The Stroger is Dead; Long Live the Stroger
Somehow my reaction to John Stroger’s death is only to hate Daley more:
“He was an inspiration to all of us in politics,” Daley said. “He really believed government could make changes. His greatest legacy is building Cook County Hospital. When people told him that public hospitals had ended many years ago, he firmly believed people needed good, quality health care.”
Um, I believe we call that ‘Stroger Hospital.’ He cared so much about the people that he named it after himself.
The mayor also had this to say:
“After I lost the election, he supported Harold Washington,” Mayor Daley said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. That isn’t loyalty. Maybe he believed in someone. That isn’t disloyalty. It’s like after a game you shake someone’s hand.”
Um, I know we have to ask this a lot, but what in the hell are you talking about?
Meanwhile, Todd compared his father to Job, which is funny since overpaid and nepotist ‘jobs’ were what his father was all about.
This is, perhaps, unkind, and I do have sympathy for the grieving family as I would any family who lost a loved one. The number of people that sent me this news, however, belies somewhat the glowing obits run by both the Tribune and especially the Sun Times.
There is no doubt that Stroger broke a lot of barriers; he was the first African-American committeeman, a position of great power in the city. But that power went to his head, as well as the heads of the group that surrounded him. And, importantly, the group that still surrounds his son. Whatever one thinks about Stroger, he was at least a consummate politician. It’s a shame his de facto last act was to set the stage for that which currently occupies his chair.
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