Daley: “Yer Causin’ People to Distrust an’ Doubt th’ Government!”

[More than 50 years of politics memorialized for my kids and grandchildren].

The one-way conversation in the office of the original Mayor Daley went like this. I shall attempt to reproduce it without punctuation because it was delivered with hardly a pause, no periods, sentence structure or respite…but nevertheless it was a brilliant piece of communication.

Yer from Quaker Oats I know Bob Stuart a fine man who don’t…doesn’t fer a second doubt th’ government…but when you cast into..cast into disrepoot the qualities of so many fine men who are runnin’ and puttin’ up wit th’ abuse an an an an th’ attacks an’an’an th’allegations that they stole this election and that election when in fact th’ people voted fer `em and wanted `em…that kind of abuse, that’s not..that’s not..that’s not political discurse you see…that’s that’s that’s abuse of the human person an an an nobody…I don’t care who he is…nobody oughta put up wit’ that now you can you can you can vote fer whoever you want and thank God you can in this country but don’t go after the people have voted don’t go after the people decided sayin’ that there was t’eft, vote t’eft because that makes all the sacrifices unworthy Project whatever, Project--.

Leap.

Project Leap is the thing that…

Colonel Reilly supplied in an attempt to be cute: “Leaps to conclusions.” But the Mayor ignored it as possibly too clever.

That’s all I gotta say because we must go on and get the job done nomatter what but I t’ink you might you might you might reflect. Now I gotta go. That’sall.

Mayor, can I say one thing?

Whatisit?

If I lived in Chicago I would vote for you and I have no doubt that you were elected with a huge majority that you deserved. But--.

Allright it was good seein’ you and he (nodding to Reilly) will show you out.

Reilly said: “He just had to get it off his chest.”

It’s been thirty four years but as I can hear it now, I think I got it right.