By: Mark Glennon*
UPDATE, 10/18/23: Pritzker just announced his national effort to “take the fight to right wing extremists across the nation.” He’s apparently doubling down on what’s described below. Our new column about it is here.
Among America’s current insanities, few are more pernicious than deliberate incitement of division, especially on race. Among officeholders most guilty, two are here in Illinois – Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Still worse, they stoke that division while claiming to oppose it.
Most recently, look where Pritzker placed blame for the guy who stalked and vandalized his home – on a group he routinely describes as white supremacists. “The divisions across the country,” he said when asked about the crime, “are being fomented by the MAGA Republicans,” who he said are “causing people to feel that there’s a hatred that it’s OK to act upon if they disagree with you on an issue. I think these examples are a sign of the times.”
But it just so happens that the man arrested for the crimes is a person of color. Pritzker had no basis whatsoever for blaming anybody other than the individual, who evidence so far suggests is deranged. The stalking consisted of letters directed to Pritzker that prosecutors said contained mostly “nonsensical” writings about foreign affairs. The assailant also asked to have the Egyptian and Turkish consulates notified of the charges against him and said repeatedly that he was trying “to get home,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Johnson’s most recent incident came when asked point blank about surveys in Chicago showing overwhelming majority opposition to his sanctuary policies for migrants – opposition that’s most intense among blacks and Hispanics.
But that opposition is the far right’s fault, Johnson wants you to believe. “We have an alt-right movement not just in this country but around the globe that continues to disrupt black and brown economies.” He then went into a comparison about Afro-Columbian discrimination, that he apparently thinks helps explain opposition to him. In truth, white Chicagoans are the only racial group supporting his sanctuary policies, the survey found.
These are not isolated comments by Pritzker and Johnson. They are routine.
In Pritzker’s case, take a look in particular at his presidential teaser speech delivered in Florida last summer. It was seemingly as divisive, hypocritical and dishonest as he could make it.
“We need to start recognizing that we have an epidemic of young men enamored with white nationalism shooting up their communities with assault weapons,” he said in the speech, and “our most pressing security threat is the rise of white domestic extremism.” All Republicans are simply evil, Pritzker effectively said, because they care nothing about human life in all circumstances. “Give me one example of the Republican party showing up for life in this country,” he said.
Pritzker’s outright falsehoods included some old standbys. He repeated the discredited claim that “Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides” at the Charlottesville white supremacy rally.” He repeated the claim that Trump suggested ingesting bleach to stop COVID. Newsweek and even left-leaning PolitiFact, among many others, have shown that he didn’t. And he repeated the claim that Florida law for schools says ‘”Don’t Say Gay.” Their law says no such thing. It does not say “don’t say gay.”
Yet, after all that, Pritzker said, “The Republican game plan is to divide Democrats and to divide America.”
Johnson is no better, routinely dismissing criticism as racism.
He was ridiculed everywhere from the Chicago Tribune to the Wall Street Journal when critics said his administration was “slow” in making reforms. “You know, there’s coverage of me being slow, right?” Johnson said. “These are microaggressions, that if you don’t have the lens of those who have lived through these experiences, you would just miss it.” Johnson “didn’t just play the race card,” the Tribune said, “He pretty much laid out the whole deck.”
There’s a word for this: projection, which is charging others with exactly the wrong you commit. It’s galling, and part of what’s tearing the country apart.
*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Well said!
I will mention again as many people do here. You all must read “Rules for Radicals” by Saul Olinsky. If they have a set of rules or a playbook, this is it. They are following it word for word. We can’t let them succeed. The more educated we are the better chance we have to stop them. Remember, Obama loved this author and remember what he did to this country.
There’s plenty of better stuff out there. Rules for Radicals is ok reading. You’ll be amazed what you find if you spend a little time digging. I’m going to drop some great stuff soon, but I don’t want to burn my sources or give opposition a head start. Keep up your good attitude!
I’m sure the “opposition” is having strategy meetings right now. lol
Next level delusional. You’re always good for a laugh Davey boy. Seriously, keep it coming.
Glad you get a laugh. I appreciate the candor and more credit than I deserve. You’re way more fun than Sad State. I’ve posted links before to good out of print books and they almost always get taken down within a few hours. I’m simply waiting for the right moment to drop some links, preferably Monday morning on a very high traffic site. My ultimate goal is to get what I think are good ideas circulating and people thinking. I’m taking numerous approaches concurrently: publishing, activism, outreach, consulting, research, etc. I haven’t done anything big in a while because AI… Read more »
Come on Davey Crockett I am not that bad just feel strongly about my position as you do about your milquetoast propaganda your spew!
In Christ,
Sad State of Affairs
Next level delusional is kicking the pension can further down the road. You really think the people at the top of the pyramid care about you after all of the double crossing we’ve witnessed lately?
Think like a computer. Either kidnapping/torture/murder civilians is legal, binary choice :’yes’ or ‘no’. Pritzker-esques like Harvard student groups and Cornell professor Rickford, and Illinois representatives like Lauren Underwood ‘staying out of it’ for reasons of personal professional ambition clearly indicate “yes”, “legal” as to kidnapping/torture/murder. If ‘yes’, then kidnapping/torture/murder Pritzker-esques would also be legal. But Pritzker-esques feel protected by belief that their ‘enemy/subjugate useful idiots’ (ignorant innocents who still believe that living a law-abiding life of peaceful coexistence with various cultures) will not defend themselves against nor retaliate against their own Pritzker-esque inspired genocide. When Pritzker-esques bifurcate rule of… Read more »
Regarding Pritzker’s new national effort targeting extremists, be sure you have read the Newsweek column from a couple weeks ago about the FBI’s new initiative to target Trump supporters, which they pretty much equate with extremists.https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/exclusive-donald-trump-followers-targeted-by-fbi-as-2024-election-nears/ar-AA1hFVH2 It’s all in line with statements from Biden and A.G. Garland that “white supremacy” is America’s top security threat. Give them all credit for having the discipline to stay on the same message: Their opponents = extremism = MAGA = racism.
They can’t arrest half the population. Good luck with that. In general, the people that voted for Trump outnumber the extremists, have more resources and higher education. This skews the game in our favor even more.
He can’t arrest half the population, true. But he could imprison several thousand Deplorables to get the point across, and then take extreme political actions against them to force them to leave, or to just humiliate them. There’s precedent for this: January 6th. Chicago has criminals whom have shot children that receive shorter sentences than most of the January 6th mostly peaceful protestors who briefly entered the capital, and the left. And there hasn’t been a Republican rally since. Meanwhile, there was an insurrection just today, as a leftist peace group took over the Capital this afternoon. Will any of… Read more »
If Biden/ Whatever extremist Democrat is elected in 2024, I fully expect the corrupted DOJ/ FBI and corrupt D.C. courts to institute ‘FEMA Camps’ for large numbers of political opposition. If you have followed the corrupt D.C. courts on the J6 hoax, you will see citizens being sentenced and imprisoned for what are ‘thought crimes’ completely against their rights under the Constitution. Pritzker is showing his blind obedience by being fully on board with the Democrat tyranny. Pol Pot, Mao, and Stalin are most proud of these Democrats.
It goes beyond projection. Step back and listen to his words. His political premise is essentially this: Right Wing Extremists are the cause of your problems, and I (JB Pritzker) will hurt them for you if you give me power”. This is communism. He’s promising to hurt his supporter’s perceived political enemies in exchange for power. This is what communists have always done. The Bolsheviks promised to hurt the capitalists and the royalists and then the Kulaks. Mao’s enemies were the intellectual class and he promised to put them to work on rice farms. Pol Pots enemies were the same.… Read more »
Instead of over analyzing, why not do something and encourage others to do the same?
The Prophet Jeremiah spent his entire life forthtelling the future yet not one Judean changed his or her ways.
Good idea Dave. I will put a few requests in the classifieds at the Daily News Red Streak. Or maybe Green Streak this time?
Posting: Wanted Positive Karma Cheerleaders to stand on the corner or Lincoln & Dickens to take our city back from all who stole it.
I tell you Dave, the stuff your smokin is clouding any common sense. You think they are going to give power back easily after they stole it? Not sure you understand the gravity of the situation.
LOL, so JB is resurrecting the failed “Think Big Illinois” that was helmed by the same guy the led the Fair Tax down in flames?
Yes, but its format has changed to “all abortion, all the time”.
Ok, maybe more like “all abortion, transgenderism and ‘anti-censorship’, all the time”.
That these two progressives engage in such rhetoric comes as no surprise. Facism 101. When the market is flooded with affordable housing next spring, beat a path out of communist Utopia IL and relocate to a place where sanity is the order of the day. To do otherwise is enabling this madness.
Yes, it’s communism. His entire platforms consists of promising to punish Deplorables in every way imaginable, because Right Wing Extremists are the cause of all of his voter’s problems. The progressive ideology is merely window dressing. The real goal is the slaughter of Deplorables. Don’t believe me? Look everywhere in history where one group of people is actively demonized by politicians as the direct cause of another’s group’s grievances. Communism killed hundreds of millions in the 20th century, while fascism killed only a fraction of that.
Enough of this second person stuff and speaking on behalf of others. What are we going to do about it? We have more than enough resources to make a difference. All this fear mongering deters people from standing up.
Nothing will happen until ordinary people organize. Town hall meetings with some local state representatives would help buy even they cannot say much since they count on some of the union voters. They will not say anything about school or pension reform so as not to offend some of their constituents. Who will organize town hall meetings and where will they be held since it does cost money. The unions are highly organized and speak mostly in a collective voice. They get monthly dues which add up to millions to spend as they see fit but ordinary taxpayers do not… Read more »
Dave has a Diners Club and a Carte Blanche we can use. We should go with a definite color theme and possibly matching streamers including a party favor. We can all meet at Party City on 95th later tomorrow to begin the turnaround meeting? Whose In? Show of hands? Good location with easy access to 294. Maybe throw our first Hardy’s Turnaround Club doing at Lexington House right on 95th? I am totally stoked. This is grass roots stuff. If you want to start this out right let’s kick something off in Neil Hartigan’s old ward. We can make a… Read more »
Terrific article Mark!! Bravo!!! Pritzker and Johnson and almost all Democrats have vilified someone who admits to being a white nationalist. I’m white and I believe in America First, the real meaning of nationalist. And I believe we must Make America Great Again, because it’s clearly falling apart and being ruined, currently. It’s almost impossible to think otherwise. I think MLK Jr. nailed it when he hoped that someday, we will judge people by their character, not the color of their skin. He’d be appalled at today’s woke culture, inner-city rot, all the riots, and organized retail flash-looting and carjacking,… Read more »
Pritzker-esques speak in generalities. Self-defense against their contempt for those whom they rule cannot be rendered with generalities. One Specific self-defense tactic, which has been used liberally and to great personal rewards by Pritzker-esques, is civil litigation against “Hate”. Illinois has a Parental Responsibility Law, so identify college babies causing quantifiable damages and get judgment against their parents. (Also the children, and the professors, because they may someday have recoverable assets). Record data of Hate Speech by college babies and professors and Governors and Mayors. There may be civil litigation opportunities a la Southern Poverty Law Center (they have won… Read more »
Fat Fredo and BLM BJ understand that the people that vote Democrat in Illinois are primarily uninformed and have room temperature IQs. So blatant lies work when speaking to the political illiterate electorate.
The reality is that Gov Pritzker and Mayor Johnson would not lie and project as much as they do if their gaslighting didn’t work. Talk to your typical teachers union member, or SEIU member, or a suburban ‘Karen’ soccer Mom that drives an 8,00lb SUV and has BLM garden club signs – you will see them repeat the same lies. Of course Pritzker and Johnson’s projection and gaslighting requires the media be complicit, if not propaganda outlets. In IL the media are like Pravda for the Leftists and Marxists.
When I see the Illinois media and the power it wields I am often reminded of a quote from Malcom X:
“The press is so powerful in its image-making role, it can make the criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. This is the press, an irresponsible press. It will make the criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.
That quote is from decades ago. Legacy media doesn’t have nearly as much power as you think. They wouldn’t be trying to take away free speech if they were winning the media war.
Yes it is from decades ago as are many other quotes as Mark Twain comes to mind. Another old quote goes something like that those who do not study history are destined to repeat it. Just because they are old does not mean they are not appropriate and consider asking around at random and seeing just how many know about the battery plant. In my neck of the woods no one knows about it because the media ignores it…the power of the Illinois media
The most appropriate quote is: “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day….I will add, that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors. He who reads nothing will… Read more »
Which then leads us to the questions of how much of history really is true at all? If historians were the journalists of antiquity, is anything from the past truly believable?
Ebony and Ivory, two peas in a pod (race baiters).
Pritzker is one of the most disingenuous individuals who ever walked the earth. He positions himself as a leader of people while his rhetoric is extremely divisive. He is the exact opposite of what is needed in this country right now. He should just go home and count his daddy’s money.
I often think of Pritzker as the fat kid who was always the target of jokes and ridicule in his younger years on the elementary school playgrounds. Now as an adult, with the help of his inherited money, he can now be the bully and repay those classmates that targeted him because of his obesity. To him it is not what is right or wrong but it is instead all about getting even.
Pritzker thinks he hit a triple when in fact he was just born on third base.
It probably goes WAY beyond just being the “fat kid” everyone makes fun of. According to the New Yorker puff piece, his dad dropped dead of a heart attack when JB was about 7 years old, and his mom was a severe alcoholic who, for all practical purposes, drank herself to death. He and his siblings would frequently come home from school and find her passed out drunk and they always had to watch her at night to make sure she didn’t pass out drunk while smoking in bed. Never knew that before but maybe it explains (not excuses, but… Read more »
How proud you Chicago/Illinois residents must be of your leaders. What an example they set for your children. See how they lie and get away with it over and over.
no one i know voted for this guy. we are held hostage in illinois.
I doubt if Illinois has ever had an honest election.
Sure Kathy. Since the majority of the voters in this state don’t agree with you it’s right to compare it to being held hostage all the while real people are actually being held hostage. You’re not getting your way. That’s a far cry from being held hostage. Stop trying to be martyr and move if you can’t live by the rules set by the majority.
Maybe the mayor or gov has a gun pointed at them forcing them to stay.
And don’t forget about the electrified 50-foot wall around Indiana and Wisconsin keeping Illinois residents out.
I’m thoroughly amazed that you all think running away from problems is somehow going to fix everything. This only works if a few people are doing it.
Running away did fix everything for me. Get a clue Dave. You need to know when to throw in the towel. If you want to stay in the ring letting the other fighter pummel you further, be my guest. Even WP admits things will get a lot worse before they can realistically get better.
Really, a martyr? “Held hostage” is an idiomatic expression, PPF. Surely you know that. If we’re stuck living in Illinois while disagreeing with political policy or paying unduly high taxes, some feel they are being held hostage, frustrated by the political environment.
I used the term martyr on purpose. I figured anyone that appreciated the “hostage” hyperbole would appreciate the term martyr. Right over your head I see.
S de D
I think that’s great advice PPF. Once Kathy moves her Happiness Index will instantly move the needle. Leaving you behind to soil your underpants when they raise taxes to pay for all the nonsense. It’s coming and people that stay are the bag holders who must not have seen the light. They are the ones who will be truly fleeced.
He better not soil his underpants. He embraces raising taxes without limit to pay for all the excessive pension payments ad infinitum.
The old eVeRyOnE is leaving argument. So tired and predictable. Plenty of people remain in Illinois and plenty more taxes to be raised. No need to soil any underpants.
I embrace raising taxes or cutting other spending in order to meet our legal obligations of our debt. I oppose “magical reform’ that lets the lazy voters off the hook for their voting habits that support all the spending. The courts are not going to bail out the voters of Illinois. Maybe the federal purse will but not the courts.
Don’t call me a lazy voter trying to get off the hook. I never voted for those guys.
Collectively the voters chose this spending. If you remain in Illinois you are also supporting the spending and necessary taxes. No bailouts for lazy voters that chose this path. If you remain then you are part of the collective lazy voting group that is supporting our budgets.
Just like those lazy young adults that tried to get out of paying their student loans, you and other lazy voters will pay more taxes or have your services cut to pay for pensions.
Same here. Most of those who voted for him were/are recipients of whatever he was promising them. Just the public union members and their families are at least 1.5M voters then add in all those who get some sort of assistance from the state like welfare/Medicaid/etc adds another 1M or more. There needs to be 3M or more voters to change the outcome but that is unlikely due to political maps drawn. For now the Status Quo will remain intact.