Phil Cline Resigns, Chicago Carless Quoted in Tribune

(UPDATED) Today, unbeknownst to Yours Truly, a quote from Chicago Carless calling for the resignation of scandal-dogged Chicago Police Department superintendent Phil Cline was featured in the Opinion section of the Chicago Tribune (pA17). Before Noon today, Phil Cline did just that.

I never pitched my blog posting calling for Cline's resignation to the Trib. So imagine my surprise to find myself quoted thusly in its pages mere hours before good old Phil opts for, to put it kindly, early retirement.

As this Chicago police blog will tell you, the CPD's problems are structural--Cline is just the tip of a a very top-heavy iceberg. Mayor Daley's thanking of Cline for his efforts at the CPD were tantamount to another slap in the face to the victims of the most recent police-beating cases, no to mention to the upstanding rank-and-file L.E.O.s who know that the problems are far more entrenched than Cline.

Mayor, you're out of step here. Do us all a favor, step away from your handlers for a while, and come out and ask the public what we think of Cline's tenure.

And while we're on the subject of mayoral missteps, ask us how well we like the job that your buddy Frank Kruesi is doing at the CTA. And then fire him. Because you're constant shielding of him just makes us wonder what he has on you. If you ever rode the CTA, you'd understand how far out of touch with reality your estimation of his ability to well manage a transit agency really is.

Why don't we see you riding through the new three-track zone in tonight's north-side evening rush in a show of solidarity with riders? Sometimes it seems the only solidarity you feel comfortable communicating is with your insiders. It's a new term. It's time for that to stop.