tags
feeds
- rss
- atom
- what is a feed?
search
search
popular
archive
- December 2005
- January 2006
- February 2006
- March 2006
- April 2006
- May 2006
- June 2006
- July 2006
- August 2006
- September 2006
- October 2006
- November 2006
- December 2006
- January 2007
- February 2007
- March 2007
- April 2007
- May 2007
- June 2007
- July 2007
- August 2007
- September 2007
- October 2007
- November 2007
- December 2007
- January 2008
- February 2008
- March 2008
- April 2008
- May 2008
- June 2008
- July 2008
- August 2008
- September 2008
- October 2008
- November 2008
- December 2008
- January 2009
The Real Straight Talk Express
June 29, 2008
Posted by: Carol
Saturday, I attended a press conference with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley at the city's Riverwalk. Although he was there to recognize the new Riverwalk vendors and the artists selected for a major temporary exhibition, the media, of course, asked him not a single question on topic. Instead, they quizzed him on the Supreme Court action on guns and Reason magazine's new survey that says Chicago is the most restrictive cities in the nation on personal rights.
He dismissed the Supreme Court decision's by labeling the judges as "elitist." As Daley put it, the federal government has nothing to do with safe streets. "Who do people complain to when there is crime in the streets? The mayor and the police commissioner. They don't call their congressman or their senator." He went on to say, "When I go see my congressman, I can't carry a gun. If I go to the Supreme Court, there are guards all over the place. I can't get in with a gun. So why is it that people can carry guns on the streets of Chicago? So who are the real elitists?"
He also dismissed the Reason magazine article. "What is Reason magazine?" (I especially liked that comment.)
His opening comments about the Riverwalk -- the only riverwalk with the world's greatest architecture as background -- led him to wax eloquently about the value of immigrants. "Immigrants designed these buildings," Daley said with the powerful Mies van der Rohe IBM Building behind him. "Immigrant laborers built these magnificent buildings." It made me wish our national leaders could wax as romantically, as he folded up his prepared script and spoke extemporaneously. He also spoke again about the lasting legacy of artists on the city.
It's hard to walk away from a speech by Daley without thinking, the nation would be a lot better off if we heard more straight talk from men like Daley. He ought to have his own daily YouTube show just dishing out local wisdom. That would be fun to watch.
Dave Reid, July 9, 2008
It sure seems that some our nations true leaders are the Mayor's of our cities....
Link: http://urbanmilwaukee.com