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| McCARTHY: He doesn't wear uniform any more |
Usually, it was because they were “there,” as in available to talk and their comments could result in copy that filled newspaper space in between the ads – not because there was some great solemn truth that needed to be recorded for posterity.
MY
POINT BEING that sometimes the stories we read or hear are merely being done to
fill space. We shouldn’t presume the “great value to society” of any of it.
Such
as one story I read Tuesday morning about the “evolution” of sorts of Tila
Tequila – whom I have to confess to not having a clue who she is or why I’m
supposed to care about this evolution – to a Donald Trump political supporter.
Or
all the many stories I have read or heard about in recent days by which Garry
McCarthy talks about the homicide rate in Chicago – which did a significant
jump during 2016 to a two-decade high level (although not a record high as
Trump implied earlier this week).
McCarthy
has been gone from the post of Chicago police superintendent for more than a full
year. He’s not employed here any longer. In fact, the last I had heard of him
was talk that he was being considered for some sort of law enforcement post in
London – potentially involving Scotland Yard.
YET
HE’S BEING treated as some sort of authority on Chicago and our city – even though
it could be argued that if the man really had any special knowledge or
understanding of Chicago, he’d still be employed here.
For
what it’s worth, the general theme of many of these stories (including an
interview for CBS’ allegedly-prestige program “60 Minutes”) is that it is the
fault of the “Black Lives Matter” movement that the crime rate is on the rise.
The
premise being that the activists who have been so eager to draw attention to
the perception that police are the REAL criminals who single out black people
for their targets have created conditions by which police are not as
aggressively policing the neighborhoods.
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| EMANUEL: Still having his own hide |
Thereby making it more likely that violence is on the rise. Black people who are concerned about the number of black men being killed are actually to blame, or so McCarthy says.
ALTHOUGH
TO TELL you the truth, reading the McCarthy comments makes me think initially
that they were coming from the crackpot types who oft wear their hoods or other
costumes while spouting white supremacist language.
I’m
not calling McCarthy a Klansman or anything like that. I’m just saying that I’m
not sure McCarthy is saying anything that really adds to the public understanding
about the rising violent crime rate in Chicago.
Particularly
when added to the fact that McCarthy is our city’s past – the guy who wound up
being sacrificed politically so that Rahm Emanuel could keep his mayoral post
in the wake of the public revelation of just how Laquan McDonald actually died.
Even though to the activist-types most upset about this issue, nothing short of
Rahm’s resignation will appease them!
McCarthy
has moved on professionally. It would be nice if he’d move on personally as
well. Because these kinds of reports aren’t telling us anything that truly adds
to the public comprehension of the issue.
IF
ANYTHING, I wonder if it’s because we in the news business are still in holiday
season mode. Within a week, we ought to be up to speed and thinking about
serious news.
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| Many reasons for why homicide on the rise |
But
we’re still feeding off the results of the past few weeks by which many people
were on their holiday breaks. It may well be that during this time period,
McCarthy made himself available to talk about an issue that truly IS in the
news these days.
But
that doesn’t really mean McCarthy has much to say. If anything, we ought to
regard his comments as nothing more than space filler – about as intellectually
worthy as the reports about the most ecologically-efficient way to dispose of
your now-dead Christmas tree.
Certainly
not by dumping its carcass out on the curb; similar to the way Emanuel dumped
on McCarthy just before Christmas of 2015.
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