“The things that need to change are the fact that the city of Chicago has become the O.K. Corral with shootouts and homicides every night because people don’t feel safe,” Bailey told a crowd of about 100 people, many of them farmers during the forum in rural McLean County. “It’s real. Especially on the South Side where they’re being ignored.” (Chicago Tribune)
I was not going to write about GOP gubernatorial candidate, Darren Bailey again. But, damn, I just cannot help myself. He is like syphilis, the gift that keeps on giving. He keeps ranting and raving like a lunatic about things he knows nothing about.
I am a lifelong Chicagoan. I spent almost 30 years as a Chicago Police Officer. When I bash City Hall and other local politicians, I do so from a position of knowledge and know-how, as in knowing HOW THINGS WORK or should work in this city. Bailey knows nothing.
Governor J.B. Pritzker and Darren Bailey, gave what the Chicago Tribune described as “back to back” speeches at the Agriculture Legislative Roundtable in Lexington, Illinois. Bailey, a millionaire multi-generational farmer, should have shone like a star. He knows agriculture and the agriculture business. Instead, he had to wallow and roll in the manure talking about Chicago crime, something he knows nothing about. I do not believe downstate farmers care one wit about criminality in Chicago. It was a farming conference, not a crime or urban issues conference.
Instead of sticking to his knitting and discussing his area of expertise, he went off on another rant about Chicago. He bashed Chicago and Governor Pritzker’s supposed failure to curb criminality in our city. Bailey’s lack of knowledge and potential abuse of the governor’s powers make him unfit to hold the office of governor or any other public office.
Pritzker is not just some “entitled heir to a fortune,” as Bailey called him. Before he became governor, he was a business executive. A simple search showed the extent of his business holdings employing over 10,000 people.
Like Pritzker, Bailey inherited his wealth, a large farming operation. He is not and never was a member of the middle class or blue-collar communities. One could say he was born with a golden corn cob in his mouth. He also owns a freight company and construction business. He is the pot calling the kettle black while throwing stones inside glass houses. Pritzker released his income taxes. Bailey refuses to. What is Bailey hiding? Or is it his love of freedumb? If he is not required to do it, he won’t. Is Bailey a tempestuous two-year-old?
Chicago is the economic engine of Illinois. Illinois is a major national agribusiness state, from small farmers to farmers like Bailey, who own thousands of acres of land. Agriculture is a big business in Illinois. Bailey should have talked about how he would be a benefit to farmers and agribusiness- at a farmers’ conference– if by a slim to no chance voters elect him governor.
Bailey just cannot get Chicago off his mind. He is like a madman when it comes to our city. What next? Will he run naked through the streets of Chicago screaming like some mad, drunk Russian poet? It appears Bailey is a one-issue candidate, Chicago crime. Few, if any, people in Chicago will vote for him. He is fighting a losing campaign by ranting and raving about Chicago, especially downstate, which is not affected by Chicago crime.
Bailey is running one of the dumbest campaigns for high office in Illinois history. There is no other way to describe it. His whole campaign is based on gross ignorance. When he loses, Bailey probably will claim the election was stolen and make accusations of massive voter fraud. He may even claim the cemeteries in Chicago emptied out to cast votes for his opponent.