Not
only does it show us how vulnerable they are, it also puts them into positions
where they have to take orders – rather than bark them out to their minions.
SO
WHAT SHOULD we think of the fact that Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis
(also the hopeful mayoral candidate for many who despise the thought of “four
more years” of Rahm Emanuel) is at an undisclosed hospital somewhere in
Chicago.
Or,
for all we know, it could be out in the suburbs somewhere. Maybe she thought
she could do a hospital stay somewhere isolated and no one would ever know?
Now
before anyone gets all worked up, I must disclose that I don’t know where she
is, or what exactly she is being treated for. Which, if you’re relying on the
various news media accounts that began popping up on the Internet Monday night
and updated in the Tuesday newspapers, is the same level of knowledge you don’t
have.
The
teachers union initially tried saying nothing, even though the rumor mill out
there was saying that Lewis, who is 61, suffered a stroke. That tidbit got reported
in several places.
ALTHOUGH
A STATEMENT by union officials that reads like it was coerced flatly denied
that she suffered a stroke.
“Karen
is being evaluated in a local hospital after experiencing discomfort Sunday
evening,” the union said, while going on to cite her “privacy” as a reason for
offering up so little detail.
The
only problem with that line of logic is that one gives up a certain amount of
privacy when they throw themselves into the public policy eye – or even
contemplate doing so.
Perhaps
this is a reason why those people who want to replace Rahm so badly (we hate Emanuel more than we despise Eisenhower Expressway morning rush hour traffic, according to a poll by yet another mayoral challenger, Robert Fioretti) that they’re
practically begging Lewis to run for mayor ought to get a grip and focus their
attention elsewhere.
BECAUSE
IF SHE were mayor, there’d be no way she’d be able to get away with this kind
of non-talk. We literally would have reporter-types staking out every single
hospital in Chicago and nearby suburbs in hopes of trying to catch a glimpse of
her (we literally didn’t know where she was, so we’d have to hit them all).
Watching
this play out brings back memories from just over two decades ago when
then-Gov. Jim Edgar wound up requiring quadruple bypass surgery to remove a
blockage that was preventing sufficient blood from getting to his heart.
I
remember the level of briefings being so detailed to the point where one of my
editors commented that my stories were rather graphic about referring to the
condition of the governor’s groin – something he claimed to have never read
before.
While
Lewis is giving us something we have all read way too often – absolutely nothing.
Unless you want to read the platitudes about how Lewis is a “freedom fighter”
who will be “back on her feet in no time.”
I’LL
GIVE THE union the benefit of the doubt that the little bits of information
they have provided about their boss is all truthful. For all I know, she may
well be out of the hospital by the time you get about to reading this
commentary.
There
are those of us who will go on about concocting tacky jokes about how it
probably was Rahm himself who plotted out a scheme to make Lewis ill so as to
knock her out of the election cycle before she could get in.
But
what I do know for sure is that Lewis is showing us she has at least one
characteristic of a political person – a sense of secrecy. Unfortunately, that’s
not one of the reasons some people are wishing, praying, hoping for a “Mayor
Lewis” come next May.
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