There are some hypocrites out there who have criticized me - and other writers - for criticizing the Chicago police. How sad. How cowardly and hypocritical. How un-Liberal.How brave (not) it is to paint neighborhood new media reporters (a.k.a. "bloggers") as bad guys because they are critical of police mistakes or misconduct. How cowardly, for the same people, to not criticize the Big Media for doing exactly the same thing.
Rogers Park bloggers are being assaulted, attacked, harassed and hounded by 24th District cops. No, not all of the cops here. A handful of them, however, are engaged in bad behavior. 24th District Police Commander Caluris, a likable enough fellow, says he is upset by this behavior. He says he wants to know about it. Perhaps he should let his officers know that he doesn't like. The beat cops, some of them anyway, seem unaware of his displeasure with unwarranted harassment.
One must wonder: Are some of the cops influenced by Alderman Moore, a despicable man who has gotten a lot of harsh criticism from local bloggers? It's just a theory, but it's not out of the question. Moore would not be the first petty politician to do such a thing. We already know that Joe Moore uses a couple of local lunatics as attack bloggers to attack those who shine light on his corruption and ineptitude.
How sad that people who pretend to be Liberals or Progressives or Democrats have become so entrenched in the very system that they pretend to fight. How tragic that those so-called freedom lovers and free speech advocates are so anti-free speech and, therefore, anti-freedom and pro-police misconduct.
Will the same pipsqueaks have the courage to write the same things about the Chicago Sun-Times? Today's issue blares a front page story that is harshly critical of the CPD. The story, on page 5, is headlined "Were police unprepared for Taste of Chicago violence?"
The post-Hippy, post-Summer of Love "Liberals" and "Democrats" are not what they claim to be. Now they cling to hacks like Alderman Joe Moore, faux-Democrats like King Richard Daley, and - cynically just because it's politically expedient - defend local police who harass local writers. Once upon a time, there were true Liberals and true Democrats who would have been loudly deriding that kind of police behavior. These days, however, the Joe Moore sycophants and the Mayor Daley goose steppers just turn a blind eye. Worse yet, some cheer it on.
