Weekend Quotables

Anti-Vax FOP head tests positive but still attacks mayor's vax mandates.

Michael Klonsky

Jan 3, 2022

John Catanzara, FOP president

Multiple Chicago police officers have died from COVID-19. And in October, former FOP President Dean Angelo Sr. succumbed to the virus following a weeks-long battle. Angelo’s death came amid Catanzara’s crusade against the city’s vaccine mandate. But the current FOP leader’s public pushback has also drawn controversy; he apologized in August for comparing the employee vaccination policy to Nazi Germany. Now Catanzara himself has tested positive. But he’s still telling Chicago cops not to get vaxed.

“This vaccine is not a vaccine. It is a COVID treatment at best,” he claimed. “We are leaving no bullets in the gun, so to speak,” Catanzara said. “And we’re challenging every component of this ridiculous process.” — NBC 5

Fred Klonsky @fklonsky

What can you say about a so-called union leader who puts his members in jeopardy while making sure he's protected?

Roseanna Ander, CrimeLab executive director

“We do have a gun violence crisis in Chicago, and it has always been hyper-concentrated in just a handful of neighborhoods. The pandemic and all the knock-on effects of unemployment, business closures, disconnection … all of that exacerbated the situation and pulled the rug out from under neighborhoods that already faced a lack of access to resources.” — Sun-Times

Dr. Richard Besser, President of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

“The key to controlling this is focusing on global protection. We’ve done a terrible job at providing vaccines around the globe. And as we’ve seen from Omicron, new variants can arise anywhere. So from an equity and justice standpoint, we need to do more.” — Today Show

Pres. Joe Biden

After Biden’s speech in South Carolina, Senate Democrats renewed their push to pass voting rights legislation early in 2022. And the president said in an interview with ABC that he supported creating an exception to the Senate filibuster if that’s what it takes to pass voting rights legislation.

For Biden, who served four decades in the Senate, it was a remarkable concession and underscored the gravity of the threat. And, he acknowledged, he knows the world is watching to see how the nation responds — and wondering if the country’s democracy will survive.

“Did you ever think you’d be asked that question by another leader?” Biden said. — Interview

Bob Cousy on the loss of Sam Jones

“I like to sit and meditate and think. Normally, I blank out all the negative stuff and focus on the positive stuff, but there are times when you get into these kinds of funks, and today will be one. It’s the New Year and Sam has passed and now we’re down to three.” — Boston Globe