If Chicago's Mayor Wants To Fly To London To Watch The Bears Play This Week, Then He Should, and He Definitely Shouldn't Have To Answer To The Media About Doing So.
ABC Chicago - Mayor Brandon Johnson will be in London when the Chicago Bears take on the Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 13.
Travelling with World Business Chicago, the trip is part of a broader strategy to position the city as a premier destination for international business and a global leader in innovation.
The visit will include high-level meetings, industry-specific roundtables, and keynotes, culminating in a Pro Chicago Decision announcement on Oct. 11 regarding a London-based company's decision to open its U.S. headquarters in Chicago, a Mayor's office release said.
It comes following a Chicago's win as the Best Big City in the U.S. for the 8th consecutive year by readers of Condé Nast Traveler.
Listen, I'm getting really sick and tired of people giving our Mayor a hard time over doing his job.
This is 2024. When you run for office in this country, traveling the world on the tax payer's dime is just one of the perks. It comes with the territory. Read a book for me one time. Do you really expect the mayor of our iconic city, (8x "Best Big City In The United States Champion per Conde Nast btw. Nbd) to miss a match up between two football juggernauts, the Bears and Jaguars, across the pond?
He has hands to shake, babies to kiss, and deals to wheel.
Morons like this "journalist" lady drilling him with these questions are just wasting his time. Actually, they're wasting all of our time.
How dare anyone question this necessary expense?
I know the city is currently in what the "professionals" call a "financial death spiral." Sure, the school board just collectively handed in their resignation slips like they were attending some kind of mass resignation seminar, and yes, our budget shortfall is so big it's starting to make the national debt look justifiable.
This isn’t just a taxpayer-funded junket, but a vital civic duty.
This man has been knee-deep in budget shortfalls, protests, and now a school board that ghosted faster than your last tinder match. Can’t we let him have one weekend to fly across the Atlantic, sit back, and watch the Bears get pulverized by a team with an even worse coaching staff, and a legitimate QB bust. It's called R&D. Research and development. Ever heard of it? The Jaguars are what the Bears could become if we actually resided in a state with a fiscally responsible government and no state or city taxes. Gross.
We should be thanking him for not spending our tax dollars on something frivolous like new textbooks for schools we can’t afford to keep open.
And don't get it twisted, this isn’t just about football.
Do you know how many snooty British people still think Chicago is just Al Capone, deep dish pizza, and Michael Jordan? This is a serious PR crisis.
The Mayor is practically obligated to fly over there and show the Brits that Chicago is about so much more. Sure, we still have crime, corruption, and a murder rate that would give even the toughest mobsters pause, but we also have a world class food scene, and one of the prettiest metropolis' on the planet, situated on one of the world's most beautiful bodies of fresh water. (Shout out lakefacts)
Johnson will be out there shaking hands, kissing babies, and selling Chicago like it’s the next Silicon Valley- minus the tech, venture capital, or functioning public transit. Think of this trip as an international outreach program that just happens to come with a prime sideline seat.
Idiots like this nerd journalist also forget how sports build bridges. Some might say the city's budget is falling apart, (we're reportedly ONE BILLION DOLLARS in the red) and kids don’t have desks in classrooms, but I’d counter with: Football.
A Bears victory will unite the city, create jobs, and inspire the youth. (duh) Imagine the pride of a young Chicagoan seeing the Mayor on TV across the pond, jet-setting to foreign lands on what is, yes, their parents’ dime, but still! It will spark hope. If Mayor Johnson can live his best taxpayer-funded life, so can the children of Chicago. One overdraft at a time.
Why do people always complain about “business class flights” like it's some grand luxury? First of all, do you expect the Mayor of Chicago to cram into the middle seat next to a guy who smells like b.o. and stale farts? Fuck no. This is a man of superior hygiene.
Lest you forget he spends a cool $30,000 at the hair salon a year.
He needs legroom to think. If he’s going to fix the city’s budget crisis (eventually, probably), he needs to be well-rested and ready to handle the complex geopolitical implications of Chicago's sports teams. Flying business class isn’t a luxury- it’s a necessity. Think of the legroom as room for ideas. Plus, a friendly guy like him isn't going to meet any big wheelers and dealers back in coach with the peasants. Real networking happens in first class baby.
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To everyone complaining about "wasting taxpayer money" while our schools are in disarray: who exactly is supposed to use that money now that the entire school board has bailed? If anything, the city just saved on school board salaries, and we’re reinvesting those savings in a much more engaging form of education: teaching the Mayor how to cheer for a losing team with grace.
Besides, what’s a few extra dollars to jet over to London when our financial system is already underwater? "In for a penny, in for a pound" as they say. Let’s make it British pounds while we’re at it.
Any time you can borrow $300 million at 250% interest (the loan payback will total $700 million if actually paid on time), you have to do that. Every single time.
Since when did we stop valuing tradition in this country? Mayor Daley used to fly around the world on the city's dime like it was his personal piggy bank, and we let him. Now suddenly, when Mayor Johnson wants to represent the city at an international sporting event, everyone’s clutching their pearls? Please. This is Chicago. We’ve survived worse scandals, and by worse, I mean pretty much everything, every day, every month, every year.
Numbers speak for themselves, so let me show you some data.
Remember that little Grammys trip he took back in February to hobnob with the big shots in the music industry? (Something critical for a midwestern city mayor dumb dumb).
Yah, well, that trip only cost us $10,000.
And just look at all the benefits we the city have been reaping since that trip!
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It's really sad that a "blogger" for Barstool Sports has to be the voice of reason here and remind everybody to get off their high horses once again, but alas, here we are. Mayor Johnson’s trip to London is not some frivolous getaway. It’s an investment in Chicago’s future, a boost to the Mayor’s morale, and a vital component of our city’s international diplomacy. So instead of busting his balls, let’s cheer him on- from the comfort of our pothole-riddled streets, knowing that while we might be broke, we’re still cultured enough to enjoy some transatlantic football.
p.s. - BOLD use of "disrespectful and condescending" by BJ there.