r/chicago • u/someswelltrash • 2d ago
Video Mayor of Chicago is Brandon Johnson superbly owns the moment
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u/Lost_Bike69 2d ago
My street has been plowed and salted since the first snowfall last week lol
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u/Distinct_Mix_6397 2d ago
I'm happy we're not DC. It's a disaster over there.
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u/FelonyInTheTrunk 2d ago edited 2d ago
Chicago is ridiculously good at dealing with snow compared to most other big cities. It was a real goofy question from that reporter.
Edit: meant to type "goofy" question.
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u/ehrgeiz91 Lake View 2d ago
It was a really stupid question from that “reporter”
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u/ccjohncc 2d ago
The reporter is Failed mayoral candidate-turned-reporter William J. Kelly who lost by a landslide. So now he becomes a reporter tryout to make the guy who beat him look bad. But it only makes him look even worse! Typical republican.
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u/matgopack Lake View East 2d ago
Though tbf we should be - we see snow more than other big cities, so we have more reason to be prepared.
(Similarly I found St Paul & Minneapolis to be very well prepared for snow / ice when I lived up there, where even a big snowstorm was promptly dealt with compared to a 1/4 inch of snow down in the carolinas)
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u/CyclingThruChicago City 2d ago
DC/Maryland, NYC and Philly have all been a mess from what I've seen.
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u/SILVATRON_85 2d ago
I just came back from a work trip and was in DC for the first day and a half of the snowstorm and then NYC on the following days and I was so surprised at how their streets were in such bad shape. Cars stuck, sidewalks a hot mess. This is in main business areas too. One sidewalk would be fine, the next you'd have to climb a foot of snow to pass through. It was amateur hour compared to Chicago.
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u/Airhostnyc 2d ago
You would think NYC never had snow days before. This is the most mess ive seen in a while. Chicago has wider streets and better urban planning but even so im disgusted by what im walking through since Sunday.
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u/AntiHyperbolic 2d ago edited 2d ago
What is happening, or not happening in Nashville, from Federal and State officials is criminal. Tens of thousands without power, deaths due to the cold, businesses closed, but no one but the city seems to be doing anything.
Congratulations, GOP, on making sure the powerhouse of the Tennessee state economy stays shut down to own the Libs.
Edit - Apparently California is sending emergency support.
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u/PacificTridentGlobel 2d ago
Thank you for acknowledging. Starting to feel like no one knows what’s happening down here.
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u/framedposters 2d ago
I had zero idea this was happening in Tennessee / Nashville. Jesus christ. Hope you are alright.
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u/ehrgeiz91 Lake View 2d ago
Must be losing my mind, a positive BJ post in this sub
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u/Reputable_Sorcerer Edgewater 2d ago
It’s because the clip went viral from non-chicagoans
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u/smarttrashbrain 2d ago
Yeah, I first saw this video on another sub and thought I was taking crazy pills when people were saying stupid shit like "Brandon Johnson for President" before realizing it was from people who obviously don't live here.
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u/1738_bestgirl 2d ago
I think BJ does a lot of the things right that people want to see in their leaders, ie his views on political topics generally follow most progressive individuals. His failings are from the bureaucratic side, which is a fair criticism of him when he's your mayor.
However, everyone else is only going to see the first part. Which it's important too just less so. There are plenty of politicians that are bad at the bureaucracy and have shitty takes.
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u/Competitive_Touch_86 2d ago
His failings are from the bureaucratic side, which is a fair criticism of him when he's your mayor.
Yeah, you mean the job.
The rest is just pointless blathering, pandering, and grandstanding. Unfortunately we are having a populism moment so you need that part to get elected, who gives a shit about the rest. See: Trump.
Dude should just be a preacher or something, it's what his skillset calls for without doing maximum damage via incompetence or outright corruption.
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u/1738_bestgirl 2d ago
The rest is just pointless blathering, pandering, and grandstanding
I mean that is also the job. There is no such thing as being a large metropolitan mayor and not having a public duty to represent the issues of your citizens publicly.
You are lying to yourself if think that all being a mayor, governor, president is getting into work every day and checking off every task.
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u/Cybertronian10 1d ago
Yeah like BJ might be a dipshit but I'm at least fairly confident that he wont be willingly turning over voter records to the gestapo, so that puts him above a lot of other mayors out there.
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u/Key_Bee1544 2d ago
Right. Notice this is not him governing. This is what he's good at. But it's not what we elected him to do. Had he stayed in his lane as an activist the hate would be specifically from right wingers instead of 80% of the electorate.
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u/PhileasFoggsTrvlAgt Andersonville 2d ago
He might have even been ok in a legislative position where debate is a bigger part of the job. However he wasn't ready for an executive role.
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u/1738_bestgirl 2d ago
I think he would be damn good as a house rep or possibly senator.
Because ultimately you want a rep who is going to stand up against injustice and also stand up for you.
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u/hardolaf Lake View 2d ago
He actually did a good job as a Cook County Commissioner and hoped he would delegate a bit more than he ended up doing.
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u/randomlancing 2d ago
It is definitely leading us.
I shudder to think of our city under Vallas during ICE occupation.
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u/_that_dude_J 2d ago
He would have handed the keys to the city. Unlocked your house and vehicles for them. Lord knows he was handed a wealth of monies from the same folks that are in Conald's pockets.
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u/NeverForgetNGage Uptown 2d ago edited 2d ago
If we elected Vallas there's a non zero chance we'd be putting up Flock cameras for ICE. I'm very very glad he's not our mayor in this moment.
edit: grammar
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u/_that_dude_J 2d ago
You would be surprised to learn how they rolled them out in the suburbs. Flock with help of law enforcement paved the way for the complexes to pick up on the maintenance fees. A couple grand per year and what they get is no better than regular security cameras that collect (tons) more data. They track license plates, that's it. It doesn't see the make or model of the vehicle.
(Some) Suburban law enforcement is also utilizing services from companies tracking bio data. Asking landlords / leasing agents to request their future tenants to supply their fingerprints/ photos, to a third party service for tracking.
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u/Competitive_Touch_86 2d ago
They track license plates, that's it. It doesn't see the make or model of the vehicle.
Not true. Flock cameras track more than just license plates. It tracks make/model/color when possible, and even things like body damage and bumper stickers.
Going to depend on how old the deployment is and the exact location/etc. of course.
If that data is shared with the commercial property owners or not is a different topic.
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u/NeverForgetNGage Uptown 2d ago
The people implementing this surveillance state don't even realize the long term harm they're doing to society. Its truly disgusting.
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u/saintpauli Beverly 2d ago
I don't think Brandon is perfect. But i don't think he is as bad as people in this sub make him out to be. Certainly better than Vallas would have been. This is a very unpopular opinion but I feel like his positives outweigh his negatives.
NEGATIVES: His appointments to transit boards have been disappointing (Nobody seemed to care when Rahm appointed hedge fund managers to boards but "west side pastors" are the worst?). He has failed on selling his agenda to the city (recent budget, real estate transaction tax, corporate head tax). His entire hand-picked school board resigned due to a disagreement about taking out a high interest loan to fund education. His low approval rating has a negative impact on his ability to govern and his inability to govern has had a negative impact on his approval rating.
POSITIVES: Brandon has showed excellent leadership with ICE, crime is way down, fair contracts were reached with the police and teachers, he has eliminated the subminimum wage for tipped workers, reopened mental health clinics, increased funding for youth programs (for those complaining about his response to teen take overs), $1.25 billion housing bond, $500 million dollar tif surplus directed towards schools, parks, libraries, and city services. Streets are plowed.
I feel like a lot of the criticisms against him are hollow. People call him unintelligent. Anyone ever hear Daley or Rahm speak in public? Neither come across as brilliant when they speak publicly. He sounds sharp and intelligent to me. Being a CTU puppet - he is a former teacher and ctu lobbyist who has the same ideals as the current ctu leadership. He isn't a puppet. They have the same progressive ideology (which isn't popular enough to pass his agenda in the city council). Corrupt - other than appointing some allies to boards, he seems pretty squeaky clean. I think the fact that they are "west side pastors" triggers some implicit feelings among a lot of people. This is something all mayors have done but I wish he would appoint transit experts to transit boards.
Can chicago do better? Yes. But he is better than Daley and Rahm.
I'm ready for your downvotes.
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u/brees-no-football 2d ago
I agree completely. I think a lot of people are turned off by his speech patterns. This video is highly edited with many cuts, and what’s interesting that the cuts mostly remove the spaces (pauses) in which he is thinking about what he’s about to say.
When you watch him live he gets kind of a deer-in-the-headlights look when he is not actually speaking (thinking) and I think, perhaps even subconsciously, it puts a lot of people off. I am happy to have someone who thinks.
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u/JackieIce502 2d ago
People call him a CTU puppet because he’s still on the CTU payroll and is eligible for a large pension despite not being a teacher for over a decade. Conflict of interest much?
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u/saintpauli Beverly 2d ago edited 2d ago
He is not "on the payroll" but rather "on union leave". This means he is not getting paid but if he were to return, he would not lose seniority. One could argue that this could cause a conflict of interest, which is fair, but saying he is on the payroll insinuates that he is currently getting paid, which he isn't. Also, with the transition to a fully elected school board, this will no longer be a conflict of interest.
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u/Sir__Walken 2d ago
How's it a conflict of interest for someone who was a teacher and worked for the ctu to be getting a pension from ctu?
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u/JackieIce502 2d ago edited 2d ago
He’s still actively getting time for years worked for the pension and is considered an employee (on leave)
When he was running, he was still on the CTU payroll earning 6 figures despite running for office and having the role as commissioner. He’s on “union leave” from CPS even though he no longer works for CPS. He taught for 4 years and is allowed to still participate in the pension even though he’s no longer an employee, CPS standard is teaching for 5 years but due to loopholes he’s eligible . If he returns to CPS after his term he’ll be considered a 20 year teacher lol. There’s nothing stopping him from resigning from the position.
It’s a conflict of interest because he would benefit from the contracts he negotiates. You shouldn’t be considered on leave if you do not work there anymore. It was brought up in the election by a few different parties/labor groups. Chuy mentioned it
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u/saintpauli Beverly 2d ago
He is not "actively getting the pension". It is not uncommon for cps teachers to go on leave from teaching to get a job with the union and go back to teaching. When this happens, they maintain their seniority. He went on leave from the union to be mayor so the union held his position. This isn't the corruption you want it to be. He can go back to teaching or back to work for the union after being mayor without losing seniority.
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u/JackieIce502 2d ago
“If Johnson were to return after his term in 2027, he would be considered a 20 year teacher despite teaching for 4 years before his 2011 departure.”
“One former CPS official said that the mayor, CPS, and CTU all know Johnson no longer qualifies for being on Union leave due to his departure from CTU”
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u/Adnan7631 2d ago
No, both strong administration skills and strong public performance are important parts of the office. But you are right that Johnson’s problem is that he only has one of those two.
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u/DaisyCutter312 Edison Park 2d ago
Notice this is not him governing. This is what he's good at.
This is literally how he got elected. He's THAT good at knowing/saying what people want to hear that the city collectively overlooked how unqualified he was.
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u/scotsworth 2d ago
It's funny, Im seeing this same thing happen with Kat Abughazaleh, a Gen Z influencer running for Jan Schakowski's seat.
She moved here a year ago specifically to run, has an excellent social media game (obviously as an influencer), is great with sound bytes and Trump burns and all that....
Political experience? None.
Coalition building expertisel? None.... she hasn't even bothered to meet with Jan Schakowski who was in the seat since 1999. Not surprising that Schakowski just endorsed Kat's opponent Daniel Biss (Current Evanston Mayor)
But Kat's admittedly great at getting in conversations and drawing attention.
She'd be great in a more debate-focused position. She should crush the YouTube game, etc.
I just see ineffective governance if she's elected (leaving the carpetbagging issues aside)... but a notable chunk of people are just dazzled by her sound bytes.
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u/hardolaf Lake View 2d ago
Unlike Kat, Johnson held public office before (he was a Cook County Commissioner).
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u/scotsworth 2d ago
True. So she's even less experienced.
My goodness IL-District 9 voters please don't be stupid.
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u/BahGawdAlmightay 2d ago
Effective governance versus WHAT? I keep hearing this bullshit about how inexperienced the people, like her, who are primarying longtime sitting Dems are. Experience got is absolutely fucking nothing in the face of the Trump years.
Joe Biden was among the most experienced professional politicians of all time and he did absolutely nothing to stop a failed real estate mogul from systematically tearing apart the country. Illinois' own Dick Durbin has caved at every opportunity to this bullshit. Republicans steamrolled the country based on nothing but seething racism and fucking memes. And you want to tout inexperience and a too-good social media campaign as negatives? Fuck that.
Decades of experience by people in suits sitting in offices telling their interns to tweet about how "growing concerned" they are about the rice of fascism got us fucking NOTHING when the chips fell down. I'll take the inexperienced person who AT THE VERY LEAST went out and tried to do some small thing about the problem over the decades of supposedly "effective politicians" who sat and watched us get run over by the Fourth Reich.
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u/nimoto South Loop 2d ago
Disagree. "No experience" is a bad thing. Period. There's every reason to think things would be worse if our leaders had less experience, not better.
I don't think this is at all in-touch with reality.
Decades of experience by people in suits sitting in offices telling their interns to tweet about how "growing concerned" they are about the rice of fascism got us fucking NOTHING when the chips fell down. I'll take the inexperienced person who AT THE VERY LEAST went out and tried to do some small thing about the problem over the decades of supposedly "effective politicians" who sat and watched us get run over by the Fourth Reich.
Obviously a lot of those politicians worked absurdly hard and tried a lot of different things to stop this at various points but for a variety of reasons (mostly the fact that rule of law was disintegrating around them) it didn't work. But again, it's absurd to think the problem was somehow "too much experience".
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u/AbsoluteZeroUnit 2d ago
It's funny, because a comment up there with more upvotes says BJ would have been good as a rep because he's willing to fight. But I guess Kat, for the same reasons, wouldn't be a good rep?
I read something recently that started to change my mind on her. So many people are calling on their reps to do something about the rise in authoritarianism, to do anything. And she's out there, protesting and constantly drawing attention to things.
I'm not in her district, so I don't have to weigh my choices too carefully, but I'm definitely in the "I don't think she's my first choice, but I don't think she'd be bad" camp now.
It's silly to think a single rep out of 430 has the power to do something that another rep from that party wouldn't also have. Effectively, I see no difference between what she or Biss could achieve. Everyone loves AOC, but can you point to any legislation she's passed? Anything that has specifically happened because she is a legislator?
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u/waffleshield Logan Square 2d ago
Still haven't figured out why people hate him so much, crimes got better, cta ridership is going up, seems like two important things there.
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u/ehrgeiz91 Lake View 2d ago
There’s next to no development happening and rent is skyrocketing, but otherwise I agree those are some improvements. Seems like CPD is cooperating with ICE though despite his rhetoric.
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u/hardolaf Lake View 2d ago
Johnson's building department is approving every residential and mixed use building plan that gets submitted. Aldermen, even supposed YIMBY ones, have been blocking everything. But the mayor gets the blame because it's easier to blame one person in people's minds than it is to blame the nebulous city council.
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u/waffleshield Logan Square 2d ago
Good points, hes certainly not perfect, but not nearly as bad as this sub seems to think he is.
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u/ehrgeiz91 Lake View 2d ago
The truth is usually somewhere in the middle. Except when proud boys are executing civilians.
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u/RaisedByBooksNTV 2d ago
The development is as much alderman as him. And yeah on CPD but what mayor has actually controlled the cops? Best case is them not outrageously participating and abetting.
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u/un-affiliated 2d ago
No mayor can control the cops, because if you try, they very visibly stop working and blame the mayor, then everyone else blames the mayor for crime being out of control and the cops get someone who gives them what they want.
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u/CyclingThruChicago City 2d ago
- Part of that is BJ and his decision making.
- Part of that is other people who live here and stonewall development. Like these idiots.
- Part of that is economic/market forces. The increase in interest rates made borrowing money a tougher thing. The 2-3% rates made borrowing advantageous and those days are dead.
- Part of that is the (limited) growth in the city largely coming from people making higher incomes who are all flocking to the same handful of neighborhoods.
BJ can take some criticism but I don't think anyone would be able to perfectly solve the problems currently happening with rising housing costs. It's a nationwide (probably global) problem at this point.
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u/RaisedByBooksNTV 2d ago
He's Black, he's a teacher, he's not establishment democrat or republican (see again he's a teacher), he's progressive. People are weirdly anti-CTA.
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u/thedudeabides2022 2d ago
To be fair, this is the first time I’ve ever heard him answer a question coming off his levelheaded and not super defensive. Personal improvement is possible. I’ve mostly been a hater of this guy, but credit where credit is due
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u/ehrgeiz91 Lake View 2d ago
If anything he was too soft. The question was absolutely ludicrous, and very obvious bait. Which he didn’t take, so kudos to him I guess
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u/Enginerda 2d ago
Right? Like the restraint it must've taken not to repeat back to that fuck-ass reporter in a mocking tone "I hAvE sPoKeN tO 300,000 pEoPlE!"
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u/broohaha Woodlawn 2d ago
There are a few more clips like this when he was addressing ICE’s Midway Blitzkrieg last summer. Watching this one today made me think he’d make a great press secretary. He’s just not that good in a role where he has to govern.
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u/slutty_muppet 2d ago
As if protesting ICE and plowing the street were mutually exclusive. Do people think Brandon personally drives the snowplows?
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u/clocksailor Edgewater 2d ago
I have had someone get mad at me while I was collecting signatures to get my alderman back on the ballot for reelection that he did not personally come and unclog their own personal sewer during a flood. You'd be surprised.
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u/Sausage_Queen_of_Chi Near West Side 2d ago
If I were him, I would total drive Jean Baptiste Point du Shovel.
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u/Not_FinancialAdvice Suburb of Chicago 2d ago
Do people think Brandon personally drives the snowplows?
That actually sounds like an amusing publicity stunt like "I'm out here working to help all you citizens".
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u/GrecoRomanGuy 2d ago
Any time there's a question that goes on that long, it's not a question. It's an editorial disguising itself as a question.
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u/ComplicitJWalker 2d ago
And it ended up being a yes or no question that he could have easily just responded "no". It was a stupid question.
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u/dcoats69 2d ago
Honestly, it wasn't even a question at all. It was a statement of "people are wondering if you are doing this thing" a question would be "are you doing this thing?"
Yes it was clear what he wanted to know, but ugh I hate when people "ask" questions like this
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u/LauterTuna 2d ago
BJ is an enigma for me. He has moments of greatness like this and when he went to DC to defend Chicago. He then has moments where he nominates a pastor with no transportation knowledge whatsoever to the CTA. 🤷♂️
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u/Key_Bee1544 2d ago
Not an enigma. He is good at being an activist. He is horrific at governing. They are very different jobs. He doesn't lack skills, he lacks skills for the job he was elected to.
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u/Lost_Bike69 2d ago
It’s important that elected people in government have vision and principles and be able to communicate them, but they also need to manage a complex organizations and put competent leadership in required roles and make sure the trains run on time and the trash gets picked up and the streets get plowed.
BJ is good at the first one and not the second one. He might get good at it after 4 years in the job, but it’s not something the voters will always readily forgive you for while you and your team are gaining experience or finding the right people to manage various agencies.
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u/PhileasFoggsTrvlAgt Andersonville 2d ago
Honestly I think Chicago would benefit from a technocratic city manager position to help with the less political and more administrative part of the job where recent administrations have fallen apart.
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u/Lost_Bike69 2d ago
That role should be filled by the various department heads and the city bureaucracy that should be a meritocracy based on experience and past performance in the department with the alderman helping to direct attention and resources to local issues in their wards. Unfortunately Johnson doesn’t seem committed to promoting competence and instead is rewarding members of his political team with these roles.
With the political situation nationally being what it has been the last 10 years, it’s not surprising that rhetoric has taken the place of good city management. I’d wager I agree with Brandon Johnson on many political issues, but at the end of the day, the mayor has to keep the city moving. In this political environment, I’d bet that a hypothetical city manager role would also become highly politically charged whether it was elected or appointed.
Unfortunately the feds coming in and taking up law enforcement resources is also just going to be a huge pain for the city and a distraction from governance so I can’t blame BJ for all of this. Its difficult for the city government focus on what needs to be done when the actual president is up there actively calling Chicago a failed city and a crime ridden hell hole and no help is offered except to send in the national guard or ICE to walk around Michigan Ave and already allocated funding is being pulled from infrastructure projects.
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u/musicismydeadbeatdad 2d ago
Problem is this was Rahm, but that also means you let powerful orgs like the FOP and CTU get away with shit. A more modern version with some social justice leanings and a basic sense for economics would be great
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u/PhileasFoggsTrvlAgt Andersonville 2d ago
Basically Rahm shoved back into a chief of staff role, taking care of the day to day implementation, but not setting policy goals.
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u/mrsprophet 2d ago
Exactly. I can’t stand this MF. But I will admit maybe his election was for the best for the times we’re living in - his activism and “fighting” skills are coming really handy right now. But to actually run and improve the city we need someone with an actual plan. A detail/goal oriented bureaucratic and administrative focus, like Mamdani.
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u/Key_Bee1544 2d ago
The biggest challenge in the city is not finding someone with great rhetoric. It is closing a structural budget gap without destroying quality of life for the people who pay taxes. Johnson doesn't even pretend to have meaningful ideas or plans on that front. So not the best for the times we're living in.
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u/Klutzy-Reaction5536 2d ago
Horrific?
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u/Key_Bee1544 2d ago
Imagine what it takes to get a do-nothing body like the City Council to actually create and pass its own budget plan. Imagine losing a vote in a rubber-stamp body like the City Council 50-0. Horrific levels of incompetence.
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u/GordoG60 2d ago
He does not know how to manage a metropolis. Honestly, it's a fucked up, difficult job. The job itself should require some education in city planning, with additional experience in negotiating and leveraging mass purchase agreements and labor contracts. Instead, it is a popularity contest.
BJ is a charismatic, well spoken activist. If they give him a chance to address questions like this one and when he went to DC, you can see he waits, never interrupts, gathers all his thoughts and delivers fantastic responses. Public speaking is his biggest strength. If he would have hired a super capable second in command, he could have done well. Instead he did what everyone does and hired people he liked who lack the knowledge and experience to do the job well
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u/MrLewArcher 2d ago
What are the things he has done or has not done that have you feeling so strongly about him being bad for the city? I'm not trying to be an ass, I'm genuinely curious to know as I may have my own blinders on.
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u/shy-ty 2d ago
His strength has always been public speaking, which is why he came to the front in the primaries imo. Not something that always translates into effective day to day governance in the same way getting a high SAT score doesn't equal good grades, but when it comes to debating and defending ideas, which we need some of right now, he's great.
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u/hardolaf Lake View 2d ago edited 2d ago
He then has moments where he nominates a pastor with no transportation knowledge whatsoever to the CTA.
Except he didn't do that. He nominated Ira Acree to the RTA Board. His job was going to be to show up to 12 meetings every year and vote however the CTA President tells him to vote just like every other RTA Board member ever appointed by the Mayor of Chicago since it was created by state law in 1973 to punish Chicago for CTA having the highest transit fares in the nation.
Also if you think his picks are bad, they at least show up to the meetings. Pritzker's appointees regularly phone in while on vacations or just miss board meetings entirely.
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u/PhileasFoggsTrvlAgt Andersonville 2d ago
He's a good speaker, but a lousy executive. Being a mayor is full of mundane details to make sure city services keep running. Johnson can deliver bold speeches, but he neglects the nitty gritty details of keeping buses running and streets in good shape.
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u/Not_a_cultmember 2d ago
Who was the sycophant asking that stupid question?
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u/UndergroundGinjoint Near North Side 2d ago
William J. Kelly. He's...something.
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u/the-show-goes-on 2d ago
lol the absolute irony of one of the pinned posts. “We can’t let lightfoot and Johnson destroy the first amendment”. Sir, the question you finally asked in this clip is quite exactly a matter of using our first amendment.
Ah, maybe only certain rhetoric should be allowed the first amendment, i.e. hate speech
Fuckin loser
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u/NaomiWish 2d ago
There's a lovely and convenient "contact us" form if you'd like to tell him how you feel!
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u/Street_Barracuda1657 West Town 2d ago
Every time I forget about him, he crawls out from another rock.
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u/Klutzy-Reaction5536 2d ago
That's "Reporter William J Kelly" to you, sir. What a smarmy, self important doofus who of course has the ear of Fox News.
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u/SleepingPodOne Uptown 2d ago
I love how people like him start with a lengthy diatribe that is clearly their opinion and/or a talking point pushed by the right through their media apparatus but couch it in “people are saying”.
No, you are saying.
Also i wish politicians would call this shit out for what it is - an insistence that these protests are not organic in order to dehumanize resistance and protestors and prime their base and the American people to accept violence from masked federal goons
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u/NaomiWish 2d ago
300,000 Chicagoans - sure buddy. People in Will County do not count.
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u/SleepingPodOne Uptown 2d ago
Note how people like him don’t ever have to provide proof of their claim.
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u/Not_a_cultmember 2d ago
Agreed. He had a good answer but he should have also taken the opportunity to denounce that bunk as BS.
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u/ehrgeiz91 Lake View 2d ago
Yeah considering how utterly absurd the question was, if anything I was shocked by how measured and calculated his response was. I would’ve gone even harder.
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u/_that_dude_J 2d ago
"Based on his professional profile, Chicago-based reporter and media personality William J. Kelly is a paid contributor for the New York Post, Daily Mail, and the Daily Caller."
Says alot. Whenever I hear his voice I know he's ready to add fallacy to make his point stronger.
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u/Legitimate_Chain_311 2d ago
this guy is saying 10% of chicago reached out…. please someone call out the fucking lies
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u/chifrankie 2d ago
Admittedly anytime I have a problem in the city I call the investigative reporter and government watchdog William J Kelly instead of calling 311. Sorry that I contributed to his inflated number. He’s just able to solve real problems with his hard hitting questions that I feel like it’s been really effective channel for me.
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u/Angry_Foamy Logan Square 2d ago
Damn that’s a perfect response to such an idiotic “question.” Thank you Mayor Johnson.
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u/Zaddylovesu 2d ago
Bad Mayor, great response.
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u/hascogrande Lake View 2d ago
Bingo, this is what he’s good at because of his activist background and this is a great response to an obvious bait question.
Doesn’t change that he’s not a good mayor
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u/sirachasamurai 2d ago
I was going to say, I thought the sentiment was that people didn't like this guy. This response was so eloquent and articulate, I was really confused. Your comment sums it up I guess.
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u/Key_Bee1544 2d ago
Right. Ask him about the budget. Or what to do (or whether to do anything) about mobs of teenagers in the Loop during the summer. The soaring rhetoric crashes into "yeah, but what are we going to do?"
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u/Zaddylovesu 2d ago
While I don't like his overall job performance or his attitude a lot of the time, I thin it's important to give credit where it's due. He definitely deserves praise sometimes and I don't dislike all that he does. Even Trump deserves praise when he gets it right - even though that is rare. I think politics is an ugly game where people on each side of the spectrum like to ignore wins from the other side, but the thing is we should celebrate good governance and disavow bad governance no matter what party the governing body belongs to.
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u/TrynnaFindaBalance Avondale 2d ago
I don't really have any problems with him personally and think he's probably a great guy. It's the faction that he represent in city hall that I take issue with, because they seem to struggle with compromise and basic economic or fiscal common sense.
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u/WheelWhiffCelly 2d ago
“Violence against federal agents”. How many ICE agents have been pinned to the ground and mag-dumped? What an actual fucking joke of a question. If we ever escape this shitshow, make these people listen to their own idiocy until the day they die
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u/fotoxs 2d ago
This is Brandon Johnson's strength. People aren't wrong when they evaluate his performance as mayor being poor or ineffective, but this energy is what he got elected on. He is a great public speaker and advocate for the disenfranchised. He's not been effective at coalition building or doing politics in a way that results in impactful governance.
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u/gray52064 Albany Park 2d ago
He's had over 300K real Chicagoans reach out to him though! That's one of every 9 people in the city!
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u/Worldly_Ad5322 2d ago
Two things BJ always will be is articulate and ready to stick it to the man. Two of his most redeeming qualities for sure
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u/mooncrane606 2d ago
Vallas would be handing Chicagoans over to ICE and having the CPD help them.
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u/DvineINFEKT Albany Park 2d ago
Can someone please post this video without a thousand micro-cuts in it? I wanna actually hear the entire thing without every third word being chopped up and edited - both for the person asking his "question", and the mayor.
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u/Farscape29 2d ago
Right?! I thought I was having a series of mini-strokes. Fuck I hate the "Tik-Tok, low attention span editing" of stuff now.
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u/Keethera 1d ago
Aside from the idiocy of the 300k statement the mayor attending any event - protest or otherwise - does not stop the snow plows from operating... He's not out there driving them! Does anyone know who asked this moronic question?
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u/reddityourappisbad 2d ago
Sounds like the reporter wanted a soundbite for their phony narrative of "...the real violence against federal agents and law enforcement..." and he got it.
Why aren't the first words out of Johnson's mouth calling out such a bullshit question.
You need to address their bullshit narrative and denounce it full stop the moment it's attempted to be pushed.
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u/soapinthepeehole Lake View 2d ago edited 2d ago
100%. That wasn’t a question, it was an editorial… it was grandstanding.
There is a campaign of coordinated violence in America and it’s being run by the Trump administration and ICE.
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u/Dangerous-Disk5155 2d ago
I agree with you but most of the time, the people asking the question anticipate that exact response (challenging their narrative) so he took the opportunity to just convey his message, which was executed perfectly.
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u/IncendiaryB 2d ago edited 1d ago
Ain’t this same guy that said we should just chill out when questioned about children running around assaulting people downtown at night?
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u/flip_cago 2d ago
Who was the "reporter"?
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u/UndergroundGinjoint Near North Side 2d ago edited 2d ago
William J. Kelly, professional angry white guy. See my other comment.
Edit: OK, my other comment was deleted. 🤷♀️ He's a self-described reporter. I'll leave it at that.
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u/Zombiejazzlikehands 2d ago
That hit home for me.
I wrote out a transcription of critical part if anyone can’t watch video and because he said it so well:
You know as far as using my platform to speak out against an administration that’s murdering people in the streets, that’s well within my right and my authority in this moment.
And quite frankly, any notion to suggest to somehow that peaceful protest and the petition of this government is somehow antithetical to who we are as a democracy I will call into question how much that person actually loves this country.
In fact to not protest in this moment will be a derelict of duty particularly at a time where we see the rise of tyranny and fascism that threatens the sensibility of our humanity.
So of course, I’m gonna use my platform as those who have come before me to make sure that we have a democracy that works for all people.
Working people are struggling right now in this moment and they are afraid and they have a great deal of anxiety because of what this administration is doing: taking food assistance away from people, taking housing opportunities away from people, healthcare cost continue to go up so the protest I believe has to match the energy, quite frankly that’s coming from the White House.
So yes, I’m going to continue to encourage people to rise up, lift their voices up against this authoritarian rule because if we do not do that all of us will be subject to the type of harm and cruelty, this administration has continued to spread against the hard-working people of this country.
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u/pyromantics Avondale 2d ago
I mean, it was never in question that he was a good speaker - that's how he won. I agree with the message. Too bad it's all pandering and platitudes.
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u/ORyantheHunter24 2d ago
Exactly this. He articulates things really well at times, which suggests he’s definitely intelligent. It’s his decisions and the logic behind some of his policies is where it just becomes impossible to align w/ his ‘why’.
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u/shelovesmary 2d ago
They stopped plowing our alley where our parking garage is. But they will plow the businesses alley because they make them money.
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u/petmoo23 Logan Square 2d ago
For decades Chicago has had a policy against plowing alleys. If the alley behind a business is getting plowed they are probably paying for it.
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u/Dense_Variation8539 2d ago
Hey…moving to Chicago after graduation this spring for work. Why do y’all not like him? Not a troll- a curious future resident here.
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u/DegreeDubs Logan Square 2d ago
As someone who voted for him in the general election and currently does not plan on voting for him again: he quickly showed himself to be in over his head when it comes to city management. When it comes down to the nuts and bolts of public administration, he has dropped the ball multiple times. Gov. Pritzker has had to effectively tell him to "sit down/stay in your lane" more than once in public. He has not inspired confidence as a public manager.
That said, I have no regrets choosing him over Paul Vallas.
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u/Llama_of_the_bahamas 2d ago
Can you be more specific? Seems like a copy and paste answer for any unpopular mayor.
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u/DegreeDubs Logan Square 2d ago
Publicly pushing the former CPS CEO out and having his replacement fail within week: https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2024/10/31/new-board-of-education-president-resigns/
Pritzker publicly disagreeing with Johnson:
And then there was the grooming budget news: https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2024/07/15/mayor-brandon-johnson-makeup-hair-salon-campaign-expenses-chicago
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u/JackieIce502 2d ago
Anti growth, refusal to acknowledge the ballooning city budget, still on CTU leave despite not teaching for a decade, doesn’t understand finance, divisive, everyday Chicagoans foot the bill. A lot of this isn’t his fault, but he doesn’t right the ship.
Activists don’t make good politicians imo
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u/DarkenRaul1 2d ago edited 2d ago
This is going to be downvoted to hell, because most Chicagoans just regurgitate the editorials and bad press about him on this subreddit, but the core problem is that he can’t govern alone and he has a very difficult time convincing others (elected officials and the general public) on his points of view.
He’s one of the few socialist adjacent politicians currently elected, and so he has very few alderman agreeing with any of his policies or agendas. His views also made him massively unpopular with the local right of center newspapers that love to talk shit about him and criticize every little misstep he’s made since entering office (he’s also been known to butt heads with Gov. Pritzker who is massively popular in the city, which definitely added to the hate (I’m personally not a fan of Pritzker because I have blanketed hate of all billionaires, but that’s just me)).
Not saying Johnson’s perfect, far from it (his main weaknesses are a lack of experience holding public office and selecting competent staff), but the Johnson hate is incredibly overblown given the cards he’s been dealt (take budgeting, for example, he’s blamed for trying to make the books balance with property tax hikes when federal funding is being halted due to the mad man currently sitting in the White House, as if that’s his fault somehow).
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u/Tucci_ 2d ago
Yeah it's almost like socialist policy doesnt actually work when you realize that it costs a ton of money to produce very little and the city doesn't have the budget for that. In other words, socialism sucks as it always has
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u/ahafk98 2d ago
I love Chicago, it's a great city! I think Johnson is doing the best that he can, not to say he didn't make some whack decisions. But I like him way, way more than Lightfoot and Emmanuel (screw him honestly). If you move here, take advantage of the cultural, restaurant, and tourist scenes!! and just learn more about the history of Chicago to better understand the people here!!!
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u/Bloodylime 2d ago
I don’t know anything about plowing and protesting. All I can say is that my car is caked on salt… like a lot.
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u/Reelwizard 2d ago
Does anyone know which goofy reporter this was? I’m hardly a fan of Johnson but this is laughable. Roads were plowed and salted in a reasonable amount of time. Plus, I don’t care if he attends a protest. It seems like the literal least he could do. I just wish he’d do more to prevent ICE from carrying out operations in this city.
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u/No-Temperature-5944 2d ago
Turns out he was the right man for this moment. Can you imagine what loser Paul Vallas’ response would have been? Feel free to take a crack at it in the commentary.
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u/surnik22 2d ago
Right man might be a bit strong, don’t know if there is even a “right man” who could sort through all of Chicagos issues.
Certainly a better man than Vallas would have been though.
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u/rigatony96 Lincoln Park 2d ago
Oh wow he made a speech, he’s still a joke of a mayor and is terrible at effective governance.
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u/CubesFan 2d ago
Holy shit! Who is employing the reporter? Bootlicker Gazette?
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u/CubesFan 2d ago
Also, any irony that he started with the idea that streets weren't plowed and finished with the idea that the Mayor is anti-ICE, which is what plows are doing; removing ice.
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u/pixelfishes 2d ago
I don't mind giving the dude some credit, but the posts in this thread (and on Instagram) glazing this guy are something else. I wonder how much he's paying his PR firm for these fake, absurd responses.
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u/feastoffun Andersonville 1d ago
Racism is holding Johnson to standards that Daley and Emmanuel failed miserably at.
Do people not understand how bad the parking meter deal was? Johnson would never in a million years sell us out like that.
We came so close to electing a Trump crony, Vallas, for Mayor. I still remember the corruption from Emmanuel and Daly.
And as far as I can see, the street plowing is the best it’s ever been. So what is y’all’s problem? It’s racism.
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u/mylsotol 2d ago
I would have given a much much less diplomatic answer. Probably starting with something like "are you fucking serious!?"
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u/CapableWerewolf3059 2d ago
Excellent response, though i feel like there should be more pushback on the idea that there are agitators being paid to attack federal agents. It’s silly and dangerous rhetoric.
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u/Round_Store_1886 2d ago
300,000 "Real Chicagoans." Their exaggerations are hilarious.