No, the Ayn Rand reference has nothing to do with WBEZ. If you read the thread, you'll note that Mr. Claypool is a big fan of Ayn Rand -- hardly the sort of philosopher a self-declared independent 'progressive' would embrace. The point is that there is, in fact, bias in some media outlets, and that at least some of that bias is driven by the political agendas of the bosses of those outlets. Yet ostensibly well-meaning white liberals north of Madison St. routinely give fake progressives like commissioners Suffredin and Claypool a standing pass, even though they're as embedded in -- and as indebted to -- the prevailing political system as the next guy. Why is that?

By all means be critical of my day job or of me, but let’s cut the crap about how some white male commissioners are somehow more sacrosanct and politically ‘pure’ than some Black politicians with roots in the very same political system. While we’re at it, someone should unpack our new 5th District congressman Mike Quigley’s old ties to Fast Eddie Vrdolyak. Quigley’s drawn some tough and principled positions on important issues like the abuse of TIFS, but if you think he got here on angels’ wings – or has totally ditched the less than pure ties that helped him leverage his commissioners’ seat -- then you’re living in an alternate universe, not this one.

I’ll repeat: what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and for people like Larry Suffredin or Forrest Claypool or Tony Peraica to portray themselves as some sort of purer politicians, well that’s just a bunch of crap. Yet they get away with it. Why?