Can You Hear Us Now?

If you read the WBBM or Channel 2 websites, they've taken to quoting the blog at length, actually naming the site and linking to it.

• The blog Second City Cop, which his written by Chicago Police officers, has extensively discussed the picket.
  
  The blog indicated that the picket has widespread support among officers, and that the National and State FOP Lodges had also pledged support, with scheduled appearances by National FOP President Chuck Canterbury and State FOP President Ted Street.
  
  
• Second City Cop said signs were being provided, but suggested that officers might also bring some other signs that family members could carry.
  
  "Something like "My Daddy needs a Contract" will almost guarantee your kid face time on TV and will bring home the point that we've been trying to raise families in this city for the past two years while the aldercreatures and their staffs got large raises and the other unions got better than average offers in return for ten years of labor peace," Second City Cop wrote on Monday.

They even quoted the word "aldercreatures." Mike Royko is laughing his ass off somewhere. A-freaking-mazing. We had some 16,000 visits yesterday with 26,000 page views. That's pretty insignificant or so we've been told by somebody. Whatever.

But we'd like to deflect most of the credit and point out a bunch of people who really made a lot of this possible with their unending support and willingness to lay it out there when it needed to be done:

• First up, although we dislike a vast majority of them, the media. Without their reporting Daley's tirades and asinine quote, we'd have a hard time generating outrage;
• The FOP. We disagree on many issues. But like it or not, they are the public face of the rank and file. SCC isn't going out and spending money on signs or providing buses or putting their face on camera. We couldn't function like that. Maybe the blog provided the impetus, maybe not. We are merely a medium to communicate unedited raw emotion.
• Each and every officer who made it their business to show up Thursday. The naysayers, the mayor, the media were all wrong when they said we wouldn't show up. That we weren't willing to buck Shortshanks. That we couldn't get it together

And special thanks to the following:

• Our civilian supporters. Office workers in the Loop. Passersby and non-cops who care about this city the way that we do;
• The retirees. It was damn good to see a lot of you there, shaking hands, renewing acquaintances, telling war stories. We miss you guys, now more than ever;
• Off-duty CFD. Your union didn't want to come, but you know better. We're in this together and we'd do better together;
• Mancow, who came down and marched among us. Love him or hate him, we need support and he's got a 50,000 watt transmitter that reaches a bunch of people we can use;
• The head of the Chicago Teachers Union marched. The drivers for Ozinga Concrete blew the airhorns on and off all morning. We're sure there were others we didn't see and our readers will point them out in the comment section later. But thanks!
• The sky pilots, Nangle and Wolf. We've had minor disagreements with Nangle about the content that appears here occasionally. But both Nangle and Wolf are class acts that rise above the fray and care more about the men and women of this Department than many people do;
• Rosanna Pulido, Republican candidate for the 5th Congressional District. What a kick in the teeth it would be for a Republican to win Rahm Emmanuel's old seat. We don't care if she's not your typical candidate. She was there. Quigley wasn't. What does that tell you?
• There were two aldercreatures there. Allen and Waguespack. Both represent Wards with pretty heavy concentrations of City workers. While we've called the entire City Council to task and advocated the elimination of half their jobs and much of their salaries, well just say you've got a long way to go to earn our thanks. This might be a start;
• The bosses who spoke words of encouragement to the marchers. We know you had to do most of it out of the sides of your mouths lest you piss off the dwarf and his tools, but at least you weren't writing down the beat tag numbers of a Special Employment car that drove by to blow their horn and then get on your phone to call in the numbers like a certain Sergeant Deputy did.

Again, we salute you all for the fantastic job today.