Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Today’s quotable

Posted in:

Illinois
Updated Posts

* Rick Pearson at the Tribune…

Republican governor candidate Darren Bailey likened Chicago to an “unruly child” Thursday and said he considers the city he has frequently referred to as a “hellhole” as part of his family in the way “I consider all of Illinois my family.” […]

In recent weeks, Bailey moved into the 875 North Michigan Avenue building, formerly the John Hancock Center, as he spends more time in the state’s most populous area. And he was asked if he wanted to retract his “hellhole” comments, but did not do so.

“Raising children. When we had the unruly child, we dealt with it. Said, ‘this is a problem,’” Bailey said. “The family. Family. I consider all of Illinois my family. I consider Chicago my family and I want to get Chicago fixed and there’s other parts of Illinois that have issues, too. Let’s address it. Let’s deal with it. Let’s unify.”

* So, how did Bailey and his family deal with their unruly children? Well, Bailey spoke at a Belleville church last fall and addressed this very topic. The link magically came over the transom today…

So during that time, this was what God was preparing, you know, during that time, with all the other stuff with the farm, our oldest son rebelled and I kicked him out of the house.

It took us about a year and a half to, Cindy and I tried ourselves to outsmart him. I’m president of the school board, leader in the church. But we raised him pretty smart. So he would outfox us and maneuver us everywhere. We tried to head him off at the pass. But, he eventually, through a work of God, came back.

Two years later, our daughter, our number third child, she rebelled to the extent that I felt that I needed to kick her out of the house.

And by then, through all this prayer and fasting that we were going through, we got on our faces quickly. We didn’t rely on our own means and our friends. We got on our faces before God and, thank goodness, you know, within six months, she was back.

And the cool thing is that today those two children and number one our son of whom, you know, couldn’t stand us at the time and wanted to get away. His house is probably the distance of this tent behind us. So, God is good. And they’re both leaders in their churches, using the experiences that they went through to teach young people, to teach them, encouraging them what not to do and what to do if they do make mistakes.

Glad that all had a happy conclusion, but you can’t just kick a city out of a state, even though he did try.

…Adding… Democratic Party of Illinois…

In case you missed recent coverage of his latest denigration of Chicago, Darren Bailey referred to the state’s largest city as an “unruly child” in the Illinois “family” — and Bailey, who has repeatedly called Chicago a “hellhole” and sponsored legislation to remove it from the rest of the state, is no stranger to “unruly children.”

In a 2021 video, Bailey recounted kicking his own children out of his house when they “rebelled,” saying: “Our oldest son rebelled, I kicked him out of the house. … Two years later, our daughter, our number third child, she rebelled to the extent that I felt that I needed to kick her out of the house.”

Every day, it becomes more clear that Bailey is incapable of serving as a governor for all of Illinois. From posting insensitive and inappropriate sentiments about members of the LGBTQ+ and Muslim communities, to encouraging mass shooting victims to “move on and celebrate” 90 minutes after a massacre, to comparing abortion to the Holocaust, it’s apparent that Darren Bailey has no interest in bringing Illinosians together.

When Darren Bailey identifies a problem, his solution is to simply throw it out. Comparing the city of Chicago to an unruly child makes perfect sense in Bailey’s mind because at the end of the day, he knows he’s kicking both to the curb.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 9:51 am

Comments

Wow, OK, a lot going on here.

1) I think “Chicago is a unruly child” is probably more insulting than the hellhole stuff.

2) It’s really hard for me to completely parse what Bailey is saying, given his garbled syntax and frequent use of Opus Dei-esque jargon.

3) But from what I can understand he’s saying…he , at some point, kicked two of his kids out of his house? Even bracketing what that means about Chicago, its extremely off-putting.

Comment by Arsenal Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 9:56 am
Wow, I, uh, have a lot of questions. Including, how old the children were when they were kicked out, where they went to live, and why he’s such a bad parent that he had to kick out two separate children, and whether he thinks that is a normal kind of thing to happen, and whether DCFS was at some point involved if the children he kicked out were minors.

Comment by Suburban Mom Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 9:56 am
Bailey tried to starve the child by voting no on the state budget, as did his entire party. How do you fight crime with no funds, ILGOP?

Comment by Grandson of Man Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 9:56 am
Father God, smite Chicago for the hellhole it is…
but after they repent, we’ll gladly giv’em a tent a stone’s throw away from Illinois. On our faces, so make it so, Father.

Comment by PublicServant Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 9:58 am
Where was Pearson during the Republican primary? The graph at end about JB not even showing up made me chuckle, editors probably made him add it

Comment by Future Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 9:59 am
“..and fasting…” Is this a Republican gubernatorial candidate thing? because in Pa it’s a 40 day fast.

Comment by Amalia Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 9:59 am
I can’t help but say that this man is not sane.

Comment by Herbflus Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 9:59 am
So. Has Beetle ever reflected on why HIS kids rebelled ?
Not likely.
And God intervened ? Is that Beetle’s expectation on ‘fixing’ Chi ?

Comment by sal-says Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 9:59 am
It seems to me that most Republicans have forgotten that the government exists at the behest of the citizens, not the other way around. You can’t treat an entire city like you are their patriarch. That is not how being governor works. You serve the people, not rule them.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:03 am
An easier solution would be to kick the one unruly uncle out that just drops in whenever he needs something from the rest of the family. /s

Comment by twowaystreet Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:03 am
First, Bailey labels Chicago a hellhole. Now he compares Chicago to an unruly child. What?

Might be time for Candidate Bailey to stop riffing as he has nothing of value to add. Empty words from an empty head.

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:04 am
“… but you can’t just kick a city out of a state”
And the Union Stockyards are gone from the City so the option of slaughtering the fatted calf is out too.

Comment by We’ll See Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:04 am
Beetle is nuttier than a payday candy bar.

He sounds like he is an abusive parent, throwing his children out of the house.

Comment by Huh? Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:06 am
Both his son and daughter “rebelled”? What, did they get caught dancing and listening to rock and roll music?

Comment by Dance Band on the Titanic Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:06 am
Has this welfare prince spent twenty minutes if his life thinking?

How does he expect Chicagoans to react? “I’ve been bad, Daddy, please spank me”?

I’d be surprised if he gets 15% of the Chicago vote. And there aren’t enough votes downstate to make up for that.

Comment by Quizzical Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:06 am
@we’ll see: too funny, well done.

Comment by Jerry Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:07 am
The paternalism in his attitude towards Chicago is striking. I do not and will never understand the Christianist attitude towards family, but hope both of his children eventually recognize and recover from the hard he and his wife did to them.

Comment by Lulu in Lake Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:08 am
Unfortunate that Pritzker refused to show up.
His “excuse” was laughable.

Comment by Back to the Future Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:09 am
JB millions helped him get who he wanted to face. We’ll see how successful R’s are in driving down D turnout in general like JB did for Republicans in their primary. 36% D turnout would put them on par w Rs in primary. As they say, turnabout is fair play.

Comment by Future Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:13 am
==Unfortunate that Pritzker refused to show up.==

I don’t think this attempt to deflect attention away from Bailey’s insulting comments and weird family life is really gonna work.

Comment by Arsenal Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:15 am
I can undertand the need to remove a child from the home if his rebellion is endangering other members of the family. Even then, if the child is a minor, that should be organized so the child is not just left to his own defences. If the rebellion is about drugs, there are residential treatment places (granted insurance/$$ are issues here), if violence, same.

My niece had an unplanned pregnancy as a teenager. Her parents kicked her out of their home with no plan. Fortunately she had a phone and called my sister who called me in and we arranged for my sister to drive her to my place (gave me time to clean my guestroom) and settle her in. After that we talked and helped her to decide what she wanted to do. She chose to have the child and they stayed with me a few years until they were on their feet.

Today they are doing fine. She is professionally successful and the kid is doing great at school.

Her mother is still mad at her other sisters that we helped her daughter (and also her granddaughter). I think she hoped that being left without resources would result in a return of the prodigal. Bailey is very fortunate if that was the result for him.

Comment by cermak_rd Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:16 am
His thoughts on Champaign?

Comment by Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:17 am
You are correct Rich, in that we cannot “kick Chicago out” of the family of Illinois (despite the occasional desire expressed by some downstaters). Regions are not families. But we also need to realized that you cannot simply pray-away crime, which appears to be what Bailey would suggest in this metaphor comparing regions with families. If we could pray crime away, it would already be gone. I am pretty sure those living in places with serious crime issues are in fact praying a lot. But prayer does not create the social structures and community investments needed to change human behavior.

PS - I am actually pretty religious. But Bailey should pray for God to give him the strength to enact changes that matter, rather than praying that God will do the lifting.

Comment by H-W Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:19 am
Bailey’s view is a textbook example of what George Lakoff identified as the “strict father” model of parenting that is essential for understanding how conservatives view the world.

More on Psychology Wiki if your interested, but this stands out when learning he kicked his own children out:

“…researchers have linked authoritarian childrearing with children who withdraw, lack spontaneity, and have lesser evidence of conscience (Maccoby & Martin, 1983).

Comment by Moe Berg Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:24 am
When you end up subsidizing the rest of the state through tax dollars, you should be allowed to be as unruly as you want

Comment by Sox Fan Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:27 am
I’d personally like to put Bailey in Indiana. Where he belongs.

Comment by Glengarry Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:28 am
Pritzker boycotted that interview? Pretty foolish move when you are running against a candidate with chronic foot in mouth disease.

Comment by Louis G Atsaves Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:29 am
He sure doesn’t look like he has fasted a day in his life.

Comment by Cable Line Beer Gardener Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:30 am
This sounds like one of the reasons Illinois did away with parental notification.

Comment by Springfieldish Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:31 am
==Pretty foolish move when you are running against a candidate with chronic foot in mouth disease.==

…do you think Pritzker was the only one bringing cameras? He clearly was not, because Bailey’s latest gaffe is getting covered, even tho you guys are trying to deflect from it.

Comment by Arsenal Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:35 am
What kind of lowlife kicks their own children out of their home?

Comment by P. Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:35 am
-His thoughts on Champaign?-

Well we know he doesn’t like the University. Too much non-Christian book learnin’ and too many furrners there.

-couldn’t stand us at the time and wanted to get away.-

I can certainly relate.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:40 am
That Darren Bailey shares personal family conflicts to show that he’s the boss and is in control is despicable. To announce that he kicked two of his four children out of his house indicates very poor parenting on his part.

Waving the flag of “I’m president of the school board and leader in the church” shows that his leadership skills and decision-making abilities are very faulty. And, Darren Bailey thinks that he is qualified to be the chief executive of the state of Illinois. Hardly.

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:42 am
- our number third child -

There’s too much nuttery here to process but this gave me a good chuckle.

Comment by Excitable Boy Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:44 am
Lordy, we may never get to, but I’d love love love to hear the younguns’ versions of this story, but I’m sure they are waiting for their inheritance. But if the kid’s friends want to dish….

Comment by Goodson Oddman Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:52 am
Do you suppose he farms the way the did in the Old Testament or does he include a little of that modern science?

Comment by Robert T. Bugswell III Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:52 am
Good to know that prayer and fasting is what brings unruly kids back in line. I would have guessed his kids returned to the flock because they ran out of money.

So was Darren just an absentee father on the government dole?

Comment by Henry Francis Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 10:59 am
Should Bailey get elected(heh, heh, heh) how much time will be spent fasting and praying as to actual governing?

Comment by oifredleg Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 11:04 am
Rudy’s teeth has it correct.

This doesn’t show that Bailey would be a good governor. It just shows that he is a bad parent.

Comment by IllinoisCitizen Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 11:08 am
Not that it would make much difference, but, staying with the metaphor, you could try cutting their allowance

Comment by RNUG Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 11:34 am
That video of this speech also includes him agreeing that the 2020 election was “stolen”, and the IEA is evil. This guy is a real uniter.

Comment by Highland IL Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 11:38 am
==he would outfox us and maneuver us everywhere==

The thought of two minors with zero means of income successfully outsmarting Darren and Cindy should come as no surprise.

Comment by Jocko Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 11:43 am
“So he would outfox us and maneuver us everywhere.”

If beetle was outfoxed by his kids, how does he think he has the ability to do anything as governor? The guy is a patsy.

Comment by Huh? Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 11:47 am
Bailey manages to tell a human story about himself that dehumanizes him.

Comment by Scott Fawell's Cellmate Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 11:47 am
If Chicago is the “child” of Illinois then its a child actor supporting the whole Illinois family and Southern Illinois types like Bailey are the demented stage mother happy to cash the checks the child provides but bitter and jealous at the child for being more successful and famous than the stage mother.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 11:54 am
So when Bailey ‘rebelled” by refusing to wear a mask like an unruly child he should have been expelled from the GA?

Comment by Big Dipper Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 11:55 am
Did he give ‘em a whippin’ also? What a guy.

Comment by low level Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 11:56 am
Spare the eviction, spoil the child?

Comment by Cubs in '16 Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 12:05 pm
Hey!…will you unruly children who live in the Hellhole vote?…for me?…don’t make me kick you out.

Comment by Dotnonymous Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 12:05 pm
Unruly child. Right out of the Christian Nationalist patriarchy handbook. Beetle continues to show us who he is.

Comment by Anonymous 103 Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 12:06 pm
” Did he give ‘em a whippin’ also?”

Xenia is in Clay County, so :

It would more likely be a “Whoopin” or “Whuppin “

Comment by Red Ketcher Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 12:16 pm
=I raised em’ smart . . . . .” = the threw them out of the house . . . . . . . . . .

This is a scene from Footloose, right??

Comment by Just Wow Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 12:40 pm
Bailey’s family story is nice, but not pertinent — in the case of Chicago and Illinois, the “unruly child” bought the house and pays all the bills.

– MrJM

Comment by MisterJayEm Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 12:42 pm
The “unruly child” is making the money which the rest of the family is spending, with few alternative sources of funds.

Comment by Ares Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 12:45 pm
What’s Bailey’s thoughts on Chatham? (The village, that is). Its former mayor was caught giving the finger a few years ago. Would he consider that to be unruly behavior?

Comment by AcademicUnionStateEmployee Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 1:04 pm
“When Darren Bailey identifies a problem, his solution is to simply throw it out.”

Yep.

This is going to really get under his thin skin.

Comment by NIU Grad Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 1:21 pm
==It would more likely be a “Whoopin” or “Whuppin “==

100% correct. Thank you for correcting me.

Comment by low level Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 1:44 pm
Illinois Family Institute. Never around when you need them.

Comment by Kayak Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 2:09 pm
How does fasting by parents have have any effect on two ‘rebel’ children becoming less rebel like? That a new technique for DCFS?

Comment by zatoichi Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 2:13 pm
I’m no Bailey fan and don’t like the way he weaves his religion into his running for political office - BUT, this comment section and the comments about his parenting really shows that a lot of people don’t know that many truly committed Bible-believing Christians. Otherwise you wouldn’t talk about them like they are aliens. Fasting and praying for an intercession from God..*gasp* how dare he. Being a strict Father who successfully got his children on the right track? Oh no!

Comment by Hahaha Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 3:13 pm
This “GOP humanization” story ranks right up there with the Mitt Romney “dog on roof” story. What a massive series of errors, one after another. The election will finally put this guy out of his misery. He must just feel embarrassed by now (hopefully?).

Comment by Anan Friday, Sep 30, 22 @ 3:17 pm