Chicago a state; who dumps whom?

It is one of those periodic measures that gets introduced before the Illinois General Assembly – one that calls for the rest of Illinois to break away into its own state, or one that calls for Chicago to be separated from Illinois.

EMANUEL: Mayor gets a chuckle over splitting state

Regardless of the details of anyone’s specific proposal, those measures always manage to make me snicker. Largely because the people who are trying to express frustration with Chicago don’t want to admit how much the sentiment is mutual.

HOW ELSE TO interpret the comments Mayor Rahm Emanuel made this week during a meeting with the Chicago Community Trust. Although it should be realized that Emanuel, himself, was joking around.

For the record, the mayor was talking about Supreme Court decisions of recent days that were blatantly politically partisan in ways that go against the city’s interests, when he said, “Right now, after the last 48 hours, I’d like to pull out of this one nation and one state.”

When asked if he was talking about Chicago breaking off into its own independent city-state (a la the Vatican City that many people might mistakenly think is part of Rome), Emanuel quipped, “I’m going with Toronto.”

Which is Canada’s largest city, and one that is just slightly larger than Chicago.

Would these flags … 

OBVIOUSLY, NO ONE is going to seriously try to move forward with an independence drive. The real solution is that we all have to learn to work together, and to realize that each and every faction that comprises our society at-large offers some benefit.

That goes for just about every place in this nation of ours. We already had our “war” over secession in this country, and they lost!

I have similar thoughts when I hear there are officials in California who seriously think “the Golden State” ought to be broken up into three – the northern part of the state that would have San Francisco as its primary city, a southern part that would focus on San Diego and a third being the Los Angeles metro area.

… be at the heart someday … 

As though there are people who can’t appreciate having the nation’s second-largest city as part of their own political boundary.

SOUNDS SIMILAR TO those rural Illinois residents who think the whole world is focused on farms – even though most farms these days are corporate entities and trying to cling to the vision of a family-run farm is a large part of the reason those rural communities are so isolated from the mainstream of our society.

So are we ever going to get a state of Chicago that is separate from Illinois? Not likely, unless our society gets a whole lot more stupid than it already is tumbling down to in this Age of Trump that we’re now in.

Seriously, I think if anybody tried to split the state of Illinois up, they’d have one heck of a time figuring out where the boundary ought to be. Because it sure couldn’t be as simple as the city limits. Are we prepared to fight a “war” over who gets Naperville or Joliet?

I think people eager to think in terms of kicking Chicago “out” would be amazed to realize how much of Illinois would throw its lot in with the city. All those suburbs (more than 100 in Cook County alone, and those in the surrounding collar counties bring the tally to 250-plus) account for about two-thirds of Illinois’ population, and many of those residents merely think of “downstate” as the place where they, or a relative, went to college before coming back to “Sweet home, Chicago.”

THE REST OF Illinois’ population would be about 4 million people – placing the state at about No. 27 – just between Kentucky and Oregon (although bigger than Iowa’s 3.05 million), rather than the state’s current population rank of No. 6.

… of a 'battle' for the right to claim Joliet?

Anyway, this is all fantasy – which is why Emanuel can make jokes about the idea of “Oh Canada” becoming the new national anthem in these parts. Although it would be interesting if a new baseball rivalry were to develop between the White Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays.

The reality is that we are one, and that is our greatest national (and regional) strength. It is why I always have mocked people who try to tout the concept of “state’s rights,” because it seems to think we’re better off separate, and if it were really true, why not “city’s rights” being preeminent in which we work from the bottom up?

The truth is there’s a contribution to be made by everybody, and the only people who think of breaking apart as a serious concept are ones who deserve the label of “knuckleheads.”

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Labor Day is what we make of it

What should we make of Labor Day? The event that will provoke various celebrations of assorted types that probably say more about our own views than anything about the holiday itself.

RAUNER: Picking a lower-key scene for Labor Day

For the record, Monday is the day in which we will pay tribute to the workers of our society – those people whose labor helps make us the finest place on Planet Earth in which one can live.

OF COURSE, THERE also are those who find the very idea of honoring organized labor to be something subversive. That attitude comes out in the types of celebrations that will be held in various communities.

Take west suburban Naperville, where the parade to be held Monday morning is officially billed as the “Last Fling,” as though the day’s purpose is to have one last celebration before summer comes to an end.

The day is officially being sponsored in that community by a Kia auto dealership and is honoring the local park district as its grand marshal, although among its participants will be Gov. Bruce Rauner – not exactly the kind of politico with any interest in building up a favorable impression among organized labor interests.

The atmosphere in Naperville is likely to be different than what will take place in Calumet City – which usually has an end-of-summer parade that gives a bit of tribute to organized labor.

IT’S NOT THE kind of place that Rauner would choose to be in – likely because he knows the locals would boo and heckle him mercilessly if he were to show his face.

Can Sanguinetti come out on top ...

Which is probably why Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti will be the official state participant in that parade – I suspect her presence will be undetected because most of the locals won’t have a clue who she is or what she looks like!

The fact that Southpaw, the fuzzy green mascot of the Chicago White Sox, is also to appear in the Calumet City parade will probably be seen as a bigger deal.

Of course, some people couldn’t wait until Monday to celebrate Labor Day.

... or will Southpaw top her in Calumet City?

TAKE THE PARADE held Saturday along Ewing Avenue in the 10^th Ward – where Alderman Susan Sadlowski Garza managed to coordinate the first Labor Day parade held in the far southeast corner of Chicago in the past two decades.

The East Side neighborhood and surrounding communities still have organized labor leanings, even though the number of local residents employed in steel mills or factories isn’t anywhere near as many as it used to be.

It’s more a neighborhood of people who used to be able to live off their brawn, and in many cases complain that they can’t still do so.

Then again, let’s not forget that the last municipal elections saw Garza, a Chicago Teachers Union member, win her election against former Alderman John Pope because of her union ties – which also saw local residents vote strongly in favor of dumping Rahm Emanuel as mayor.

IT’S DEFINITELY THE kind of place that would want to celebrate the concept of organized labor. Which is why they felt compelled to get the jump on celebrating the holiday.

Pullman, the home of Labor Day?

That, and the fact that there is an event scheduled in the nearby 9^th Ward, the Pullman neighborhood to be exact, that will take place on Monday. I’m sure that having competing Labor Day celebrations in neighboring wards (literally on opposite sides of Lake Calumet) would have seemed like a bit much.

Where in Pullman, the people like to remember that the remains of the one-time railcar factory was also the scene of a strike that some like to think of as the origins of celebrating Labor Day as an official holiday to begin with.

Unless you think it’s just another excuse to pull out the barbecue grill one more time before the weather goes bad and cook up some burgers; or steaks if you feel like splurging. Or turkey dogs if you’re some sort of health freak!

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