Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Just exactly what, or make that 'who,' is Bill Daley hoping to make great again?

"Portrait of Two Young Men," by Giovanni Cariani, Louvre Museum, Paris


     When Bill Daley told my colleague Mark Brown, "but to be mayor, that would be the greatest," what exactly did he mean? The greatest for whom?
     For the city of Chicago? Did Daley mean that once he is sworn in as mayor, Chicago will begin enjoying a period of greatness: more jobs, less crime, better race relations?
     Make Chicago Great Again.
     And if he meant that, what is he, Bill Daley, bringing to the table that will usher in this new epoch of greatness?
     "Daley offered no specific solutions to the city's most vexing problems," Brown wrote. "Saying he plans to spend much of his campaign listening to voters for their ideas."
     Ah. I see. Chicagoans are supposed to tell Daley what he should do, how he should solve Chicago's laundry list of city-killing woes. And then, stout-hearted fellow that he is, Bill Daley will do those things, and greatness will ensue.
     Or gee, could it possibly be that when Daley said "to be mayor, that would be the greatest," he meant it would be the greatest for him? That it would great for Bill Daley, and other folks named Daley, to have another Daley in the office that two Daleys have already held for, umm, 43 of the past 63 years?
     Could he really mean that?
     He could.
     Sigh.
     The thing is, I like Bill Daley, and I'll tell you why...

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10 comments:

  1. Bill Daley was the total incompetent that ran & ruined Al Gore's chance to be President in 2000!
    He also only lasted a year as Obama's chief of staff, a job most people have for 2-3 years.
    And to further show what a fool this clown is, he forgets that Jeb Bush lost the Republican primaries in 2016, because he would've been the third Bush running for president & the American public is fed up with dynasties, which is one of the myriad reasons Hillary Clinton lost. On top of that, when he was working in Washington, his Sauganash home was burglarized, because apparently, the dummy didn't have a decent burglar alarm!
    Bill Daley will be an also ran when the election happens & won't be in the runoff & I even doubt he will stay in the race & will drop out, when he discovers nobody really wants him!

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    1. I'm not defending Bill Daley, but I believe that Al Gore lost because Al Gore is Al Gore. Jeb Bush was a dud as a candidate. Totally uninspiring. I don't think he even wanted the job.

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    2. Clark St. you covered all the bases, stole all the thunder. Bill Daley has shown a Palin like stamina in his most prominent positions, which is no recommendation for the next mayor, who will confront the most difficult situation of any mayor in my lifetime. Chicago needs someone with a plan and conviction, two qualities lacking the Boss's offspring.

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  2. There is nothing in Bill Daley's CV to lead one to conclude nobility is his motivation, and it’s surprising coming from the otherwise reliable proprietor of this site. I'm going to assume this is a reporter's trick, thrown in to display a naivety that might appeal to potential future sources to get them to drop their guard.

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    1. Did you take today's column as an endorsement? Maybe you could have a friend explain it to you, but it wasn't. The nobility is in the impulse to clean up his brother's spattered reputation.

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    2. It's not possible to clean up Richie's reputation! He has bankrupted Chicago with his corrupt & rotten ideas.
      Decades ago, when Richie was appointed by his father to the State Senate, Chicago Magazine asked people in Springfield who was the dumbest person in the General Assembly. Richie was the clear winner there. Then he went on to become C[r]ook County State's Attorney & made a mess out of that office.
      Everything Richie touched, has turned to shit, except his own bank account!
      I'm still waiting to find out how much of a bribe he took for the corrupt parking meter deal! Remember that deal was vetted by William Blair & Co. & guess who became some sort of employee of William Blair & Co. after he left the Fifth Floor of City Hall? That's right, Richie!

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    3. Oh, no, I didn't take it as an endorsement - far from it. And I warmly welcome you into the "Please, Toni, please" camp.

      I simply don't get any hint of nobility - not in the interview, nor in his actions, past and present. Here's the mess he wants to clean up: the ruined reputation of the Daley clan after eight years of unmitigated public reckoning. If there’s any nobility in this, it’s that he’s doing it as self-sacrifice for benefit of the younger generations of Daleys. His calling Rahm overly image conscious is some bigly projection.

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  3. This mayoral contest makes one yearn for the day of the Democratic Machine, which would have gone behind closed doors and taken care of who ran and who waited. This is more ridiculous than the 2016 Republican race. I have no idea who might win, but I think the rest of us Chicagoans are all losers one way or another.

    john

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  4. When Jamie Dimon decided he wanted to merge Bank One with Chase and leave Chicago so that he could run a NYC bank, Richie Daley was very upset about that until the very minute that Chase gave Bill Daley a job as the Midwest Chairman. While tens of thousands of people were losing their jobs, Bill got a sinecure which bought off his brother Richie. We who were there during the merger period before getting the heave-ho never quite figured out what Bill was doing to justify his salary or even saw him that much around the bank. Definitely not a good candidate for Mayor.

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  5. I'm starting to lose count of all the Daley debris and Rahm residue that's trying to wash up for an encore.

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