Illinois, forget the usual resolutions: 2014 is about duty – WP Original

January 1, 2014 By: Mark Glennon

Forget the usual New Years resolutions, important as some of them may be. A generational call of responsibility far more important is upon every one of us in Illinois in 2014. This is about the fundamental obligations we owe back to society and core duties of citizenship.

You and I will answer for whether those who broke Chicago and Illinois — financially, reputationally, and morally — will stay in power. Each of us has an elemental duty to do all we can to make 2014, at long, long last, the year we move to eradicate those incumbents from government.

We may not agree on who the successors should be but there’s no doubt who bears most of the blame. Patrick Quinn, Michael Madigan, John Cullerton, their followers, and the Daley Administration leftovers in City Hall head the list. They will not be entirely removed in 2014, but we can start.

Baby Boomers born in Illinois, like me, carry the most obligation.  We were handed it all — even we who grew up in modest circumstances — though we may not have known that when we were young.  Looking back now, Chicago was a torrent of opportunity and growth. If we made the effort the world was ours. That’s gone for many, killed primarily by government that’s incompetent and corrupt. Illinois, especially Chicago, has elected those skilled at little besides passing down unbearable debts to the next generation. To that next generation our obligation is largest.

We’ve been called. Let’s answer decisively.