ESL mayor wants McIntosh reinstated. Why?
They say that politics makes for strange bed fellows. In East St. Louis that is, oftentimes, an understatement. Here’s an example of why “East Boogie” politics is more complex than Chinese arithmetic.
FBI snitch and former ESL cop Rudy “Showtime” McIntosh referred to East St. Louis Mayor Carl E. Officer as “an enemy” during his testimony in the recently ended federal vote fraud trial.
But that hasn’t prevented Officer from turning his political cheek by asking the city’s Police and Fire Board to reinstate McIntosh.
Recall that, in February, McIntosh was placed on paid leave by former Chief Marion Hubbard as the result of a probe into the 26-year-old murder of Floyd Reese. McIntosh was implicated as the shooter in that case.
Recently, after an extensive Illinois State Police investigation, St. Clair County State’s Attorney Robert Haida announced that because of a lack of witnesses and the death of Kevin Pruitt (who accused McIntosh of shooting him and Reese), insufficient evidence exists to prosecute McIntosh.
Back in April, the ESL Police and Fire Board fired McIntosh for lying (on his 1994 job application) about having earned a GED. McIntosh admitted lying (about the GED) during the vote fraud trial, as well as to lying on several other occasions, and to having an affair with FBI snitch Dannita Youngblood.
Now Officer, in a move to “begin the healing,” has asked for the reinstatement of McIntosh to an ESL police department with morale issues resulting from the loss of two police chiefs within the last year, one of which faces the prospect of prison time.
The big question for Officer in all of this is: Why? The Godfather philosophy of “keeping your friends close, but your enemies closer” reads well in a Hollywood script. Unfortunately, Officer lives in “The Boogie.”
Officer in all likelihood will watch many of his arch enemies don prison jumpsuits in the very near future. He enjoys the benefit of controlling the majority of votes on the ESL City Council. He has carte blanche in executing his agenda, with the unprecedented opportunity to move ESL forward in a positive, progressive fashion.
For Officer to allow his focus and his agenda to be diverted by a Rudy McIntosh, who must still testify in at least two more federal trials (if not more, pending future indictments), is a monumental waste of energy and momentum.
Sometimes, in politics and in life, you have to do “push-off moves” on those who distract you from achieving your highest potential. Rudy “Testing 1-2-3” McIntosh is such a person for Officer.
Additionally, one must question the sanity of McIntosh. Why would he want to risk his life knowing that he has a reputation as a federal snitch? Who’s going to trust him as a cop, as a politician, as a human being?
McIntosh’s illusion of being a hero has obviously distorted his perception of reality. His best bet is (following the upcoming trials) to allow the FBI to relocate him so that he can live the rest of his life in a productive and peaceful manner.
Officer has been blessed with an all-to-rare second chance in the game of politics. If allows himself to fail, he can’t point to Charlie Powell or Kelvin Ellis or the Democratic machine. This time, he’ll have to look at the man in the mirror.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com.