New Inspector General

And Daley's getting praise over it?

• Mayor Daley today won rave early reviews for his decision to replace one seasoned federal prosecutor with another as Chicago’s corruption-fighting inspector general—even though the new guy appears to be lower-key.

  “If you haven’t heard much about me before today, it’s mostly because I prefer it that way,” said Joe Ferguson, who succeeds David Hoffman, who resigned in August to run for the U.S. Senate. “I derive all the professional satisfaction I need from the fruits of dogged investigation and following wherever the evidence leads.”

  Ferguson, 49, said he views public disclosure of investigations as a “critical aspect” of the inspector general’s duties. But instead of going toe-to-toe with department heads who resist his recommendations, he plans to work with them.

Is Shortshanks some kind of employment agency for former federal prosecutors or what? Is he farming out low level corruption busts in return for protection of the bigger rackets? What other reason could there be for these inexplicable choices? Conspiracy theorists salivate at the possibilities.