Lori LightFoot OUT in Chi town [Archive]

iris lilies

2-28-23, 11:15pm

If Lightfoot is out in Chicago, maybe that’s a harbinger of what is to come in St. Louis a.k.a. Little Chicago.

Maybe the next time our useless non-crime fighting prosecutor, Kim Gardner will be voted out. Our mayor is not quite as useless as the prosecutor, and in recent days, she told the prosecutor that the prosecutor should do some soul-searching about resigning. This is after a highly publicized maiming of a tourist downtown.

but I’m not holding my breath for any of the local squad to leave. Speaking of Squad, our own Cori Bush married her bodyguard/security guy so that is nice I guess. I’m not sure if he can continue to be on her payroll or not.

Tradd

3-1-23, 4:04am

Absolutely delighted. There’s no a runoff between Paul Vallas, who was head of the Chicago Public Schools, when I moved to Chicago in 1996, and the number two vote getter. Can’t remember his name.

Lori had actually said within the last week or two that if black Chicago residents didn’t vote for her, they were throwing their vote away or something along those lines. She also got in trouble for her campaign emailing CPS teachers and staff looking for support.

LDAHL

3-1-23, 7:39am

I can’t remember a single-term mayor since Jane Byrne back in the eighties.

I read this morning that Chicagoans now face a choice between a traditional liberal and someone who wants to create “Portland on the Great Lakes”.

Teacher Terry

3-1-23, 10:32am

No one I know wants Portland on the lake!

Tradd

3-1-23, 11:20am

I can’t remember a single-term mayor since Jane Byrne back in the eighties.

I read this morning that Chicagoans now face a choice between a traditional liberal
and someone who wants to create “Portland on the Great Lakes”.

Yep, Jane Byrne was the last single term mayor.

LDAHL

3-1-23, 11:51am

Yep, Jane Byrne was the last single term mayor.

I recall great anger over the City’s failure to remove snow fast enough and blaming her. People were killing each other over cleared parking spaces.

Tradd

3-1-23, 1:47pm

I recall great anger over the City’s failure to remove snow fast enough and blaming her. People were killing each other over cleared parking spaces.

The uncleared snow is how SHE got into office. Unsure why she didn’t get re-elected.

LDAHL

3-1-23, 1:59pm

The uncleared snow is how SHE got into office. Unsure why she didn’t get re-elected.

You’re right. I was thinking of Mike Bilandic, wasn’t I?

Tradd

3-1-23, 2:19pm

You’re right. I was thinking of Mike Bilandic, wasn’t I?

Correct.

Paul Vallas, who got the most votes, was described on the radio last night as a “bungalow belt conservative.” That’s not really a conservative, but more do than the lakeshore liberals. For those not familiar with Chicago, there are belts of bungalows on the northwest and southwest sides. Very family oriented. More stable than the lake front neighborhoods, which tend to have more transient populations (lots of young professionals, for example).

catherine

3-1-23, 8:03pm

Here is the text of a comment attached to the NYT article about her today. I'd like to hear Tradd's view from a fellow Chicagoan.

As a long-time Chicagoan, I am somewhere between amused and disturbed about the ignorant comments here by people who've never even been to Chicago.

I voted for Lori Lightfoot in 2019, and against her in 2023. In those two votes, I am with a majority of fellow Chicago voters of all races.

Both liberals and conservatives are claiming victory, because Lightfoot was a moderate, and the primary winners are to her right and left. This perplexes out-of-towners.

Lori, however, proved to be pugnacious, bullying, and uncooperative. Keeping the parks closed during COVID was insane, when health officials were saying that outdoors was healthier than indoors. Her decision to plop a large casino in an area that strongly doesn't want it, and her decision to close Grant Park for 3 weeks in mid-summer for a NASCAR race, have really turned off many people. Then there was her green-lighting the Obama Center in Jackson Park, which nobody in that area wanted, instead of a much better vacant location adjacent to (but not in!) Washington Park. We hope a new mayor can un-do some of these harms.

Race wasn't it. Harold Washington is still regarded as a skilled, compassionate politician who got things done and brought people of all races together. He has a library and a park named for him.

And to those who try to fit Chicago into a political mold so they can bash it from afar, come visit. I think you'll actually like it.

Tradd

3-1-23, 9:03pm

Catherine,

To give you an idea, Lightfoot’s nickname locally is Groot, after one of the characters from Beetlejuice.

She won all 50 wards in the last election.

However, she is known to be rude even to allies. She had people really pissed off for how she shut down the lakefront during Covid. If you set foot on the sand, cops would haul you off. She has definitely made enemies with how she pushed through the NASCAR race and the Obama library. The way the 2020 riots were handled also didn’t win her any friends. She just seems to thrive on pissing people off. I remember seeing video at least once of her swearing like a sailor and using the f word during a city council meeting.

The crime issue is a big one. People don’t feel safe. Carjacking went through the roof in 2020. Crime has spread into neighborhoods that didn’t used to see more than maybe petty stuff, but armed robbery and mugging, carjackings, have really spread. Vallas campaigned on the crime issue and he was backed by the Fraternal Order of Police (CPD police union). The other guy who will also be in the runoff is backed by the CTU (teachers’ union).

jp1

3-2-23, 1:38am

She just seems to thrive on pissing people off. I remember seeing video at least once of her swearing like a sailor and using the f word during a city council meeting.

I'm not up on Chicago politics, but based on what you're saying it sounds like she's a MAGA republican in a black lady's clothing?

iris lilies

3-2-23, 8:38am

I'm not up on Chicago politics, but based on what you're saying it sounds like she's a MAGA republican in a black lady's clothing?
Naw, she’s just a tough broad. Nothing wrong with that but her political decisions suck.

LDAHL

3-2-23, 9:04am

I'm not up on Chicago politics, but based on what you're saying it sounds like she's a MAGA republican in a black lady's clothing?

Well, as bad analogies go, it’s certainly a refreshing change from comparing people to Hitler.

I don’t think Chicago has had a Republican mayor since Al Capone’s pal Big Bill Thompson.

ToomuchStuff

3-2-23, 10:50am

Catherine,

To give you an idea, Lightfoot’s nickname locally is Groot, after one of the characters from Beetlejuice.

You sure you have the correct movie? I don't remember a Groot in Beetlejuice.

Alan

3-2-23, 10:54am

You sure you have the correct movie? I don't remember a Groot in Beetlejuice.
I believe she's thinking of a character in Guardians Of The Galaxy and several subsequent Avengers movies.

Tradd

3-2-23, 10:58am

Guess I had that wrong but does does LOOK like a Beetlejuice character.

The Babylon Bee has an absolutely hysterical bit on her blaming her loss on “nasty hobbitses.”

Tradd

3-2-23, 9:30pm

iris lilies

3-2-23, 10:04pm

So less than 24 hours after Lori lost, the police superintendent resigned. He was appointed by Groot and both of the candidates in the runoff said they’d get rid of him. He’s going back to TX.

Yesterday, a CPD officer was responding to a domestic dispute, got into a shooting match with the bad guy, and died. Turns out the shooter had been arrested over the summer for another shooting incident. Kim Foxx’s office refused to press gun charges. The guys got out. If her office had pressed charges, the shooter would likely still have been behind bars. So now people are publicly going after her.

Your Kim the Prosecutor is as useless as our Kim the Prosecutor.

Same situation here, everyone screams Guns are bad, get rid of guns, get rid of guns, guns are bad, yet when the bad guys have the guns and they are mot supposed to, nothing happens to the bad guys.

When DH was on grand jury duty for several months most of their cases were guns and drugs.

let’s outlaw guns because that’ll solve the problem, right? So much b.s.

Tradd

3-2-23, 10:19pm

Your Kim the Prosecutor is as useless as our Kim the Prosecutor.

Same situation here, everyone screams Guns are bad, get rid of guns, get rid of guns, guns are bad, yet when the bad guys have the guns and they are mot supposed to, nothing happens to the bad guys.

When DH was on grand jury duty for several months most of their cases were guns and drugs.

let’s outlaw guns because that’ll solve the problem, right? So much b.s.

You forgot the “there’s too many black and brown people behind bars” so we have to keep as many free as we can.

bae

3-3-23, 12:21am

Kim Foxx’s office refused to press gun charges. The guys got out. If her office had pressed charges, the shooter would likely still have been behind bars.

Clearly Chicago needs a few more gun laws! And more Federal gun laws too, since Chicago isn't managing on its own!

That'll fix it.

LDAHL

3-4-23, 1:43pm

iris lilies

3-5-23, 12:34pm

I see the President won’t veto the House blocking the DC Council’s proposed new criminal code that leaned heavily into the restorative-justice-decarceration-defund-the-police ideas that Brandon Johnson is campaigning for. It seems the Council overrode the Mayor’s veto and the majority of House Democrats favored it.
One place I would love to see “defund the police “go full bore is in Washington DC with all the politicians and bureaucrats living there. I would love to see the chaos and anarchy reign there immediately where they make all of the policies that filter down to communities that result in these criminal actions.

yes, I would like to see Washington DC be the guinea pig community with little to no police protection. Let’s see how that works for them before we try it elsewhere.

gimmethesimplelife

3-6-23, 11:48am

Tradd

3-6-23, 12:24pm

Rob, I am SHOCKED! Holy cow!

iris lilies

3-6-23, 12:43pm

I'm actually glad that she's out. Chicago has many problems and Lori Lightfoot and her "woke" agenda did not help matters. I do however appreciate that she did not pull election denial - though she did claim that discrimination was the reason she was not reelected. I may be a libreral but Lightfoot is actually TOO far left for me. Anyone surprised? Rob

Of course she didn’t pull the “election denial” card because that is now the exclusive province of the political right.

Losing her election due to her race is a tried and true excuse, popular for decades. But race does matter in these elections. It is always a huge factor in St. Louis.

LDAHL

3-6-23, 1:44pm

I'm actually glad that she's out. Chicago has many problems and Lori Lightfoot and her "woke" agenda did not help matters. I do however appreciate that she did not pull election denial - though she did claim that discrimination was the reason she was not reelected. I may be a libreral but Lightfoot is actually TOO far left for me. Anyone surprised? Rob

She consistently displayed a level of obnoxiousness that transcended political, racial or ideological labels.

gimmethesimplelife

3-6-23, 7:38pm

Rob, I am SHOCKED! Holy cow!No need to be shocked. Her being ousted bad nothing to do with being an African American lesbian. It had to do with the failure to produce positive results for Chicago. Based on what I know - Tradd, you are a local, I'm sure you know more regarding Lightfoot's time in office than I do - I would have voted for someone else, too. If I have to produce results at my job, why shouldn't she have to? Is that not one of the definitions of equality? Rob

gimmethesimplelife

3-6-23, 7:44pm

She consistently displayed a level of obnoxiousness that transcended political, racial or ideological labels.Yes. I have heard this, too. Another mayor I'd love to see voted out is Ted Wheeler in Portland. He has failed to address growing crime rates, growing homelessness, and growing drug use - the Portland I remember is no more. Portland used to have such a vibrant downtown that Petula Clark's signature song was made for it. Now many Portlanders won't risk going downtown and many businesses are shuttered and closed with business owners saying Adios Portland. Petula Clark would not choose a Portland backdrop for her song.....Rob

gimmethesimplelife

3-6-23, 7:47pm

Of course she didn’t pull the “election denial” card because that is now the exclusive province of the political right.

Losing her election due to her race is a tried and true excuse, popular for decades. But race does matter in these elections. It is always a huge factor in St. Louis.I'm not 100 percent against a woke agenda but it needs to produce concrete results. Lightfoot did not produce results, a fact which I find completely independent of her race and her sexual orientation. I work 60 hour weeks and am expected to produce results - I believe politicians should be.expected to produce results, too. Lightfoot did not. She had her chance. End of story. Rob

LDAHL

3-7-23, 11:45am

Yes. I have heard this, too. Another mayor I'd love to see voted out is Ted Wheeler in Portland. He has failed to address growing crime rates, growing homelessness, and growing drug use - the Portland I remember is no more. Portland used to have such a vibrant downtown that Petula Clark's signature song was made for it. Now many Portlanders won't risk going downtown and many businesses are shuttered and closed with business owners saying Adios Portland. Petula Clark would not choose a Portland backdrop for her song.....Rob

I see Walmart will be closing their last couple of Portland stores because they “couldn’t meet financial expectations”. The more Utopian the rhetoric, the more squalid the outcome.

iris lilies

3-7-23, 1:03pm

Never in a million years did I expect Portland to mimic St. Louis. There was atime in my life when Portland was my Mecca. But let’s be real, our streets are MUCH meaner than Portland. For their sake I hope they dont catch up with us.

littlebittybobby

3-7-23, 1:37pm

Okay---The headlines say that WalMart is closing its stores in Portland, due to losses from "shrinkage". Yup.

Tradd

3-7-23, 1:49pm

I see Walmart will be closing their last couple of Portland stores because they “couldn’t meet financial expectations”. The more Utopian the rhetoric, the more squalid the outcome.

Hehe. The hood rats are stealing the stores blind, yet the community leaders wailing about food deserts won’t admit stores are closing due to theft. Happened with the fancy Whole Foods opened in the Englewood neighborhood in Chicago - a very sketchy neighborhood. Forget how long ago it opened, maybe 2016-17 and it closed within the past few months.

littlebittybobby

3-7-23, 1:54pm

Okay---Gots a idea for Lori--a new opportunity. See---what she could do, is move here, and become Da Mayor. Crime runs rampant, so I just know she'd be a good fit fo' da job. Yup.

iris lilies

3-8-23, 11:50am

Friends from the city came to visit us yesterday for lunch. They had a great story. One of my former city neighbors was out on the town with his wife. They met up with friends at a restaurant. When they came out of the restaurant, their Tesla was missing. Oops!

Using their Tesla app, they tracked where the car was and it was headed up to North city. North city is the land of burned out abandoned buildings and so not a surprise it was headed that way. They got in their friends’ car and started following their Tesla. Using the app, they changed all the controls in the Tesla: they turn the radio to a channel of old white people music and put it on blast. They turned the heated seats up full bore. They turn the cabin heat on full bore. They turned on the windshield wipers. And etc.

They caught up with the car to find that it was abandoned. The perps had jumped out of that crazy ass car!

Only in the city. I laughed.