show the flow of money from the feds to the now profitable Goldman. Quite an interesting analysis! Check it out... This is actually one time I want the Fox News guys agitating the masses over an issue. Keep it up, Glen...

I launch my computer this morning to learn that NBC, which used to make the nation laugh a lot on Thursday nights, has asked Rod Blagojevich, the disgraced governor facing federal corruption charges, to appear on a reality TV show. It is a program in which "celebrities" are taken to Costa Rica, where they must endure "fun and comedic challenges designed to test their survival skills." Oh NBC. Really? I suppose at first glance, it seems like NBC's golden opportunity - the chance to bring a Kipling-quoting shyster to a jungle to see him spar for survival with other entertainment types. (And with Blagojevich coming to the jungle from the swamps of Illinois politics, he's got to be the odds-on favorite of the bookies.) But if you think about it, he's a man asking a judge to postpone his trial so he can get paid to frolic in the jungle. Blagojevich is not a celebrity. He's a crook. He's a man who was forced to resign his post after ...

Will the sorry saga of the rot in Illinois never end? Impeached former governor Rod Blagojevich apparently has been given a six figure book deal to tell us just how he picked Roland Burris to represent Illinois in the Senate. I'm sure it's a safe bet that there will be poetry alongside of that political analysis - as Rod knows, we need more Kipling quoted in America! According to the Tribune , Blago's babblings will also include a visit to the "dark side of politics." And we all thought that Blago's helmet-head was just a bad hairdo! Apparently it's Darth Vader's mask all askew on top of Blago's big head.

I’m a dreamer – yes I am, a died-in-the-wool dreamer who dreams that liberty and justice and the American way mingle together in peaceful co-existence. But lately, as you can imagine, my dreams leave me with the strange, nightmare sensations of anxiety, panic and fear. I wake up these days realizing that what we're witnessing today is a total failure of leadership. We live in a society where we simply cannot trust bankers, mortgage brokers, priests, presidents, vice-presidents, the CIA, Treasury secretaries and governors. At least not the governors of Illinois. Especially not the current governor. Just last month – in fact, it was just the day after the celebratory send-off party in Grant Park for Barack Obama as he said good-bye to his senate seat and hello to the presidency – Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was recorded as saying, “I’ve got this thing and it’s f***ing golden, and uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for f***in’ nothing. I’m not gonna do it. And, and I ...

At least I thought I voted for change, way back in 2002, when I cast my vote for Rod Blagojevich for governor. George Ryan, the Republican governor who preceded Blagojevich, had left office under a cloud of suspicion (sending millions of dollars in state contracts to friends and family, granting truck driver’s licenses to unqualified drivers in return for cash.) He now sits in jail, waiting patiently for the early release that Illinois Senator Dick Durbin inexplicably seeks for him. During his term as governor, Ryan had met with Fidel Castro and ended the death sentence in Illinois due to concerns that it was not administered fairly, an action led to his nomination for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. Yet he balanced a desire to help others with an insatiable greed. In 2006, he was convicted on multiple charges of corruption and has served less than two years of a six-year prison sentence. In 2002, Blagojevich charged into the governor’s office waving the flag of reform. Yesterday,...