So, Richie has about 10 more days in office. I'm ambivalent about him. He had some weird preternatural political sense of how to push Chicago forward in many meaningful ways (cultural and civic things, which is somewhat ironic for a "dems and do's sout-side guy). But he was also kind of a moron and corrupt and a caricature.
I'm also ambivalent about Tribune columnist John Kass, who is great when he writes about local stuff, but a partisan hack when he writes about national stuff (he points out every splinter in Obama's eye, but never noticed the giant logs in Bush's).
But this reflection on Richie is really great reading to be reminded how Chicago has worked forever, basically. And I'm not actually all that optimistic that much will change under Rahm. Let's hope.
3 comments:
Thanks for posting that, John, it was really interesting. I guess I find it hard to really assess Daley because I am still so chafed at some of the more recent debacles, e.g., the parking meters(!!), to step back and balance the good and bad of Richie M.'s reign. I think that he and his father definitely deserve a lot of the credit for keeping Chicago from suffering the fate of Cleveland and/or Detroit but they used a lot of distasteful tactics to make that happen.
I'm sure that Rahm will have to swim in some murky waters to get things done as mayor but I still have hopes that he'll make some small steps towards correcting some of the abuses and recent bad decisions of Daley (i.e., please, please, please do what you can to renegotiate that frickin' parking meter deal!).
Fascinating article! First thing that struck me was how much Kass sounded like a spurned lover. Daley really broke his heart. What a crybaby.
No really, as a post-Meigs Chicagoan, it is interesting to get a glimpse of what people thought of Daley in the early days.
very interesting. kass does make it a little too much about him but i appreciate seeing his more emo side. very raw.
but here's what i've never understood. how does sending billy daley to the white house and rahm to chicago work out as some kind of deal? daley didn't campaign for rahm and many of the old daley supporters didn't support him. and rahm has been saying since he arrived at the WH that he wanted to run for mayor. not buying kass's story here:
Daley would have lost the election. So an arrangement was made with President Barack Obama, the mayor's guy in the White House. Obama's chief of staff became the next mayor, and the mayor's brother became the president's chief of staff. How nice and neat.
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