I’m reading Hamlet again. In the Act III Scene I soliloquy ("To be or not to be…"), he says at one point, "But that dread of something after death,/The undiscover’d country, from whose bourn/No traveller returns, puzzles the will," When I read that, it gave me quite a pause. What? No traveler returns? Didn’t you just see a ghost?
It was the exact same pause I got when Daley came on TV and blustered about creating a Chicago No-Fly Zone. It went from the Lakefront to Ashland/90-94, from I-290 to Irving Park Road. What? I thought. How the hell are planes going to get into Meigs Field? Since it is included as the lakefront, it would be physically impossible for a plane to not fly in the No-Fly Zone and yet still land on it. Uh- oh, I thought. Daley’s but mad north-north-west. When the airspace allows, he knows a hawk from a hand-saw.
Not that I knew he was going to flex his muscle so blatantly and actually send people in under dark of night to tear up the airport. Technically, he has the right to do so; the Parks Department leases the land out. But I knew something was up-really, if you stopped and thought about it, it was pretty obvious. But who knew he’d out-Herod Herod?
The supporters of Meigs are generally the people wealthy enough to use it-more often than not, Lakefront dwellers and jet-about business-types who work in the downtown high-rises. To trap this Lakefront Royalty, Daley set up a little drama. So His Elective Majesty came out and said, "You guys don’t want anybody to fly over downtown if I can stop them, right?" And they all said, "Yay!" and Daley said (aside), "Aha! The Security’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the Kings…" How can they complain now? By supporting the No-Fly Zone, they technically (very technically) gave tacit consent to Daley man-handling Meigs. Which wouldn’t be enough for most Mayors. But, you know. He’s Daley--see also The Last 14 Years.
By destroying the airstrip, he made it unprofitable for the federal or state government to buy the land from Chicago, and precluded an injunction. It’s his now--and will be until he shuffles off his Mayoral coil. The perfect place for a gorgeous lakefront park or marina or- hmmm-a casino?
I’m reading Hamlet again. In the Act III Scene I soliloquy ("To be or not to be…"), he says at one point, "But that dread of something after death,/The undiscover’d country, from whose bourn/No traveller returns, puzzles the will," When I read that, it gave me quite a pause. What? No traveler returns? Didn’t you just see a ghost?
