MADIGAN: No phone?!? |
I’m
not anchored to a desk with a landline waiting to hear from people. Yes, there
literally have been times when someone returned my call, and I conducted an
interview with a “source” while standing in an aisle of a supermarket.
BUT
I HAVE to admit there are times I yearn for the days when I didn’t carry any
type of telephone on my person. It wasn’t that long ago. I was a hold-out for
many years!
I
have to confess to feeling a little bit of admiration these days for Michael
Madigan. The almighty and powerful “Mr. Speaker” of the Illinois House of
Representatives has gained attention for the fact that he allegedly does not
have his own personal cellphone.
The
issue came up when Gov. Pat Quinn was to meet Tuesday with the leaders of the
Illinois Senate and House of Representatives to try to figure out what can be
done to resolve the problems confronting state government when it comes to
funding pension programs.
Madigan
didn’t bother to show up.
THERE
HAD BEEN some hope that Madigan, who had a prior commitment at the time that
Quinn wanted to meet in his office at the Thompson Center state government
building, could somehow “call in” to the meeting and participate in that way.
Except
that he doesn’t have a cellphone, and apparently decided that nothing of
significance was going to take place at such a gathering. So he was just a
no-show.
SORVINO: Could he play Madigan in movie? |
The
tidbit from Quinn that Madigan doesn’t have a cellphone has triggered countless
criticism from the people who spend way too much of their time on the Internet
posting their views to other peoples’ opinions.
It’s
a generational thing, particularly from people who can’t conceive of life
without having some sort of gadget on their person. How can anyone possibly
think they can exist in our times without having a phone that makes them
completely accessible to all at virtually every moment of the day?
I
HAVE READ people who compare Madigan to the “Paulie Cicero” character from the
film Goodfellas – played by actor Paul Sorvino, he was the gangster boss who
refused to have a telephone placed in his own home and instead had all his
calls received by other people who then had to pass messages along to him.
Heck,
in the novel The Godfather, it is explained that Don Corleone didn’t like to
talk on telephones because he feared someone would listen in and somehow “rearrange”
his words to be used as evidence against him.
Madigan
the “mob” boss of the Illinois House “family” is the image that some people are
trying to put on him, just because Madigan doesn’t have a phone on him –
preferring to borrow a phone from someone around him if he has an absolute need
to make a quick call!
That
just sounds way too over the top to be believable.
BESIDES,
LIKE I already stated, a part of me remembers with some fondness the days when
I didn’t carry a cellphone with me. I also remember a former work colleague who
once tossed a pager into the Chicago River, claiming, “It beeped one too many ……
times.”
There’s
a certain sanity to the idea of focusing one’s attention on the here-and-now
and what we’re supposed to be doing – instead of being available to anybody who
thinks they can suddenly snatch away our attention with their phone calls.
QUINN: Needs to lead on pension problem |
Now if only he and Quinn and Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, could take their heads out of their collective behind and address the pension funding issue that threatens to bankrupt Illinois, then I’d have real respect for our officials. Because right now, I fear that the special session Quinn called for on June 19 is going to amount to a whole lot of nothing.
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1 comment:
I know that this is an old article, however I must admit I wish for the days when everyone didn't carry a cellphone. They're nifty devices for sure, but how distracting and how disruptive they can be sometimes negates the niftyness. This is a relatively young person who's talking this way too.
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