Ear Hustle

CHICAGO: A City In Turmoil And A Mayor Whimpering He’ll Change

EarHustle411 has been diligently paying attention to what’s been going on in Chicago and whether the current mayor can “redeem” himself from the debacle he has clearly put himself in.

The hot water Mayor Emanuel is in is so hot that even he himself has finally realized that once he gets burned, not even the world’s best skin graft will EVER cover up those scars.

EarHustle411 agrees with the writer of the following article that the Mayor is weak and his days of being a bully are just about done. Unfortunately it’s been time for him to go. Granted the city was already in disarray when he was elected however it’s now on the brink of extinction. So Rahm Emanuel isn’t the only “leader” that has to go. All of the current political figures from the councilmen all the way up the ladder to the mayor need to go because  the mayor held on to the Laquan McDonald shooting video until after his re-election, then as far as we’re concerned the entire Chicago political system is just as guilty. Who knows what else has been covered up or “held back” until further notice?

The residents and businesses of Chicago deserve better representation and looking from this side of the fence, they just may get it sooner than they think.

Read more as reported by the Chicago Tribune:

rahn emanuel

A month ago I wrote a column telling you about a police dash-cam recording that could tear Chicago apart.

It was that recording of a white cop killing a black teenager, the cop pumping 16 bullets into the kid with the knife in his hand who was trying to walk away, the officer firing most of the shots with the young man already on the ground.

It was kept from public view for months and months, kept hidden until Mayor Rahm Emanuel won re-election with black voter support. But it couldn’t be suppressed forever.

Since the video was released, protesters have taken to the streets, demanding “Rahm Resign” and the mayor became publicly weepy, telling us once again that he wanted to be a Rahm reborn, a better version of himself.

Who knows? Maybe he was hoping to put on that warm and fuzzy campaign sweater — the one he wore when he cut those re-election commercials to announce he’d be a kinder, more reasonable, and less imperious Rahm.

But you can’t play the sweater game twice. And the city can’t forget what he’s done.

So a month later, where is Chicago?

The mayor limps along, weakened, his public approval ratings underwater. New polls say what I’ve told you for weeks: That if the Laquan McDonald video had been made public before Election Day, Rahm would not be mayor today.

That makes people feel as if he’s cheated them. So resentment builds against the mayor most of Chicago never really liked, but feared. And now that he’s been humbled, he’s ripe.

When I wrote that Chicago could be torn apart by that video of Officer Jason Van Dyke killing McDonald, I wasn’t thinking about real estate or burning buildings.

The buildings are fine. The streets are still here. The protests were angry and passionate, but they were overwhelmingly nonviolent, a credit to the protesters and to the police they were reviling.

And after this current round of protests fade a bit, after the March elections come and go, the establishment public relations types will push a series of fairy tales to tell you the city is back to its old self.

You’ll know the touchstones when you see them: baseball, hot dogs, warm nights, festivals and gang killings, just like old times. And if Rahm’s public relations wizards have their way, you’ll also read how Rahm has recognized his faults and is moving toward redemption.

But by the time those myths are woven, Chicago won’t be the same. It’s already changed and will continue changing.

Rahm Emanuel has lost the city and he can’t get it back.

The stresses and fault lines have been growing for decades through the oafish and terrible management of Richard M. Daley. But Daley had his royal behind smooched for decades before he was unmasked with his parking meter deal.

Rahm was barely into his second term when he was unmasked. His special moment came with the video. And his miscalculation in suppressing the video has released something in Chicago.

Call it rebellion, or pent-up resentment based on legitimate grievances. Whatever you call it, he’s weak now.

After decades of hibernation under Daley, black political Chicago has begun to reassert itself. Young African-American leaders push for recognition. Black politics isn’t the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s show any longer.

One of the casualties of the old order appears to be Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. Rahm’s buddy, David Axelrod, publicly criticized her for not charging Van Dyke with murder sooner, just as black activists were calling for her political head.

Now black politicians who supported Emanuel and said nothing about how he sat on the video are busy directing African-American animosity Alvarez’s way. Many of them won’t say Emanuel should resign, they’re still worried he’ll bite. But Alvarez? They want her out.

Alvarez was left without a chair when the music stopped. And now she’s their offering.

Is it fair? No, but then there’s nothing fair about Chicago politics. It’s a power game. There’s arithmetic and technique in getting out the vote, but great swells of emotion help too, and those who win know how to aim all that pent-up animosity at their targets.

It’s all taking place before the March primary, as Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle pushes her candidate for state’s attorney, Kimberly Foxx.

What’s unsaid in polite circles but understood by all is that Foxx is black and Alvarez isn’t. So the campaign for state’s attorney becomes an exercise in political redemption and black political expectation, directed by Preckwinkle, who didn’t have the steel to stand and challenge Rahm herself.

But if she elects Foxx, then she’ll have subpoena power at her right elbow. Preckwinkle comes off as something of a progressive idealist. But Toni is a player.

Meanwhile, the city, and its needy mayor, faces insurmountable fiscal challenges, from pension debts to the Chicago Teachers Union expected to authorize its leaders to call a strike. The teachers and their partners in the hard left have waited for this moment. They’ve despised Rahm for years, and now they are in full cry.

But theirs is a war cry, unrepentant, eager, full of anticipation, nothing like those sad, pitiful whimpers offered by the Emanuel who promised he’d change.

Common wisdom says he won’t resign, but if he doesn’t the months ahead will be torture for the man.

What happens to a boss who was never well-liked, a boss who had only limited and shallow support, a boss who is now weak and no longer feared?

Rahm knows what happens. So does Chicago.

Source: Chicago Tribune 

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Most Popular

To Top