Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Thursday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

Lori Lightfoot was at her best today when she absolutely ripped a handful of Chicago police officers caught on video inside the burgled office of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush making popcorn, taking naps and lounging about while the rest of the city burned. Follow the A.D. Quig’s thread:


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Also:


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Plus:
Police chief David Brown was asked about newish police Chicago FOP president John Catanzara’s declaration that officers who took a knee alongside protestors are subject to removal from the union. I didn’t get the exact quote down, but he marveled that, with everything going on, that question would even float anywhere near the top of the list. Then he refused to “dignify” the question with a comment.
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Meanwhile:


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And:


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Back to Rush: He was so effusive in his praise of Lightfoot that I thought he was going to endorse her re-election right then and there. Reminder:


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Rush today reminded me of Chance the Rapper in April:


I wouldn’t say “damn good,” but ok.
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Yet, there are the deadenders still pining for a City Hall run by the unyielding ally of Joe Berrios, whose office which she defended perpetrated one of the greatest acts of institutional racism in our history, and who is probably lunching at this very moment with John Daley as she contemplates more party purges.


Contrary to the bizarre CTU-approved script, Lightfoot has spoken out against the far more egregious offenses committed by Chicago police officers during the recent protests. In this case, it’s not Rush’s popcorn that is the issue, it’s that they abandoned their posts when they were needed most, putting their fellow cops and citizens in more danger than they were already in.
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I’m not cheerleading for Lightfoot, but this was her at her best. (In fact, she was starting to lose me. I’m 50-50 on her job performance so far, but starting to get discouraged. This, however, is her wheelhouse, and now a golden opportunity for police accountability and a reordering of priorities is at hand. I hope she keeps an open mind and invites some imagination into the possibilities.)
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New on the Beachwood today . . .
CPD’s Records Are A Mess
“Such a scattershot system has real-life consequences for prosecutors, who need complete documentation to build a case; criminal defendants, who have a right to see evidence that may exonerate them; and for the city itself, which has been chastised in court for its failure to produce relevant documents in civil suits.
“One staffer told the Office of Inspector General Joseph Ferguson that to determine if an investigative file was complete, they would simply look to see if it seemed thick enough – and if it was too thin, they would search digital records.”
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Dogs Still Biting Mail Carriers
Post Office releases national rankings.
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ChicagoReddit

Why are cpd officers not wearing masks? from r/chicago


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ChicagoGram


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ChicagoTube
“Bronzeville Jump” / Three Bits of Rhythm (1941, Chicago)

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TweetWood
A sampling of the delight and disgust you can find @BeachwoodReport.


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The Beachwood Quip Line: Make it snappy.

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Posted on June 11, 2020