Tag: Emil Jones

Emil Jones and Uncle Tom

Face it, any way Emil Jones tries to parse this, he was out of line.  I just don’t believe him.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

A black Hillary Clinton delegate on Sunday accused state Senate President Emil Jones of calling her an “Uncle Tom.”

Jones — Barack Obama’s political mentor — denied using the racially loaded slur against Chicago political consultant Delmarie Cobb, but two aldermen who said they witnessed the Saturday night exchange back up Cobb’s account.

“Last night, I was called an ‘Uncle Tom’ by Emil Jones in the lobby of the hotel, right in front of [Ald.] Freddrenna Lyle and [Ald.] Leslie Hairston and [Ald.] Latasha Thomas,” said Cobb, a member of Clinton’s Illinois Steering Committee. “I walked over to him and asked him, ‘What did you just call me?’ “

Emil’s credibility took yet another dive with his backhanded apology to Ms. Cobb:

Cobb said Jones finally apologized during a Monday event.

“He came over, sat down. A couple of people obviously had something to do with it,” Cobb said, without elaborating. “He sat down at the table with me. He said, ‘I apologize and let’s move forward.’ I accepted his apology and said, ‘OK, we will.’ It was never my intention to continue things that would hurt Barack Obama.”

Jones, however, offered a much less apologetic version of his Monday conversation with Cobb.

“I said ‘If that’s what you think I said, I don’t want to have no hard feelings, so I apologize. We’ve known each other too long.'”

This is childish nonsense, the stuff of the grade school yard brawl.  A conditional apology is no apology at all.

Cobb has every right to support Hillary Clinton.  Hillary deserves that support and more.  Her run for President of the United States was historic, and she stands as one of this party’s greatest leaders.

Get over it, Emil, and grow up.


Oy! Blago Thinks He’s Black as Pat Quinn Protests

Certainly one of the strangest comments in recent Illinois politics escaped the mouth of Gov. Rod Blagojevich today.

According to our friend Gregory Tejeda at the Chicag Argus, Blago described himself Monday as a “homeboy” and “possibly the first African-American governor of Illinois.”

Just try and find a context for that one.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn stood “outside an event featuring Governor Rod Blagojevich, passing out flyers and urging the state Senate to reject automatic pay raises for lawmakers and top government officials,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

Quinn says he doesn’t have a ticket for the City Club of Chicago event Blagojevich is headlining. But he’s outside handing out information alongside a staffer holding a sign that reads “Vote Now, Vote No.”

Quinn says he wants Blagojevich to also urge a no vote by senators.

What a surreal afternoon in Illinois politics this must have been.

From CBS Chicago:

Handing out leaflets headlined “Stop Political Pay Raises Now!” Lt. Gov. Quinn and a few friends protesting outside the governor’s luncheon speech on the Near North Side didn’t impress Illinois Senate President Emil Jones. He said legislators need the 12% raise.

“I have members of my caucus who are single parents … who feel very strongly that they deserve a pay raise,” Jones said.

To avoid Quinn and reporters waiting at the front door, the governor snuck in a back door to deliver his speech. When cornered later, though, he criticized state senators who are blocking a floor vote likely to kill the unpopular proposal.

When someone gave the governor a coffee mug, he reflected on friends gained and the many lost since he took the state’s top job:

“Better a mug than a mug shot, right?” Blagojevich said. “This is such a tough job, you know, I think it’s fair to say I have fewer friends now than I had before I was governor.”

Calling Jones one of his most loyal friends, Blagojevich added, “Emil and I are homeboys, man. … There are times I consider myself the first African American governor of Illinois.”

What is this?  Blago thinks he’s black because he has a black friend?

Oy.