Eugene Kane's Rude Awakening

Eugene Kane is still looking for someone to blame for 4-year-old Jasmine Owens' murder, someone other than the thug that fired the killer bullet and other than every person with knowledge of the crime choosing to stay mum.

He writes:

I asked Hines what some residents of the inner city should think about a much-touted plan to commit additional police resources to the city's most violent and crime-plagued areas that started last weekend. Specifically, I wondered if some residents should be annoyed by the city's decision to launch a comprehensive crime prevention campaign only after a child's tragic death placed a glaring spotlight on the need for more police in certain neighborhoods.

Although Ald. Willie Hines accurately says that the crime prevention program had been in the works for months, Kane plants doubts. That's irresponsible.

The press conference to announce the new program was scheduled BEFORE Jasmine Owens was murdered.

That's not up for debate.

That's a fact.

Kane can't be that stupid. He has to be deliberately trying to rile people up by writing things that are patently false.

This sentence is idiotic:

As alderman, Hines said, he wants to provide support to the Police Department so it could keep residents safer but also wanted to hold cops accountable for their actions within the community, which seems like a pretty mixed message these days.

That's not a mixed message at all.

Cops should always be held accountable for their actions; and the community should support the Police Department.

How is that message mixed?

The police need the assistance of responsible citizens. They're on the same team. They're not the bad guys. The police didn't kill Jasmine Owens. They're working to bring the killer/ killers to justice.

Kane ends his column with a positively goofy conclusion:

In the end, I get the sense powerful people in this city don't have any more answers to the problem than the rest of us.

Maybe it's time to stop waiting for them.

What does Kane think?

Does he think that powerful people, elected officials, are saviors? Super heroes?

I guess he does.

Why has it taken so long for Kane to arrive at the notion that people need to save themselves?

I know it's tough for hardcore liberals to think outside the Lefty mindset, where the almighty government is always the solution.

Personal responsibility is foreign to them.

In effect, Kane is saying people shouldn't have faith in leaders to deliver them from evil.

I don't think it's necessary to abandon leaders, but it is necessary to drop the victim routine and engage in a little self-determination.

Kane needs to grow up. He needs to start being part of the solution and stop contributing the problem.