A casino for Rahm Emanuel?

Thanks to the Illinois state legislature, Chicago might soon become the only municipality in the United States to own a casino. To make that happen requires only Governor Pat Quinn’s signature. According to the June 2 issue of the Chicago Sun-Times:

“Quinn repeatedly refused to say whether he would veto the package, pledging only his intent for a ‘microscopic review’ of the first significant gambling expansion package in Illinois in more than 20 years.”

I’m not a gambling man but if I were, I’d bet Quinn will go ahead and sign this package. To be sure, he will claim to have given this bill that promised “microscopic review.” He’ll probably also echo the same sentiment expressed in his press release after recently signing the state’s redistricting bill:

“Ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard in government is crucial to our democracy. For the first time, the people of Illinois have been able to participate in public hearings and have their voices heard in drawing their legislative districts.”

Oh, “everyone’s voice” may well have been heard…but then the Democrats proceeded to redraw that map as they saw fit, completely ignoring those voices. Voices may well have been heard but (needless to say) the resulting map still ended up heavily favoring the Democratic (that is, the Governor's) Party. And voices may well be heard arguing against the wisdom of expanding gambling in Illinois in general and a casino for Chicago in particular, but hey…Mayor Rahm wants a casino, therefore a casino he shall have.

I genuinely hope I am wrong in predicting that Quinn will sign this bill. However, I feel the governor will not be able to resist the overwhelming pressure which will be brought to bear by those mighty forces working to elect Rahm as US President in 2016. I blogged on that possibility on April 30, 2011 here:

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/04/rahm-for-us-president-in-2016.html

And I’m not the only one talking that talk. For instance, during his May 31 interview with Rahm, lamestream lapdog media stooge George Stephanopoulos participated in this exchange:

QUOTE:

GS: Well, we’re out of time. But, you know, if you do a good job here, a lot of Democrats are going to be talking about you to run for president in 2016.

Rahm: I got a job to do here and that’s all I’m focused on.

GS: You never think about it?

Rahm: You know my wife. No.

:UNQUOTE.

Oh, by the way, if anyone actually thinks that exchange was spontaneous, just keep in mind: George and Rahm are good friends. For my money, this part of the “interview” was scripted in advance. As for Rahm saying, “You know my wife. [Therefore] No [I don’t think about running for US President]” – that’s just a bit of disarming deflection. With all due respect to Rahm’s wife, I can confidently say she has never had any input concerning his politics or his political behavior. Rahm’s too bull-headed and ambitious for that. She knows her place, and he believes he knows his – in the White House.

Normally, I don’t indulge in the antics of friends involved in scripted or bogus interviews. However, I happened to catch this bit spoken by Rahm in this same very same interview:

“I looked at the whole speech.  I looked at everything [Obama] said in support of Israel, with its security and safety.  And I saw the president that I worked for.  And he’s been consistent about Israel's security and safety, as his number one concern.”

I don’t suppose I really have to say this but I will anyway: Those last three words were boldfaced and italicized for emphasis by me. But they might as well have been emphasized by Rahm as well: Israel’s security and safety are indeed Obama’s number one concern. That wasn’t any exaggeration on Rahm’s part, though I’m sure he wishes he could have rephrased that. Or maybe not…after all, I seem to be the only one who noticed.

On the wisdom of allowing a Chicago casino

This sentiment appeared in the Chicago Tribune on June 1 in John Kass’s column:

QUOTE:

“There are a lot of things in Mayor Emanuel’s transition report that I can support,” [Alderman] Pawar told me. “But I can’t support a Chicago casino.”

Why?

“Because a city that acts as the ‘house’ is a city that bets against its own people,” said Pawar. “And that’s a race to the bottom.”

:UNQUOTE.

Rahm Emanuel doesn’t care how many lives he’ll destroy due to the pernicious effects on society wrought by gambling. Nor does he care if the mob (I’ll spell it out M-O-B) shoulders its way in for a cut. The bottom line is, Rahm will have access to cash directly from the profits of the casino itself. This will be used to help make him look like a mayor good enough to be elevated to the presidency. And he’ll benefit from the “goodwill” he’ll have earned by making sure the “right” (that is “connected”) people are involved in bringing this casino to life. And that will also be used to help make him look good.

In closing

You can’t tell me it’s a coincidence that Rahm Emanuel just got elected mayor of Chicago and (voila) a casino is about to magically appear. Mayor Daley didn’t get one after trying all these years – so how is Rahm so special that he gets one? No sir…this is not coincidence.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“Keep paying attention and listening carefully – it won’t be long before other members of the liberal/“independent” members of the political chattering class get on the Emanuel-for-President bandwagon. They jumped on board blindly for Obama, they’ll do it again for Rahm.”

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com