Chicago mayor and Democratic Party powerhouse Rahm Emanuel is giving the nation a good overview of ruthless Democrat-style politics in the redrawing of ward boundaries for the Chicago City Council. Crain' Chicago Business reports:
Anyone hoping that Mayor Rahm Emanuel would follow through on campaign promises of openness and transparency in Chicago government has to be disappointed in the ward remap fiasco that unfolded earlier this month. We certainly are. (snip)
even by Chicago's considerable historic standards of backroom back-scratching, this latest effort is an embarrassment. (snip)
the City Council, with the mayor's acquiescence, rammed through new boundaries that ignore neighborhood history, sever residents' and small-business owners' long-standing relationships with City Hall representatives and effectively disenfranchise large swaths of voters by overweighting certain wards at the expense of others.
Case in point: the new second ward map:
As Crain's notes:
What, you may ask, do the roughly 55,800 residents of this newly drawn ward have in common? Not a lot. And that gets to one of the most troubling aspects of this new map: Some constituencies and neighborhoods are left seriously underrepresented, while others are stitched together like a clown's costume.
The larger point is that politics, Chicago Democrat-style, is a matter of power for the politicians, who bestow favors and penalties on constituents so as to maintain and increase their own power. All the blather about protecting the little guy is just eyewash.
President Obama chose to make his home base in Chicago, and chose to make Rahm Emanuel his chief of staff. Clearly, this is the style of politics most congenial to him. If he achieves a second term and no longer has to worry about voters, you are warned.
By the way, if you think Mayor Rahm has reached the summit of his ambition in the mayor's office, and does not want the Oval Office, then you believe that those motivated by acquiring power are readily satiated.
Hat tip: Peter von Buol
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