GE = Enron?

[Jon]

Mike Royko was a left-leaning columnist who supported gun control, was strongly anti-war, railed against the rich and powerful taking advantage of the poor and weak, and famously said "It's harder to be a liberal than a conservative because it's easier to give someone the finger than a helping hand." He quit his beloved Sun-Times rather work for Rupert Murdoch.

I don't see you two seeing eye to eye on much

To suggest that Royko was a liberal Democrat is specious. Royko made a career of lampooning political elites, especially the Daley Machine.

Royko coined "Gov Moonbeam," cemented shoebox as an emblem for Illinois politics, and was especially fond of Gary Hart's stupid dog tricks.

He was a populist. He lampooned the rich, the powerful, and the absurd. He championed the blue collar worker and his struggles in life.

And while he detested fat cats he ridiculed the Democratic Party for its hypocrisy, its egalitarian pretensions, and self-proclaimed social justice stridency.

Royko possessed a deft pen and his satire was high art. He was a whipping boy of the incipient political correctness crowd and attracted the wrath of the identity-politics activists as that fringe was beginning to stir. What is priceless is that Royko was being attacked by people who didn't comprehend his message. 

 

[MU82]

To suggest that Royko was a liberal Democrat is specious. Royko made a career of lampooning political elites, especially the Daley Machine.

Royko coined "Gov Moonbeam," cemented shoebox as an emblem for Illinois politics, and was especially fond of Gary Hart's stupid dog tricks.

He was a populist. He lampooned the rich, the powerful, and the absurd. He championed the blue collar worker and his struggles in life.

And while he detested fat cats he ridiculed the Democratic Party for its hypocrisy, its egalitarian pretensions, and self-proclaimed social justice stridency.

Royko possessed a deft pen and his satire was high art. He was a whipping boy of the incipient political correctness crowd and attracted the wrath of the identity-politics activists as that fringe was beginning to stir. What is priceless is that Royko was being attacked by people who didn't comprehend his message. 

Agree with most of this ... and also with most of what Pakuni said.

For one thing, there is a difference between "left-leaning" and "liberal." A lot of Independents or moderates are "left-leaning" or "right-leaning." Pakuni did not claim Royko was a liberal, he said he was left-leaning, and I think that's largely true, especially given what was considered left-of-center politically back then.

Royko was one of the all-time great satirists. As Crash said, he often was criticized by those who didn't get whom he actually was lampooning. In some ways, similar to how Norman Lear used the Archie Bunker character. Dopes complained that CBS was promoting racism because they gave Archie such a unique forum, when actually the opposite was true.

[Pakuni]

To suggest that Royko was a liberal Democrat is specious. Royko made a career of lampooning political elites, especially the Daley Machine. 

No one said Royko was a Democrat. And yes, he was anti-PC and did raise the ire of leftist groups, especially in his latter years at the Tribune.
But to suggest the Daley Machine and "liberal Democrats" are somehow interchangeable, or even remotely similar, shows a serious ignorance of the Daley Machine. The Daley Machine was the near antithesis of the liberal Democrats. Daley was a Democrat only because the Democrats held the power in Chicago (as in every other major American city at the time), not because he supported a left-leaning agenda. He hated the leftists in his party more than anyone (see: 1968).

Royko lampooned the Daleys not because of their party, but because they embodied the rich and powerful. Party had nothing to do with it. And for those of us who understand Illinois politics, especially in the 60s-2000s, party never had anything to do with it. The true power brokers in the state had no party affiliation.

As for whether Royko leaned left, what else would call someone who is a) staunchly anti-war, b) pro Civil Rights Movement c) pro gun control d) an advocate for the poor and e) one who detests Rupert Murdoch?