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Tag: Mass shootings

Frankie Coconuts is a legend in his own mind

Published by pvbella on May 23, 2022
Frank “Frankie Coconuts” Coconate at Chicago Avenue and State St./Image Facebook/UNK

“Nobody is doing nothing to stop it. It’s like a wild, wild west in this town, and we need some help” activist Frank Cocanate said.

He shares a growing community sentiment that not only should the Illinois State Police be helping out, but also the National Guard, and he wants the city’s violent crime to be on one leader’s radar in particular.

“…Lawless in this town. We are scared in this town, we need help. We’d love the president to come and see this. Come at night and see what’s going on in this town,” said Cocanate.” (WBBM News Radio 78)

What “growing community sentiment” about sending in the National Guard and State Police to help out is WBBM News Radio talking about? What community are they talking about? The Know-Nothing Community? Or is it the communities in Frank “Frankie Coconuts” Coconate’s head?

We are living in the era of self-proclaimed activists.  Anyone can claim to be an activist and become a media star. There are no credentials, expertise, knowledge, or even proof of activism. If someone says they are an activist, they must be believed. The news media must give them a platform.

Some activists, like many marginalized groups, create an alphabet community. The KNC, Know-Nothing Community, is one such group. Like most alphabet activists in Chicago, they are experts with no expertise. Their activism is equated with expertise by the gullible Chicago news media.

Frank “Frankie Coconuts” Coconate , a political gadfly, publicity hound, and self-admitted associate of organized crime, is one of those KNC “activists.” He is the typical nobody nobody sent, nobody wants, and nobody knows except the news media.

The Chicago news media caters to the whims and whimsy of these “activists,” giving them airtime to express their grievances and, worse, “credibility.” You cannot be one of the alphabet people unless you have grievances and the ability to publicize them.

Frank Coconate showed up at 10 E. Chicago Avenue, the scene of a mass shooting last week. WBBM News Radio 78 gave him a platform to spout his nonsensical bull droppings about violent crime and how to stop it.

Coconate is a typical Know-Nothing. Like many members in the Know-Nothing Community across the city, he demands that Chicago be placed under an “emergency” and that the National Guard be called in to help control/prevent violent crime. Um, someone should tell Frankie Coconuts that is not HOW THINGS WORK.

A note to the less-ons in this city (Lower than morons), the National Guard cannot and will not do anything to curb the rampant violent crime in Chicago. The violence in Chicago is not a major riot, natural, or man-made disaster, which the National Guard is trained for and should be used when needed. Violent criminality is no cause for a “national emergency” or the National Guard.

Coconate wants the State Police to assist the Chicago Police Department. Frankie Coconuts must be living under a palm tree, and one too many coconuts fell on his head. The Illinois State Police have been investigating and making criminal arrests in Chicago. They investigate crimes on the expressways in the city. They have their hands full.

Members of the Know-Nothing Community in Chicago want to see the National Guard patrolling the streets and sincerely believe the guard can help. They parrot it on social media. They are people who do not know HOW THINGS WORK. If it sounds like a great idea, it must be. Geez, these people are the dregs at the bottom of the chromosomal gene pool.

Too many people believe whatever the Know-Nothing Community espouses because the KNC are supposed “activists.”. People like Coconate feed into their ignorance. Coconate’s followers get on social media and demand whatever nonsense people like Frankie Coconuts spews from his soup coolers.

Coconate is a legend in his own mind. Ask him, and he will tell you. Coconate is a former City of Chicago Water Department employee. Evidently, that makes him an expert on violent crime, criminality, policing, National Guard deployments, and “emergencies.” Maybe he should get a job at the public policy think tank run by the Cocos Nucifera Group.

Here is a clue for the Chicago news media. If Frank “Frankie Coconuts” Coconate calls, ignore him. He is not an activist. He does not practice activism. He is ignorant about how things work. He is just another blowhard blowing smoke up your and the public’s arses.

Silence is consent

Published by pvbella on October 7, 2021
Image-Finger Pointing/PV Bella

I live in one of those nice, “quiet,” “safe” neighborhoods. There are old-growth trees, many birches, and maples lining the streets. There is a mix of people- families with small children, empty nesters, singles. The area is somewhat demographically diverse. 

It is no longer quiet or safe. Over the past week, there were two rolling shootouts. There were other instances of gun violence. It begs the question; can we walk or drive down our streets without being innocent victims of uncontrolled anarchy in Chicago?

Some may say that anarchy is incorrect or inflammatory. What else do you call uncontrollable, unpredictable rampant violence and the brazenness of the people committing these crimes? The politicians and news media toss around words like systemic and intractable describing the “root” causes of crime. This spate of violence is systemic and intractable.

I spent almost 30 years as a Chicago Police Officer. I worked in two of the most violent areas of the city. When I was in a citywide unit, I worked in many neighborhoods across the city. Occasionally there were short spates of violence in the safest areas. I never witnessed or even imagined violence this widespread and uncontrollable citywide. There is no safe area in Chicago.

Except for the criminals, I no longer know who to blame for this anarchy. Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the alderpeople, State’s Attorney, Kim Foxx, Cook County Board President, Toni Preckwinkle, or Chicago’s warfare politics.

I would blame the friendly, inept editorial boards of our local news media for ignoring the violence. That would be a waste of mental energy. “The press has always been this country’s single greatest force for social change.” ((Andrew Vachss) The press is no longer a force for change. They are a force for complicity.

First, the politicians tell us beautiful lies because that is what we need to hear. Then they call each other liars because that is what they do. Lies, lies, and more damned lies.

I finally concluded that we, the citizens, and voters are to blame. We should be outraged. We should be demanding accountability and transparency. We should be shouting from the rooftops and marching in the streets. We are silent. 

Our silence is consent. Our lack of action is consent.

We consent to murder and mayhem. We consent to children, especially infants and toddlers being killed. We consent to mass shootings. We consent to rolling shootouts. We consent to carjackings and armed robberies. We consent to prosecutors refusing to prosecute. We consent to the catch and release of violent criminals by the courts.

We consent to the epic public safety failure of our government systems.  

Chicago is in a public safety crisis. If this goes on much longer, it will be a catastrophe. Some of the alderpeople are speaking out. We should be too. We should be ringing their phones off the hook or jamming their emails. 

We do nothing. We are silent.

Chicago politics sucked since I have been alive. Never has it sucked this bad. Public safety is the top priority in governance. Our elected officials are failing and flailing. 

There are as many political finger-pointers as there are people pointing guns. This anarchy results from gross political malfeasance across every level of governance- city, county, and state. Yet, we remain silent. How much longer will this go on before we stop consenting and break our silence? 

If you want to see who is responsible for the violent anarchy in Chicago, look in the mirror.