Reply to Marion Barry has passed away

Forum Index » Political Discussion

Reply to "Marion Barry has passed away"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The censorship is unfortunate but probably necessary.

It doesnt seem Barry operated for personal gain - he was basically bankrupt. Did he enrage others? Probanly. But his legacy is pretty amazing. [b]Last of the biggest city bosses to go.[/b] Now we get hacks like Gray, diblasio,  etc.

The city will move on, and maybe faster than it otherwise w/o have. But it may lose some of the unique character Barry nurtured.[/quote]Being from Chicago and home of one of the biggest, baddest late bosses, Richard J Daley (1955-1976), I can appreciate your statement.

Daley, like Barry, was never in it for personal gain and both had dubious moments.  I remember my grandfather saying he never really liked or trusted Daley but always voted for him "because my trash gets picked up, the street lights are on, and the precinct captain always checks in to make sure everything is alright."

Sounds like bosses Daley and Barry had much in common.[/quote]

Are you kidding me? Clearly you didn't live in ward three during the 90s. Our trash got picked up maybe twice a month and if you called with a service request like fixing a streetlight the city would retaliate against you by fining your house for a minor infraction.[/quote]Looks like you missed the point which is many benefited from the bosses and those who did, voted for them.

[/quote]

I just don't think it is appropriate to compare basic city services like trash pickup that Daley was good at in Chicago to the same services that barry provided. Daley is known for being very good at providing those services; barry is known for being bad at services like trash pickup and fixing lights. Not fair to Daley.
Yes, the summer jobs program was a good initiative, but you need more than that to be a good mayor.[/quote]You folks don't understand the definition of a 'boss' in politics.  This isn't about trash pickup.  It's about political control, effective or not.  Never make a regional political comment where people really don't understand.[/quote]

I was responding to his grandfather's quote. People in Chicago often used to say the city was corrupt, but stuff got done. The trash was picked up, basic services were provided. I seriously doubt you can find many people who grew up in DC during the Marion Barry years of the 1990s who would say that trash got picked up, etc. Maybe the services were better east of the park, but west of the park, I can assure you, no one would have said what his grandfather said of Daley. It is not an apt historical comparison.[/quote]If you take trash out of the picture (both cities are more than that), it's about the power that was wielded under the definition of 'boss.'

In that respect, there is a comparison, though limited for very obvious reasons, where you have the definition of boss mayor who answered to no one.  Read 'Boss: Richard J Daley of Chicago' by Mike Royko.  As you read, it's far, far more than trash.  And obviously, you can't compare Chicago to DC but their is similar sentiment about power.

Again, try and not focus exclusively on the trash aspect.  If you didn't live in Chicago during the time the Boss governed, you might get more insight from the book rather than a few lines on DCUM please.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics