By John Ruberry
“Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.” Fyodor Dostoevsky.
“‘Many are the strange chances of the world,” said Mithrandir, “and help shall oft come from the hands of the weak when the Wise falter.'” The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien.
A blockbuster story by the Wall Street Journal last week laid bare what most readers of Da Tech Guy have known since 2019. That Joe Biden was senile and in not in any way able to serve as president.
The mainstream media, which claims to be the protector of the public and the teller of the truth, either ignored, minimized, or on occasion, even verbally attacked people who claimed otherwise.
We were right, they were wrong.
The optics and stakes are different in Chicago, and in one way, the stakes are higher, as opposed to the Biden so-called presidency. Because Brandon Johnson, who was a defund the police radical in 2020, is mayor of Chicago and he’s ultimately in charge of public safety 2.7 million Chicagoans.
And Johnson minimizes criminality. But he maximizes racial discord, frequently turning criticism of him as a bigoted attack.
After a mini-riot last year, which apologists call “street takeovers,” Branjo dismissed the lawlessness. “They’re young, sometimes they make silly decisions,” he said. Johnson also stressed that it was wrong to “demonize” these real-life droogs.
The Wall Street Journal says Johnson is America’s worst mayor.
Prior to his election as mayor, Johnson was Cook County board commissioner, which is a part-time job. The board is a rubber-stamp body for Cook County Board president, Boss Toni Preckwinkle, the chair of the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization, aka, the Chicago Machine.
Johnson was also a longtime paid organizer–and that means radical activist–for the far-left Chicago Teachers Union. It was their money–and their door-knockers–who put Branjo into the mayor’s office.
Yesterday, I saw this X post from former Chicago Tribune columnist, Eric Zorn, a liberal.
What an embarrassing failure @ChicagosMayor has turned out to be. This is shamefully hamhanded and uncollaborative.
Two days ago, in a classic Friday news dump stunt–and five days before Christmas–the Board of Education, all of whom were recently named by Johnson to replace the other members Johnson named, fired Chicago Public Schools CPO Pedro Martinez. That old board refused to fire Martinez, a Lori Lightfoot holdeover, because he stood his ground by refusing to take out a “payday” loan to pay for big raises for Chicago Teachers Union members.
Next month, per a new state law, a new board replaces the not-so-old board.
If Zorn warned about Johnson shilling for the Chicago Teachers Union over the needs of Chicagoans, I somehow missed it. I don’t recall a single mainstream, meaning liberal, Chicago journalist sounding the alarm that a leftist fox would soon be guarding the henhouse.
However, many Chicagoans, most of whom likely voted for Johnson’s moderate opponent, Paul Vallas, saw this disaster coming. There just were not enough of them to prevent this fiasco.
Martinez was fired Friday night, but he may stick around for six more months.
CPS bonds are already rated as junk.
The national media didn’t do its job vetting a sick old man running for president. And it mostly ignored Senile Joe’s many senior moments.
The Chicago media looked the other way as Branjo successfully campaigned for mayor.
But the warning signs were obvious.
A Chicago alderwoman, Silvana Tabares, summed up Johnson and his Board of Education debacle perfectly.
“You’re not just firing a CEO. You are intentionally clearing a way to saddle taxpayers with billions in costs, and the district and yourselves personally with costly litigation,” the alderwoman said. “You are being used. The mayor is a walking conflict of interest.”
I saw it coming and so did many others: Johnson is indeed a walking conflict of interest.
The Chicago media is an embarrassing failure.
Which brings me to this point: Is the local media in other towns and cities as bad as it is in Chicago?
Are these “guardians,” like Brandon Johnson, in fact foxes guarding the hen houses?
There is a glimmer of hope. Crain’s Chicago Business, the primary local media minimizer of urban mayhem, last week called for Johnson’s resignation.
Perhaps Crain’s can now honestly report on crime.
Oh, once again, I need to remind you, taxpayer-funded media is an abominable idea.
And finally, thanks to the Journal, we know now that Biden was president in name only, a triumvirate of advisors was running our country.
Who’s really running Chicago? Is it Stacy Davis Gates, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union, who hoped to run for mayor herself?
Gates’ son, you should know, attends a private school.
John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.
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