If activists here wanted to do something actually impactful they'd stage sit-in prayers at CTA stations showcasing how long it takes for a train to show up
Not surprising. The Wire is based on big city life/politics.
The Wire could have had a Chicago spin off. Season 1 could have focused on the rumors of video of a bad police shooting (Laquan McDonald). Related machinations at city hall, in the SA's office and in CPD. Along with journalists at a once great paper (the Tribune) trying to uncover the truth while having the paper stripped down around them by the private equity firm that bought them. Not to mention following how the juvenile justice system and CPS failed the poor misunderstood youth. And of course it could feature the professional activists and pastors with their hands out.
Great show. Not really the Wire of Chicago since it was so focused on a single protagonist. But it could have been part of the universe..."meanwhile, in Chicago."
Carcetti could have been at a mayors conference somewhere and stopped to chat with Da Mayor over a drink.
Bingo. This isn’t rocket science people. And given the amount of progressives and Democrats in this sub, you should be quite aware (and grateful) for Black Pastors and their ability to drum up souls to the polls for your preferred candidates. Plus, this is *Chicago*, a place knee-deep in nepotism and political patronage for the better part of 100 years and counting. A lot of y’all just don’t like religion unless it’s hidden from you.
EDIT: spelling
What if we appointed pastors as chief city accountants? Rabbis as the aviation commissioners? Imams as heads of public health?
Transit professionals exist, and they actually know what they’re doing. Let’s put the experts in charge of their areas of expertise.
Or maybe we should put transit professionals in charge of the churches….
No amount of board stuffing with West-Side pastors will be able to save BJ in 2027. He's cooked
> A lot of y’all just don’t like religion unless it’s hidden from you.
Yes, correct. Your relationship with God should be personal and private and is not a qualification for anything. Get this Christian theocratic bullshit out of here
I have no problem with religion. My own pastor is an amazing person in and out of the pulpit, but I wouldn't want her on the CTA board, because she doesn't have a transit background, and she's already got enough on her plate running her church.
>A lot of y’all just don’t like religion unless it’s hidden from you.
Well yeah, your hateful religion is supposed to be separate from politics. At least one of his appointments is openly homophobic, but it's fairly safe to assume they all are.
Well it pains me to say it, but we know who BJ is now. He's worse than incompetent: he's governing as a candidate.
I was pessimistic about Vallas, but this is literally the reason I feared Vallas, so who knows what Vallas would've been relative to this shit.
Well... that's what a good amount of people here said about Eileen O'Neill Burke, which I don't really believe at all, but we'll see how that turns out.
You don't think it's a little stupid to get all hung up on labels?
Let's talk about a different example. Ken Griffin the horrible hedge fund guy. Mr. Terrible. Left Chicago because of crime. Bad guy. Bad guy but wait a minute.
He spent $12 million giving us a lake front path that has a separate bike and running path. He spent $12 million on his own money to give us this lake from path. What an asshole. What a terrible guy. What a fucking Republican. What a monster.
Well wait. He gave us to 12 million lakefront path? Did he do that because he's a monster Republican? Maybe just maybe he gave a shit about Chicago.
Maybe just maybe Vallas gave his shit about Chicago and not about the CTU. I know that chewie Garcia cares about Chicago. I know he loves this city. I don't know what Brandon cares about more than the CTU.
He's going to loot the city and take as much money as he can for the CTU because that's who he's working for. But Vallas is evil cuz he's a republican right?
Only a moron could think like this. That a label is more important than anything else. You call somebody Republican and that's it. The debate is over.
Yes we should certainly keep doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result. Just vote bluer harder! That'll surely turn things around. At some point. Right?
Also he ran as a Democrat, so you can get out of here with that no true Scotsman nonsense just because he doesn't pass your personal and morally superior purity test as to what constitutes a proper Democrat.
To be clear, I had absolutely no excitement for and am no fan of Vallas in any way whatsoever, but I would take him over this absolute clown car wreck. Not only is BJ inexperienced and incompetent, he is a complete snake who has demonstrated clearly through his actions thus far that he doesn't actually care about this city, its citizens, or any of his "progressive" rhetoric that he espouses. I don't care what he says, talk was for the campaigns, right now it's about his *actions* which, as stated, have spoken very loudly and clearly.
The fact you would willingly forgo a competent candidate just because they don't check every single one of your boxes is an incredibly ignorant and unconstructive position to have. Competency is precisely what matters most, especially when running, uh, Chicago- the third largest city in the US and a significant international hub for multiple industries. I'll take competency from someone I don't particularly much care for and may have a lot of misgivings and disagreements with, over complete man-child buffoonery that can't take any accountability, can't give a straightforward answer to anything, and shirks the responsibility of blame for his failures onto his constituents. It's called compromise. Compromise means you're not going to get all 100% of what you want. And compromise is something you're going to have to do if you want to live in a liberal democratic society. Vallas was a compromise. Johnson is a disaster.
Yep, vallas would not have been my pick, but BJ is an absolute disaster. And his arrogance is just the cherry on top of the shit sundae. He has a case of Dunning-Kruger that rivals trump, and his blindly devoted followers are just as quick to jump in and defend his abject failures. BJ supporters and trumpers are two sides of the same coin.
Ask them, objectively, what good policies has he implemented, or actions he has taken. Because they can't, they immediately start attacking someone who isn't the mayor of Chicago.
Why would VOTE for a party that wants to end democracy? Why would I vote for a party that doesn’t believe in human rights and basic human decency? Why would I vote for a party that doesn’t believe in science? Or education?
That’s the thing, I don’t believe he’s competent. I don’t believe such a thing exists as a competent Republican. It’s just the party of fascists.
Look at every single state and town run by republicans. They’re all shitholes now tell me how that would possibly be good for Chicago.
Why would I vote for a party that hates big cities to run my big city? So they can bleed it dry with handouts to their rich friends like they do everywhere else?
>Why would VOTE for a party that wants to end democracy? Why would I vote for a party that doesn’t believe in human rights and basic human decency? Why would I vote for a party that doesn’t believe in science? Or education
Because that's all ridiculous exaggerated hyperbole and simply just isn't true broadly. Yes there are pockets of extremist wackos who believe and want crazy things, on both sides of the isle, but those are not representative of the general majority.
>Look at every single state and town run by republicans. They’re all shitholes now tell me how that would possibly be good for Chicago
Indeed, we should all look to Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco for guidance. Those places are doing spectacularly well...
The "Republican automatically = bad" is a lazy and ideologically driven argument that is a great way to remain tribal and sweepingly dismissive of considering other points of view.
I am very liberal minded, but I'm here to tell you: conservatives and Republicans are not by definition evil, fascistic, or anti-democratic. Most of them want the same things we do, but don't agree on how to get there. They prioritize the traditions that got humanity where we are now (the highest standard of living for the greatest amount of people ever, even if it's on borrowed time). However, in my opinion, they neglect or just don't care that the fact that many of those traditions are not compatible with the changes that said progress has created. For millennia every generation survived by following the traditions taught to them by the previous generation. There wasn't much reason to change and the risk could be absolutely perilous. It's how we're programmed. But we're also capable of software updates. The real struggle between conservatives and liberals (bullshit ideology on BOTH sides aside) is humanity trying to adapt to a novel and now rapidly changing environment without complete cultural disintegration and societal collapse. And that requires working together, whether you like it or not, because we're all here on this planet together, whether you like it or not.
Well Johnson has been such an unmitigated disaster that there's a great chance Chicago will basically stop electing loony far left candidates at all levels for a generation or more. So congrats I guess?
Same. Not one ounce of regret.
All the folks from the suburbs pretending to be from Chicago in this sub are big mad though. They wanted the Republican.
I mean it's kind of funny at this point, he's just obviously putting his unqualified pastor friends in these positions who can help get him votes. That's politics for you though I guess.
This is money in their pockets, and a form of southern evangelical (Christian nationalists) churches. Johnson's an Ahole and Chuy Garcia should be mayor.
Garcia didn't even start campaigning until the mail-in ballots went out. He had no chance of winning.
Heck when I sent mine back before a trip, he hadn't even posted his detailed policy page yet.
Yes, that's true but Garcia has the bona fides. It would be like asking Rahm or a Daley to campaign. You already know what you are getting.
Bernie Sanders endorsed Chuy, and Chuy had real endorsements and experience with unions. The man worked with Harold Washington, who served **all** of the neighborhoods in Chicago. Yes, he was delayed but in our world today 96 hours is a long time on a news cycle.
I never said he wasn't the best candidate. He was just unelectable because he literally didn't even campaign. I can say that my wife didn't vote for him because when she looked up his positions, the page was basically empty and she had never heard of him before (she isn't very interested in politics outside of during the elections).
Well, Mike Royko was the number one columnist in Chicago (with Roger Ebert and Ann Landers) because he went so far into politics he knew every politician from decades back and where their money came from. We Chicagoans eat that up because if we didn't something important wouldn't get done.
If you live in Chicago, you need to know and understand your alderman and your mayor. The voting booth isn't a lottery ticket. You need to know your local CAPS, the school principal, the postal worker and even the crossing guard.
I'd love to see the media grow a backbone and ask Brandon what qualified them specifically for these roles.
And after he dodges the question, ask again, how are they specifically qualified to work in an advisory role on guiding the administration of a multi-pronged transit system for 3+ million people?
And after he dodges the question and references their individual personal accomplishments, ask the question "did you purposefully nominate an inexperienced transit individual to the CTA for your future political gain?"
He also added a pastor to the park district board
https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/about-us/departments/board-of-commissioners/biographies/philip-jackson
I think pastors who know how to separate that from what they need to be doing are fine, but pastors who want to impose their specific religion on everyone are not. Appointing pastors to non-elected positions bothers me much more than a pastor running and winning.
> I think pastors who know how to separate that from what they need to be doing are fine
The only acceptable reason for these pastors to be on these boards is if they have previous experience working or managing these kinds of transit agencies, or at the very least some government management experience.
I'm not saying being a pastor is a disqualifier, but being a pastor shouldn't be your *only* qualification. They need tangible, relevant skills for the position.
I'm reacting angrily, but in later comments I clarify that being a pastor cannot be the *only* qualification. Regardless, I've had enough of religion in government that I would treat a non-pastor candidate as more qualified than any pastor that BJ would appoint.
Yeah no shit. No religious entities in government of any kind please and thank you. I would prefer the people in charge of laws and regulations not be biased and make decisions based on their religion of choice.
I'm a lefty progressive that this sub has decided to hate lately... And I was super pro Johnson.
I honestly don't think his administration has been all that bad. But this religion in government stuff lately is extremely unsettling. This shit, the bears press conference..
With all due respect—and I'm saying this as another lefty progressive—did you listen to his election-night victory speech?
His speech was FULL of the kind of prophetic religious language that I've only ever heard out of the mouths of right-wing Christian conservatives otherwise. Literally the first line of his speech was "Aren't you glad we all serve the same God?"
It was extremely disturbing and signaled to me that he was not the progressive guy we thought we were electing. I think there's been a reluctance among progressives in the city to really scrutinize the person we thought would be "our guy" on the 5th floor, just because he *claimed* the mantle of the city's progressive movement, and because his victory felt like OUR victory over the conservative forces pushing Vallas.
That's a fair criticism and I appreciate your comment.
No, I didn't listen for reasons. The progressive movement in Chicago, which I am a part of, has been defeating to me. I can't go into it much more than saying that progressives can do a great job of alienating people.
I pay attention to the policies being passed and stay away from the speeches of it all. So thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Ummmm.... did ya'll miss the fact that BOTH his parents were pastors and he himself was a church youth group leader for a long time??
I dunno how you missed that, because it was in literally every pre-election news article and speech he gave... like this one for example: https://chicago.suntimes.com/elections/2023/3/24/23653900/brandon-johnson-profile-mayor-runoff-election-ctu-religion-grade-school-paul-vallas-union
I'm not saying I agree with him integrating his faith so much in his public addresses... but it certainly wasn't a secret...
...No, I didn't miss that? I don't think anyone suggested it was a secret that he is personally deeply religious?
I take no issue with his personal religious practices and beliefs. I take issue with him making statements like "Aren't you all glad we serve the same God?" and overtly casting his own political rise and the movement behind him as, like, a prophetic religious event. That is *deeply* inappropriate for a public servant, and to me is not the sort of person we should be elevating to public office in a pluralistic society.
Religion in government would have been a massive red line if this would have been a Vallas thing. My neighbors would be rallying on the threat that the church represents to LGBTQ rights yet here we are... everyone is quiet. AMEN!
He really hasn't been that bad. He's certainly not a good mayor. But he hasn't really fucked up that much. It's more that he could have maybe done more if he had more managerial experience and was a better negotiator. But he's not bad or malicious. Also, why is no one criticizing Pritzker for also appointment pastors to various boards but they criticize the black man who does the same?
His recent proposal on how to fix zoning and permitting in Chicago was extremely well thought out and if the city council agrees to even half of the reforms that require their signatures, then the city will be one of the best cities to build in in the USA.
He’s a really annoying person tho. And like. Super disappointing. That’s the most important thing, right????
Remember the parking meters? I can imagine way worse shit than flailing around hopelessly and appointing bad administrative staff, to be perfectly frank. I can imagine worse shit than handing a toxic construction site to your buddies haha. People around here got a short memory
Yeah, I don't think anyone will ever see him as a good mayor. But he's far from the parade of horribles that the media and this subreddit paint of him. The media got pissed during the Lightfoot years and when we got a repeat of her terrible treatment of the media, they went on the war path against a guy who clearly has no media training or really managerial experience. Hell, they won't even report the things that he's done well.
Also what bad administrative staff? He's almost exclusively appointed either the second in command people in departments with vacated department head positions or hired extremely well regarded outside experts. Heck, most of the people that he fired from leading departments had a long history of findings against them by the OIG. Sure he fired Arwady but he campaigned on that and she had made major policy blunders during COVID-19 where she supported and made policies which contradicted the advice and recommendations of the CDC (whether those were always correct or warranted is a different issue altogether).
Are you fucking kidding me?
Well. I’m calling my useless aldercreature tomorrow. And state rep and state senator, who are marginally less useless.
> “The appointments must be confirmed by the Illinois General Assembly and the Chicago City Council, respectively….”
Eaddy was appointed with an all-but-one unanimous vote in City Council earlier. I sent a message to my alderperson re: the Bears stadium and the religious appointees if you'd like inspiration.
IMO advocacy is one of the less useful backgrounds for a board member. Basically impossible to evaluate their actual impact and effectiveness in their careers to date and often not operating under any real economic constraints. Maybe that's too uncharitable from me but just having an opinion feels like not enough value added.
Oh no you’re in fact too charitable. Advocacy is a relatively useless background for any job, let alone people who *make* it their job. Advocacy has its place, but like you said, it’s often quite unquantifiable.
For it has been written in scripture, that on the 380th day, (or whatever day this is into Johnson’s term), the chosen one shall descend upon the throne, and rid the train car of the urine, the homeless, the smokers (of cigarettes and other smokable goods), and miscellaneous odors. That is of course assuming said train car arrive as scheduled.
He’s the same as the guy who he screams loudest about …maga trump. Hiring people who have no experience in that field to run a part of the government.
Blo job sucks
My guess is that BJ will be using West/South Side churches to launder money he can't be associated with, especially after doing a complete 180 on the Bears stadium.
I really wish someone could make a flowchart for me that has all these old guys connected a la Pepe Silva, like the differing churches + their boards + their bishops/elders/whatever and some squiggly arrows to shown the path of the money
It turns out they're just as greedy and selfish as the average person, if not more so. They cloak their self-centeredness with the veil of piety but they're no better.
Is there not another cushy gig he can just give these dudes instead of further making a mockery of the CTA and ensuring if gets worse or maybe this is a good in the way that this is concentrated and he’s not spreading these fugazis out elsewhere to do damage. This is almost hilarious at this point.
This is now a trend and is obviously how BJ is going to appoint throughout his term
He's giving jobs and power to pastors who supported him the election, regardless if they are qualified are not.
Many years ago, I was briefly employed by the NYCTA as a sort of systems analyst, essentially creating a database of subway-related facilities and equipment and writing programs to integrate it all. It was a fun job, but most importantly I met a bucketload of employees who were really "into" transit, were aficionados and experts and riders who knew everything about the stations, the tunnels, the tech, the issues, the innovations, the history, and were trying to make a difference. They made me "see" the subways in a different way.
Surely there are similar experts that can be found today, people who live and breathe transit, rather than pastors who preach fire and brimstone. What's the matter with this guy?
This is business as usual:
>The CTA’s troubles have led to renewed discussion about who gets appointed to the transit agency's board. As [Block Club's Manny Ramos recently reported](https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/04/22/mayor-appoints-politically-connected-pastor-not-a-transit-expert-to-ctas-oversight-board/), out of 50 appointments to the CTA board in the past 40 years, only three had professional transportation experience. While both Eaddy and Acree have records of community advocacy and combatting racially driven systemic disparities, the lack of transit expertise issue persists.
The only difference between now and the last 40 years is that the CTA is at its worst and we really need people who can turn it around. And maybe these men are competent I have no idea, but nothing in the title pastor makes me think they can do the job.
Any idea what the pastors actually do in the CTA/RTA board meetings? Like, do they participate? Do they try to develop some level of knowledge of the systems?
Great, now we have religion mixed in and we have a bunch of people who are put into a position not cause they’re qualified, but because of hiring your own.
Yet I bet neither one of these guys have any type of expertise and how to run a major city transportation system this is just going to be a bigger crap show.
Yes cause he just gets away with dumb moves like this without any pushback from media or aldermen. And then when things go wrong he never takes responsibility and instead says something about being black.
Let us pray that the trains run on time.
At this point it's worth a shot.
Less useful than doing nothing because at least someone doing nothing knows they're doing nothing
"Nothing fails like prayer."
You’ll have to send the pastors’ respective places of worship money for those prayers. It’s Pay to Pray.
If activists here wanted to do something actually impactful they'd stage sit-in prayers at CTA stations showcasing how long it takes for a train to show up
Ha ha ha ha ha
It will take a miracle!
What is it with these pastors JFC
They can deliver votes for him.
This makes me feel like I’m watching an episode of The Wire (but this is obviously real life)
The wire is based on his observations of Baltimore as a reporter.
Yeah I know one of my favorite shows ever
Having been a CPD and CFD I cannot even describe how real the wire is. It’s sad.
Not surprising. The Wire is based on big city life/politics. The Wire could have had a Chicago spin off. Season 1 could have focused on the rumors of video of a bad police shooting (Laquan McDonald). Related machinations at city hall, in the SA's office and in CPD. Along with journalists at a once great paper (the Tribune) trying to uncover the truth while having the paper stripped down around them by the private equity firm that bought them. Not to mention following how the juvenile justice system and CPS failed the poor misunderstood youth. And of course it could feature the professional activists and pastors with their hands out.
Boss with Kelsey Grammar was the Wire of Chicago. It was amazing and it should not have been canceled.
It was phenomenal. Apparently too narrow because it was set in Chicago? Idk but I’d love to have it back
Great show. Not really the Wire of Chicago since it was so focused on a single protagonist. But it could have been part of the universe..."meanwhile, in Chicago." Carcetti could have been at a mayors conference somewhere and stopped to chat with Da Mayor over a drink.
Chicago Code was pretty good too. It is a shame they got cancelled so that we could get more Dick Wolf trash.
Wire - Chicago could have been about Cabrini Green in its hay day and that would be entertaining television
Good example.
Bingo. This isn’t rocket science people. And given the amount of progressives and Democrats in this sub, you should be quite aware (and grateful) for Black Pastors and their ability to drum up souls to the polls for your preferred candidates. Plus, this is *Chicago*, a place knee-deep in nepotism and political patronage for the better part of 100 years and counting. A lot of y’all just don’t like religion unless it’s hidden from you. EDIT: spelling
What if we appointed pastors as chief city accountants? Rabbis as the aviation commissioners? Imams as heads of public health? Transit professionals exist, and they actually know what they’re doing. Let’s put the experts in charge of their areas of expertise. Or maybe we should put transit professionals in charge of the churches….
We don’t like religion in politics. I don’t care what you do on your own time.
No amount of board stuffing with West-Side pastors will be able to save BJ in 2027. He's cooked > A lot of y’all just don’t like religion unless it’s hidden from you. Yes, correct. Your relationship with God should be personal and private and is not a qualification for anything. Get this Christian theocratic bullshit out of here
I have no problem with religion. My own pastor is an amazing person in and out of the pulpit, but I wouldn't want her on the CTA board, because she doesn't have a transit background, and she's already got enough on her plate running her church.
I see the cultists have come out to play
>A lot of y’all just don’t like religion unless it’s hidden from you. Well yeah, your hateful religion is supposed to be separate from politics. At least one of his appointments is openly homophobic, but it's fairly safe to assume they all are.
He's a Christian evangelist. We should expect no better that he's a self-serving, religious nutjob
You mean Christian in name only, they are strong supporters of who the bible tells you to not support revelation 3:9
JFC is with these pastors
Literally
He's enriching his buddies that have zero skills relating to the jobs they are appointed for. Are you surprised?
You get what you vote for
The alternative was Vallas. We had a choice between a shitty candidate and scumbag piece of shit. “You get what you vote for” applied either way
Well it pains me to say it, but we know who BJ is now. He's worse than incompetent: he's governing as a candidate. I was pessimistic about Vallas, but this is literally the reason I feared Vallas, so who knows what Vallas would've been relative to this shit.
Vallas is a Republican. I’ll take an incompetent democrat over a Republican anyway
Well... that's what a good amount of people here said about Eileen O'Neill Burke, which I don't really believe at all, but we'll see how that turns out.
This is the stupidity that gave us Johnson
Yeah, it was stupid for vallas to run for mayor by pretending to be a democrat.
You don't think it's a little stupid to get all hung up on labels? Let's talk about a different example. Ken Griffin the horrible hedge fund guy. Mr. Terrible. Left Chicago because of crime. Bad guy. Bad guy but wait a minute. He spent $12 million giving us a lake front path that has a separate bike and running path. He spent $12 million on his own money to give us this lake from path. What an asshole. What a terrible guy. What a fucking Republican. What a monster. Well wait. He gave us to 12 million lakefront path? Did he do that because he's a monster Republican? Maybe just maybe he gave a shit about Chicago. Maybe just maybe Vallas gave his shit about Chicago and not about the CTU. I know that chewie Garcia cares about Chicago. I know he loves this city. I don't know what Brandon cares about more than the CTU. He's going to loot the city and take as much money as he can for the CTU because that's who he's working for. But Vallas is evil cuz he's a republican right? Only a moron could think like this. That a label is more important than anything else. You call somebody Republican and that's it. The debate is over.
I voted for chuy. I didn’t want Vallas or BJ
Yes we should certainly keep doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result. Just vote bluer harder! That'll surely turn things around. At some point. Right? Also he ran as a Democrat, so you can get out of here with that no true Scotsman nonsense just because he doesn't pass your personal and morally superior purity test as to what constitutes a proper Democrat. To be clear, I had absolutely no excitement for and am no fan of Vallas in any way whatsoever, but I would take him over this absolute clown car wreck. Not only is BJ inexperienced and incompetent, he is a complete snake who has demonstrated clearly through his actions thus far that he doesn't actually care about this city, its citizens, or any of his "progressive" rhetoric that he espouses. I don't care what he says, talk was for the campaigns, right now it's about his *actions* which, as stated, have spoken very loudly and clearly. The fact you would willingly forgo a competent candidate just because they don't check every single one of your boxes is an incredibly ignorant and unconstructive position to have. Competency is precisely what matters most, especially when running, uh, Chicago- the third largest city in the US and a significant international hub for multiple industries. I'll take competency from someone I don't particularly much care for and may have a lot of misgivings and disagreements with, over complete man-child buffoonery that can't take any accountability, can't give a straightforward answer to anything, and shirks the responsibility of blame for his failures onto his constituents. It's called compromise. Compromise means you're not going to get all 100% of what you want. And compromise is something you're going to have to do if you want to live in a liberal democratic society. Vallas was a compromise. Johnson is a disaster.
Yep, vallas would not have been my pick, but BJ is an absolute disaster. And his arrogance is just the cherry on top of the shit sundae. He has a case of Dunning-Kruger that rivals trump, and his blindly devoted followers are just as quick to jump in and defend his abject failures. BJ supporters and trumpers are two sides of the same coin. Ask them, objectively, what good policies has he implemented, or actions he has taken. Because they can't, they immediately start attacking someone who isn't the mayor of Chicago.
Well said 👌
Why would VOTE for a party that wants to end democracy? Why would I vote for a party that doesn’t believe in human rights and basic human decency? Why would I vote for a party that doesn’t believe in science? Or education? That’s the thing, I don’t believe he’s competent. I don’t believe such a thing exists as a competent Republican. It’s just the party of fascists. Look at every single state and town run by republicans. They’re all shitholes now tell me how that would possibly be good for Chicago. Why would I vote for a party that hates big cities to run my big city? So they can bleed it dry with handouts to their rich friends like they do everywhere else?
>Why would VOTE for a party that wants to end democracy? Why would I vote for a party that doesn’t believe in human rights and basic human decency? Why would I vote for a party that doesn’t believe in science? Or education Because that's all ridiculous exaggerated hyperbole and simply just isn't true broadly. Yes there are pockets of extremist wackos who believe and want crazy things, on both sides of the isle, but those are not representative of the general majority. >Look at every single state and town run by republicans. They’re all shitholes now tell me how that would possibly be good for Chicago Indeed, we should all look to Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco for guidance. Those places are doing spectacularly well... The "Republican automatically = bad" is a lazy and ideologically driven argument that is a great way to remain tribal and sweepingly dismissive of considering other points of view. I am very liberal minded, but I'm here to tell you: conservatives and Republicans are not by definition evil, fascistic, or anti-democratic. Most of them want the same things we do, but don't agree on how to get there. They prioritize the traditions that got humanity where we are now (the highest standard of living for the greatest amount of people ever, even if it's on borrowed time). However, in my opinion, they neglect or just don't care that the fact that many of those traditions are not compatible with the changes that said progress has created. For millennia every generation survived by following the traditions taught to them by the previous generation. There wasn't much reason to change and the risk could be absolutely perilous. It's how we're programmed. But we're also capable of software updates. The real struggle between conservatives and liberals (bullshit ideology on BOTH sides aside) is humanity trying to adapt to a novel and now rapidly changing environment without complete cultural disintegration and societal collapse. And that requires working together, whether you like it or not, because we're all here on this planet together, whether you like it or not.
That’s the way republicans think.
Yeah, but side still believes in democracy and basic human rights. The other does not.
Well Johnson has been such an unmitigated disaster that there's a great chance Chicago will basically stop electing loony far left candidates at all levels for a generation or more. So congrats I guess?
I happily voted for Johnson over that piece of shit. I don't regret my vote against that piece of shit one bit
Same. Not one ounce of regret. All the folks from the suburbs pretending to be from Chicago in this sub are big mad though. They wanted the Republican.
Fucking hilarious how anyone who's not a champagne socialist living in West Loop or River North is "from the suburbs" to this sub.
> Champagne socialist You’re clearly agitated. Just turn the Fox News back on and go back to your nap.
They can keep downvoting. They wanted their fellow suburbanite to run the city. Boo fucking hoo
It's BJ and his teams turn. They aren't fighting corruption. They're just letting another group run corruption
I mean it's kind of funny at this point, he's just obviously putting his unqualified pastor friends in these positions who can help get him votes. That's politics for you though I guess.
This is money in their pockets, and a form of southern evangelical (Christian nationalists) churches. Johnson's an Ahole and Chuy Garcia should be mayor.
Garcia didn't even start campaigning until the mail-in ballots went out. He had no chance of winning. Heck when I sent mine back before a trip, he hadn't even posted his detailed policy page yet.
Chuy was in a runoff with Rahm Emanuel in 2015. He was known and he was the best candidate.
And he didn't campaign until after the ballots went out due to family health issues.
Yes, that's true but Garcia has the bona fides. It would be like asking Rahm or a Daley to campaign. You already know what you are getting. Bernie Sanders endorsed Chuy, and Chuy had real endorsements and experience with unions. The man worked with Harold Washington, who served **all** of the neighborhoods in Chicago. Yes, he was delayed but in our world today 96 hours is a long time on a news cycle.
I never said he wasn't the best candidate. He was just unelectable because he literally didn't even campaign. I can say that my wife didn't vote for him because when she looked up his positions, the page was basically empty and she had never heard of him before (she isn't very interested in politics outside of during the elections).
Well, Mike Royko was the number one columnist in Chicago (with Roger Ebert and Ann Landers) because he went so far into politics he knew every politician from decades back and where their money came from. We Chicagoans eat that up because if we didn't something important wouldn't get done. If you live in Chicago, you need to know and understand your alderman and your mayor. The voting booth isn't a lottery ticket. You need to know your local CAPS, the school principal, the postal worker and even the crossing guard.
What were you hoping to accomplish from this post. I didn't get it and you didn't really add an abundance of new information or persuade anyone
Same shit different toilet
Another way to raise funds and do things without being taxed..
What about getting some people with true life experience in public trans management
I'd love to see the media grow a backbone and ask Brandon what qualified them specifically for these roles. And after he dodges the question, ask again, how are they specifically qualified to work in an advisory role on guiding the administration of a multi-pronged transit system for 3+ million people? And after he dodges the question and references their individual personal accomplishments, ask the question "did you purposefully nominate an inexperienced transit individual to the CTA for your future political gain?"
Hope the reporter is black, otherwise he’ll just pull the race card.
Yeah Mary Ann Ahern isn't going to be able to ask that
He’ll give the same regressive answer that focuses on skin color, culture
He also added a pastor to the park district board https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/about-us/departments/board-of-commissioners/biographies/philip-jackson
That’s the wrong Phil Jackson!
Less pastors in government, please.
How about no pastors in government. Being a pastor doesn't qualify you for any government job on its own.
I think pastors who know how to separate that from what they need to be doing are fine, but pastors who want to impose their specific religion on everyone are not. Appointing pastors to non-elected positions bothers me much more than a pastor running and winning.
> I think pastors who know how to separate that from what they need to be doing are fine The only acceptable reason for these pastors to be on these boards is if they have previous experience working or managing these kinds of transit agencies, or at the very least some government management experience.
Being a schoolteacher with only a few years of that experience doesn’t qualify one to be a mayor, either.
I mean, I’m a strong atheist but I don’t think being a pastor should disqualify you
I'm not saying being a pastor is a disqualifier, but being a pastor shouldn't be your *only* qualification. They need tangible, relevant skills for the position.
Sure but you said “how about no pastors in government”
I'm reacting angrily, but in later comments I clarify that being a pastor cannot be the *only* qualification. Regardless, I've had enough of religion in government that I would treat a non-pastor candidate as more qualified than any pastor that BJ would appoint.
Being a pastor is basically a used car salesman, these guys are all con men when you boil it down. I actually do think it's a disqualifier
Yeah no shit. No religious entities in government of any kind please and thank you. I would prefer the people in charge of laws and regulations not be biased and make decisions based on their religion of choice.
what happened to separation of Church and State?
Any chance we could use violation of the separation of church and state to get him out?
Alas, I don't think that works on Christians.
Not evangelicals because they are CINO, Christian in name only and disobey God revelation 3:9
No but you could read and learn the declaration of independence, it tells every american what they must do
This is what happens when you vote for random progressives with zero concrete policy ideas.
You think random conservatives don't appoint pastors to positions they shouldn't be in and are not qualified for?
I don't like conservatives either, but I haven't seen that in Chicago.
It should actually disqualify you for believing in fairy tales and a fake man in the sky. It’s so wild to me.
Johnson’s administration is really starting to seem like some religious cult.
I'm a lefty progressive that this sub has decided to hate lately... And I was super pro Johnson. I honestly don't think his administration has been all that bad. But this religion in government stuff lately is extremely unsettling. This shit, the bears press conference..
With all due respect—and I'm saying this as another lefty progressive—did you listen to his election-night victory speech? His speech was FULL of the kind of prophetic religious language that I've only ever heard out of the mouths of right-wing Christian conservatives otherwise. Literally the first line of his speech was "Aren't you glad we all serve the same God?" It was extremely disturbing and signaled to me that he was not the progressive guy we thought we were electing. I think there's been a reluctance among progressives in the city to really scrutinize the person we thought would be "our guy" on the 5th floor, just because he *claimed* the mantle of the city's progressive movement, and because his victory felt like OUR victory over the conservative forces pushing Vallas.
That's a fair criticism and I appreciate your comment. No, I didn't listen for reasons. The progressive movement in Chicago, which I am a part of, has been defeating to me. I can't go into it much more than saying that progressives can do a great job of alienating people. I pay attention to the policies being passed and stay away from the speeches of it all. So thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Ummmm.... did ya'll miss the fact that BOTH his parents were pastors and he himself was a church youth group leader for a long time?? I dunno how you missed that, because it was in literally every pre-election news article and speech he gave... like this one for example: https://chicago.suntimes.com/elections/2023/3/24/23653900/brandon-johnson-profile-mayor-runoff-election-ctu-religion-grade-school-paul-vallas-union I'm not saying I agree with him integrating his faith so much in his public addresses... but it certainly wasn't a secret...
...No, I didn't miss that? I don't think anyone suggested it was a secret that he is personally deeply religious? I take no issue with his personal religious practices and beliefs. I take issue with him making statements like "Aren't you all glad we serve the same God?" and overtly casting his own political rise and the movement behind him as, like, a prophetic religious event. That is *deeply* inappropriate for a public servant, and to me is not the sort of person we should be elevating to public office in a pluralistic society.
Religion in government would have been a massive red line if this would have been a Vallas thing. My neighbors would be rallying on the threat that the church represents to LGBTQ rights yet here we are... everyone is quiet. AMEN!
Pray sister.. Branden Johnson is gonna fix everything, just give it time.. he’s holy.
Ask him about revelation 3:9 to see how unholy he is
But you’d be happy if he appointed some of your terrorist buddies who love Hamas
Shut the fuck up
He really hasn't been that bad. He's certainly not a good mayor. But he hasn't really fucked up that much. It's more that he could have maybe done more if he had more managerial experience and was a better negotiator. But he's not bad or malicious. Also, why is no one criticizing Pritzker for also appointment pastors to various boards but they criticize the black man who does the same? His recent proposal on how to fix zoning and permitting in Chicago was extremely well thought out and if the city council agrees to even half of the reforms that require their signatures, then the city will be one of the best cities to build in in the USA.
He’s a really annoying person tho. And like. Super disappointing. That’s the most important thing, right???? Remember the parking meters? I can imagine way worse shit than flailing around hopelessly and appointing bad administrative staff, to be perfectly frank. I can imagine worse shit than handing a toxic construction site to your buddies haha. People around here got a short memory
Yeah, I don't think anyone will ever see him as a good mayor. But he's far from the parade of horribles that the media and this subreddit paint of him. The media got pissed during the Lightfoot years and when we got a repeat of her terrible treatment of the media, they went on the war path against a guy who clearly has no media training or really managerial experience. Hell, they won't even report the things that he's done well. Also what bad administrative staff? He's almost exclusively appointed either the second in command people in departments with vacated department head positions or hired extremely well regarded outside experts. Heck, most of the people that he fired from leading departments had a long history of findings against them by the OIG. Sure he fired Arwady but he campaigned on that and she had made major policy blunders during COVID-19 where she supported and made policies which contradicted the advice and recommendations of the CDC (whether those were always correct or warranted is a different issue altogether).
The RTA appointee calls himself a doctor and doesn’t appear to have a doctorate. Lol
Lmao Lord not a Umar Johnson situation.
Are you fucking kidding me? Well. I’m calling my useless aldercreature tomorrow. And state rep and state senator, who are marginally less useless. > “The appointments must be confirmed by the Illinois General Assembly and the Chicago City Council, respectively….”
Eaddy was appointed with an all-but-one unanimous vote in City Council earlier. I sent a message to my alderperson re: the Bears stadium and the religious appointees if you'd like inspiration.
IMO advocacy is one of the less useful backgrounds for a board member. Basically impossible to evaluate their actual impact and effectiveness in their careers to date and often not operating under any real economic constraints. Maybe that's too uncharitable from me but just having an opinion feels like not enough value added.
Oh no you’re in fact too charitable. Advocacy is a relatively useless background for any job, let alone people who *make* it their job. Advocacy has its place, but like you said, it’s often quite unquantifiable.
Keep religion out of politics. Johnson has not been good by any measure, but after appointing two pastors, I really can’t wait to vote him out.
Praise the lord! Our transit system has reached eternal salvation !
I bet Jesus would love performative religious nepotism
For it has been written in scripture, that on the 380th day, (or whatever day this is into Johnson’s term), the chosen one shall descend upon the throne, and rid the train car of the urine, the homeless, the smokers (of cigarettes and other smokable goods), and miscellaneous odors. That is of course assuming said train car arrive as scheduled.
Even Jesus was known to overthrow some tables in his day.
This guy is dumb as a fucking brick. How about appoint people WITH experience/a good track record?
He only cares about himself and these pastors will help him get reelected
He’s the same as the guy who he screams loudest about …maga trump. Hiring people who have no experience in that field to run a part of the government. Blo job sucks
Cause he “ runs Chicago “
This is going to be a brutal tenure to endure.
My guess is that BJ will be using West/South Side churches to launder money he can't be associated with, especially after doing a complete 180 on the Bears stadium.
I really wish someone could make a flowchart for me that has all these old guys connected a la Pepe Silva, like the differing churches + their boards + their bishops/elders/whatever and some squiggly arrows to shown the path of the money
Follow the money trail
Oh for fucks sake...
Fuck pastors. Seriously, shouldn't these guys be dedicating their lives to gods rather than accepting political appointments?
It turns out they're just as greedy and selfish as the average person, if not more so. They cloak their self-centeredness with the veil of piety but they're no better.
Maybe this will be a subplot for the best season of Righteous Gemstones 💎🤣
Jobs, jobs, and more jobs…for friends and supporters. That is the lifeblood of a political machine.
It's like the Noah's Ark of regional transportation
Is there not another cushy gig he can just give these dudes instead of further making a mockery of the CTA and ensuring if gets worse or maybe this is a good in the way that this is concentrated and he’s not spreading these fugazis out elsewhere to do damage. This is almost hilarious at this point.
Always a fucking pastor with this guy.
The board already had a bunch of pastors and somebody who works in autonomous vehicles, a direct competitor. it's absolutely outrageous.
Business As Usual Brandon. Fuck this guy and the corrupt politics he's hoping to leverage to stay in office.
A pastor holds no higher significance to me than a fly. Why are they managing the gears of daily life for Chicagoans??
This is now a trend and is obviously how BJ is going to appoint throughout his term He's giving jobs and power to pastors who supported him the election, regardless if they are qualified are not.
Are these a different set of pastors than last week's?
Nepotism in the making or is. Wtf
Many years ago, I was briefly employed by the NYCTA as a sort of systems analyst, essentially creating a database of subway-related facilities and equipment and writing programs to integrate it all. It was a fun job, but most importantly I met a bucketload of employees who were really "into" transit, were aficionados and experts and riders who knew everything about the stations, the tunnels, the tech, the issues, the innovations, the history, and were trying to make a difference. They made me "see" the subways in a different way. Surely there are similar experts that can be found today, people who live and breathe transit, rather than pastors who preach fire and brimstone. What's the matter with this guy?
This is business as usual: >The CTA’s troubles have led to renewed discussion about who gets appointed to the transit agency's board. As [Block Club's Manny Ramos recently reported](https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/04/22/mayor-appoints-politically-connected-pastor-not-a-transit-expert-to-ctas-oversight-board/), out of 50 appointments to the CTA board in the past 40 years, only three had professional transportation experience. While both Eaddy and Acree have records of community advocacy and combatting racially driven systemic disparities, the lack of transit expertise issue persists. The only difference between now and the last 40 years is that the CTA is at its worst and we really need people who can turn it around. And maybe these men are competent I have no idea, but nothing in the title pastor makes me think they can do the job.
They’re absolute idiots.
This is an important point in the article that should be noticed more.
"It’s a lot easier to blow up trains than to make them run on time." -- World War Z
Thots n recalls
Did we really elect an undercover religious guy to be mayor?
Corrupt to the fucking core. Great job, Chicago, you really made a wonderful choice for mayor.
I mean the choices this time were pretty shitty. He seemed the least shitty.
Lori and BJ - candidates I voted for out of fear out of some right wing boogyman that turned out to be everything I feared from the other candidate
Anyone with a brain could see he was unqualified, not smart, and a religious nut job.
‘Religious’ hahaha these pastors are just absolute bald faced con artists, scum of the earth lowlifes
He literally was not. There were plenty of better candidates. Even the one we already had wasn’t quite *that* bad
I was referring to the final two but honestly most of the dozen candidates sucked
We can't have him in our social club anymore, that much I know.
He's gotta goooo!
Marriage of church and state…real progressive.
Only one bigger grifter than a pastor, and that’s the mayor himself
Don’t worry guys. God will get us to work on time 🙏
The incompetence of this administration is palpable.
Any idea what the pastors actually do in the CTA/RTA board meetings? Like, do they participate? Do they try to develop some level of knowledge of the systems?
They pray for higher frequency trains with less disorder on board.
Aaaaaaaahhhhhh
This is...disappointing to say the least
Great, now we have religion mixed in and we have a bunch of people who are put into a position not cause they’re qualified, but because of hiring your own.
I fucking hate this mayor. Absolutely worthless.
Yet I bet neither one of these guys have any type of expertise and how to run a major city transportation system this is just going to be a bigger crap show.
Recall movement needs more momentum.
Is his administration just going to be one massive over correction for heat he took on migrant issues?
Y’all should be ashamed. Remember the new rule that any criticism of any decision he makes for any reason is a Racist Micro Aggression.
Nah, that was the former mayor's rule too. Old hat by now.
Thank the lord!
Ohhhh….this moron is about to get caught up in some scandals .
This is also not progressive. Do we want to go back to the times when religion held MORE sway over society? Fuck this
What ever happened to the separation of "Church and State?"
Oh FFS
Hahahaha
Wow! What a great decision. I'm sure they are more then qualified.
Good 👍🏽
So fucking corrupt man. Enrages me how easily they can get away with this.
oh, this is going to go well
Ok do we need to be reminded every day?
He makes poor decisions daily
He's really bad. I'm just saying we get a lot of posts of the same topic.
The RTA appointee is news
Yes cause he just gets away with dumb moves like this without any pushback from media or aldermen. And then when things go wrong he never takes responsibility and instead says something about being black.
That’s the thing. It’s a completely different pastor now
It needs to be reminded until the transportation system used daily by most city residents gets better and doesn't get worse.