You are aware that the mayor of NYC (who takes the subway to work) doesn’t have kids, right? The comparison is not the same.

Also, you claimed on CTA Tattler that Rodriguez had never rode the CTA before he started his job which is flat out false? What say you about that?

Also, the fact that you compared kids to pets (I can’t find the quote, but lots of people on this board mentioned it) shows just how juvenile you are.

YOU ROCK! THERE I JUST HAD TO SAY IT. I’VE BEEN A LONG TIME READER BUT HAVE NEVER COMMENTED.
WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE, IS SOMETHING THAT REALLY CHAPS MY ASS! I AGREE 110 0/0 WITH YOU! I MYSELF AM ALSO A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD. I AM A NEW CHICAGOAN AND PROUD TO LIVE HERE AND CALL THIS CITY HOME. NO MATTER HOW LONG I’VE LIVED HERE. I KNOW IT MIGHT SOUND CLICHE BUT I HAVE ALWAYS MADE HOME …..WHERE EVER I HAPPEN TO BE LIVING. SO STEVE YOU CAN SUCK IT. AND EVEN THOUGH YOU STEVE ARE ABOUT AS OPNE MINDED AS A BEAR TRAP, YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME IN MY CITY. MCDAVID

Are we to accept that anyone & everyone who bears children has free pass to clog our streets and poison our air to avoid the inconveniences of kids on transit?

Plenty of parents and children *have* to rely on the CTA. They arrange their lives –the location of home, jobs, day care– around it. Why should the head of this agency be any different?

And what kind of “quality time” do you get with your kids while operating a motor-vehicle, anyway? You can’t hold them or look at their drawings or pay them any level of proper attention.

Fix the CTA and everyone can spend some real quality time with their kids, *at home*, not cramming it into half-assed multitasking.

Mr. Rodriguez’s refusal is a commercial for the constant failure of the CTA, his fault or not.

However, Mike, your video is just a rant.

Your dismissal of the very concept of “children” isn’t going to win any votes –or break any gay-male stereotypes.

I turned it off when you devolved into name calling.

You’ve got too good a thing going here to waste an opportunity like this.

I don’t agree with every position that Mike D. has proffered on this blog (or elsewhere), but I will — as I have done in the past — defend his vocalism as a valid form of making a difference. Change doesn’t come from being silent and accepting the status quo. Change comes from forcing our leaders to listen to our demands and make the necessary changes to get things done.

How else are we supposed to let them know that we’re not happy with the way things are? How else are they supposed to know what we want (and elected) them to do? It’s why pollsters and lobbyists are so powerful. Many bloggers are also lobbyists, just not the kind we’re accustomed to. Get used to it, though — they have loud mouths, and more often than not, they gets things done.