With crime such a hot topic, it would have been nice if he shared a glimpse into his crime-fighting agenda in the article. Its easy to blame current crime issues on the previous Alderman, but the citizens want to hear a plan to resolve to deal with it.
@Uptown Dweller. I completely agree with you. We need all the candidates to tell us what their plans are to combat the crime in Uptown. I've gone to his website (carroll46.com / issues) and the only thing he says about crime is "It's Time For Change" - we know that already . Specifically, what are your plans? Hopefully, we can get (hear) action items, policy recommendations, or ideas he has to "fight crime" in Uptown. What are his plans to stop the gang bangers from killing people on our streets in broad daylight and for us not be awakened by a a gun battles at two, three, four in the morning...?
It would also be nice to hear what the police would like to do differently with the support of a new alderman. Are there things they wanted to do, but were stopped from doing so? How much support did she really provide to the police in the past 20 years? I would think as a police officer he would know a lot about these things, why not share exactly what he would do differently if Alderman?
I hate to be a negative nelly, but I really don't think there is much a single alderman can do by way of crime reduction. Street crime is systematic, born of social issues including low educational opportunities, regulation and a poor economy. The police can punish criminals and provide a certain measure of disincentive for crime, but they cannot prevent dedicated criminals from doing what they do.
So, instead of talking about police tactics to fight crime, candidates should be talking about city and state policies that lead to crime, and how they can be changed. It's easy and pointless to complain about police protection - the problem lies in the schools, the economy, and the regulation. Without fixing those issues, we're just scratching the surface.
You can go to the candidates' websites for starters to get a sense of what they will do to address crime.
I get a better sense of their commitment to public safety, though, by looking at what they've already done as an unpaid volunteer in the ward. What are some actual accomplishments other than going to a CAPS meeting now and then?
As the local political representative of the community I would think there are many, many and I mean many actions an (non-lazy) Alderman could take to reduce crime. From immediate communication/involvement/cooperation with CPD (at least show at CAPS meetings) to long term infrastructure changes that will attract businesses/residents that are prone to obeying rather than dis-obeying the law. There must be direct and indirect influence our Alderman have on the above to deter and reduce the criminal element.
I don`t think any Alderman thats elected has enough power to make things the way we would like them to be in our ward. They surely can offer help but the days of a crime fighting strong Alderman as we had in my old 1st ward, Fred Roti, he knew how to pull strings that the new ones of today can`t do. Maybe that is why in the old days you could walk the streets in peace.
I had voted in the last election for Cappleman and while not a bad choice vs Shiller, I think Carroll is much better for what we need moving forward. I met him about a year ago and have been very impressed with what he brings to the table. I grew up in the city and my dad and brothers work for the CPD. Cops go out of their way to help their own. Why do you think people want Jody Weis out. He is not one of their own (FBI from Philly). If elected to the 46th ward Carroll is going to get more out of the police than any other candidate. Plus he works on a target response team dealing with issues we see in Uptown on a daily basis. Not a few shootings here and there, but shootings every night on the south and westside. UpdownDweller - Just because what you read in a small article didnt get into specifics doesnt mean they arent talked about. Mike went into detail about things he would change at the Fourm at Nicks uptown a few months back. Rather than talk down on candidates why dont you read up on their blogs or reach out to them. I am sure Michale would love to talk with you about specifics. Mike is not just a cop, he has a great background to hold office.
Robert, I wasn't clear how Micheal differentiates the role of a police commander from an alderman. I wonder if you really want a combined position of alderman and police commander in this elected role?
Just Wondering,I am not sure what you are even trying to accompish with that post. It doesnt even make sense. We all know Crime is one of the major issues in this election. I dont know about you, but I would like someone that has a first hand in dealing with that issue. As Alderman (whoever it may be) They should have a relationship with the CPD and work with them to get the issues solved. Having someone with the knowhow and personal experience like Michael is much more likely to get more accomplished than one without the experience. I do beleive our next alderman should be involved with CPD commanders in our area and your crazy if you dont think this falls into the role of a new alderman. Keep in mind this is just one pressing issue in the community and Michael has a hands down edge on all the other candidates. If you would look at his education and experience in the peacecorps, working with the church, soup kitchens, and a very solid educational background including a Masters studies at Northwestern you will find he is a very well rounded candidate.
Robert, I wonder what you mean when you say Carroll will "get more out of the police" than the other candidates? I thought that was the job of the police commander?
I have no doubt that Carroll would do at least as good a job as Schiller if not better. It sounds great that he has a CPD background and actual experience fighting crime. The biggest concern for me nowadays.
I just hope he knows how to translate a career of reacting to criminal activity into proactive actions leading to its reduction in our fair neighborhood. Admittedly a portion of an Alderman's job requirements.
@Robert, you continue to go back to Carroll's CPD experience. Okay, we get that. The crime is only ONE part of the problem in Uptown, and yes I agree it's a big problem. You also reflect the patronage that is so rampant throughout Chicago politics - "Cops go out of their way to help their own". Elections shouldn't be what "brotherhood" you're from but who's the most qualified. The new Alderman of this ward needs excellent MANAGEMENT skills, BUSINESS experience and POLITICAL networking ability. Someone who has the capability to reach out to major corporations, retailers and service industries and convince their CEO's / CFO's why THEY will benefit from coming to Uptown - then working with the City Council to create incentives for these companies to come here. To create an environment where it's not OKAY to loiter on every corner, to support the City and State Social Services that are here but minimize anymore expansion of such programs. To have the the tenacity to work with the CTA to improve our "L" stations (upgrade them like Belmont) to include elevators - are just a few of the qualifications I believe our new Alderman should have.
Just Wondering, If you dont think that the job of the Alderman has a responsibily to work with the Police then you obvioulsy arent that in-tune with Chicago Politics and the role of an Alderman. The Alderman is the one who will be the voice for the community and who will fight to get more officers in our area. As Alderman this person should also be pushing for specialized units like the Target Response Unit that Carroll belongs on in the CPD. This is a unit that if centered in Uptown to combat gang violence in the square mile around Broadway/Wilson/Magnolia/Sheridan could make a huge difference. We dont have a unit like that in our area as we speak. There are also other units like Mobile Strike Force and Saturation teams that again arent in our area. These are things that Carroll knows about and will fight for.
I've said it here before, but the idea that more cops are going to be assigned to Uptown is unrealistic.
The city budget is a huge underfunded mess and not only can't we expect more cops to be assigned here, but we can't expect many more to be hired.
Dat's da fact, Jack.
The most effective legal short term solution to the Uptown crime problem is more "ministerial" than law enforcement. It will take an alderman who focuses on working with and forcing property owners/managers to evict their gangbanging tenants.
I'd love to see the eviction laws changed to make evictions easier for crime related issues. Then assign an assistant corporation council to Uptown to force out the bangers. That would be more effective than a small additional number of police.
There's a guy named Bratton who is arguably the most successful police chief in American history. He likes to say the number of police matters. It does, but unfortunately we aren't going to get any additional cops.
As for Mike Carroll he seems like a decent enough guy. I'll leave it at that for now.
I'm awaiting the decisions of the election board to see who stays on the ballot. I think there may be a surprise or three in those decisions.
Uptown Dweller, when I had a cancer operation last year, I just wanted the cancer out. I didn't ask the doctors what they would do with the cancerous growth they removed. I didn't care if it could be rehabilitated into good cancer cells. I just knew that if they didn't get it out of me, I would get sick and eventually die if the cancer remained.
So it is with the gangbangers. They are a cancer on any community they invade, and there is no place for them in a healthy community. Too many, and the community eventually dies.
I don't mind being a NIMBY when it comes to evicting crime and the people who commit it.
I don't know nor have I ever met Michael Carroll, but I know cops don't trust politicians. They do trust and respect Michael Carroll, however.
I know it's inconvenient for all the other candidates that a Police Officer, with a pretty stellar resume, is running when shootings and mayhem have become THE issue in the 46th Ward, but, that IS the situation.
@LTKTAL - It seems that your idea of the ideal Alderman does not need ties to the police, but be wrapped up with a bow, having the "right" resume. For me, I could care less about that (though Mike Carroll impresses there as well). What I require is someone who gets results.
Your assessment that "the new Alderman of this ward needs excellent MANAGEMENT skills, BUSINESS experience and POLITICAL networking ability... etc, etc, etc." is not outrageous. Anyone, though, who has ANY awareness of what cops do, especially ones working in high crime areas making large numbers of felony arrests like Officer Carroll is, knows that he couldn't do that job without already HAVING all of those abilities. I retired as a Sergeant after nearly 30 years, so I am certainly able to verify that fact.
As IP says, however, I'm also waiting to see who will still be on the ballot.
there are plenty o cops who don't like Mike Carroll. There's a large segment of neanderthals in the police department who rage about Obama, moderates, "libruls", taxes etc. My favorite is the tax raging. It's amusing to find people whose salary is paid by taxpayers raging about government.
Carroll is by resume and his public stances a fairly moderate guy. There was some post on the Second City Cop blog about cops running for office and more than a few commenters attacked Carroll as not being right wing enough. I guess he drives a hybrid car and that drives Neanderthals crazy.
I'm sure there's also a large number of cops who know him who actually like and respect him. Cops are not some monolithic group and there are going to be cops all over the political spectrum.
I know people who assume because I'm a former Army officer that I must be a conservative. Sheet.
I'm a socially responsible libertarian with a bad moon rising and a strong streak of utilitarianism.
Because of his background in social work AND his hard work for Uptown over the last decade I'm planning to vote for Cappleman. I personally think he's the best fit for Uptown's problems.
Others are free to disagree.
There are some good people running. Carroll seems to be one of them. There are also a few who are either machine hacks or just rotten individuals.
You can use your own judgments as to who is who in those categories.
Regardless of your "neanderthals" tag, IP, I'd be amazed if a police officer walked into the voting booth and didn't vote for another police officer who wasn't obviously an idiot, regardless of what kind of car he drives.
As far as the blog, Second City Cop is concerned, I read and post there regularly. Agreed that many comments are over the top, but that is certainly a result of the anonymity factor, and a willingness of the blog owner to allow things through. If you pay attention, however, it's obvious that the same "neanderthals" are repeating themselves in comment after comment and are not representative of the Dept. as a whole.
As far as "people whose salary is paid by taxpayers raging about government", why would ANYONE be precluded from ranting about criminal politicians and corruption REGARDLESS of who employs them? Daley and his 50 co-conspirators continue to break laws that any of the rest of us would go to jail for. The Chicago Police Dept. has NO AUTHORITY to investigate any crime committed by the City Council members OR any of their staff. The same holds true for the City Inspector General, who investigates crime and corruption amongst all other city employees besides the police who have their own Internal Affairs Division. That leaves only the Federal Dept of Justice with the authority to investigate these perennial thieves and the Chicago office of the DOJ is the largest in the nation, if that's an indication of anything. Besides, it's not like police and fire employees don't earn their salaries, especially in 2010.
They also rant about taxes, the highest in the nation. Untold hundreds of millions of tax dollars are going Lord knows where, for wrought iron fences around our parks, flower boxes in the streets, free government cell phones, multiple generations of welfare recipients who aren't even asked to look for employment, sanctuary for illegal aliens, etc, etc... where does it end?
So while the city budget hemorrhages billions, no one will discuss how Daley's son, Patrick, committed crimes against the city, or Daley's nephew, Robert Vanecko has scammed millions from city pension funds. We're all supposed to forget the hundreds of millions going to the failed Olympic bid, cost overruns at Millenium Park, the Hired Truck scandal, or the CPD providing Daley and each of his family members an armed escort of chauffeurs, butlers and go-fers like they are royalty. NO ONE in this entire country gets that treatment, paid for by the taxpayers, outside of the President! It sickens me. If you see this kind of raging against the government as wrong, it surprises me .
This is where we agree. Look at the tangible accomplishments on public safety issues from all the candidates and one candidate stands out among the others.
Hint, getting paid to do one's job doesn't count as volunteer work.
it's NYE and I'm on the net. Woe is me. Thankfully, I went to the "Eve of the Eve" charity soiree at Union Station last night. Just like NYE without the massive numbers of drunks on the streets.
Anyhoo, I didn't mean to suggest that I think all or most cops are "neanderthals". Considering the size of my head, I likely have more than the average of 1-4% of Neanderthal DNA that those of European descent generally have. Put it this way, hats that advertise "one size fits all" are the work of Satan or his marketing minions.
Now I don't believe that anyone who works for the government isn't free to openly criticize said government and the elected leaders.
What I object to is the types of people who collect a government check, yet rage against the very idea of government.
I saw a video of Texas Tea Partiers who openly talked about secession, yet they opened their meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and proudly flew the flag of the nation they talk about seceding from.
I saw a video of a "gentleman" raging against socialized medicine while telling the government to keep its hands off his medicare.
It's like watching politicians praise cops and fireman, yet vote down bills helping those who were injured by 9/11 service.
Now I'm all for a wee bit of cognitive dissonance sometimes, but dat's too much.
Now I don't believe anyone should vote for Mike Carroll just because he's a cop. I don't believe they shouldn't vote for him just because he's a cop, but both things will occur.
There are a few people who post here who are cops and apparently gay. How will they vote? Will they vote "cop", or "gay" or will they look at all the candidates and make a decision based on other factors?
I find the idea that Carroll is a cop running for office interesting. It's nice to have people with a wide range of experiences in office.
In any case Happy New Year.
I hear the gunshots going off which means the New Year is here.
Of the candidates I can picture having any reasonable shot of becoming 46th Ward aldercritter ANY of them will be better than Shiller.
Dat ain't a bad way to welcome in the New Year and end this post.
IrishPirate said... "...Of the candidates I can picture having any reasonable shot of becoming 46th Ward aldercritter ANY of them will be better than Shiller."
"Dat ain't a bad way to welcome in the New Year and end this post."
January 1, 2011 12:10 AM
A strong and pleasant point there indeed, Mr Pirate. My fear is, however, that the newly elected occupant of the 5th floor at City Hall will make all discussions of who's sitting in the other 50 seats at Council Chambers a moot point.
There's a reason why many of the old guard, like "Fast Eddie" Burke, are supporting Chico and want nothing to do with the Rahmfather! And with Davis now out making CMB the 'consensus' black candidate, I'm sure del Valle will be dropping out next, leaving us once again to choose between the lesser of the remaining evils...
It is difficult and self-defeating to try and figure out which occupational background is best suited for an Alderman. The job is singularly unique to this world.
I will say that Candidate Carroll has great taste in art...and that counts for something in my little corner of Uptown.
With crime such a hot topic, it would have been nice if he shared a glimpse into his crime-fighting agenda in the article. Its easy to blame current crime issues on the previous Alderman, but the citizens want to hear a plan to resolve to deal with it.
ReplyDelete@Uptown Dweller. I completely agree with you. We need all the candidates to tell us what their plans are to combat the crime in Uptown. I've gone to his website (carroll46.com / issues) and the only thing he says about crime is "It's Time For Change" - we know that already . Specifically, what are your plans? Hopefully, we can get (hear) action items, policy recommendations, or ideas he has to "fight crime" in Uptown. What are his plans to stop the gang bangers from killing people on our streets in broad daylight and for us not be awakened by a a gun battles at two, three, four in the morning...?
ReplyDeleteIt would also be nice to hear what the police would like to do differently with the support of a new alderman. Are there things they wanted to do, but were stopped from doing so? How much support did she really provide to the police in the past 20 years? I would think as a police officer he would know a lot about these things, why not share exactly what he would do differently if Alderman?
ReplyDeleteI hate to be a negative nelly, but I really don't think there is much a single alderman can do by way of crime reduction. Street crime is systematic, born of social issues including low educational opportunities, regulation and a poor economy. The police can punish criminals and provide a certain measure of disincentive for crime, but they cannot prevent dedicated criminals from doing what they do.
ReplyDeleteSo, instead of talking about police tactics to fight crime, candidates should be talking about city and state policies that lead to crime, and how they can be changed. It's easy and pointless to complain about police protection - the problem lies in the schools, the economy, and the regulation. Without fixing those issues, we're just scratching the surface.
You can go to the candidates' websites for starters to get a sense of what they will do to address crime.
ReplyDeleteI get a better sense of their commitment to public safety, though, by looking at what they've already done as an unpaid volunteer in the ward. What are some actual accomplishments other than going to a CAPS meeting now and then?
As the local political representative of the community I would think there are many, many and I mean many actions an (non-lazy) Alderman could take to reduce crime. From immediate communication/involvement/cooperation with CPD (at least show at CAPS meetings) to long term infrastructure changes that will attract businesses/residents that are prone to obeying rather than dis-obeying the law.
ReplyDeleteThere must be direct and indirect influence our Alderman have on the above to deter and reduce the criminal element.
Am I wrong? Or just asking for too much?
See my reaction to street brawls a while back here.
ReplyDeleteI don`t think any Alderman thats elected has enough power to make things the way we would like them to be in our ward. They surely can offer help but the days of a crime fighting strong Alderman as we had in my old 1st ward, Fred Roti, he knew how to pull strings that the new ones of today can`t do. Maybe that is why in the old days you could walk the streets in peace.
ReplyDeleteI had voted in the last election for Cappleman and while not a bad choice vs Shiller, I think Carroll is much better for what we need moving forward. I met him about a year ago and have been very impressed with what he brings to the table. I grew up in the city and my dad and brothers work for the CPD. Cops go out of their way to help their own. Why do you think people want Jody Weis out. He is not one of their own (FBI from Philly). If elected to the 46th ward Carroll is going to get more out of the police than any other candidate. Plus he works on a target response team dealing with issues we see in Uptown on a daily basis. Not a few shootings here and there, but shootings every night on the south and westside. UpdownDweller - Just because what you read in a small article didnt get into specifics doesnt mean they arent talked about. Mike went into detail about things he would change at the Fourm at Nicks uptown a few months back. Rather than talk down on candidates why dont you read up on their blogs or reach out to them. I am sure Michale would love to talk with you about specifics. Mike is not just a cop, he has a great background to hold office.
ReplyDeleteRobert, I wasn't clear how Micheal differentiates the role of a police commander from an alderman. I wonder if you really want a combined position of alderman and police commander in this elected role?
ReplyDeleteJust Wondering,I am not sure what you are even trying to accompish with that post. It doesnt even make sense. We all know Crime is one of the major issues in this election. I dont know about you, but I would like someone that has a first hand in dealing with that issue. As Alderman (whoever it may be) They should have a relationship with the CPD and work with them to get the issues solved. Having someone with the knowhow and personal experience like Michael is much more likely to get more accomplished than one without the experience. I do beleive our next alderman should be involved with CPD commanders in our area and your crazy if you dont think this falls into the role of a new alderman. Keep in mind this is just one pressing issue in the community and Michael has a hands down edge on all the other candidates. If you would look at his education and experience in the peacecorps, working with the church, soup kitchens, and a very solid educational background including a Masters studies at Northwestern you will find he is a very well rounded candidate.
ReplyDeleteRobert, I wonder what you mean when you say Carroll will "get more out of the police" than the other candidates? I thought that was the job of the police commander?
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that Carroll would do at least as good a job as Schiller if not better. It sounds great that he has a CPD background and actual experience fighting crime. The biggest concern for me nowadays.
ReplyDeleteI just hope he knows how to translate a career of reacting to criminal activity into proactive actions leading to its reduction in our fair neighborhood. Admittedly a portion of an Alderman's job requirements.
Good luck to him and all of the other candidates.
@Robert, you continue to go back to Carroll's CPD experience. Okay, we get that. The crime is only ONE part of the problem in Uptown, and yes I agree it's a big problem. You also reflect the patronage that is so rampant throughout Chicago politics - "Cops go out of their way to help their own". Elections shouldn't be what "brotherhood" you're from but who's the most qualified. The new Alderman of this ward needs excellent MANAGEMENT skills, BUSINESS experience and POLITICAL networking ability. Someone who has the capability to reach out to major corporations, retailers and service industries and convince their CEO's / CFO's why THEY will benefit from coming to Uptown - then working with the City Council to create incentives for these companies to come here. To create an environment where it's not OKAY to loiter on every corner, to support the City and State Social Services that are here but minimize anymore expansion of such programs. To have the the tenacity to work with the CTA to improve our "L" stations (upgrade them like Belmont) to include elevators - are just a few of the qualifications I believe our new Alderman should have.
ReplyDeleteJust Wondering, If you dont think that the job of the Alderman has a responsibily to work with the Police then you obvioulsy arent that in-tune with Chicago Politics and the role of an Alderman. The Alderman is the one who will be the voice for the community and who will fight to get more officers in our area. As Alderman this person should also be pushing for specialized units like the Target Response Unit that Carroll belongs on in the CPD. This is a unit that if centered in Uptown to combat gang violence in the square mile around Broadway/Wilson/Magnolia/Sheridan could make a huge difference. We dont have a unit like that in our area as we speak. There are also other units like Mobile Strike Force and Saturation teams that again arent in our area. These are things that Carroll knows about and will fight for.
ReplyDeleteI've said it here before, but the idea that more cops are going to be assigned to Uptown is unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteThe city budget is a huge underfunded mess and not only can't we expect more cops to be assigned here, but we can't expect many more to be hired.
Dat's da fact, Jack.
The most effective legal short term solution to the Uptown crime problem is more "ministerial" than law enforcement. It will take an alderman who focuses on working with and forcing property owners/managers to evict their gangbanging tenants.
I'd love to see the eviction laws changed to make evictions easier for crime related issues. Then assign an assistant corporation council to Uptown to force out the bangers. That would be more effective than a small additional number of police.
There's a guy named Bratton who is arguably the most successful police chief in American history. He likes to say the number of police matters. It does, but unfortunately we aren't going to get any additional cops.
As for Mike Carroll he seems like a decent enough guy. I'll leave it at that for now.
I'm awaiting the decisions of the election board to see who stays on the ballot. I think there may be a surprise or three in those decisions.
IP, where do the evicted go to?
ReplyDeleteUptown Dweller, when I had a cancer operation last year, I just wanted the cancer out. I didn't ask the doctors what they would do with the cancerous growth they removed. I didn't care if it could be rehabilitated into good cancer cells. I just knew that if they didn't get it out of me, I would get sick and eventually die if the cancer remained.
ReplyDeleteSo it is with the gangbangers. They are a cancer on any community they invade, and there is no place for them in a healthy community. Too many, and the community eventually dies.
I don't mind being a NIMBY when it comes to evicting crime and the people who commit it.
Even if there isn't a good answer for "where will they go", it's not a reason to then say "well...I don't know, I guess we'll just keep them here"
ReplyDeleteI don't know nor have I ever met Michael Carroll, but I know cops don't trust politicians. They do trust and respect Michael Carroll, however.
ReplyDeleteI know it's inconvenient for all the other candidates that a Police Officer, with a pretty stellar resume, is running when shootings and mayhem have become THE issue in the 46th Ward, but, that IS the situation.
@LTKTAL - It seems that your idea of the ideal Alderman does not need ties to the police, but be wrapped up with a bow, having the "right" resume. For me, I could care less about that (though Mike Carroll impresses there as well). What I require is someone who gets results.
Your assessment that "the new Alderman of this ward needs excellent MANAGEMENT skills, BUSINESS experience and POLITICAL networking ability... etc, etc, etc." is not outrageous. Anyone, though, who has ANY awareness of what cops do, especially ones working in high crime areas making large numbers of felony arrests like Officer Carroll is, knows that he couldn't do that job without already HAVING all of those abilities. I retired as a Sergeant after nearly 30 years, so I am certainly able to verify that fact.
As IP says, however, I'm also waiting to see who will still be on the ballot.
CONEY,
ReplyDeletethere are plenty o cops who don't like Mike Carroll. There's a large segment of neanderthals in the police department who rage about Obama, moderates, "libruls", taxes etc. My favorite is the tax raging. It's amusing to find people whose salary is paid by taxpayers raging about government.
Carroll is by resume and his public stances a fairly moderate guy. There was some post on the Second City Cop blog about cops running for office and more than a few commenters attacked Carroll as not being right wing enough. I guess he drives a hybrid car and that drives Neanderthals crazy.
I'm sure there's also a large number of cops who know him who actually like and respect him. Cops are not some monolithic group and there are going to be cops all over the political spectrum.
I know people who assume because I'm a former Army officer that I must be a conservative. Sheet.
I'm a socially responsible libertarian with a bad moon rising and a strong streak of utilitarianism.
Because of his background in social work AND his hard work for Uptown over the last decade I'm planning to vote for Cappleman. I personally think he's the best fit for Uptown's problems.
Others are free to disagree.
There are some good people running. Carroll seems to be one of them. There are also a few who are either machine hacks or just rotten individuals.
You can use your own judgments as to who is who in those categories.
Regardless of your "neanderthals" tag, IP, I'd be amazed if a police officer walked into the voting booth and didn't vote for another police officer who wasn't obviously an idiot, regardless of what kind of car he drives.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the blog, Second City Cop is concerned, I read and post there regularly. Agreed that many comments are over the top, but that is certainly a result of the anonymity factor, and a willingness of the blog owner to allow things through. If you pay attention, however, it's obvious that the same "neanderthals" are repeating themselves in comment after comment and are not representative of the Dept. as a whole.
As far as "people whose salary is paid by taxpayers raging about government", why would ANYONE be precluded from ranting about criminal politicians and corruption REGARDLESS of who employs them? Daley and his 50 co-conspirators continue to break laws that any of the rest of us would go to jail for. The Chicago Police Dept. has NO AUTHORITY to investigate any crime committed by the City Council members OR any of their staff. The same holds true for the City Inspector General, who investigates crime and corruption amongst all other city employees besides the police who have their own Internal Affairs Division. That leaves only the Federal Dept of Justice with the authority to investigate these perennial thieves and the Chicago office of the DOJ is the largest in the nation, if that's an indication of anything. Besides, it's not like police and fire employees don't earn their salaries, especially in 2010.
They also rant about taxes, the highest in the nation. Untold hundreds of millions of tax dollars are going Lord knows where, for wrought iron fences around our parks, flower boxes in the streets, free government cell phones, multiple generations of welfare recipients who aren't even asked to look for employment, sanctuary for illegal aliens, etc, etc... where does it end?
So while the city budget hemorrhages billions, no one will discuss how Daley's son, Patrick, committed crimes against the city, or Daley's nephew, Robert Vanecko has scammed millions from city pension funds. We're all supposed to forget the hundreds of millions going to the failed Olympic bid, cost overruns at Millenium Park, the Hired Truck scandal, or the CPD providing Daley and each of his family members an armed escort of chauffeurs, butlers and go-fers like they are royalty. NO ONE in this entire country gets that treatment, paid for by the taxpayers, outside of the President! It sickens me. If you see this kind of raging against the government as wrong, it surprises me .
What I require is someone who gets results. -COS
ReplyDeleteThis is where we agree. Look at the tangible accomplishments on public safety issues from all the candidates and one candidate stands out among the others.
Hint, getting paid to do one's job doesn't count as volunteer work.
Coney,
ReplyDeleteit's NYE and I'm on the net. Woe is me. Thankfully, I went to the "Eve of the Eve" charity soiree at Union Station last night. Just like NYE without the massive numbers of drunks on the streets.
Anyhoo, I didn't mean to suggest that I think all or most cops are "neanderthals". Considering the size of my head, I likely have more than the average of 1-4% of Neanderthal DNA that those of European descent generally have. Put it this way, hats that advertise "one size fits all" are the work of Satan or his marketing minions.
Now I don't believe that anyone who works for the government isn't free to openly criticize said government and the elected leaders.
What I object to is the types of people who collect a government check, yet rage against the very idea of government.
I saw a video of Texas Tea Partiers who openly talked about secession, yet they opened their meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and proudly flew the flag of the nation they talk about seceding from.
I saw a video of a "gentleman" raging against socialized medicine while telling the government to keep its hands off his medicare.
It's like watching politicians praise cops and fireman, yet vote down bills helping those who were injured by 9/11 service.
Now I'm all for a wee bit of cognitive dissonance sometimes, but dat's too much.
Now I don't believe anyone should vote for Mike Carroll just because he's a cop. I don't believe they shouldn't vote for him just because he's a cop, but both things will occur.
There are a few people who post here who are cops and apparently gay. How will they vote? Will they vote "cop", or "gay" or will they look at all the candidates and make a decision based on other factors?
I find the idea that Carroll is a cop running for office interesting. It's nice to have people with a wide range of experiences in office.
In any case Happy New Year.
I hear the gunshots going off which means the New Year is here.
Of the candidates I can picture having any reasonable shot of becoming 46th Ward aldercritter ANY of them will be better than Shiller.
Dat ain't a bad way to welcome in the New Year and end this post.
IrishPirate said...
ReplyDelete"...Of the candidates I can picture having any reasonable shot of becoming 46th Ward aldercritter ANY of them will be better than Shiller."
"Dat ain't a bad way to welcome in the New Year and end this post."
January 1, 2011 12:10 AM
A strong and pleasant point there indeed, Mr Pirate. My fear is, however, that the newly elected occupant of the 5th floor at City Hall will make all discussions of who's sitting in the other 50 seats at Council Chambers a moot point.
There's a reason why many of the old guard, like "Fast Eddie" Burke, are supporting Chico and want nothing to do with the Rahmfather! And with Davis now out making CMB the 'consensus' black candidate, I'm sure del Valle will be dropping out next, leaving us once again to choose between the lesser of the remaining evils...
On to February!
It ain't over till it's over Mr. Cone.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult and self-defeating to try and figure out which occupational background is best suited for an Alderman. The job is singularly unique to this world.
I will say that Candidate Carroll has great taste in art...and that counts for something in my little corner of Uptown.
Cheers and Happy New Year!
Jeffrey Littleton