|
|
|
 |
FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
|
|
It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
|
Posted on 10/10/2003 4:00:54 AM PDT by johnny7
October 9, 2003--Mayor Daley doesn't normally take sides in contested Democratic primaries, but he made an exception Wednesday for Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Chicago), prompting an angry response from former mayoral ally Mel Reynolds. Reynolds, the felon trying to make a political comeback at Jackson's expense, argued that he -- not Jackson -- has earned the mayor's powerful endorsement. "I took an awful lot of heat in the late 1980s and early '90s because I would not come out and condemn Mayor Daley. There were those on the South Side calling him a racist, and some of that was coming out of Operation PUSH," run by the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Reynolds said.
"If Mayor Daley would have come out and said he were supporting me for Congress, Jesse Jackson Jr. would be leading marches against Mayor Daley and me. [He'd be saying] I'm Daley's puppet. Someone once said that politics makes strange bedfellows.... I, unlike some others, have never considered running against [Daley] or plotted to run against him." Daley and Reynolds were once close political allies. Reynolds' wife, Marisol, once worked in the mayor's office. The relationship ended abruptly when Reynolds resigned from Congress in 1995 after being convicted of sexual misconduct, child pornography and obstruction of justice related to an affair he had with a campaign volunteer who was a minor.
Reynolds was also convicted of federal charges of bank fraud and lying to the Federal Election Commission about misuse of campaign funds. He served five years in prison before President Bill Clinton(my bold) commuted his sentence in a wave of pardons on his way out the door in 2001. At a City Hall news conference called to unveil an array of property tax breaks, Daley made it a point not to say anything disparaging about his former ally. When asked about Reynolds' political comeback, the mayor simply talked up Jesse Jackson Jr. "You have Representative -- Congressman Jesse Jackson. He's done a fine job," the mayor said.
Referring to Jackson's unyielding support for a third airport at Peotone, Daley said: "We have a disagreement. It's ended because we were successful in the expansion of O'Hare Field. He has a concept down there. Otherwise, I agree with him. He's a good congressman. He'll get re-elected."
And what about Reynolds' claim that Jackson Jr. has done little but capitalize on his famous political name? "Well, they said that about me, too. All of you reporters always said that about me in my career continually," Daley said. Jackson Jr. said through a spokesman that he "appreciates the mayor's kind remarks." Daley's recollection that he and Jackson Jr. "differ on one issue" is not quite accurate.
In a Chicago Sun-Times profile of Daley that appeared just two weeks before the Feb. 25 mayoral primary, Jackson Jr. was highly critical of the mayor, and Peotone was not his only focus. At the time, Jackson referred to the Daley years as "the good, the bad and the ugly." The good is Chicago's gleaming, bustling downtown. The bad is what Jackson called the "unbalanced growth" in Chicago and the "mistakes on the lake": Soldier Field and Millennium Park. The ugly, he said, is the Daley administration's decision to "rigorously oppose" any and all ideas to create greater parity. That includes a third airport at Peotone and a casino for the south suburbs, he said.
Asked Wednesday whether the congressman still stands by that stinging criticism, Jackson spokesman Rick Bryant said, "We've moved past that election."
Ole' Billy the Rapist's handywork again!
|
|
|
|
|
FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
|
|
It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
|
Black conservative ping
If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)
Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.
[As i mentioned, the B/C & JD! lists are going to float into and out of whack over the forseeable future, while I try to cobble a rig back together for myself. My apologies for any incovenience or misunderstandings in this time frame. New signups/removals may be flaky in this time-frame as well; please bear with me, and keep in mind you may have to FReepmail me more than once for me to get it done. Thanks again!]
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.