Enough with this made-for-TV war over cops, City Hall and its vaccine mandates. Enough already.
It is beyond time for some adults to step onto the field of battle, preach the values of empathy, tolerance and service, and remind both sides that this city has enough problems without drowning in those of its own invention.
Or, to put this more simply: de-escalate this nonsense now.
Let’s review the plot points here, with daily installments now blaring from all the city’s hungry news sites.
We’ve got furious pronouncements, well-paid lawyers, judicial gag orders, badly needed cops being placed on leave and, of course, a prime-time public fight between Mayor Lori Lightfoot and a leading nemesis, Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara.
The story has something for everyone, except for those who value common sense.
The widespread hatred of Catanzara on the left (which he clearly enjoys) makes him an ideal villain in stories designed to bolster the notion that the city’s police officers are part of the city’s problem, not part of the solution. With every critical remark against the police unions, and cops in general, Lightfoot gains points with far-left pontificators and lakefront elites, always looking for ways to bash the police. Catanzara plays the role of Cruella de Vil, a bit of central casting that papers over any and all of the complexity in this mess.
On the other side of the culture war, the battle gets framed as a fight for the individual freedoms of foot soldiers such as cops, firefighters and EMTs, hardworking, middle-class Chicagoans who are sick and tired of feeling unsupported by their own city and who are insisting on at least some control over their own at-risk bodies. In this narrative, it’s not about whether or not the vaccine is desirable, it’s a question of who has the right to insist on what.
Instead of demonizing one side or the another, let’s try another tack.
Lightfoot should call up Catanzara and acknowledge that government vaccine mandates are problematic. Prior to the pandemic, she should admit, such a demand would have been unthinkable.
She might even gulp hard and allow that she is well aware that vaccines have their limitations: We now know that boosters are going to be needed for most people, bringing up the possibility of not one single mandate, but maybe even a twice-a-year requirement. She could also point out that this won’t work for some officers with certain health situations and personal histories.
She could say there is much we don’t know and that all of this will remain subject to constant review. And she should tell Catanzara that she understands why police officers are reluctant to capitulate to a city that does not seem to them to appreciate those who risk their lives to do their jobs.
Catanzara should just shut up and listen. Then he should open his mouth and try speaking some actual sense.
“Thank you for that, mayor,” he should say. “Thank you for understanding your police officers’ legitimate concerns and their desire to control their own bodies. In return, these officers are willing to acknowledge that there is a deficit of trust in this city between police officers and the communities they serve and protect and we further acknowledge that many of the citizens we serve have been forced, on pain of being fired, to get vaccinations by their employers, whether they wanted to or not.
“We also understand the importance of people feeling safe around police officers who may need to get right up in their faces in order to do their jobs. We’re well aware that one of the prime determinants of this city’s debilitating gun violence problem and abysmally low clearance rates is that too few citizens want to help the police in any way at all. The last thing we want to do is make that worse and we see that any healing will require some sacrifices on our part.”
Then he could pause for a moment.
“I also know, on the most personal level, that the vaccines are the best weapon we have in eradicating this scourge on our nation. And, all of that considered, I am telling our union members that you respect their views, thank them for their service and pledge improved support in the future. In return, I will ask that we drop our objections to the mandate as a goodwill gesture, allowing you to call off the lawyers and the court cases and put that money toward purchasing better safety equipment for the officers who now will be willing to roll up and get their shots like everyone else.
“Just like corporations who settle lawsuits insisting on non-defamation clauses and no admissions of wrongdoing, we’re calling this a settlement without prejudice, made in the spirit of goodwill and in acknowledgment of extraordinary times. We’re a union; you’re a boss and we’ll get back to that traditional back and forth in due course. But this is different.”
And that would be that. End of torturous story.
All that would then need to happen is a joint news conference and a vaccination clinic with B-roll for the news at 10 p.m., maybe with some hot dogs, burgers and fun stuff for police officers’ kids.
Followed by some community members standing up and thanking those who serve and protect them every day and who are getting their shots, perhaps reluctantly, as part of their sworn oath to care for all Chicagoans.
Pollyanna-ish? Never going to happen? We just don’t live in that kind of city?
This page says we could. And we should.
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