Quote:
Originally Posted by pilsenarch
Well, I'm glad your now out of the closet... But I'm not sure what the relevance is regarding the Obama's level of doucheness to the legitimacy of creating a center for America's first black president...
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Doucheness factor or the idea that it is for the First black President should really carry little weight when teasing out the primary issues at play.
For the very little it's worth I think Obama was a definite above average President who I generally respect (unlike our current). Regardless of anyone's sentiments towards him though one should ask why a VERY expensive infrastructure project that cost upwards of over $200 million needs to be done to accommodate a location chosen seemingly on whims. That type of money could practically build a whole new park in some sections of our city. It could go towards covering the Grant Park train tracks. It could go towards building the last 4miles on the north lakefront. It could go towards expanding the south lakefront. Was there any BIG push to close Cornell Drive and build this alternative route before the OPL project? Nope. All for a few extra acres of "park" inside what was already a park.
It's simply a bad value proposition being advocated by those who are trembling at the idea of losing out on another major institution if we don't roll out the red carpet to the demands of the BHO foundation. There has been no real transparency, no real open dialogue about where it is best for the CITY (not the Obamas) to put this Library.
As far as the talk about hypotheticals in the future.....Yes, IF there was to be one of the very few exceptions in which to give up some public or parkland this would be it IMO. However, that presumes that ANY exception should be made. When precedent isn't set and when rules seem malleable and transparency an afterthought (as it has been in the OPL case) then it very well could open the doors to more ambiguous cases down the road. After the last few years watching the federal government I don't put it past a corrupt demagogue populist Mayor or council to hand over a public/park to developers or business in the future and for them to honor shifting sentiments instead of adhering to legal writing or precedent which while overly rigid at least sets the rules clear. We can't simply assume to trust the next 200 years of Majors and city councils to do what is right all of the time in the future and not to sell this city piecemeal either for their own benefit or due to shortsightedness.