Chicago, Mass Murders, Erdoggan

THE ABSURD TIMES

Illustration: Emperor would be Erdogan said that he felt bad about the dead Russian pilot.  Putin said that anyone who attacks a Russian will suffer more than a ban on tomatoes.  (I lost the one with the crocodile tears, sorry).

Chicago and Stuff

by

Richard Morrison, Posthumously

We told you awhile ago that Rod Blagoyevitch fit in perfectly with Chicago morality, but some didn't believe me.  So ... .

There has been a lot of talk lately about the Chicago killing of black teenager, erased video, and a fired police chief.  There is more to it than that, of course, and there are now clamors for the Mayor to be fired.  Well, it just doesn't work that way in Chicago.  We have to understand a bit of Chicago history to follow this.   

This is what Wikipedia has to say about a police scandal in Chicago's past of police scandals, followed by an interview with an old friend I contacted who was there at the time.  He spoke under condition of anonymity as he still thinks he might have family near there:

Summerdale scandals[edit]

The Chicago Police Department did not face large-scale reorganization efforts until 1960 under Mayor Richard J. Daley. That year, eight officers from the Summerdale police district on Chicago's North Side were accused of operating a large-scale burglary ring. The Summerdale case dominated the local press, and became the biggest police-related scandal in the city's history at the time. Mayor Daley appointed a committee to make recommendations for improvements to the police department. The action resulted in the creation of a five-member board charged with nominating a superintendent to be the chief authority over police officers, enacting rules and regulations governing the police system, submitting budget requests to the city council, and overseeing disciplinary cases involving officers.^[8] Criminologist O.W. Wilson was brought on as Superintendent of Police, and served until 1967 when he retired.^[9]

So much for the background.  It really doesn't touch the real story, as usual.  At one time there was a cop in Chicago who really did his job, giving parking tickets to anyone, the Mayor, ambulances, anything anywhere that wasn't moving.  His name was Jack Muller. 

But this isn't about Jack Muller.  It starts with my contacting a friend who was there personally for much of the action.  I called him yesterday.

"Hiya, there."

"Yeah, it's me.  Shoot."

"Well, I just wanted to be able to put out there what really happened around the Summerdale district.  Just tell me what you know."

"Keep my name outta it, ya hear?

"No problem, nobody anywhere else gives a damn anyway."

"Ok, so I was living on Damon, not far from Foster Avenue, right across from Winnemac Park, not far from where Amundson High school used to be."

"Used to."

"Yeah, dey made it some sorta College, but ya ask me dey still try ta teach da same stuff, you know, books and shit like dat."

I replied, "Ok, so then what?"

"Well dey prosecuted dis guy named Morrison fer burglary and he squealed [sniched] on da caps dat worked wid him. [I'm continuing in English as to make things a bit more clear]  Sure enough, they found all the stuff stored in the basement of the Summerdale Police station."

"Wow, what happened with that?"

"Well, we knew that they caught him at the back of Polk Brothers [at the time, a Chicago only predecessor of Walmart].  So, we kids got together and we were only a few blocks away, so we put up a sign one night in front of the station on Foster Avenue saying "POLKS PRICES ARE OUR PRICES," and the sign went down fast."

I asked, "Then what happened?"

"Well, they hired this guy outta California so we knew he was a nut job and they made him commissioner.  Actually Hizzoner, Daley did.  I think he was sorry to miss his firend of 30 years, but politics is politics, right?"

"Right."

"So, then I'm working at the Police department downtown, yeah, 1121 State Street, and I'm going though the card on arrests.  It's like a year or two later and Morrison turned states evidence.  On his card, or record, there were at least 24 arrests, mainly burglary, but also a couple rapes, and all were dismissed.  Only the Summerdale thing was prosecuted and then all shit broke out."

"And?"

"Well, I takes the card to show to the Lieutenant and says 'hey, look Morrison! Lookit all the arrests and nothing done about it!!'" 

"And?"

"Then he looks at me pretty damn angry and said "Morrison? I thought he was dead.  Well, that meant to me to shut my mouth and the next day Morrison is shot while leaving the Courthouse."

"Whew, how's you feel?"

"Like I fucking killed him myself, what do you think?"

"Really?"

"Sure, if you told someone that would you expect him to go out and kill him?"

"Well, considering it was a cop in Chicago, yes."

"Dummy."

Well, I had finally gotten ahold of him, so I asked him about all the mass shootings lately and what he thought, maybe gun control?

"Screw that.  These guys are so in love with there guns and afraid of big government? Lets just shut down all the food stamp programs, issue everyone an ak-47, and let them get their own food."

At this point, the phone was disconnected.

 I guess some people remember the Civil Rights Leader Martin Luthur King meeting with Daley after the Chicago Riots.  They talked for awhile and Daley did carry out one of MLK's proposals: turn the water back on.  See, the riots started when he had them turned off in the middle of summer.  Well, forget about all the liberal stuff, Daley did like the water idea.  Why, he had a whole lake full right down the street.   He also sent CTA buses into the neighborhoods and bussed the black kids down to the lake.  They were the wettest minority group in the United States.

I once met the leader of my high-school gangs about 2 years after graduation.  After much ado, he managed a "D" average.  I was asking him about what happened with some of his old gang members.  Many of them had joined the police force.

About this time, I met a Disk Jockey named Dan Sorkin.  He was a Lenny Bruce fan and kept playing his records saying "That was Lenny Bruce, now playing at the 1121 Club on State street." He would also play the theme from "Dudly do-right" before and after the police traffic reports.  At his apartment he hung a sign outside that said "FUCK COMMUNISM".   That confused Daley who didn't like to be confused so he forbade any Lenny Bruce records and told the engineer that if he allowed any such records to be played, he would be fired.  Sorkin left for San Francisco where he became a legend.

In 1968, the police, after Orlando Wilson was gone, went wild.  However, the world had moved from Beat to Hip and was no longer interesting, but still funny.  The police riot led to a trial with William Kunstler and a host of stars, some friends, while our attentions turned to the 15th and 16th Centuries.  I was just reminded of it the other day when an episode of Scorpion Contained the exchange:

"I am the police.  You know what that means?"

"You had a "D" average in High School?"

That gang leader I mentioned managed to graduate last in the class, to wild applause.

Mass Murders

I had wanted to document all 350* Mass murders here, but it is a long list.  I'm giving you a link and you can try to get through.  It has been very busy lately.  I'll put it up later on as I've saved it for later.

http://shootingtracker.com/wiki/Mass_Shootings_in_2015