Ray Hanania On Politics, Media And Life

Kim "The Fixx" Foxx, Jussie Smollett and the March 17 Democratic Primary Seasons 2 Episode 2, February 13, 2020 Ray Hanania on Politics looks closely at the abuse of power by Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx, or "Kim The Fixx Foxx," & her decision to drop charges against Jussie Smollett, the mediocre TV actor who lied about being the victim of a racist homophobic attack in January 2019 to bolster his sagging public image. Foxx didn't "mishandle" the Smollett case. She intentionally handled it putting politics and celebrity friendship above her job to enforce the Rule of Law.  Foxx faces three good candidates, Bob Fioretti, Donna More and Bill Conway. Although I like both Fioretti and More, I think the election campaign is showing that Bill Conway is leading the pack and the goal is to oust Foxx who stumbled into the office by defeating Anita Alvarez. Many argue Foxx "beat" Alvarez, but the truth is Alvarez beat herself and Foxx just lucked into the office. It's been almost four years for Foxx and

State Dept official details expanded Sanctions against Iran S2E1 Season 2, Episode 1 President Trump’s Senior Policy Advisor and Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook offered details Friday on the expanded sanctions on Iran announced by the White House that target eight senior Iranian leaders as well as Iran’s metals industry which he said is funding Iran’s foreign policies. The sanctions were announced earlier by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin but Hook provided more details explaining the expanded sanctions will include Iran’s construction, manufacturing, textiles and mining industries. He said they will also target 22 Iranian organizations and three shipping vessels operating in the iron, steel, aluminum and copper sectors of Iran. Hook named one of the eight newly sanctioned Iranian leaders as Iranian Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and the commander of the “besieged” Qassem Suleimani. I this podcast I talk ab

An off-the-beat look at the Norwegian Dawn cruise to Costa Maya, Mexico, Belize, Routan, Honduras and Cozumel, Mexico.the ND is a smaller ship, half the size of the Norwegian Epic, which boasts 4,400 passengers. The Dawn was about 2,800 ... I’m giving you ballpark figures. I hope you enjoy this break from my usual politics and political focus. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ray-hanania/support

Chicago Police Chief Eddie Johnson let the people down Season 1 Episode 21, Dec. 3, 2019 The "Ray Hanania on Politics" podcast Eddie Johnson was fired Monday (Dec. 2, 2019) by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Lightfoot said Johnson misled her, and also misled the people of Chicago. I give Lightfoot credit for doing the right thing because Eddie Johnson did mislead the people of Chicagoland, setting a poor example that goes against everything that we expect from someone who serves to protect the public. Johnson has not been truthful about what happened to him on Oct. 16, 2019 and the early morning hours of Oct. 17, 2019 when police found him slumped over the wheel of his Black SUV. Whose SUV was it anyway, by the way. Why was he slumped over? I don't think the public has ever received an honest explanation from Police Supt. Johnson. He could have given us one, but he did not. Instead, Johnson released a statement after Lightfoot fired him citing the inconsistencies in what he told her and the public, arguing that

The racism of Michelle Obama and White Flight Oct. 31, 2019. Season 1, Episode 20 Former First Lady Michelle Obama addressed the issue of White Flight recently during remarks at the 3rd annual Obama Foundation Summit in which she castigated White People for the phenomena of White Flight. But the reality is that African Americans were just as responsible for the White Flight that took place in Chicago in 1969. I lived in the community, South Shore Valley, also called Calumet Heights during that White Flight. And it wasn't as simplistic as Michelle Obama tried to make it, claiming it was the result of White Racism. White Flight was prompted by greedy realtors who use fear and fear mongering to frighten White homeowners into selling their homes fast and cheap, to run, so the realtor makes a fast and quick commission from the sale. They brought in African American families that aggravated community stereotypes and concerns, including one family on our block that had a handicapped daughter who walked up and down t

The problems with "Made in China" and Mayor Lori Lightfoot Season 1, Episode 19 Sept. 16, 2019 Veteran Chicago City Hall reporter and political columnist Ray Hanania talks about why Americans need to push back against the increasing influence of China in America's economy. And, he also discusses the failings of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot in this double segment that explores to of his most recent newspaper columns. For more information on Ray Hanania's writings visit www.RayHananiaonPolitics.com

Massacres in America; Great Moments; and Symbols of Racism August 6, 2019 Season 1, Episode 18 Back from vacation Ray Hanania takes on three important topics. The first is how the mainstream news media ignores the massacres that take place every week in Chicago. This past weekend, though, the media focused on massacres on Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas, pretty much ignoring the ongoing massacres in Chicago. Why? It's politics. The news media doesn't want to make the Chicago massacres politics -- they take place every week and you would have to blame it on the failure of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a leftist (Gay, Black, Woman) and they won't do anything to criticize her. But the massacres Dayton, El Paso are perfect fore their political agenda, blaming it all on President Trump. Second issue is the issue of why American isn't Great any more. Not in the Trump rhetoric, but in the context of a lifetime of great vivid memories. I remember the JFK assassination as if it happened yesterday. The day we got our f

Another battle in the 3rd Congressional District: Lipinski, Newman, Darwish Season 1, Episode 17, June 17, 2019 Award winning former Chicago City Hall reporter, and syndicated political columnist Ray Hanania offers a preview of the upcoming battle brewing in the 3rd Congressional District, a seat held by Congressman Dan Lipinski since 2005 when he was appointed to the seat by his father, Bill Lipinski a former Chicago alderman from the powerful 23rd Ward in Chicago who held the congressional seat for over 20 years. Lipinski was challenged in the March 20, 2018 Democratic Primary election by Marie Newman, a southwest sider familiar with the district and Lipinski almost lost during the Presidential backlash that always follows the election of a new president (the opposition party usually takes the Congress in the 2nd year of a new president term. In this case, Democrats swept the country in the wake of Republican President Donald Trump's election.) Newman almost beat Lipinski coming within 1,600 votes of unseat

JB Pritzker's Massive assault on Illinois taxpayers June 4, 2019 Season 1, Episode 16 Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has launched what appears to be a successful and massive assault on the taxpayers of Illinois. And Illinois taxpayers are doing nothing about it. We're just rolling over. Maybe Illinois taxpayers are tired of complaining or fighting against tax increases and seeing nothing happen. Politicians increase taxes to cover the benefits that they give themselves, and to cover the massive pension hikes they give themselves, their relatives, their cronies ands their contributors. But there is a psychology to all this and I think it has to do with the fact that JB Pritzker is using initials for his name that actually are not accurate. Governor's Pritzker's name is Jay Robert Pritzker ... and his initials should be JR, not JB which would stand up for Jay Bob. The Ray Hanania on Politics podcast is taped each week and addresses a wide range of topics. You can get more information by visiting Ray Hanania's we

Games of Thrones comes to an end May 20, 2019. Series 1, Episode 15 The popular HBO Series Game of Thrones came to a pretty lame ending if you ask me on Sunday May 19, 2019. But what? Are we going to jump out of windows now? No. We soldier on like good Lannisters and Starks ... not so much the Targaryens or the UnSullied. But we live on. Here's a quick look at how Game of Thrones can be applied to Chicago and Illinois politics, and probably to politics in your city or state, too. Plus a recap of what the series was really all about. Now that it is over, we don't want anyone jumping out of windows. You can hear all of Ray Hanania on Politics podcasts by visiting www.RayHananiaOnPolitics.com, or all of his Middle East podcasts and all of his columns by visiting www.Hanania.com

Gov. Pritzker disrespects Lt. Gov. Stratton by creating Deputy Governor Spots  Season 1 Episode 14 05-18-19 Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker disrespect Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton by creating the "Deputy Governor" posts to undermine his pronise to give her a strong voice This episode of Ray Hanania on Politics looks at the stumbling policies of Illinois Gov, J.B. Pritzker in undermining the powers promised to Juliana Stratton, an African American woman who he said would paly a significant role in his administration. That's not the case of course. After Pritzker was elected, he named three men to be "Deputy Governors" and only weeks later named a woman to be Deputy Governor because tagging all men with such a powerful post didn't look good at all. But the real problem is that these Deputy Governors are actually doing the work that Pritzker promised Stratton would do. Was she just window dressing to appease Black voters Governor? That's how it looks. Ray Hanania on Politics is a podcast hosted by former Chicago C

Game of Thrones has been a "Thrilling Disappointment" May 9, 2019 Season 1, Episode 13 I have been watching Game of Thrones on HBO for more than 8 years. This is Season 8 and there are only 2 episodes left as it comes to a crashing end. I love the series so much I would watch any level of quality and I have an excitement about this final season that is unmatched with many other season finales. But despite my thrill, the fact is the producers and writers of this last season 8 of Game of Thrones have really been disappointing. They just haven't made it what it could have been, a spectacular ending. They didn't put the real effort into it. It is almost as if they just shrugged their shoulders and said ok let's end it. They are ending it but not at the level it could be ended at. This final season could have been the most spectacular ending ever for any series but it has been a level of disappointment. It's far less than it can be. I discuss some aspects of why I feel that way and I hope you enjoy this. Check out

The Hate Show with Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert May 9, 2019 Season 1, Episode 12 It used to be that after working real hard to take care of our families, we could come home at night and relax in front of the TV set and watch Late Night talk show hosts entertain us with humor and fun. We had Johnny Carson and the Jay Leno and David Lettermen. They were phenomenal. But today, all that talent is gone from late night television. It has been replaced by vicious, politically-driven, selfish hatred against President Donald Trump Late night talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert spew some of the most obnoxious and vicious garbage that is pawned off as humor but it's just ugly hate. It's not even funny. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert should be called The Hate Show with Stephen Colbert. Now President Trump is like anypresident. There is some good and there is some bad. Sure he should be criticized but criticized with the intent of being constructive, fair and funny. Instead, Kimmel and Colbert are e

Gov. Pritzker's "Fair Tax" isn't Fair at all Monday May 6, 2019  Season 1 Episode 11 This is the Ray Hanania on Politcs podcast hosted by former CHicago City Hall Reporter and award-winning columnist Ray Hanania. In this podcast we look at the hypocrisy of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's "fair tax" which isn't really fair at all. The swicth he is proposing from the Flat Tax to a graduated income tax is intended to agive him the ability to target tax income segments of our society like the Middle East class with tax hikes down the road, something he can't do now under the Flat Tax because it would impact everyone. In addition to the change in the Flat Tax, Pritzker is also proposing a massive hike in the state gasoline tax. He’s planning a whopping 7 cent tax on plastic bags used in retail stores (whether you use a plastic bag or not). He’s going to tax streaming movie services like Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video. He’s planning “sin tax” hikes on cigarettes and sports betting.  Worse, Pritzker wants to tax all

The Mueller Report, biased media & Trump April 18, 2019, Season 1, Episode 10 Ray Hanania on Politics analyzes the media bias in the coverage of the release of the Report on Alleged Collusion with Russian by Donald Trump prior to and after his election as President. The Mueller Report was completed after a staggering 22-month long investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller that resulted in a finding that there is no evidence to support the allegations that have been made against the President. Podcast host Ray Hanania discusses the real problem and how national mainstream American news media bias is empowering President Trump and ensuring his re-election in 2020. For more information on Ray Hanania's podcast visit www.RayHananiaonPolitics.comor go to www.Hanania.comto get information on all of Ray Hanania's award-winning columns and writings.

S1 Ep9: How Uber and Lift are destroying an immigrant driven industry This is the Ray Hanania Podcasta weekly overview of all my opinion columns, my radio interviews, and my reports on Middle East topics and on Mainstream American politics.  This episode of Ray Hanania on Politics looks at impact that Uber and Lyft are having on the Taxi Cab industry. The Taxi Cab industry is an immigrant driven industry and for the life of me, I don’t understand why the liberals who claim to care about immigrants are not standing up to defend the rights of the taxi can drivers who are being decimated and pushed out of business into homelessness by Uber and Lyft. Taxi cabs are a heavily regulated industry. It costs a major investment to drive a cab or start your own company. The medallion was a huge investment at one time and was like a stock rising in value from $30,000 to $700,000 or more in recent years. But the rise of Uber and Lyft have pulled the rug out from the Taxi cab industry and medallion costs have fallen dr

Remembering the 1979 election that changed everything in Chicago -- April 2, 2019 This is the "Ray Hanania on Politics" Podcast, a look at Chicagoland politics past and present ...  This episode of Ray Hanania on Politics looks at the 1978 campaign and 1979 Chicago Mayoral Election.  We talk about the first African American mayor being either Lori Lightfoot or Toni Preckwinkle, but we can’t forget the action-paced newsmaking four year term of Chicago’s first woman Mayor Jane M. Byrne and how she defeated the Chicago Machine, and ended up taking it over … That was my first real election that I covered as a City Hall reporter and it was one of the most exciting elections Chicago had seen in a long time … Jane Byrne’s rise, her feud with the Cabal of Evil Men who were Ed Fast Eddie Vrdolyak, Ed Burke and First Ward Outfit alderman Fred Roti …her election challenge of Mike Bilandic, who took the office from Wilson Frost who was the President Pro Tempore when Richard J. Daley died on Dec. 20, 1976 … This

Chicago Mayoral Election, Lightfoot vs Preckwinkle Opinion Commentary April 1, 2019 This is the Ray Hanania Podcasta weekly overview of all my opinion columns, my radio interviews, and my reports on Middle East topics and on Mainstream American politics.  This episode of Ray Hanania on Politics looks at the race for Chicago mayor between Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle. Although the polls and many media pundits have already called this election for Lightfoot, I don’t believe you can rule Preckwinkle out and I believe she has a shot at winning. A good shot. Although I have been a longtime critic of some of Preckwinkle’s policies, I feel Preckwinkle is the better candidate of the two and I have endorsed her, reflecting the sentiments of the Southwest Side and Northwest Side voters, most of who voted for other candidates. Both Lightfoot and Preckwinkle are Machine candidates of sorts, Preckwinkle a traditional Machine candidate but Lightfoot as an untraditional Machine candidate running to push the far

Richard Silverstein on Israel, Palestine Omar, AIPAC & peace, March 25, 2019 This is the Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast, we talk about everything from the Middle East to Mainstream issue, recorded on March 25, 2019. Our guest online with us is Richard Silverstein, a longtime Jewish American progressive. Richard and I talk about the AIPAC Conference in Washington D.C. this week, the absurdity of calling Minnesota Congresswoman Ihlan Omar "anti-Semitic" for criticizing congressmen who put Israel's interests above American interests, and criticizing Israel PAC stranglehold on American politics. Richard's website is RichardSilverstein.com for more information and links to his Op-Ed writings and interviews. You can get more information on this podcast at RayHananiaonPolitics.com and on my personal website where all my columns and podcasts are archived at Hanania.com. Also check out my older podcasts at pod bean an archive at TheArabStreet.com All of Ray Hanania's podcast shows are available on iTunes. We disc

The Fake Mueller investigation into Russian meddling into the election ... 03-24-19  This is the Ray Hanania on Politics podcast … I’ve covered politics for nearly a half century, including covering City Hall from 1978 until 1992 working there every day morning until night ands covering the administrations of 7 Chicago mayors from Daley to Daley … that includes the two week stint by David Orr as interim mayor between Mayor Washington’s death and the City Council appointment of Eugene Sawyer as acting mayor … I write three weekly syndicated columns on mainstream and Middle East politics every week for the Southwest News newspaper group of eight newspapers and on Middle East issues for two major Middle East news sites, including Middle East monitor in London and the Arab News newspaper in Saudi Arabia. You can get more information on my podcasts by visiting RayHananiaOnPolitics.com and also OnDeadlinePodcast.com, or to check out past podcast archives … go to Hanania.com to view links to all of my mainstrea