* Turning on Their Leader

Because Westgard has a habit of removing his posts, I'm posting it here. Here's a classic Tommy boy rant on Joe Moore.

"Today I bought two cheap half pints of hard liquor and two single cans of beer - one each from Soo Liquors and El Mexicano. The single can of beer I got at Soo Liquors was actually Colt 45, which says "Malt Liquor" on the can.

El Mexicano was on my mind today because it was the final appeal in their final application for expansion. If this appeal is denied, they can't continue their efforts to expand, since the moratorium is now closed. But they can, and evidently will, continue to blight the neighborhood with cheap booze, and the garbage and loitering it brings. Question is, did Joe Moore oppose the expansion?

Soo Liquors was on my mind because they just signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" with Alderman Moore, which required them not to sell malt liquor, and not to sell half pints of liquor for less than $3. Although the Soo Liquors receipt doesn't break down the item charges, El Mexicano does, and in order to get in and out for the $5.00 I paid Mr. Han at Soo Liquors, it would have to be cheaper than the $2.69 I paid at El Mexicano.

I was shocked - there is just no other word for how I felt - when I learned that Joe Moore used the idea of a Memorandum of Understanding to deal with Soo Liquors. After the experience with El Mexicano, there cannot possibly be any expectation that it will work. El Mexicano made an ass of Joe by ignoring it, a fact that we used to great political advantage in a certain recent political battle. When I learned that Joe had gone back to this useless and ineffective tool, my jaw literally dropped. A politician who can't play the political game is incompetent and not qualified for the job. Joe is usually better at the game than this would indicate. Or so I thought and hoped.

I also thought I gave about as clear a warning about my intentions as one could expect when I posted Ain't Nothin' Changed. I didn't explain exactly what the comment was, but the drunk made a threat that included my child. When I and my child are physically unsafe walking down the street in broad daylight, my ability to be tolerant diminishes rapidly.

So let me be perfectly clear and upfront about my next efforts: I am beginning to gather evidence for use in a hearing in the Deleterious Impact Ordinance. I expect Joe Moore's full cooperation, since the owner of Soo Liquors just made an ass out of him, not 35 days after signing an agreement with him. I need a total of five people to join me in the complaint.

Joe, it's not so easy as to brush this off as constant negativity, or some kind of personal vendetta. When you decided to use the Memorandum of understanding, Soo Liquors wasn't the only one making a commitment. YOU made a commitment to make that tool effective, and it wasn't. YOUR efforts are reasonably under scrutiny, and they have demonstrably failed. You have openly said that you haven't done a good job of getting the word out about what you are doing to help the community. In the case of Soo Liquor, exactly what the hell have you done? Don't try to blame me for your screwups. I didn't choose the Memorandum of Understanding, and if you had asked me, I would have told you it was a foolish idea. This is all you, buddy.

It's a damned shame. Senator Heather Steans held a press conference yesterday to put the brakes on alcopops, a new kind of alcohol drink designed to draw in teenagers. Jim Ginderske went downtown to oppose El Mexicano's expansion. What the hell is wrong with Joe Moore that he can't wrap his mind around this problem? Other people get it pretty easily. It's just not that fucking complicated.

Blognotes: I just love it when these morons turn on each other like that. Here's a idiot who helped get an idiot elected. Remember, Westgard was for Joe Moore before he was against him. Then he was for him - and then against him. Again. Westgard just can't make up his mind.