Emanuel: State Budget Impasse 'Much Ado About Nothing'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As Chicago prepared to celebrate William Shakespeare's 400-year legacy, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said politics in Illinois would qualify as a Shakespearean tragicomedy.
After helping the Chicago Shakespeare Theater announce a citywide year-long arts festival in 2016, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, the mayor was asked what "The Bard" would call the ongoing state budget standoff in Springfield.
"I'd probably stick with my quote from this morning, 'Much Ado About Nothing,' with the emphasis on the word nothing," he said. "Whether you look at Lear, King Richard, about power and the use of power – not power, but authority, etc – Shakespeare talked about the frailties of the human spirit, but also not to confuse your position with who you are. That's all I'll say on that," he said.