Carol Felsenthal

One of my favorite writers answers questions about politicians, hypocrisy and himself. Read more

After the prosecution rested its case in the Blagojevich retrial last week, I called Rod’s old friend and lawyer Sheldon Sorosky to ask him whom the defense was going to call as a witness today. Sorosky would not give me names, and he had not decided (as of last Friday) whether Blago would take the stand. But he dismissed rumors that Blago would be delivering... Read more

After Election Day, Gery Chico—who fell short of a runoff with Rahm Emanuel—stayed out of the spotlight for a while. The former Daley chief of staff, who once ran Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Park District, was the only opponent who had even a chance of beating Emanuel in this year’s race for mayor. Here, some highlights from our telephone conversation Tuesday, his first one-on-one interview with... Read more

If the first trial had a certain excitement and air of unpredictability, Monday’s edition of the retrial seemed just worn and wan—much like the defendant. Still, there was a special poignancy because while Blago II droned on at the federal courthouse on Jackson and Dearborn, some blocks east and north at Millennium Park, Rahm Emanuel—“that little [expletive]” in Blago’s taped words—was being inaugurated as mayor... Read more

Of all the hurdles Indiana governor and likely presidential candidate Mitch Daniels faces on the road to the White House, one important one his the permission of his wife, Cheri. She's not much for politics, but she does love Chicago's other pastime: her beloved grandfather was Cubs Hall of Famer Billy Herman. Read more

As Rich Daley counts down his last days as mayor—awash in news coverage, mostly nostalgic—I thought it would be interesting to take a look at his brother, Michael, about whom surprisingly little has been written. While working on a profile of Bill Daley in 2004, I was told repeatedly that Michael was the most intelligent of the four Daley boys... Read more

One powerful photo of a Sunday afternoon scene in the White House Situation Room dominated the news yesterday. Captured by White House photographer Pete Souza, the image shows the president, vice president, and Obama’s national security team gazing off-camera at video feed of the bloody mission to kill Osama bin Laden. But it was Obama's Chief of Staff, Bill Daley, who... Read more

Sunday on Meet the Press, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg made a suggestion about how to revitalize the economy—let in all immigrants who want to come here but require that they live in Detroit for five to ten years. Bloomberg explained that dispatching immigrants directly to Detroit would solve two problems simultaneously: energize the economy and... Read more