By Steve Rhodes
“Under the increased scrutiny and pressure of a one-on-one campaign against Mayor Rahm Emanuel, challenger Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia on Monday dropped his monthslong opposition to allowing a Barack Obama presidential library to be built on city parkland,” the Tribune reports.
You should know better, Chuy. You grew up here. You’re not supposed to sell-out until after getting elected.
“Garcia’s decision to back an Obama library no matter the location came after Emanuel’s campaign tried to make an issue out of the Cook County commissioner’s opposition to the public parcels that would be required for a pair of South Side sites that are part of the University of Chicago’s library bid.”
You should now better, Chuy. You grew up here. You’re supposed to make the incumbent cede the issue. What kind of campaign you runnin’?
“Emanuel’s campaign equated Garcia’s opposition to the use of parkland to being against any South Side site.”
This is true, and this is where Rahm’s been the real sleazeball.
From my inbox:
“[Sunday] Rahm had robocalls going out with a tape of a woman talking about how Rahm was doing everything he could to get the Obama library here, but unfortunately, Chuy Garcia totally doesn’t want it. That’s not an exact quote obviously, but the call definitely claimed that this was a stated, unequivocal position for Garcia. That seemed unlikely to me but it’s not like I bothered looking into it. Just now I got a robocall from Chuy, he recorded it, saying how proud he is of the president, that of course he wants the Obama library here, but: ‘unfortunately, the mayor’s corporate friends have been paying for phone calls that distort my position.’ He ends by saying basically let’s be clear, let’s all work together to bring the Obama library here where it belongs in Chicago.”
Clearly, opposing the use of parkland for the Obama library is not the same as opposing the Obama library.
Now, though, I’m not even sure Chuy really meant it when he said he opposed using parkland for the library. Maybe that, too, was a cynical stance.
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From the Tribune:
“I have been consistent and unwavering in my support for the presidential library to come to Chicago,” Garcia said Monday. “It appears there are two sites left, a South Side and a West Side site. Whatever the final decision is made by the selection committee and President Obama, I will support.”
Asked if that meant even if it’s on parkland, Garcia replied: “You heard what I said. There are only two sites. Thank you.”
Again, you aren’t supposed to defensively snip at the media until you get elected.
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“Since launching his mayoral campaign last fall, Garcia had railed against using parkland for the library, and he testified against Emanuel’s plans to do so at a January public hearing.
“‘Our leaders should be stewards of our public parks, not agents for their dismantlement – and Mayor Emanuel is breaking the public trust by supporting this unnecessary land grab,’ Garcia said in a January statement that was still posted on his campaign website Monday. ‘As I’ve argued before, that’s the mark of a mayor who neither understands nor cares about people and their public assets.’
“Asked Monday why he was reversing his stance, Garcia replied: ‘I’m saying what I said.'”
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On Chuy’s website now:
“While it is my view that the library does not have to come at the expense of public park land that has enormous historical significance for everyone in Chicago, I will support the South or West Side site.”
So, just to track the evolution in Chuy’s thinking: against using parkland, okay with using parkland, against-but-okay with using parkland.
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“Garcia [last week] mentioned several sites he thought preferable, none of which is even under consideration at this point,” according to the Sun-Times’s Mark Brown.
Was one in Little Village?
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Brown is not bothered by Chuy’s cynical re-positioning.
“It’s pretty obvious that a position that may have made sense earlier for a candidate trying to draw differences between himself and Emanuel in a five-man field was untenable now that the Obama foundation is just weeks from a decision – and flirting with an offer from New York.”
So under Brown’s formulation, a position that draws differences with an opponent is one that makes sense; the actual substance of the position doesn’t matter. This is a hallmark of the way modern political journalists think.
Also, the Obama foundation “flirting” with an offer from New York isn’t new. It’s not like suddenly the pot has been sweetened by a new contestant.
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“The great mystery to me is how we found ourselves in this position in the first place,” Brown writes.
Yes. A thousand times yes.
Is it just possible that, like with so many other things, Rahm botched this? Isn’t that the real campaign issue at this point – that Rahm has endangered Chicago getting the Obama library by not getting all the ducks in a row? My god, remember when we found out the U of C didn’t even own all the property for its proposal?
The mayor’s competence is the larger issue here.
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“Whose idea was it to build the library in Jackson Park or Washington Park?” Brown writes. “Was it the University of Chicago? The mayor? Or the Obamas themselves, as insiders have intimated?
“Nobody has ever been very forthcoming about that and whether there was any behind-the-scenes effort by Emanuel to argue the case that it would be better to build the library on something other than park land.”
Based on what I have heard, I would put the question to the University of Chicago this way: Why do you prefer a presidential library on an off-campus site rather than on-campus?
That might clear things up.
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And yes, the issue is also about, once again, a lack of transparency in this administration.
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Now back to Rahm’s campaign blatantly lying (and not getting called on it, as far as I can tell), another consistent trait of this mayor:
“Thirty-six hours ago, Chuy Garcia repeated his opposition to landing the Barack Obama Presidential Library on the South Side,” campaign spokesman Steve Mayberry said.
Of course, he said nothing of the sort. That is an out-and-out falsehood.
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Rauner’s Ex-Ministers
Did this happen?
I can’t find any news of it.
African-American Pastors Join with Parents and Child Advocates to Decry Governor Rauner’s “Broken Promises”
Ministers Who Formerly Supported Rauner as Candidate Speak Out About His Betrayal of African-American Families, Call for Governor to Immediately Save Child Care Assistance Program
CHICAGO – A group of African-American ministers who endorsed and campaigned for Bruce Rauner as a gubernatorial candidate are gathering at the Thompson Center Monday afternoon to decry his “Broken Promises” to invest in African-American youth at a press conference sponsored by State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford (D-Chicago).
The religious leaders will speak out about how Rauner courted their endorsements by promising to invest in African-American children and teenagers, only to betray those promises in the budget he proposed last month.
The ministers, flocked by parents, children and community advocates, will call upon the Governor to live up to his promises by immediately funding the immediate $300 million gap in the Child Care Assistance Program, which has already resulted in child care center closings and working parents losing the care they need in order to work.
WHAT: A press conference of African-American ministers, parents, children and advocates to decry Governor Rauner’s “Broken Promises” and demand that the Governor immediately fund child care to prevent additional families from losing care
WHEN: Monday, March 2, 2015
1 to 2 PM
WHERE: Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph St.
15th Floor
IDs required for access
WHO: African-American ministers who formerly endorsed Bruce Rauner, including Rev. Joseph L. Davis of Mission Mind Ministry, Rev. David Garvin of New Bethel Baptist Church, Bishop Chester McLaurin of Emanuel Bible Center, Bishop William Jackson of Holy House of Prayer, Rev. Ben Davis and Rev. Robert Bailey
State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford (D-Chicago)
Parents, children and family advocates
WHY: To speak out about how Governor Bruce Rauner has failed to live up to the promises he made as a candidate while courting endorsements by African-American ministers, and to call upon him to immediately fund the Child Care Assistance Program for the rest of this fiscal year. Parents are already losing access to child care as a result of the $300 million budget shortfall. The over 100,000 working families across the state who depend upon the program will face devastating consequences unless the program shortfall is funded immediately.
Fools.
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Last Week In Chicago Rock
Featuring: Bloom, Brendan Buckley, Milk at Midnight, The Tornaparts, The Felix Martin Band, The Jayhawks, The Paramedic, Robyn Hitchcock, Ryan Beatty, and Jackyl.
They Called Him Minnie
A final fun look back at Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso Arrieta.
Local Book Notes: Voices Of Protest, Drawbridges
City of refuge, crossings.
The Weekend In Chicago Rock
Featuring: The Coup, Frank Iero and the Cellebration, Daniel Knox, Homme, Protomartyr, Ne Hi, Whores, Perfect Pussy, CoCoComa, The Coop, Ed Kowalczyk, Brandi Carlile, Prhyme, Scott Weiland, Motionless In White, The Twilight Sad, Funky Meters, Defame Me, Justin Sumler, Suicide Silence, Fit For An Autopsy, Vusi, and JJ Grey & Mofro.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Funkified.
Posted on March 3, 2015