Rant-O-Rama, by John Ostrander

John Ostrander

John Ostrander started his career as a professional writer as a playwright. His best known effort, Bloody Bess, was directed by Stuart Gordon, and starred Dennis Franz, Joe Mantegna, William J. Norris, Meshach Taylor and Joe Mantegna. He has written some of the most important influential comic books of the past 25 years, including Batman, The Spectre, Manhunter, Firestorm, Hawkman, Suicide Squad, Wasteland, X-Men, and The Punisher, as well as Star Wars comics for Dark Horse. New episodes of his creator-owned series, GrimJack, which was first published by First Comics in the 1980s, appear every week on ComicMix.

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16 Responses

  1. Martha Thomases says:

    RUdy may say he only ran in Florida, but that's not true. He spent millions of dollars in New Hampshire and, as in Florida, lost support as people saw more of him. The man does not have the disposition to be president. He was a good prosecutor because he's a pitbull. Cooperation is not his long suit.

    • Mike Gold says:

      "Cooperation is not his long suit."No, that would be ego. Even for a presidential candidate.

  2. Anonymous says:

    "Look, I was raised in Mayor Richard J. Daley’s Chicago, back when the Machine was strong and the political chicanery was ripe. Even in those days, Mississippi politics were legendary and I guess it’s nice to see tradition being kept up… That’s Bush’s America right there for you, folks."John – I enjoy your writing immensely (GJ and your columns). Even though I don't always agree with you, I can at least follow your logic – but not in one case with this rant. Do you see this corruption down in Ol' Miss another example of the historical "politics as usual", or are you claiming it as a direct result of the current administration's policies?

    • John Ostrander says:

      There is a tradition if Mississippi of interesting politics. In my day, the governor would certainly have been a Democrat or, more specifically, a Dixiecrat. The current governor is Republican. It seems the tendency for political sleight of hand transcends party lines. Not so in Chicago. Chicago simply doesn't have Republicans or, at least, not enough to matter.

      • Mike Gold says:

        Well, the Republicans last mayor was kicked out of office in 1931 by Anton Cermak, the man credited with building what later became known as the Daley Machine. Cermak employed the first "ethnically balanced" ticket, a tradition that carried on for decades and one that might be adopted by the presidential candidates this year. Of course, it wasn't until Richard J. Daley's election in 1955 that the city had a ticket that was both ethnically and racially balanced.And, for the record, two of his seven children have followed directly in his footsteps. Richard M. Daley is whizzing through his sixth administration (no term limits in Chicago), and William Daley was Secretary of Commerce in the Clinton White House and now is co-chairman of the Obama campaign.

        • mike weber says:

          My great-grandfather (the Bohemian draft-dodger) ran a saloon in Cicero. He was required by law to close if for like four hours on Sunday mornings. He'd let his dog loose in the place, lock up, go to church, and come back and re-open.One Sunday he re-opened the joint and discovered that his dog had found Anton Cermak quietly passed out in a back booth and had him treed on top of the bar.I suspect that great-granddad still votes the straight Democratic ticket.Joke from a 30's/40's radio show – i seem to recall it involving a discussion between Groucho and Bing Crosby, but i could be wrong – "It's been a while since I was in Chicago. The last time I was here, there was a Republican Mayor."I seem to to recall that my Dad was rather startled when i wound up in the Chicago area in about 1990, and called him and told him that our old home town of Berwyn (he grew uip there, i was born there) had an Irish Mayor…

  3. Brian C. Williams says:

    A friend spoke to me the other day and said when she went to vote being in Florida she said it felt like having sex with someone who doesn't love you, and just maybe hates you. It happen, it sure happen, but it sure didn't do anything for her sanity.

    • Mike Gold says:

      Wow. Eight years ago, they only had to worry about hanging chads. I enjoy voting as often as I can get away with it, but I've never confused it with any form of sex.It's AFTER the votes are tallied…

  4. Rick Oliver says:

    The DNC currently claims that the Florida and Michigan primaries don't matter, but all bets are off at the actual convention, where some committee will decide which delegates will be seated/recognized. Furthermore, in all likelihood the nomination will be determined by the "super delegates" who aren't chosen in the primaries and can vote for whatever candidate they feel like voting for…as long as it isn't George McGovern, since it was his nomination that upset the party so much that they concocted the "super delegate" system. The Republicans don't have "super delegates", and the Constitution doesn't say anything about a two-party system or primaries. One of the main functions of both the RNC and DNC is to make sure no other parties will ever exist.

  5. Dan says:

    As a Michigan resident and a Dem-leaning voter, I was pissed when I found out that we wouldn't have delegates at the convention. To disenfranchise a group of voters over some relatively insignificant internal matter is ridiculous. I'll get over it by the real election, as I can't bring my self to vote for any of the Republicans running. However, the stupidity of the dems in this matter will not help them win Mich in the general election. Anything the dems can do to alienate voters in an election year will be done, apparently.

    • Mike Gold says:

      That's certainly true. But with an unemployment rate nearing depression levels and housing prices leaning towards "buy one, get two free" (and I just returned from Michigan, my second trip in six weeks), it's hard to see most folks identifying with either of the Republican candidates. McCain already told the U.S. auto industry it's permanently screwed and will never recover, and Romney, despite his highly regarded daddy, looks and acts EXACTLY like the guy who laid you off.At least Clinton and Obama are something new, on any number of levels. It's pretty clear the majority of Americans want change; it's the type of change that makes for elections.

      • Dan says:

        There is a weird split of the vote in Mich. The Detroit/Flint area usually goes Democratic, while the rest of the State goes Republican. People in the Detroit area were po'ed that they couldn't vote for Obama in the pseudo-primary. If a significant portion of these people sit out the election, and Obama's not the candidate, this could swing Mich to the GOP. And that scares the hell outta me.

        • Mike Gold says:

          I've been seeing numbers that suggest many other parts of Michigan — Grand Rapids, the U.P. that's been knocked on its ass with the new housing numbers — are leaning pretty heavily towards the Dems. But I think in the final analysis, it will come down to who the actual candidates are in the head-on fight. There's four possible combinations (assuming their isn't a brokered convention, which is highly unlikely — but possible), and I think people all over the country are more likely to vote for and against the candidates instead of the parties.

          • Alan Coil says:

            The Devos family (AMWAY Products) owns Grand Rapids, thus the Republicancer bent.People in Detroit aren't going to ignore the chance to vote for a Democratic candidate just because the primary meant nothing. The auto business IS Detroit, and the Republicancer party does nothing to help it. If it was the oil companies in trouble, the Republicancers would be all over it.

  6. Marilee J. Layman says:

    I was going to vote for Edwards on the 12th, but now I have to decide between Obama and Clinton. They both have strong points and weak points and in a lot of ways, they balance out.