By David Rutter
1. ComEd, WTF?
Chicago might have the cultural ambience of Paris, but it has the electrical system of Mogadishu.
Does it not seem as though the effects of every summer storm are regarded by ComEd as inexplicable acts of fate? Actually, no. They claim to have everything under control.
Only a month ago, ComEd issued this pay-no-attention-to-the-man-behind-the-curtain press release containing a highly amusing interlude:
“ComEd officials today informed the Chicago City Council Committee on Energy, Environmental Protection and Public Utilities that electric service reliability performance across the company is strong entering into the high-demand summer months. ‘We take our responsibility to ComEd customers seriously and are here to reaffirm our commitment to enhancing the quality of life for residents through the delivery of reliable and affordable electricity,’ Anne Pramaggiore, ComEd president and chief operating officer, said at the committee’s annual summer readiness hearing.”
As to whether a digital “smart grid” would have worked better, you’d have to trust ComEd on that issue. But as with many ComEd initiatives, it not only wants customers to pay for business improvements, ComEd wants to build in a profit on the improvements, too.
And whose to say you don’t deserve built-in profits when you’re the 112th best utility in the nation out of 124.
2. Jonah Edelman, WTF?
Every time you are tempted to outrage by the arrogance and self-interest of public employee unions, remember that this is who they must confront when they ask for good working conditions.
This lurid tale of cupidity would tend to prove that the pool of genetic integrity dries up quickly. Marian Wright Edelman must be so proud of her morally pipsqueaked offspring.
3. Drive-by lunacy, WTF?
Not only do cigarettes kill in the time-tested lung cancer method, they also kill when you go outside for a smoke break and get gunned down by another one of those gang punks who can’t shoot straight.
4. John Hegel, WTF?
There is no gun law we know that would have denied Mr. Hegel his trusty rifle but we wonder if Mrs. Hegel has the life insurance policy tucked away close at hand. Somebody seems very close to getting whacked. When reached at his home, the Trib reported, he had no comment. They never do, but you have to ask anyway.
Squirrel hunting season in Illinois doesn’t start until November 5th. There’s no neighbor’s-window season.
5. Judy Baar Topinka, WTF?
There were days not that long ago when Illinois could not possibly elect Judy Baar Topinka as governor because she was wacky. Everybody said so; it must have been true. Remember the days also not so long ago when Blago seemed so much more sane, thoughtful and adult?
If she is now the standard bearer for the Loose Cannon Party, we’re ready to pass the ammunition.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on July 15, 2011