Friday, November 8, 2024

A happy warrior in Illinois

From the Chicago Tribune:

Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday sought to assure Illinois residents that he would fight to preserve the state’s protections on fronts including reproductive health, immigration and LGBTQ+ rights during Donald Trump’s second term in the White House.

“To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom, and opportunity, and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior. You come for my people, you come through me,” Pritzker said Thursday at a news conference in Chicago, where he made his first public appearance since the election.
“You come for my people, you come through me”: I like that. And I like “happy warrior,” which I’ve known only in relation to Alfred E. Smith, who’s now camped in our living room, in the pages of Robert Caro’s The Power Broker. I had no idea that the phrase “happy warrior” derives from a poem by William Wordsworth (inspired by Lord Horatio Nelson) and that it’s been applied to any number of post-Smith politicians.

comments: 4

Fresca said...

A tiny upside of the election is that my state of Minnesota gets to keep our governor.

Michael Leddy said...

He’s a good one. I wonder who will lead the fight in 2028. Gavin Newsom?

Anonymous said...

Waaaay off topic, but The Power Broker has been sitting on my shelf, unread, for years. I was introduced to Robert Caro when he was interviewed on “Charlie Rose.” Caro’s thick NY accent reminded me of home. At my age, I gave up any hope of tackling his well-reviewed LBJ tetralogy.

Michael Leddy said...

I’ve got a post with tips for reading TPB lined up for Monday — really. I was skeptical, bought it on impulse (my wife was already reading it), and decided to do it. It’s so readable — he knows how to tell a story (a long one!).