NATO Summit 2012:
what does it mean to Chicago?
How well prepared is Chicago
for the NATO summit?
I think well prepared.
I am the Governor of our State
and Commander-in-Chief
of our National Guard,
which will be involved
in helping the proceedings along,
as well as the Chicago Police.
We want to have a very successful
gathering of NATO nations.
To have a real discussion
when people have
an opportunity to speak their piece.
We can balance that off and
make sure that everyone is heard.
It is an opportunity for Illinois
to tell the whole world about us.
We have people coming
from all the NATO nations
and we want them to learn
about Illinois and Chicago,
see Lake Michigan and all
the great things in our state of Illinois.
How much do Americans
appreciate the work of NATO?
It is an important organization.
The efforts that were done in Libya
just very recently, show the power
of NATO working together.
I was born a few months before NATO
started, I am about as old as NATO
and it is important
to have this organization
that ties people and nations
together for something important:
democracy, security, making sure
we have the opportunity to practice
what we believe in.
So NATO should always be with us,
maybe changing in form and
with the times, but it has to stand by.
Elections, protests, debate:
is Chicago 2012 democracy in action?
We have
a presidential election going on
and Illinois is
the epicentre of the whole battle.
Our president
comes from Illinois, Chicago,
and we know how
to do politics and democracy.
It is healthy to have
a robust debate and discussion.
Sometimes it gets loud,
but America is all
about the right to speak.
And NATO believes in
the right of assembly and speech,
religion and press, and it's going on
full tilt in America in the election,
and our state is in the heart of it.