Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Windy City Politics: "I don't want nobody nobody sent"


"...He did great things [Harry]. Terrible! Yes, but Great." White this quote from Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone does not exactly relate to the Daley administrations, it does have some relevance. While the Daleys may be seen as terrible by some of Chicago's residents, no one can deny their greatness. In fact, the Daleys have been called at points "the most powerful politicians in America," and are said to have gotten John F. Kennedy elected. They knew how to work the system, partially because they helped to create the system, and the most powerful political machine in America. Before taking this course I knew nothing of Chicago politics beyond President Obama, so I will be the first to admit that the details of the Daleys are still a mystery, more or less, to me; but at some level it seems that as much as some Chicagoans criticize the Daleys, general Chicago keeps electing them. And as much as the Daleys have failed to do, they have turned Chicago into a world class tourist city.

Our field trip today involved meeting with Mike Quigley, the congressman for Chicago's fifth district. Congressman Quigley made an interesting connection to our reading when he described how "what the father built the son tore down." This drew a parallel to the comment in the article about the son fixing his father's mistakes and neglected duties, for example: Chicago's extremely downtrodden public schools. While the "old man" can be said to have create Chicago's notorious machine, his son can be credited for helping to tear it down. However, as stated in the article, the young Daley never "bashed" his father, which I see as a very favorable trait. One of Richard M. Daley's projects that, from what I can tell, is extremely controversial is the Millennium Park Project. The controversy lies in the fact that the money may have been better spent elsewhere; however, the park has created millions of dollars of tourist revenue. Thus, only time will tell whether the memory of the Daley's will be one of unicorns and daisies of one marred by scandal and bad decisions. Most likely their reputation will lie somewhere in the middle.

Congressman Quigley was very knowledgeable and easy to get along with. One can easily understand the confidence he instilled in his voters. It was fascinating to hear his stories about the differing personalities in Washington, particularly his story involving Rob Em manual and Barack Obama's the conflicting atmospheres they brought to a room. His stories of working with Washington and the presidents gave an honest portrayal of how things on the hill worked, and the benefits of Air Force One. In addition, Mr. Quigley stories about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan were riveting. I found his comments about the soldiers always being interviewed in the company of a higher official, so nothing can slip out, and how none of the stories were he heard were the basic truth until he talked to veterans. This comment called to question the compromised validity of several army interviews. After reading his first year biography, I can see that Mike Quigley gets things done in congress and is a very impressive man. He offered the class great wisdom for our future endeavors and it was a delight to meet the Congressman.

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