The sight that Rahm may really fear threatens to go on attack in near future

As if Mayor Rahm Emanuel didn’t have enough people upset with him these days, he now gets the most outspoken of his critics back again.

As in Karen Lewis and her people with the Chicago Teachers Union. For the union let it be known Monday that Chicago school teachers are so overwhelmingly disgusted with current conditions that they’re prepared to walk the picket lines.

STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE!

If only it were merely another Chicago Cubs batter going down for the count because he can’t hit big-league pitching. Instead, it means the union has given its leadership the authorization to call for a work stoppage at any point now if negotiations toward a new contract don’t get serious.

Which as far as the teachers are concerned, they haven’t been serious at all up to this point – particularly the talk about continued layoffs and measures they regard as pay cuts; even though Emanuel and city officials have ways of describing them to make it seem that nobody’s losing anything.

For the record, three days of voting by the teachers came to an end with an announcement Monday that 96.5 percent voting “yes” for the idea of a strike in the future.

IT ALSO SEEMS that 92 percent of those who could cast ballots bothered to do so. Making this seem to be an election that people cared about.

If only we could get that kind of turnout on Elections Days for municipal, county, state and federal governments. Just think of the kind of change that could be made if people cared enough to show interest.

A thought that would scare the pants off so many politicos – who instead prefer the tactics that make most people disgusted enough to not bother to want to vote at all.



EMANUEL: Does he wish he was still just a Rep?

It’s so much easier for the politico’s life if he (or she) doesn’t have to worry about those pesky voters with their own opinions that just can’t seem to realize how much a political person’s self-interest is important enough to dominate their voting record.

YES, I’M BEING sarcastic and smarmy.

Because a year ago, the only people who were really prepared to trash Rahm Emanuel were Karen Lewis and the teachers union people. Lewis may be recovering from health issues to the point where her subordinates are now doing the dirty work.

But they were the ones who put up a fight and tried to give people a serious choice for mayor between Rahm and somebody else. Particularly that mayoral bid of Jesus Garcia that for awhile made the one-time alderman, legislator and county commissioner a household name.

Now, they’re going to go back to bashing Emanuel for the way in which he and his political people oversee the Chicago Public Schools. These are the people who really are devoted to the cause of “Anybody But Rahm,” as in they wanted him gone years ago and (it seems from their level of strike support) haven’t lightened up one bit.

PROBABLY BECAUSE EMANUEL hasn’t lightened up in his view of them as the problem that must be eradicated. A view that is going to have to wither away if we’re to avoid the now-likely possibility of a mid-year school strike.

Just think how upset parents are going to be if they suddenly have to come up with new day-time plans for their kids to be watched when those parents had gotten used to the idea of the kids being “out of sight, out of mind” because they’re in school.

I know some of those activist-types (who come across as political opportunists who could never achieve an Election Day victory proper) want to believe they can depose Rahm Emanuel as mayor because of Laquan McDonald’s death at the hands of a Chicago cop are gunning for the mayor.

But why do I think that the sight of p’o-ed school teachers with their picket signs might be the sight that Emanuel would fear (and respect) even more!

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