It’s hard to believe that it was just over a month ago that Lori Lightfoot was chased out of office and sent into an early retirement. I’d say we miss her already, but that would be a blatant lie.
Today, Chicago voters are set to choose between two candidates with remarkably different visions for the nation’s third-largest city. Paul Vallas, the former public schools executive, has run on a conservative platform, calling for a larger police force and more charter schools. His opponent, Brandon Johnson, a county commissioner and union organizer, has campaigned as a progressive who wants to expand social programs, spending more on neighborhood schools and adding new taxes to fund them.
In a city as liberal as Chicago, Vallas has faced criticism for his past comments indicating that he considers himself to be more of a republican than a democrat. He’s also come under fire in this newsletter among other outlets for an endorsement from the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police. The man exudes cop energy, so he mostly looks confused and uncertain what to do with his hands. Vallas, who you’ll be shocked to learn is white, made it to the runoff with strong support in the city’s downtown and in majority white areas of the Northwest and Southwest. Meanwhile, Brandon Johnson, who is Black, has performed well along the city’s northern lakefront and in predominantly Hispanic areas northwest of downtown.
Whoever wins the election tonight, it will unquestionably mark a shift from the policies of madam Lightfoot, as Vallas runs far to her political right and Johnson well to her left. Personally, I’m hoping Chicago gets this right and goes with Brandon Johnson, but realistically, I’m not in the habit of pinning my hopes to voter turnout.
Side Items
Trump’s Big Day: Big Bad Trump will be placed under arrest today and informed that he’s been charged with 34 felony counts for falsification of business records. In all likelihood he’ll avoid the handcuffs and mugshot, which is the first time I’ve heard of a criminal getting such a sweet deal. Trump’s long day yesterday started with a live-streamed motorcade ride from his Mar-a-Lago swamp in Florida to his incredibly tacky red, white and blue Boeing 757, emblazoned with his name in giant gaudy gold letters. The mini homecoming parade took him past supporters waving banners, cheering, and even crying as their fearless leader was carted off to Manhattan to face the consequences of his infidelity and stupidity
Pro Wrestling Evolution: WWE and the company that runs the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Endeavor Group, will join forces to create a $21.4 billion sports entertainment company. The bloated new mega-business will be led by Hollywood’s king scumbag Ari Emmanuel, brother of former scumbag Chicago mayor Rahm. The union will bring together some of the most unsavory characters in professional sports, as the rich keep getting richer and the scummy keep getting scummier
Israeli Realities: This article does an excellent job illustrating how the ongoing “political crisis” in apartheid Israel actually means little to Palestinians, including the 1.6 million with Israeli citizenship. These people have long understood Israel’s courts as complicit and instrumental in their oppression, and the legal system so many Israelis are eagerly defending is nothing but an enabler to the regime of racial domination forced upon them. The New York Times can try to convince you that these protests are defending democracy, but the obvious truth is much simpler; democracy never existed to begin with