ABC News just called Chicago Politics "Tribal". Lemme tell yas about Chicago politics.

[elehhhhna]

They failed to mention that between the Daleys, we had the Great Jane Byrne -- a smokin', drinkin' proud Irish toughtalking liberal, who moved into the worst public housing building in town in order to FORCE the Police and general citizenry to confront the crime problems there.

Mayor Harold Washington, an openly secret gay African American, was most beloved. I remember the day he died (in his office, working his butt off, no doubt). I was walking all over the Loop (work) and Chicagoans of every stripe, racial, economic, whatever: bigshot elderly lawyer/banker types, secretaries, and hobos -- were going about their business dazed in the cold with tears on their faces.

It's only TRIBAL in the sense that, in the end, we all love our city because it's fabulous.

[Pirate Smile]

1. I've heard/read some about Washington but I hadn't heard he was

gay.

Obama talks about the day he died in his book. He was/is a big Harold Washington fan.

[merqz]

2. "openly secret gay"?

Is that an oxymoron, or am I reading it wrong?

[MrScorpio]

4. Not at all

The world is full of all kinds of open secrets.

[elehhhhna]

5. sorry - sorta confusing --

Clarence McClain (the media called him "Clarice") was HW's longtime companion and "aide". He was also a little bit of a grifter and did the usual stupid Chicago-style (meaning obvious & overt) political corruption routine and dragged HW down a bit. But they were devoted to each other, confirmed bachelors who lived & traveled together openly. Everybody knew. No big deal tho'.

[Arkana]

6. As opposed to "double secret gay".

[elehhhhna]

8. Yep. That was our Governor, You get it!

see my post above.

[merqz]

9. Ok, I get it now.

It just threw me for a loop.

[MrScorpio]

3. ABC wouldn't know "tribal", even if it bit them in their asses nt

[elehhhhna]

7. Isn't that the most loaded, dogwhistle kkk crap?

Yanno Dubuque IA ain't a political paradise, either, but ABC-minus News would not call it Tribal.

[MrScorpio]

10. Bingo!

It's no accident that they used that term to describe a town that's full of racial minorities.

[Angry Dragon]

21. One can use the word tribal without reference to race

Tribal could refer to community

[Gaedel]

33. Detroit at one time........

Was a city of closely knit ethnic neighborhoods. Politics was a matter of trading off "tribal" interests. You had the eastside Belgian bloc, the Polish bloc (with their own newspaper and radio station), the Irish bloc, and the northwest Jewish bloc. The various precinct captains had to trade off on which council member or mayoral candidate would get support. That is gone from Detroit now with the massive population shifts.

Chicago still has it.

[surrealAmerican]

11. What are they trying to imply by calling it "tribal"?

Does that mean anything to you?

[skepticscott]

28. They may just mean

that it operates largely by tightly knit groups, the members of which exhibit intense loyalty towards other members of their group and hostility towards those outside the group. Or it may be just a word that some hack thought sounded good, without giving much thought to what they actually meant by it.

[Bluenorthwest]

12. Openly secret gay?

That is such an offensive piece of crap to foist off as if it were a good thing. Really sick. And it explains the Obamas attitude toward gay people who are honest, they seem shocked that we have the nerve to be ourselves. As if they expect us to have Harold Washington Chicago style double lives to please their dogmas.

[elehhhhna]

13. Look, Blue,

The 80's were very different from today regarding being "out". Very different. IMO Obama is maybe a bit phobic. And he was still in school then, and had no connnection to Chig politics.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. Um, I am not a child, elehhhhha

I lived through the 80's as a young man. I was there. Out and in the public eye no less. So why don't ya tell me about it? Why would you presume to do so? When did you come out, and what was your position in life at that time?

[elehhhhna]

15. In no way did I suggest you are a child.

Given your post I guess I do understand why you are angered by the whole open-secret out bullshit.

[Odin2005]

16. Tribal = Euphemism for non-whites.

:puke:

[depakid]

18. Actually, I suspect that it includes various ethnic and religious groups

Irish and Polish among the many who've historically had "tribal" influence in Cook County and Chicago.

[elleng]

32. That's a MODEST statement, I'd say, re: Irish and Polish in Chicago!!!

:rofl:

[Drale]

17. There could be a PHD

were all you study in Chicago Politics, and I think it would be a extremely interesting subject.

[elehhhhna]

23. Truefact. btw, is Carol Marin still on? I LOVE her.

she's the one who quit the local news when the station picked up the Jerry Springer "show". SHE should be the Mayor.

[KharmaTrain]

19. Diversity = Tribalism

I'll bet they still think gangsters run around here as well. The GOTB talking points are to demoniz Chicago as some corrupt system and that President Obama (who never served in city government) is a byproduct thereof. Sure enough the corporate media picks up on it.

You are right about Harold Washington. I was working late while his body was on display at City Hall. It was 3am and I figured I'd see if I could pay respects and even at that hour the line stretched around the block. For about an hour I stood in line with all sorts of "tribes"...blacks, hispanics, poles, italians...that night we were all one thing...Chicagoans.

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. Like

:thumbsup:

[MrScorpio]

22. You know, Chi-Town and Motown may fight like cats and dogs with each other

But our towns are like family and an attack on one can easily be turned into an attack on the other.

A local DJ here aptly describes Detroit and Chicago as the real "Twin Cities". I definitely agree.

By the way, my own wife is from Chicagoland.

So you know that I got your back on this one, elehhhhna.

"Tribal" indeed. Sheesh!

[Tatiana]

24. I still have no clue as to what they meant by "tribal." n/t

[GoCubsGo]

25. It's just another offshoot of the "Obama is a foreigner" meme.

In the rest of the country, "Chicago-style" politics is known as "Good Ol' Boy" politics. Only, they refuse to admit that every city in the rest of the country practices the same sort of politics as Chicago. This is their way of denigrating the city as being somehow "different" and more corrupt than anywhere else. They're doing to Chicago just as they've been doing to President Obama--making it "not one of us." This is why I refuse to watch ABC.

[Tatiana]

26. Well if the term "Second City" doesn't offend me, neither will this.

Of course, good ol boy politics also delivered Cook County for JFK, so people ought to be thanking us. I'd much rather have President Obama than Insane McCain, but we never get thanks for delivering a Democratic President.

[GoCubsGo]

29. Good ol' boy politics didn't need to deliver Cook County for JFK

At the time, Chicago (and associated suburbs) was the largest Catholic archdiocese in the country. It was full of Catholic Poles (the biggest population of them outside of Poland), German Catholics, Italian Catholics, and Irish. They elected JFK all on their own, without any prodding from local politicians. Funny how the "Chicago Machine" conspiracy theorists always overlook that fact.

[Tatiana]

34. Oh there is no doubt that Catholics voted in large numbers.

However, enough to give Kennedy almost a half million margin of victory in one metropolitan area? It's possible, I suppose. I also think Daley (Sr.) had his own ways of mobilizing voters.

Was it a result of the "Chicago Machine?" I'm with you on that one... that's a theory someone invented. And if there's a Chicago Machine, then there are also machines in Texas, Florida, California, and other states.

I just didn't get the whole "tribal" thing. We're a city of many ethnicities, religions, and social backgrounds. That's one of the things that makes Chicago such a wonderful place to live. I've lived on the north side, west side, and near north side and felt at home in each neighborhood. I went to school near little italy and was friends with the children of families that owned Pompeii Bakery and Carm's Deli.

[elehhhhna]

37. 2 things -

There are probably more black catholics in Chgo than any other major city. Little known factoid.

Also, my great-great Uncle Jim was on the the Cook Cty Board of Election Commissioners and from what I (over)heard at Grandma's dinner table, the rumours of funny business to ensure JFK's win are true.

[-..__...]

27. Ohhh... THAT Jane Byrne...

The one who moved into Cabrini Green for a mere 3 weeks... along with a compliment of armed cops and bodyguards and had some of the doorways welded shut?

The same Jane Byrne that enacted Chicago's handgun ban?

Yeah... a real model Chicago politician that one.

[marmar]

31. And as we know, nothing matters but the gun issue......

:eyes:

[GoCubsGo]

35. Yes, THAT Jane Byrne

And, the fact that she had to bring body guards and weld doorways shut perfectly illustrated her point that Cabrini Green needed to be cleaned up/torn down, didn't it?

[elehhhhna]

39. Yep! And it has been. So she wins.

Here in Houston we're having what I call "Chicago summer" -- hi 80's/lo 60's & GOD I'M HOMESICK.

[hedgehog]

30. ABC says "tribal" like that's a bad thing.

[mopinko]

36. i don't think harold was gay. at least alton miller,

his good friend and press secretary, took this issue up in the biography that he wrote about him and insisted it was not true. the man had been dead for several years before the book came out. there was no reason to lie. he insisted that he never married because he liked chasing the strange. he said he had a girlfriend in every town in the district when he was a congressman, and that easy access was one of his favorite things about being a rep.

i would really, really doubt that he would have been supported by the black power structure of the time, lu palmer, jesse, the pastors of nearly every black church in the city, all those, if there had been a hint that he was gay. it was a different time. it just would not have happened then. no way.

[elehhhhna]

40. lu palmer's right hand was a good pal of mine (i know, weird)

and he was sure Clarence & Harold were an item. Just saying.

God why did I leave chicago? I knew EVERYBODY --heck, Michelle Robinson (Obama) was a client of mine. Gosh I miss my hometown.

[mopinko]

41. not saying it's impossible. i guess

now that i think of it, if he was fooling with ladies all over the country he would have had a bimbo eruption somewhere along the line.

and move on back. we got room for ya.
what did you do for your clients? (don't answer this if it would require me to remove your post for obscenity or anything like that.)

[elehhhhna]

42. provided contract legal staff --

for the City of Chicago Law and Mayor's office, as well as most of the better firms & corp. legal departments in the city. WHAT A BLAST! This was back when BP was Amoco and gave a damn about the world and the people in it -- at least the legal department staff did.

Mr. Robinson was hyperprofessional (almost in timidating) and kept to herself, re; her personal. I still snicker snakily when recalling certain City employees gossip that Ms. Robinson was marrying "some African guy".

[Romulox]

38. Save for Rahm's involvement, I don't think Chicago's mayorial race is of national importance

Just elect somebody who is related to somebody and have done with it.

[WinkyDink]

43. It's been "tribal" since our Kenyan President!