Critics of the mayor contend that he is behaving autocratically, because it is common knowledge that his not-so-secret agenda is to replace the small airport in the heart of downtown Chicago with an 80-acre lakefront park.
Now that we are living in a era of autocratic American leaders, it is interesting to compare Mayor Daley's unilateralism with that of George W Bush. When Republican Bush acts dictatorially, he creates enormous deficits, undermines civil liberties, accelerates crony capitalism, and starts an ill-conceived war with hundreds of civilian casualties within the first two weeks. When Democrat Daley acts dictatorially, he bulldozes a tiny airport, used only by Cessna-flying cardiologists and Illinois governors, to protect downtown airspace from terrorism, and proposes a lakefront park for all citizens.
Bush is acting arrogantly to slake the greed and bloodlust of his insane constituents: neoconservative fanatics, Cheney's sugar daddy Halliburton, the murderous Christian right, the gun lobbyists, and the energy and defense industries.
Daley's critics are correct in that he acted arrogantly — but he did so for the safety and benefit of the people of Chicago. Although I am not pleased by the process, I, for one, am grateful for the result.
What's fascinating is the difference between what motivates a Democratic dictator and a Republican one. The Democrats favor promoting public good. The Republicans favor enriching private interests.
Same means, wildly different ends. There's nothing new here, but the essential difference between the parties is heightened and thrown into greater relief by the extremism of contemporary American life since the White House's misfired response to 9/11/01.
