Posted on 04/09/2009 6:11:33 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Mayor Richard M. Daley was in a very reflective mood Thursday. It's been 20 years since Daley was first elected to office. He has served six terms.
Asked at a news conference if he had any thoughts on his decades as Chicago's mayor, Daley talked at length about everything from his legacy to his relationship with the press.
The following is a transcription of his comments:
"You don't get caught up in disappointments, you just move on, you correct it and move on.
"You don't look back, you always move forward. All these people in public life who want to do legacies, they should forget the legacies and just do the job…when you start figuring legacies then you have to be politically correct, but you're afraid to be politically correct.
"You don't take anything personally…people try to write…I'm not exploding, mad, screaming. I just move on. I don't look back, the next day.
"I hope you don't portray me as something I'm not. That's the thing that really bothers me. You know that. I've told you personally after press conferences. That headline or those statement was not to me. I know. You're in a business and you want to create a lot of news. Even though it's fabricated. I understand that. But just don't ever try to imply me into something different, and that's the thing I just don't care for. In your profession you understand that. I've always respected that.
On corruption in government: "Corruption is going to happen every day. Look at your [newspaper] business. You have corruption in your business. There's corruption in federal, state and local government. There's corruptions in families. There's alcohol, there's drugs there's money, so, that's part of human frailty. You correct it. You move on. You bring inspector general in, you bring in office of compliance. All those things, it's happening every day in the private sector. Even in your business. And you see it every day. So, that doesn't mar me personally."
And asked how many more years he'd be in office, Daley said: "It's all up to the citizens. The citizens will tell you quickly. If you don't have the passion and commitment and you come out here and think it's just a job to be there, just another job, then you really fail. Then people get that feeling that, they can tell, you're just reading it or you're just going through the motions, he doesn't care, they'll get that, or he's not listening, and that's the other thing."
What does he hope to be remembered for?
"I want to be remembered …..as…a good father. That's one thing I want. I have good children, grandchildren, things like that. This idea that people have, that people remember you, first thing you want your family to remember you I mean I remember my parents, my grandparents, my son that died."
On the length of his career as mayor: "You don't want to look at time, you want to look at the quality and the commitment that you have made and 20 years went very, very fast. It seems like that night that we were down there both in primary and general election went very quickly it seems like it just was yesterday.
"You have to have passion… If you take it as I just want to serve, I want my pension, I want my vacation or my sick days or things like that you'll never survive as being mayor. You have to have that passion that heart.
"You have to have that feeling. The media here has a job to do and I understand that. I understand that more than anyone else. And I respect you what you're doing. I may differ with you, fine. But it's never personal to one another. That's one thing. If it does, that would destroy me, it would destroy who I am. And that would be unfair because then you get upset with everything and you cannot survive. Whether nasty articles, articles, whatever, I just it does not affect me, to be very frank.
Would he run again?
"You don't know. That's a long time off. You don't know what's going to happen to your life. It's true. So people start planning so far ahead, then you forget what you're doing then you worry about making a decision, in other words if you get elected you think oh I've got to get re-elected. Then you lose sight of what your function is. Your function is to make decisions on a daily basis. Then you're worried about oh well I better be so politically correct that I don't want to get people upset by making a decision or doing something. Or maybe we have to fire a principal? We can't do that! Why? Because some people might get mad. And so what you do is leave a system in, for those children, destroying their future. That would be very, very unfair.
Does he have any second thoughts?
"No. No. No. No. No. None whatsoever. Because if you don't have that feeling that you want to come out you want to participate, then you could never, it's impossible to do this job. It would be impossible. You would have a very difficult time…"
As a life-long Chicagoan, I’m still waiting for him to be indicted......
“Richie” is a semi-literate, dysfunctional cretin.
The Daley family = America’s Castros.
But you still can't see him in a mirror.
Kingpin ping
I have spent a lot of time in Chicago the last 2 years. It is a great city...lots to do, lots of good restaurants, but it sure is a nanny state.
Have you seen those stupid rowboats with lifeguards at the Lake Michigan beaches? They do not let you go more than 20 feet from shore in 4 feet of water.
He should be reflecting on 20 years in jail with a special cellmate.
The ‘Poster Boy’ for term limits!
Mayor Richard M. Daley is a very smart, knowledgable and capable municipal chief executive. Like his father, he is not particularly eloquent. But he knows his business. I disagree with many of his policies, but Chicago is a very well-run city. You also have to consider the alternatives. The Mayor’s opponents in his various elections would have been less capable alternatives, had they gained the Fifth Floor. I think Daley will keep winning as long as he wants to run.
What does he hope to be remembered for?
“I want to be remembered …..as…a good father...”
Godfather...LOL
Judging by that transcript, I think he’ll probably be remembered as his father’s son.
The fact that Mayor Short Shanks runs Chicago says volumes about the character of the liberal voters in skunkland.
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