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It was not a good day for the conservative cause yesterday. We watched a former president and current candidate be charged on a slate of “felonies” that even VOX admits is a problem, the Wisconsin Supreme Court flipped to the left because it was painted as an election on abortion, and Chicago decided that true progressive socialism has never really been tried there yet.
If you thought Lori Lightfoot was a hard left figure, then you haven’t looked at the man who was just elected to be her successor, Brandon Johnson.
Progressive Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson defeated his moderate opponent, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, to take the Chicago mayor’s race, replacing outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who came in third before the runoff.”
Vallas garnered the support of the Chicago police union and major business groups while Johnson got the backing of Chicago’s teacher’s union.”
Johnson, who was endorsed by democratic socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., defeated Vallas after Vallas took the plurality in the initial general election, triggering a runoff.”
Just so we are all clear about who Johnson is (Kim covered the race here just a couple of days ago), he was the Randi Weingarten-endorsed candidate in the race. Everything that Lori Lightfoot was, Brandon Johnson is, but MORE. His acceptance speech was full of platitudes that will make his supporters feel good, and that was the whole point.
Johnson started his victory speech Tuesday evening with a message to those who didn’t vote for him.”
“Here’s what I want you to know: that I care about you, I value you, and I want to hear from you,” he said. “I want to work with you and I’ll be the mayor for you too. Because this campaign has always been about building a better, stronger, safer Chicago for all the people of Chicago.”
He went on to tout many of the unions who backed him and thank his family and supporters.”
“There’s more than enough for everybody in the city of Chicago,” he said. “It’s a city with incredible tapestry of taste, culture, people from all over the world. We are a city with this natural beauty and history like no other place in America. And we are a city that has been the conscience of the nation time and time again.”
“Here’s the truth, looking out for our neighbors, it makes everyone safe,” Johnson said. “Tonight is proof that by building a multicultural, multigenerational movement, we can bring together everyone, no matter if you live on the North Side, the South Side, the Southeast Side, the Southwest Side, the West Side. The most radical thing we could ever do for is to actually love people, and our administration will do just that.”
“All You Need Is Love” was a Beatles song, not a prescription for running a city with horrific crime rates where young people are routinely killed (and the media turns a blind eye because gang violence doesn’t drive ratings), students are trapped by teachers’ unions (who didn’t give a solid damn if they ever had to go back to the classroom) and collapsing test scores (where kids are being graduated even if they have failed), and crime has skyrocketed so much that even the famed “Magnificent Mile” is no longer considered safe.
But hey, voting for Brandon Johnson made the voters feel good about themselves!
Between electing Brandon Johnson mayor and the insane statewide "cashless bail" law (passed during a regrettable fit of activist overenthusiasm post-Floyd) perhaps being upheld by the courts, Chicago is about to embark upon a Detroit-like experiment in governance, I fear.
— Jeff Blehar is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) April 5, 2023
Brandon Johnson will be formally inaugurated as mayor of Chicago on Monday, May 15th – two weeks before Memorial Day, a notoriously violent and crime-ridden weekend in that city. The question is, does reality kick in Johnson’s teeth before or after Memorial Day weekend? What will Brandon Johnson do differently than Lori Lightfoot? He ran on taxing the life out of “the rich” and spending endless amounts of money on social services. His stated position is that people who loot must be “desperate” and it’s really the fault of corporations.
Part two of the Video . In this segment Brandon Johnson continues about Defunding the Police . And blamed the looting issues due to poverty so once again looting and defunding the police are all a go if Brandon Wins . pic.twitter.com/nXNimCFfNe
— 16th & 17th District Chicago Police Scanner (@CPD1617Scanner) March 1, 2023
You can feel sorry for the 48 percent of the people of Chicago who tried to put the brakes on their decline, but now the city is going to get exactly what they voted for.
Brandon Johnson will be a good mayor for Chicagoans who thought Lori Lightfoot was way too conservative.
— Jon Gabriel (@exjon) April 5, 2023
Sadly, Chicago has punched their ticket, and unless the harsh realities of the office cause an awakening on Johnson’s part, then nothing in the city is going to change, and will likely become worse.
Welcome Instapundit Readers!
Featured image via campaign website brandonforchicago.com, cropped
American Human says: I’m willing to bet that ultimately the votes of constituents had very little to do with the outcome of the election.
GWB says: Oh, there’s more than enough voters willing to hand this guy the keys to the city to make the margin of fraud very slim.
GWB says: We are a city with this natural beauty and history like no other place in America.
I’ve stayed in 10×12 motel rooms with more natural beauty and history than Chicago. And places like Colorado Springs, Fort Worth, Amarillo, Spokane, Kansas City, Savannah, and even Detroit would likely rank above Chicago when it comes to those items.
And we are a city that has been the conscience of the nation time and time again.
WTAF?! “Conscience of the nation”? About what, pray tell? More like the insane voices inside a psychotics head, telling him that knifing the old lady on the bus wouldn’t be wrong, and she won’t suffer much, unless, of course he allows her to bleed a bit.
to actually love people, and our administration will do just that
You don’t know what love is if you think a government can love its constituents.
Of course, what you will do is screw them mercilessly. Which, given the Progressive definition of “love”, makes your statement true to some extent….
But hey, voting for Brandon Johnson made the voters feel good about themselves!
Sorta. The problem is that Chicago voters (the ones that actually live there, and not in a 3’x6′ apartment six feet under) have so resorted to a tribal culture that they will only vote that way. They vote for the people who “belong” to them, regardless of any sort of real governance. And the people who are living moderately well are voting tribally because they fear the demon they know less than any Republican.
unless the harsh realities of the office cause an awakening on Johnson’s part
This will never happen. And even if it does, nothing will change – he’ll be too scared of those demons he doesn’t know.
Hate_me says: Is this why McDonalds is drawing down on corporate positions? Are they preparing to pull up stakes? Jump the TOC to a more defensible location?
I don’t know, I’m genuinely curious. It seems like the near-term makes Chicago unideal for massive corporate headquarters.
opus says: We are seeing the result of the neo-tribalism that the donkeys have been pushing for since the reign of King Obumbles began. Chicago is a dead man walking. Corporates see the writing on the wall with a head tax (new prog fetish) and I imagine most white non lefties who can are poring over Linkedin. Even Da Bears are bailing, lol.
When it gets sorted out we either come up with a new federalism where DC only controls national defense and a few appropriate functions or we completely split into urban centers and the rest as one can see on electoral county maps. Hopefully it’s peacefully, but diametrically opposing value systems will make co existence impossible.
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