“Those who think it is permissible to tell white lies soon become color blind.” Austin O’Malley
Just the Facts
You may have seen the video clip of Jeff Daniels “America isn’t the greatest country in the world” monologue from the Aaron Sorkin HBO show The Newsroom. Later in the series, Daniel’s character Will McAvoy demands his staff bring him facts that expose the lies we’re told by the government, corporations, activists, etc. In another episode, McAvoy exclaims, “People choose the facts they want now!”
Isn’t that the truth? We don’t like the reporting from CNN? Turn on Fox or MSNBC. Don’t like Fox? Turn on Newax or the Daily Wire. The reporting we want is everywhere around us. But, it feels like we’re less informed than ever.
Youthful Indiscretions
Take the Chicago mayor’s race. I was sent a clip of young mayoral candidate Ja’mal Green’s answer in a debate. Green was asked how to deter carjacking in Chicago. His answer was,” not more police… if we don’t start tackling the root problem we’re going to be here 10, 20 years…we already have lots of police officers, but what we don’t have is youth investment.”
Mr. Green is 27. I don’t hold his youth or inexperience against him. His debate answers and speeches are impressive. So why isn’t he making a dent?
Honesty First
I think it starts with honesty. Seriously, how can he stand there with a straight face and tell Chicago they don’t have youth investment? CPS increased its multi billion dollar budget by $240 million dollars THIS YEAR. Governor Pritzker’s proposed budget equals tens of millions of dollars in youth investment. Do any of us believe none of that money’s going to Chicago?
Maybe Mr. Green meant “we don’t have enough investment.” In that case, it would be helpful for him to devote the time to explain what “enough” means. It would be helpful for his website to specify. Which programs do we need? How much more do we need to spend? Is he gonna tell us? Probably not.
Maybe he meant, “we don’t have the right investment.” In that case, you’d think he’d devote some web words on what he thinks the right youth investments are, and how he plans to fund them. Does he? Nope.
The worst part isn’t his lack of candor. I’m convinced he doesn’t even know. And that’s why he’s not going to defeat the laundry list of recycled Chicago machine politicians running for mayor right now. It’s not difficult to learn. I wrote a comprehensive article about it in less than 2 weeks.
Conclusion
My advice? He should apologize to his voters for not knowing enough to be their mayor. He should apologize for not being completely honest about his proffered solutions. And he should promise them that in 4 years he will know enough and will have the answers to earn their vote and their trust as one of the youngest mayors in Chicago history. To me, anything less is just lip service.
