Apparently stung by Patrick Murphy’s comments that he lacks "backbone," Blago decided to step in yesterday and appoint his own commission to investigate last Friday’s County Building fire. Stroger also got around yesterday to naming a commission.
When asked whether any of Stroger’s commission had political or other ties to him, this was his answer (from today’s Sun-Times): "When asked what personal or political connections he has to the panel members, Stroger evaded the question, saying, ‘Cousins is black and I’m black. Strayhorn is black and I’m black. But [he is] not quite as black as Cousins and me because Strayhorn is a brown-skinned black.’"
What? Has cronyism and nepotism gotten so bad in Chicago that the only way Stroger can defend the qualifications of a commission as important as this is to talk about the pigmentation of their skin. Actually, I believe that the pressure for accountability in this incident (which is, really, and accumulation of frustration over many similar incidents) is beginning to take its toll. Stroger, Daley, Blago, et. al. are just not used to having to answer tough, relentless questions, which is leading them to act, in the words of Patrick Murphy, like "Ernie, Bert and the Cookie Monster, these politicians."