EXTRA: My governor went to Mexico, and all I got was this lousy photograph

Gov. Pat Quinn effectively serves as a mailman for students of Benito Juarez Academy in Chicago, as he delivered letters from local students to their counterparts at Benito Juarez High School in Mexico City. Photographs provided by state of Illinois.

A part of me can’t help but wonder if come Monday, Gov. Pat Quinn is going to be the equivalent of a tourist who insists on showing us a batch of crude snapshots of himself taken during a recent vacation.

For Quinn is the public official who led a coalition of Illinois-based business executives to Mexico; taking a four-day tour of the southern third of the North American continent to promote the idea that there is lots of money for our local businesses to make down there.

BY THE TIME you read this, Quinn may well be back in Chicago. He was scheduled to leave Mexico City on Saturday – and in fact was to proclaim the day “WVON Day” across Illinois during ceremonies to be held tonight at the Chicago Theatre.

But he is supposed to tour the Cristina Foods Inc. distribution facility around 45^th Street and Racine Avenue come Monday, and his aides admit he will use the tour to discuss the trade mission.

Are we going to be subjected to the equivalent of a lot of blurred snapshots and tales of how unique everything is in Mexico?

Quinn amongst people who don't care about Lisa Madigan

I’m not kidding about the snapshots. I couldn’t help but be amused by the photographs Quinn’s staff distributed to newsgathering organizations on Saturday – a pair of snapshots of Quinn visiting the Benito Juarez High School in Mexico City.

AS THOUGH HE had to go all that way to visit a school named for the one-time Mexican president whose leadership ensured that the nation didn’t fall into the hands of French officials who were interested in re-establishing a colonial presence in the Americas.

Of course, I realize Quinn knows about the Benito Juarez Community Academy in the Pilsen neighborhood. He went to the Mexico City school armed with letters that Chicago teenagers had written to their counterparts in the Mexico capital city.

By and large, these trade missions may help business officials make some contacts. But they also serve a role in bloating a governor’s ego – making him think that he might have some influence in foreign lands. Rather than the old joke about an Illinois governor mattering in places like Paris, Vienna and Havana.

All of which are rural towns in central and Southern Illinois.

SO I’M NOT terribly shocked, or offended, that the news world will seem to little note, nor long remember, the visit of Pat Quinn to Mexico – even if he tried bringing the image of Abraham Lincoln (whose own words I just appropriated) along with him.

For all I know, many in Illinois may not have even noticed him missing. It seems like these days, political people are more interested in talking about “Lisa Madigan” whenever the Illinois governor’s post comes up in discussion.

Although I did find it intriguing to learn while reading through the mass of materials that Quinn’s people have distributed about his trip to learn that Lake Michigan now has a “sister lake” in Mexico.

The Great Lake that is the eastern boundary of much of Chicago is now an hermana with Lake Pàtzcuaro in the state of Michoacan.

Lake Michigan's new Mexican sister. The lake and Illinois River have sister bodies of water in Brazil, China, Ireland, Israel, Poland and South Korea. Photograph by Mirari Erdoiza.

 

AMONG THE THINGS the two lakes have in common? They both are having to deal with problems of invasive species that threaten to ruin their ecosystems.

Perhaps we can get some Mexican advice on how to keep the Asian Carp out of Lake Michigan – or minimize their damage on the off-chance that they’re already here, but we just haven’t noticed yet!

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EXTRA: Gov. Quinn's Mexico venture

Roughly one of every six Chicago residents is of Mexican ethnic origin.

QUINN: Busy for the week

So perhaps it shouldn’t be the least bit surprising that Gov. Pat Quinn will leave Wednesday for a four-day journey to Mexico. It will be the fifth trade mission – the others were to Brazil and Canada, along with China and Japan – taken by the Mighty Quinn since the day he succeeded the now-impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

IF ANYTHING, IT might be worth saying, “It’s about time,” since an Illinois governor hasn’t gone to Mexico since 2000 – although I remember both George Ryan and Jim Edgar before him making the trip.

Admittedly, this will be a ritual whose purpose is to give Illinois-based companies a chance to make more contacts so that they can do more business with Mexican-based business interests.

If it works properly, it can bolster our local economy. Such as when Quinn meets with officials of Bimbo bakeries, whose U.S. subsidiary, Grupo Bimbo USA owns such product brands found often in our supermarkets such as Entenmann’s donuts and cakes and may well wind up buying a portion of the Hostess product names (even if they didn’t get the “Twinkie” brand).

Illinois exports to Mexico totaled $6.4 million in 2012 – making it the second-largest largest trading partner for our home state.

IF IT DOESN’T, then Quinn will get to say he escaped the 30-degree-type temperatures we’re going to face this week. Since the weather is expected to warm up to more spring-like temperatures by Saturday (the day he’s scheduled to return).

Of course, Quinn will try to make his trip seem like more of a cultural event. Hence, there will be the rituals paying tribute to one-time Mexico President Benito Juarez, along with his political contemporary Abraham Lincoln.

Both men are amongst the most honored leaders of their respective countries – even if height-wise, they were about as far apart as one could envision.

MONARCHS: Regular visitors to Mexico

Reading through the material released by Quinn’s staff, I also couldn’t help but notice an event meant to promote Monarch butterflies, which migrate between the Midwestern U.S. and Michoacãn in Mexico.

THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY is, of course, the official insect of Illinois. Although I’m now wondering if we’ll get some nitwit ideologues who will call for the butterfly’s deportation and removal from such an honor because of its Mexican ties.

But as already stated, the purpose of this trip is meant to be to promote joint business efforts – which is why a lot of CEOs will be accompanying the governor.

Although in looking over the list of corporations making the trip, I couldn’t help but be amused by the inclusion of Geno’s East on the list.

Maybe it is in everybody’s interests to promote the idea of a decent pan pizza in Mexico. I’m just wondering how much of an outburst will we hear from officials with Lou Malnati’s – ranting and raging that they were dissed even though they offer up a superior pizza pie!

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Let’s hope Quinn doesn’t get any ideas

I have been amused in recent days as I see the daily updates from the staff of Gov. Pat Quinn – informing us all of how the Mighty Quinn is in Brazil to do good things on behalf of the people of Illinois.

Will one of these Brazilian ladies soon be a student at an Illinois-based university?



It seems that the “State of Illinois Trade Mission” running from Sept. 22 through Friday even has its own official logo – almost like it were a rock concert. Will there soon be “Quinn does Brasilia” t-shirts available.

EXCUSE ME FOR wondering if this particular trip is just an excuse for Quinn to get away from the beginning of the autumn chill by going to a land where it is the beginning of spring.

Or maybe he just doesn’t want to be around this week while the Chicago White Sox seem incapable of putting away a division title, and appears to desire a long, drawn-out battle to the very end of the regular season.

Actually, that latter point is one that would make me want to be somewhere other than Chicago these days. But the biggest thing is that it amazes me the way in which the Quinn compadres seem determined to play this trip out to be one of the most significant actions of his time as governor.

Then again, in a place like Brazil, it would seem that Quinn gets the respect that a public official is supposed to receive due to his title. As opposed to Illinois, where way too many state legislators think he’s an unreliable and untrustworthy guy and too many city officials think he meddles in matters that are none of his concern.

WHICH IS HOW they probably do view the idea of casino expansion – which has fizzled because of Quinn’s opposition.

But it seems to make Quinn want to engage in a lot of overhyped statements, such as the one that was issued Tuesday. It seems there will be a new program meant to encourage Brazilian students wishing to attend a university in the United States to consider a Chicago- or Illinois-based school.

A Brazilian jolt to Fire futbol?

Perhaps there will someday be thousands of Brazilian teens doing their best Joel Goodson (Tom Cruise’s character in “Risky Business”) impersonation of, “Looks like University of Illinois.”

That would be good for bolstering Illinois’ image and recognition level.

BUT IT DOESN’T quite leap up at us as a major event worthy of the ‘front page’ of old. It reads more like a dinky brief in a corner of page A15 – filler material.

Which has me wondering what Quinn is really accomplishing with his trip south of the equator?

It’s not like he can attend Carnaval – which doesn’t take place until February (the 8^th through the 12^th of 2013, for those of you who care). Then again, it would seem appropriate for the Quinn administration to be just a bit off in its timing.

Perhaps he has soccer in mind, and would like to see some quality play – rather than the middling level we get to see with Major League Soccer and the Chicago Fire.

GOING TO THE land that dominates the World Cup (and gave us Pele – the one soccer player most people have heard of, even if they don’t comprehend exactly who he is) would be the place to go. Perhaps he could engage in some sort of deal that could help bolster the Fire with some young Brazilian talent. Quinn could play an instrumental role (sort of) in bringing another sporting championship to Chicago.

Or perhaps Quinn just wants to check out the famed Brazilian beaches packed with the young (and some not-quite-so-young) ladies wearing butt-bearing bathing suits.

Let’s only hope that the governor doesn’t get himself any ideas about joining in.

Because I don’t care how many “Brazilian butt-lift” exercises Quinn were to do – I just can’t envision the resulting sight would be a pleasant one for anyone to have to view.

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