Anita Gets Hammered

And in doing so, fulfills here primary function - keeping the heat away from City Hall:

• It wasn’t long ago that Anita Alvarez was seen as a rising star.
  
  She rose from within the prosecutorial ranks to become the first woman and first Hispanic to hold the powerful post of Cook County state’s attorney but was still viewed by many as having an independent streak.
  
  She won re-election with ease in November and was said not long ago to be in line for a judgeship.
  
  But in the past two weeks, Alvarez has suffered two major embarrassments.
  
  Last week, a special prosecutor announced an indictment against Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, for involuntary manslaughter in the 2004 death of David Koschman — a case in which Alvarez had declined to file charges, saying there wasn’t enough evidence. Alvarez also argued that an outside prosecutor wasn’t needed. Now, the grand jury led by special prosecutor Dan K. Webb, a former U.S. attorney appointed by a judge, continues to investigate whether criminal charges should be filed against anyone from Alvarez’s office or the Chicago Police Department over their handling of the case.
  
  The second embarrassment for Alvarez came Sunday on national television. A CBS “60 Minutes” segment, recorded six months ago, put a spotlight on Cook County as the capital of documented false confessions. The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an inquiry into the interrogation practices in Cook County.

Gee, only two embarrassments? We guess no one in the media  has been paying attention the past few years. The lack of effective prosecutions, the parade of plea bargains, the complete lack of follow-up on convicted felons serving less than 33% of their time for violent crime, and of course, keeping her mouth shut while the list of parolees committing more crime grows by leaps and bounds, all while spouting the party line on numerous subjects.

If the media did their jobs and vetted actual candidates instead of being part-and-parcel of the Illinois Combine, we might actually have qualified people running things in certain offices.