This is kind of a lazy way of writing about what’s happening in Chicago, but it wasn’t flowing for me using the traditional paragraph structure. So, what follows is me asking myself questions – and then replying to myself. I start out with queries about the Laquan McDonald case and then veer off into other topics. Here we go.

It’s a TSR Q and A:

Is it reasonable to surmise Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fought to suppress release of a video showing the moments before, during and after the brutal killing of McDonald to preserve his own political future?

Yes. Emanuel’s effort to bury a tape with such massive public right-to-know implications in the midst of an effort to get re-elected Mayor of Chicago has brought widespread scrutiny of his motives. Rahm said the tape needed to stay secret in the name of evidentiary integrity. The problem with that is that a public instrument in a public vehicle recorded a public servant killing a member of the public. The dash cam footage is much the same as the recording of a 9-1-1 call – or a police report – or a court hearing. It’s actually even more of a public document than those other things given the now crucial American understanding that dash cams are there to protect both the public servant and citizen during moments when the two may clash. The Trib columnist John Kass wasted no time after the video’s release to say flat-out that Rahm would not have won reelection in April 2015 had he not stood in the way of the video’s release. In a piece published on Thanksgiving Day, Kass said the video “threatened Rahm Emanuel and his pursuit of power.”

Was there an effort to cover up details of officer Jason Van Dyke’s October 2014 shooting of McDonald?

It sure looks that way. The totality of events, statements and known actions associated with the case certainly create suspicion that the power structure wanted specifics of this incident to remain under cloak of darkness. From the badly distorted initial account by the police union to what looks like a hush payment to the victim’s family to the alleged erasure of surveillance video from a nearby hamburger chain to the timing of criminal charges…the list goes on. There is a strong smell of dishonesty from people who are supposed to command the public’s trust.

Will Rahm survive balance of his term (through 2019)?

Unless the feds find funny stuff, it’s hard to imagine Rahm will lose his grip on power given the way Chicago politics work. Rahm doesn’t have Ferguson-like rioting to worry about. He’ll let the protests peter out using the philosophy learned from NYC which allows lots of leeway for assemblages to let off steam. The Chicago media doesn’t seem to have much sway. I mean, it took a freelancer to spring the tape. The Sun-Times appears to be a near-dead newspaper. John Kass is a big thorn in the mayor’s side. He has a little Royko streak in him but wanders too much with his hypotheses. The Trib is still a somewhat meaty journalistic entity but isn’t exactly anti-establishment. I don’t know. I’m not feeling an overthrow based on what seems like a long-suffering acknowledgment that the machine can’t be beaten. There doesn’t seem to be a broad coalition to act as resistance force. That changed a little with Chuy’s ascendancy but I think the holidays – and then the cold – keep the ousters (or justice-seekers) at bay.

Now, for questions on a few other topics. Are we at a stage in this Presidential campaign cycle where a Republican candidate can say something out of left field and it doesn’t surprise you for its baselessness?

I thought we had reached that point. But then on Sunday Ted Cruz claimed that the Planned Parenthood shooter was a “transgendered leftist activist.” I stopped for a second to fact check. This is a mainstream political candidate speaking on a delicate national matter and he issued a bizarre, unfounded claim. The shooter was neither transgender nor leftist nor activist. And Cruz comes out of it much like Trump: still popular among those who identify themselves as Republicans.

Were you happy Monday when a jury in Manhattan found Shelly Silver guilty on seven felony corruption counts?

Yes, but I want more. I hate to root for demise of men, but I’d like juries to reach similar conclusions about Dean Skelos and Don Blankenship.

The Giants and Jets play each other Sunday. Who are you rooting for – and who are you picking?

Both teams have pretty serious flaws but both are in playoff contention. I’m a Jet fan but I also like the Giants. Whoever loses this game will end up in a pretty deep hole in terms of making the postseason. The Giants need the game a bit more. They have a better quarterback. Giant coach Tom Coughlin faces termination if his team doesn’t go to the playoffs – which makes this game a near must-win for him. I think the G-Men win. I’ll miss a good chunk of it. I’ll be at the PSAL football title game at Yankee Stadium but will find a bar in the Bronx to watch the fourth quarter.

Any more questions?

No. That’s it for now.