Panic Attack in Political Chicago as Biden’s Migrants Swamp the City

by John Kass

October 27, 2023

The wheels of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s bus are certainly falling off, aren’t they?

He’s distraught. He’s panicking. And no wonder.

Tens of thousands of President Joe Biden’s migrants that the president let in by opening the Southern border are now swamping the city. City Hall has no real plan as they fill the police stations, sleep on the floors and take over the parks and push city residents aside.

One plan fell apart publicly this week like a falling souffle in the oven: Johnson’s idea of a tent city in McKinley Park that neighborhood residents oppose.

Black voters oppose Johnson’s tent cities for migrants, most of whom come from Venezuela. Whites, Asians and even many Latins—themselves one generation or two removed from the immigrant experience—are also adamantly opposed. Biden and the Democrats opened the Southern border to appease whites of the Bolshevik left.

“Plan? There is no plan, only chaos,” said Ted Dabrowski of Wirepoints.org on The Chicago Way podcast that I co-host with WGN radio executive producer Jeff Carlin.

The politics are obvious. Playing at virtue signaling was OK for the white Bolsheviks among the Democrats. But pushing black neighbors around to satisfy the white lefty political aspirations isn’t smart. It’s counterproductive.

The voters are bolting—or at least threatening to bolt the Democrat Party. I personally don’t think they’ll do it. Maybe in New York.  But they’ve been beaten and whipped by Chicago Democrat politics for so long, and taught to nod on cue at racial hustles, taught to reach eagerly for the shiny objects of racial scams. They’ve been trained. Many, unfortunately, have had their spines removed.

But not all.

And New York is seething about Biden’s open border immigration policies. Though Chicago is the classic machine Democrat shut-up-and-take it town, New York doesn’t play that way. According to a Siena College poll, the immigration issue (and the overwhelmed and swamped cities) hurts Biden in opinion polls.

“While other issues in Washington and abroad have largely driven the news cycle over the last few weeks, the influx of migrants to New York remains top of mind for voters, with 84% saying it’s a serious – 57% very serious – problem for the state,” said Siena College pollster Steve Greenberg .

“Seldom do we see an issue where at least 79% of Democrats, Republicans, independents, men, women, upstaters, downstaters, Blacks, whites, Latinos, Catholics, Jews, and Protestants all agree – that the migrant influx is a serious problem.”

And that is happening in Chicago as well. The Democrats will try to ram it down Chicago’s throat but all groups are opposed to his ridiculous tent cities.

Johnson’s problem is that there just might be enough Chicago residents who don’t want to shut up and take it anymore.

It’s enough to make a mayor want to scream. And why shouldn’t he be seriously emotionally distraught?

Have you seen his news conferences where he lectures reporters and complains that he’s stressed and has kids who play soccer? He’s having panic attacks. It’s my opinion that he just can’t handle it. And I don’t think I’m alone in this.

Even lefties are ditching their ubiquitous “hate has no home here” signs to oppose Johnson’s tent cities.

The rumors flying through City Hall from sources are that Johnson has suffered at least two episodes that are being described by some as “panic attacks.” I’m not a doctor. I wouldn’t know what to prescribe. But I do know this: as Johnson continues to panic, speculation is growing about a replacement if he can’t do the job.

He’s proven he can’t do the job.

I don’t think Johnson is ready for a padded cell or a drool cup, but he’s close. He was selected for the job not because he could run a city, not because he had management chops, but because he checked the boxes and was obedient to two powerful women who hated former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot:

He was obedient to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who raised him up because he was obedient to her.

Boss Toni put him on the county board as a commissioner where he followed orders. That’s what he’s good at.

Lori was naive enough to think that by endorsing Preckwinkle protege Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, it would save her. It didn’t. Preckwinkle gutted Lightfoot in front of the once curious Chicago press corps, which said little or nothing about the real politics. And Lightfoot’s endorsement of the do-nothing Soros prosecutor sealed the fate of Cook County and Chicago, as local Democrats protected the violent criminals over law-abiding taxpayers.

far left Brandon Johnson, 3rd from left Stacy Davis-Gates

Johnson was also obedient to the other powerful black woman in his life, Stacy Davis- Gates, boss of the Chicago Teacher’s Union. Perhaps a better description is that he was politically servile to both. Johnson worked for Davis-Gates as a CTU organizer. She plucked him out of a classroom. There he followed Gates’ orders.

Boss Toni and Boss Stacy did not select him because of his strong management skills They selected him because he was obedient.  A strong manager would have been problematic.

The Illinois Policy Institute has been closely following all this, and I called Paul Vallas—Johnson’s opponent in the last mayoral election–to talk about Johnson’s immigration and tent city policies. I did not ask Vallas about whether Johnson was distraught.  We talked of Johnson policies.

“The Mayor and his allies have made their priorities abundantly clear: Sanctuary City policies take precedence over the needs of Chicago residents,” Vallas said in an email. ”It is becoming increasingly evident that the Mayor and his City Council leadership are prioritizing the city’s Sanctuary City program over the welfare of Chicago residents.

“..there was little doubt that the Mayor would show financial loyalty to his former boss and colleague, Stacey Davis-Gates, and her Chicago Teacher Union supporters by granting schools a $271 million TIF windfall with no financial offsets, the extent of the blank check provided to his City Council Sanctuary City supporters may come as a surprise.”

A few days ago, as the unfounded Johnson “panic attack” rumors began to spread in political circles, the CTU moved in to try and rescue him from himself and Biden.

CTU took over and packed the public meeting at Kelly College Prep high school. Neighborhood residents couldn’t get in to voice their objections to Johnson’s tent city policy.

I talked to a Democrat who was at the center of power when Mayor Richard J. Daley–the real mayor, not the weakling son–held sway.

“The CTU took a page out of our old machine textbook,” he said. “Pack the meeting with your people, limit the opposition’s access to media. The CTU is the new machine in Chicago.”

It worked. The community groups were left outside, the doors locked. Even the media complied.

 

And community members were left outside, away from the TV news cameras.

But though he seeks sanctuary from reality, he can’t hide forever.

The world is coming to Chicago and nearby Milwaukee in the summer of 2024, putting a media magnifying glass on the city that used to work.

Violent crime is still an issue, and also the migrants . Black Democrats are being told to back up, so the Democrat party can help Latin migrants. And no amount of machine politicking will shield him from the wrath of black women. Their aging parents use the park fieldhouses for senior gatherings. Their kids use the parks to play, if the street gangs allow it.

And no amount of heavy checks written by megabucks billionaire Gov. J.B. Pritzker or Michael Sacks to the Democrat National Committee can change that now. The migrants keep streaming across the border, responding to Biden’s invitations. There is no plan to deal with them.

Though Johnson seeks sanctuary from reality, he can’t hide forever.

It’s enough to make a mayor scream .

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle

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Comments 51

  1. Ouch!

    “And no amount of heavy checks written by megabucks billionaire Gov. J.B. Pritzker or Michael Sacks to the Democrat National Committee can change that now. The migrants keep streaming across the border, responding to Biden’s invitations. There is no plan to deal with them.”

    Gee, if only those toxic Jews would only embrace Hamas and get on the globalist side of history ( see Mein Kampf) and free up those Federal dollars from Joe the Boneless.

    Well, them Jews ain’t elitists. They are existentialists!

    Brandon! Get “Mayoring for Dummies.” Hell, it worked for Prince Richie.

        1. with all that’s gone on, with Hamas murderers and the elite college kids demonstrating on behalf of hatred of Jews, it’s no wonder that Mr. Kaplan was upset. As Howard Fleishman said, he assumes that Pat was being sarcastic. So do I.
          But sarcasm is difficult if not impossible when our blood is up, when people have been butchered. And it’s tough to “calm down.”

          1. Totally agree with you John. Evil is taking over. Our borders are allowing a lot it to flow into our cities. God help us.
            Drove past the 16th police district the other day. Beautiful fall day, sun shining. The sidewalk was overflowing with illegals enjoying the sun, relaxing in their folding chairs. Porto potties off to the side with a sanitation truck in front to clean them out. Just lovely. Way to spend our tax dollars Brandon.

      3. I may be wrong, but I read Hickeys words as sarcasm. Not true feeling, if I believe Pats words as truisms I would agree with you and excoriate him quite roundly. Get article John.

        2. Mr. Anthony,
          thanks
          And for the record, of all the columns I’ve edited and posted recently in support of the Jewish people since Israelis were murdered on Oct. 7, I did not mention Gaza once in the Johnson Panic column.

      4. Mr. Kaplan, I apologize for my use of sarcasm, obvious irony. You do not know me and it was not obvious to you. I apologize to you and John Kass, because my use of this rhetorical device was time insensitive, given the suffering in Israel and here at home. Words have consequences: they mightily upset you and the dynamic conversation John Kass’ fine article deserves.

        1. Thank you, Pat. I really do appreciate your kind words. I have always enjoyed your guest columns. I wouldn’t normally feel so sensitive but it’s weird and uncomfortable with all the hatred going on right now. I have dear friends that are Israeli and Palestinian who are so worried about what is happening overseas and now here.

  2. John, this was the Democrats plan all along to bring Illegals for Votes while destroying the Black Family like they have done for the last 50 years, and the poor Black support them because they do not know the truth. The Palestinians are humans like the rest of us, but the Countries like Syria, Lebanon and Egypt do not want them they are the poor so they want them to come to America so we can take care of them. Where in Heaven’s name are the American Voters to stop this. You can see by our Universities that our young are brain washed, they are in debt waiting for their Parents to take care of them and the Government. We have lost our Country and the people lay back and say so what. That is infuriating. I can not believe how stupid people are becoming. No common sense anymore or respect. It is all about them and how much they have. So sad.

    1. Arab countries do not want the Palestinians because each time a nation has taken them in, they have destabilized that nation in order to continue their charter mandate to wipe out Israel and all Jews via riots and attempted assassinations of legitimate governance. They’ve done it in Jordan, Egypt, and Syria (which all expelled them), and Lebanon is still reeling from it. It’s not that they’re poor: it’s that they are the Middle-Eastern version of MS-13 coming across our southern border.

      2. Don’t forget Kuwait kicked them out when they supported Saddam and we should have kicked them out when they celebrated 911. The Egyptians hate the Palestinians. Only 50k live in Egypt.

  3. Been expecting Gov Gordo to mandate, oops, I meant “suggest”, that each County in IL has a duty to take in a proportional number of Biden’s Migrants to show their support for the cause. Wouldn’t surprise me at all.

    1. I believe he already has… at least make the “suggestion,” and Lightfood did indeed send some of the migrant busses to the suburbs with no warning, dumping the problem on some areas that are not voting Dem at all.

      1. Alas, Lightfoot didn’t send one to my town Naperville! After all DuPage county, which used to be the most conservative republican county became the 1st county in the state to go “Sanctuary”! There are a lot of vacant spaces around here and BJ can send a bus load of one or two this way and test these folks who have turned left these days.

  4. “Johnson’s problem is that there just might be enough Chicago residents who don’t want to shut up and take it anymore.”

    ‘might be enough’ – I doubt it. Too many Chicago folks enjoy looking down their noses at border states over their immigration complaints. It will be awhile before they can reset this thinking – most Chicagoans still think the big-bad border states suck-up trillions in government revenue and are welching on their obligations to take in all immigrants.

  5. In this high-impact column (should we laugh or cry?), JK properly acknowledges that reports of Brandon Jr. suffering panic attacks are for now just “rumors.” But considering the panic history of the past three Chicago mayors, maybe the CTU Mayor SHOULD have panic attacks — if only for continuity.

    Recall that Mayor Daley Jr. panicked and sold the city’s parking meters to a negotiating-savvy company for just one year’s advantage in the city budget.

    Then Mayor “I’m A Chicago Resident, Really I Am” panicked and sorta-kinda refused to make public a video of a fleeing subject getting shot in the back maybe like 16 times.

    Then Mayor Loopy Lori panicked and forgot to govern the city. (She moved on to lecture loopy Harvard students.)

    Now Chicago has a mayor who’s about as qualified to be mayor as the past couple White Sox managers. Oboy. Panic, Brandon, go ahead and panic! At least that shows you see what’s going on.

  6. Of course CTU supports Chicago taking in all migrants: longer term residents, aware of the idiocy of CTU, are moving their kids to private or charter schools, or leaving the city altogether. The number of students in CPS is shrinking, leading to fewer CTU members having jobs. Bring in the migrant families and put those kids in school “to keep our (to quote Mel Brooks) phony baloney jobs!” Sadly for them, it appears that most of those crossing illegally are single men (or at least not bringing their family with them) between the ages of 18 and 30.

    And of course the Mayor is having panic attacks. Anybody have a clue who will take over then Mayor Photo Op is gibbering in a corner at having to actually think about a problem and come up with a solution? IS there a Deputy Mayor with any smarts, or just another figurehead?

  8. The CTU might want to lead by setting an example. Set up a tent city in their neighborhoods or (better yet!) let each union member who supports this give up their home to the illegals and go live in the tents themselves.

    And pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze. Stop calling them migrants. Call them what they are: Illegal invaders.

  9. LGB both locally and on the national stage. We are in such deep doo doo. Neither have a clue. Read yesterday that Sleepy Joe us the preferred nominee next year. He will be walked away as he is today, a led figurehead. Brandon Jr has no clue either. At least the old guy can grope his way about DC.
    SMH. And where are Pritzgers aspirations here. 2028 if the world survives that long?

  10. Well John, where do you stand on Pat Hickey’s comments?

    “Gee, if only those toxic Jews would only embrace Hamas and get on the globalist side of history ( see Mein Kampf) and free up those Federal dollars from Joe the Boneless. Well, them Jews ain’t elitists.”

    Do you support antisemitism too John?

      1. I must have missed something, Mr. Google. Did Brandon use the phrase toxic Jews? How is it sarcasm in Pat’s comments? With all the antisemitism going on right now I was a little concerned.

    2. Hey Mike, cool it. Pat was using satire (or sarcasm). He explained that as did John Kass as well. Pat is a great writer – as are many who contribute to JK News. But this misunderstanding just illustrates why satire – or sarcasm – is supremely tough to pull off. In fact, so tough that very few can do it well. Sometimes you need the skill of J Swift to do so … but unfortunately there is only one J Swift. And he’s been gone for a while.

  11. Excellent piece, as always, John. It struck a chord with me for many reasons, but one in particular. Back when the CTU was vehemently advocating to keep schools closed (despite the obvious and growing collateral damage to our children mentally, physically, emotionally and most of all academically), I attended a virtual LSC meeting at my kids’ high school. For the public forum portion, a long series of self-proclaimed “student activists” made largely nonsensical arguments about why schools should remain closed, and it was obvious these “student activists” (silly me, up to that point I mistakenly thought our kids were in school to learn) were recruited to appear and parrot the CTU’s talking points. After listening to about 15 of these kids and their political speeches, I finally had enough and spoke up myself (after which I was demonized and openly mocked by the remaining students who spoke after me). Schools reopened shortly thereafter but for me that day was a turning point, as I realized that the CTU is actively creating and training an army of young activists to do their Marxist bidding. My kids are in college now and appear to have survived the indoctrination efforts, but people need to open their eyes to how evil and destructive the CTU is and how they use this generation of kids to fight their battles and play their dirty games. Given that, it comes as no surprise that they would pack these meetings with CTU supporters to eliminate or diminish the voice of the real stakeholders in these situations. No doubt this will continue until they get their way, as they almost always do in this city.

  12. Yes, John, the Democrats most useful talent is following orders from on high. It’s Biden following Obama’s and Rice’s directives. It’s Congresspeople following Pelosi and Jeffries, and it’s Johnson following the Chicago boss ladies. None of them have an original thought in their heads, and yet the citizenry follows them like they’re the second coming.

  14. Who we kidding. The main reason McKinley Park residents (and other neighborhoods) are so upset has nothing to do with quality of life. It has everything to do with the fact that these immigrants will be cutting into their slice government cheese.

    1. You said it right, Mike! Brandon Johnson and his employees also know it. Yet they keep pushing the migrants in because they get to have larger slice of the cheese, themselves. And come election times, throw them some bones, like always!

  15. I would like to thank Mayor Brandon and the CTU for their continuing efforts to ensure that the property value of my house in the suburbs continues to climb thanks to people that have to stay in Chicago moving to the near suburbs in order to get away from the insanity. It’s a great hedge against rising property values in NW Indiana and southern Wisconsin, to which I’ll have to run once Governor Flintstone is done working his magic on Illinois.

  16. Yianni,
    Follow the money. Why won’t these “santuary cities” disavow their identities as such? Because Joe will ultimately bestow millions upon them to feed, house, educate, and take care of all those “migrants,” aka illegals. Johnson may be panicking because those funds aren’t readily available to him as yet, and he’s trying to figure out where he’s going to pluck those millions out of – perhaps thin air – to address these illigals that are flooding the city. It’s always about the money….follow it and see where it leads….

  17. I was watching a tv report last night, I think NBC, and the reporter was showing a medical clinic in the city set up to take care of the illegal migrants, free of course. They interviewed, through an interpreter, a mother and her two sons. She was all smiles and the two well dressed children smiled also. What caught my eye were her fingernails. Now, I have no idea what these designer finger nails cost, but she had a very nice shiny, multi colored set going. I thought to myself, were did she go to get that done, who paid and how many meals might that have bought? If she could afford her beauty care, could she not afford a simple physical for she and her kids?

  18. The federally run Voter Restocking Program will prove a boom for Chicago. The city will see at least three key benefits. First, as real residents flee and take their votes with them, these new soon-to-be voters will fill the void. I can hear the politicians now, “these hard working immigrants, paying their taxes and making the city work, need a voice.” Secondly, the CTU will be all grins as the schools that may have been closing are once again are filling up with new bodies. The union dues get paid and the campaign dollars keep flowing. And, then of course, the census will count the newly imported placeholders that will stem the loss of congressional seats.
    The moans and groans from the politicians are just noise. They know where the bus is heading.

  19. Yesterday’s Some-Times ran an anti-gun column Neil Steinberg claimed he’d written two years ago as a never-published generic “thoughts and prayers” story for the victims. I like the idea of writing a generic Nostradamus-like “tragedy strikes” story, so here’s the lede:

    The Cook County Coroner’s Office has issued an emergency appeal to coroners in surrounding counties and states for help dealing with the 240 migrants killed when Tuesday night’s 17-inch snowfall collapsed their base camp tents, trapping and suffocating them as they slept. Emergency housing is also being sought for the more than 3,000 migrants left homeless by the tragedy.

  20. We all saw the failure of Brandon Johnson coming, but I am surprised to hear of the panic attacks. I thought Johnson was like Biden in that Johnson is only the puppet of Preckwinkle and Davis-Gates. How hard can it be to merely parrot the words off a pre-written script?

    1. Hard, Erin, for Brandon Jr., very hard. His previous position was shilling for one of the worst school systems in the western world. That “job” might qualify you to serve Pritzker’s dinners . . . as long as you’re sure it always exceeds the minimum 10,000 calorie threshold.

  22. The CTU memo is an instant classic of the form. Although the intent is to pack the meeting with CTU stooges, thereby excluding community residents with genuine concerns, the author asserts that previous meetings “have been hijacked . . . by opponents (sometimes who are not even residents of the ward the meeting is being held in) who parrot far-right, anti-immigrant rhetoric.” The only bit of truth is “opponents.” But of course no one is permitted to oppose what Democrats are doing. Black is white when the party demands it. Also, war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength. This is as dirty as it gets.

  23. John,

    I hope you are correct that Johnson is in trouble, but there are are 3.5 years before the next mayoral election and there is little anyone can do until then. City Council is a disaster. You have to hope for a decent candidate to run against him in 2027. Vallas would have been a good mayor. I suspect he is too old to run again. I don’t know where a better alternative will come from.

    I fear we are stuck with Preckwinkle for life. Again, no credible opponent is in sight. I fear that the next State’s Attorney will be even worse than Foxx, although Durkin might be a good candidate.

  24. I’ve loved your brilliant writing to this point. Didn’t love the use of “I don’t think Johnson is ready for a ‘padded cell’…” It’s gaslighting and ableist language. The use of “padded cell” creates a stigma for those of us with mental illness. Why would someone undiagnosed want to seek treatment if they’re going to be poked fun at, ostracized and laughed at? People with mental illness and what they have to go through — like some staying in a padded cell to keep themselves safe from self-harm or harming others should not be a punchline or joke. You’re too brilliant to have not expressed yourself in a different way using different words. Also, I saw this piece picked up on realclearpolitics.com. today. Congratulations! Tom Bevin loves your work as well. Lastly, you chose to illustrate this column using Edward Munch’s “The Scream.” I was able to see the real deal in Oslo, Norway in May at the Munch Museum. There are actually 3 Scream images there. A black and white lithograph, a pastel, and the oil. Only one is shown at a time for preservation and security reasons.

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