This Is How They Do It

The young man on the left is named Coprez Coffie.

His apparent exultation is understandable, as he was recently awarded $4 million during a jury trial.

As life would have it, his happiness is tempered by memories of his previous ordeal.

You see, he was sodomized by two Chicago Police officers some time ago.

The officers, being the well-trained stalwarts that they are, used a screwdriver as their implement of choice to consummate their gruesome attack.

My use of the present tense verb "are" is deliberate. The two officers, Gerald Lodwich and Scott Korhonen, are still part of "Chicago's Finest." (All of the particulars regarding this case have been dutifully reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.)

Regrettably, this is far from an isolated incident. Allegations of gross police misconduct stem back for decades, going back as far as the 1970s involving rogue Chicago Police Commander John Burge (whose exploits are detailed here and here.)

On most days, I feel proud and lucky to be a native of Chicago. This is not one of those days. In fact, over the last few weeks, it has been difficult to feel any particular sense of satisfaction about living in the Chicago area. And the looming tax raids on the wallets of city residents - along with those who live in Cook County - only exacerbate the situation for me. To be sure, these taxes have been condemned by local conservatives and liberals alike. And with good reason, as they represent an odious burden on residents who are already financially strapped by way of living in a city that has an exorbitant cost of living.

There are two points not to be missed in all of this. First, this sort of confiscatory taxation exists side by side with the naked and unchecked brutality exhibited by those who are sworn to defend the citizenry and uphold the law. And as Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) notes in a Chicago Tribune op-ed, much of the former goes to make amends for the latter; he suggests that Chicago "[g]et rid of corrupt cops who not only give a bad name to their honest, hardworking brethren, but cost the taxpayers dearly in legal fees and court settlements."

Secondly, it is crucial to point out that all of this occurs in a locale where liberal Democrats have total control - from the statehouse to the courthouse to City Hall. The sad fact of the matter is that as long as liberals hold unchallenged sway over all of the levers of government in Illinois, there will be absolutely no incentive for the state's crooked politicians to do anything different. And while the New York Times' Frank Rich hyperventilates about the supposed torture of terror suspects in U.S. custody - comparing ordinary Americans to the "good Germans" who overlooked Nazi atrocities - liberals find it well within their capacity to ignore the torture of American citizens on their watch, while at the same time taxing said citizens into serfdom.

There are lessons to be gained from this study of politics in azure that apply nationwide. The Left has promised minorities and the poor free everything (except the freedom to maximize one's God-given potential.) And the taxes that pay for the supposed free lunch serve to diminish the quality of life for working-class families that progressives vociferously claim to represent. As is happening at present in Chicago, high taxes coupled with unresponsive and/or corrupt governance inexorably lead to the slow death of our nation's urban areas (as discussed elsewhere.) As is often the case, the death of a city is by a thousand moving trucks. If things continue to get worse, a moving truck may soon be pulling up in front of my house.