Really Constantine? Really?

Ok, this is WAY off the beaten track of where this humble, little blog is intended. But, I really feel the need to vent about this and since this is my forum, I figure I'm entitled, no? Plus the whole anonymous aspect is appealing to me, since I don't want to take a chance that something snarky could be pulled and used for the forces of evil which, in this case, looks a lot like this guy...

He lives in an exclusive, GATED community for Crissakes! He seems to favor publicity regarding how "his" money is spent (a quick Google search was hugely informative) and has been in the news as recently as last year making an 11 year-old girl cry at a public meeting regarding the termination (due to "budget cuts") of several local librarians. Yes, you read that right, an 11 year-old girl.

Now, good old Constantine has apparently tired of picking on 11 year-old girls and has moved on to adults. Quite an evolutionary leap on his part. His most recent rant involves picking on firefighters in his village. At a recent meeting of the Citizens Financial Advisory Committee, "Connie" (pictured below)

was heard commenting about the budget "woes" affecting his impoverished little town, a town that doesn't collect property taxes from it's residents due to the revenue generated by a shopping mall. Our plucky, little, hero suggested firing one firefighter per month until the 28 members of the local FD would give in to contract concessions. He advocated destroying marriages, leaving children homeless and killing the family dog... No, I'm serious. He actually said all these things and more in an interview with the local ABC news affiliate, found here -

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7692654

So, what else does he think about firefighters? He thinks of us (yeah, I'm one) as "street people" and that we only understand "civilized force". He believes that, should he personally suffer a medical emergency (heart attack, stroke, etc.) he would now receive no care from the men and women from his local Fire Department.

No word on what he thinks of fava beans and chianti...

My initial reaction to all this? Outrage. Like that of many co-workers, brother and sister firefighters all across the Midwest. Also like the spouses, friends and family members of firefighters. And, many other people that have no affiliation what-so-ever to firefighters, other than to recognize that we do a job that, on occasion, kills or severely injures one of us. Like, for example, Deputy Chief Mark Johnson of the Hinsdale Fire Department. The Chief died recently, a LODD (line of duty death) while working out in the exercise room of his firehouse. My second favorite human-being on the planet found this death to be funny, as evidenced by the giggles heard on an audio recording of the above mentioned meeting. So, yeah, I was outraged. But I soon realized this this asshat was assaulting my professionalism and that of every brother and sister firefighter everywhere. So when I saw the letter sent by the President of the A.F.F.I. (Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois) to the Village President of Oakbrook, Illinois -

http://www.affi-iaff.org/9-27-10_letter_to_John_Craig.pdf

I felt better about the way things would be handled. Don't get me wrong, if this letter falls on deaf ears and my union asks me to sit in on a meeting or two to make my voice heard in a respectful, professional manner (or a loud, boisterous one for that matter) I'll happily oblige. But I believe OUR professionalism will be shown to everyone, as his already has.

I wonder what he's doing for the holidays...