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Rahm Emanuel suggests renaming Chicago airports; implies O'Hare = Obama Airport (then backs off)

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Mar 26 06:05:34 2015

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Obama International Airport? Emanuel floats idea of renaming O'Hare, Midway

By Bill Ruthhart
March 25, 2015 10:19 pm

Could Mayor Rahm Emanuel be thinking about renaming Chicago’s airports, perhaps after President Barack Obama?

Emanuel brought up the airports’ names during a candidate forum Wednesday night at Chicago State University.

The topic came up as the mayor fielded a question on why he quickly proposed, then abandoned efforts to name a new North Side high school after Obama and the South Side’s Stony Island Parkway after the late Arthur Brazier, a revered African-American civic leader who founded the Woodlawn Organization and was pastor of the Apostolic Church of God for 48 years.

“We have to, in some way, whether it’s President Obama or in the other case, Dr. Brazier, acknowledge people who have done significant things. We have an airport, two of them, named after, you know, Midway Airport, O’Hare Airport,” Emanuel said. “These are people who have been transformative in the city of Chicago. But we have airports named after battleships.”

Actually, O’Hare is named after World War II Navy pilot Edward “Butch” O’Hare, and Midway was given its name by city officials in 1949 in remembrance of the 1942 Battle of Midway, a crucial battle in the Pacific during World War II.

Emanuel did not take questions from reporters following the forum.

Update: Later, Emanuel spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said the mayor has no plans to rename either airport.

The mayor gave his answer in acknowledging he erred in seeking to name a North Side high school after the president, when Obama got his start in politics on the South Side.

“Look, I made a mistake, and I was quick to change it. I’m not perfect. When I make a mistake, I hear it and change it,” Emanuel said. “And I don’t have a problem saying that. But I won’t make an apology for the fact I think President Obama is a great president. I wanted to honor him. I wanted to be the city to have the first high school named after him. In my rush to do it, I clearly offended people, so I backed off of it. I will never back off of my love and affection for a great president. But I made a mistake.”

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