A round of summer thunderstorms rumbled across the high plains and lush farmland from Texas to Pennsylvania, clearing the hot and humid summer air. Although welcome to the flyover folks basking in the late spring temperatures, weather patterns did not dissipate the ugliness emanating from the left.
Yet there was progress in the most unlikely of places – Chicago.
That Toddlin’ Town
When Ol’ Blue Eyes crooned, “Chicago, the town that Billy Sunday couldn’t shut down,” he was referring to evangelist Billy Sunday’s efforts in the prohibition movement of the early 20th Century. Sunday was successful only for a short time, and booze made a resounding comeback in 1933, driving the good reverend bat-poop crazy.
But maybe Dr. Gregory Livingston, anti-gun violence activist Tio Hardiman, and Reverend Ira Acree can succeed in putting a stop to a scourge far greater than that faced by Reverend Sunday – rampant gun violence. These three men intended to shut down traffic from Lakeshore Drive to Wrigley Field in the wealthier parts of town.
Shoot-A-Rahma
The slur for the depressing and alarming number of shootings, shoot-a-Rahma, lays the blame at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s feet. Heck, in July alone 66 homicides by gun were reported for the Windy City. Organizers say they want to “redistribute the pain” outside of the crime infested areas in hopes that all people will rise up and hold those in elected offices accountable.
Facebook was ripe with venom from Chicago’s law-abiding folks who just want to get home for dinner, catch a Cubs game, or hit the opening night of Lollapalooza:
Mayor Rahm Emanuel
Don Swanson added his ten cents: “Now, we know no one has a right to shut down a main thoroughfare like LSD nor would they be granted a permit do such. So, that means all these protesters will be arrested, right? Which lock-up will they be taken to? Good luck CPD and be safe.”
Barb Streicher believes “To solve these problems have PARENTING CLASSES,” and from Michael Greco: “Maybe i [sic] just want to be able to live my life freely and be able to get to and FROM work on time? You know work, that thing i [sic] do to pay taxes, that pays for the police to support these shenanigans?”
But there were also a few comments that show understanding for the attempts by organizers to wake up the privileged. Sharina Cassalena Washington responded to one commenter who said that protests are ineffective by reminding, “Pretty sure MLK [Martin Luther King] marched in the streets and highways where they shut down. And look what he accomplished.”
Yes, I Buried the Lede
Throughout the huffing and puffing from the city-slickers in Chi-town, the outcry of the displaced, the anguish from family and friends of victims of gun violence, one mantra has risen above the division: Resign Rahm. Yes, the most hopeful news for this once grand city is that a major movement from community activists and men of God is calling for the immediate resignation of the city’s Obama-flunky, Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
And if Emanuel will take the next train out of town, Chicagoans may well get the help they need.
As city dweller Ana Ayikoue offered, “Just as this inconvenience interrupts our lives, so does the issue at bay. Fix the issues and there won’t be a problem.”
