By Steve Rhodes
“Gov. Quinn said Thursday he would rather face defeat in his bitter gubernatorial primary against Comptroller Dan Hynes than encourage racial fissures the governor accused Hynes of fomenting with his Harold Washington attack ad,” the Sun-Times reports.
And then Quinn recalled something he told Bobby Rush the other day at the press conference he called to foment racial fissures in the gubernatorial primary.
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“Hynes stared down a political buzzsaw by agreeing to appear on The Cliff Kelley Show as Quinn and the former alderman-turned-talk-show-host took turns pummeling the three-term comptroller. Kelley, part of Washington’s City Council coalition, interrupted Hynes repeatedly in springing to Quinn’s defense.”
That’s because Cliff Kelley – a former alderman who pled guilty in 1987 to accepting bribes – is a hack. But one Quinn is quite comfortable cozying up to in order to win black votes.
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“Unabashed in his backing for Quinn, Kelley asked Hynes whether the Washington ad was part of a strategy to lure some of the same ‘racist’ voters who sided with Washington’s opponents in the 1987 mayoral campaign, including Hynes’ father, Thomas, who broke from the Democratic Party to launch an unsuccessful third-party campaign to topple Washington.”
Can someone please explain to me how agreeing with Harold Washington is an attempt to win the support of those who opposed him?
Angry White Guy 1: Did you see that Dan Hynes approvingly used Harold Washington in a campaign ad?
Angry White Guy 2: Yeah! Go get ’em, Dan!
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“Dan, people have a problem because your dad was certainly not supportive of Mayor Washington, and you ran against Barack,” Kelley asked.
Um, Cliff, Obama ran against Hynes – as was his right – not the other way around. After all, Hynes was the party’s slated candidate. Should all the white candidates have cleared the field for the (then) little-known longshot Obama when he didn’t even have a base of African-American support back then?
And after Obama won the primary, none of his former opponents worked harder for him than Hynes.
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“‘And what I’m saying, was the intent to try to divide the black community or to draw votes from people who are racist who didn’t want Washington in office in the first place?’ Kelley asked.
“‘No,’ Hynes answered, ‘the intent was to explain to people the governor’s inability to solve problems, his lack of competence . . .’
“‘But that was years ago,’ Kelley interrupted.”
You mean like Tom Hynes’s run for mayor?
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“‘His father,’ Quinn said, referring to the comptroller, ‘called Harold Washington sleazy. And I think that was just plain wrong. I know what they are doing here, and I think the listeners know, too.”
So . . . the problem is that even though his father opposed him, Dan Hynes is asking voters to trust Harold Washington’s judgement?
I know what Pat Quinn is doing here. I hope Kelley’s listeners do, too.
Statue Liberated
“State Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) is now promising to give back to Chicago State University a $25,000 statue she calls her Statue of Liberty,” Sneed reports.
“‘I’ve always said I was going to return it,’ she said at a news conference she held Thursday.”
If you ever got caught.
“Then Davis introduced [boyfriend Arnold] Jordan, who had been the director of CSU’s financial aid program – which ran out of money in 2008 – and who had purchased the statue out of state grants for the center, which Davis helped secure.
“It was Jordan who admitted removing the statue from the warehouse and delivering it to Davis.”
Wait . . . Chicago State’s financial aid program ran out of money? And Monique Davis’s boyfriend was the director? And she helped secure the state grants out of which he purchased the statue? And then he gave it to her?
I don’t have anything witty to say. This is just depressing.
Line Readings
* “$20,000 Worth of Jeans Stolen.”
Dorothy Brown promises a full accounting.
(Too easy?)
* “Senate Reluctantly Confirms Bernanke.”
Too overdrawn to fail.
(Yeah, I know. Couldn’t think of anything else.)
* “Daley Names Aide As School Board Chief.”
It doesn’t even matter which one anymore. They’re all the same.
Alexi’s Evasions
“Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias tried to dampen criticism Thursday of what role he may have played in causing problems at the family bank where he worked before being elected state treasurer,” the Tribune reports.
“On more than one occasion, however, Giannoulias did not answer direct questions about which loans he approved while chief loan officer at Broadway Bank that have since gone bad.
“‘We’ll have plenty of time to get into that,’ Giannoulias said at a hastily called news conference.”
Like, after I’m elected. If that.
“After the news conference, a spokeswoman clarified that Giannoulias doesn’t know which loans may have contributed to the bank’s problems because he hasn’t been involved in the bank’s day-to-day operations since he left.”
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If you want to get an idea of how squirrelly Giannoulias is, go back and re-read Mick Dumke’s “Alexi’s Albatross.” Or just refer back to my analysis and summation of Mick’s piece here.
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The Tribune editorial page takes another whack at Giannlouias’s utter disingenuousness today too.
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Good Day Chicago just characterized Giannoulias as “side-stepping” questions about the loans.
Flame War
Geez, the staff of the student newspaper at UIC – the Chicago Flame – are already acting like they work at the Trib.
“Last November, USG President Damian Wolak bought a bust and pedestal of Abraham Lincoln to donate to the university for Lincoln Hall,” the Flame reports. “The purchase was criticized by several assembly members as a waste of funds.
“Months later, the statue has not been delivered to UIC. According to pictures published on Facebook, President Lincoln’s bust decided to make a detour at a party hosted by the Beta Kappa Zeta fraternity, which is the fraternity of President Wolak and Student Member of the Board of Trustees Bogdan Zavorotny. In the photograph, he has traded in his tophat and suit for BKZ fraternity gear.”
Time of your life. Unless you are a budding Tribbie.
“The incident raises questions about Wolak’s judgment and responsibility as a leader,” the Flame reports. “It is unclear how the student government will react to this incident.”
Oh for godsakes!
A better response would have been for the Flame staff to abuct Honest Abe and find him a desk to work at in its newsroom. Or at least stuff some Flames in that newspaper carrier bag around his neck.
Think, people!
The incident raises questions about the Flame’s judgement and responsibility as a newspaper. It’s unclear how readers will react.
Raising Kane
Oh to be 21, handsome and rich.
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Or even just one of those things.
School of Rock
“I was attracted by the Wax Trax scene,” ex-Brit post-punk and industrial drummer Martin Atkins (Public Image Ltd., Ministry) tells our very own Matt Harness about how he ended up in Chicago. “It was powerful in the 1980s, and I was drawn to that energy. The other thing is I found this apartment on Granville and Winthrop on the 14th floor. It was 2,000 square feet with two separate roofs. The Jesus Lizard played a rooftop show, I think in 1989. I was arrested.
“It was like living on the ocean, you know with the way Lake Michigan looked, especially in the winter. It was like living in the South of France. But Steve Albini said it was the murder corridor.”
Goose And Gander
I wonder if Sun-Times reporter Francine Knowles is sending her article “How Losing Your Job Can Be ‘A Gift’” to her fallen newsroom colleagues. Or if these kinds of articles don’t apply to the profession of those who write them.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: South of France.
Posted on January 29, 2010