Keystone Kops Revisted Revisited

Now alderman Burt Natarus has weighed in on our favorite traffic trolls:

"Quite frankly, they ought to have some taller people. Some of the ladies are rather small. I don't like to pick on the ladies, but they have to have a more impressive presence on the street," said Natarus, whose ward includes the downtown area.

Well, alderman, I've seen quite a few of these ladies and one adjective I would not use is "small." Short, yes...small, no. I'm thinking their presence is more or less...what's the word...pointless.

Last fall, Tarara's 5-foot-5-inch mother was directing traffic in the Loop when her legs were crushed by a motorist talking on her cell phone.

The accident -- which helped convince the City Council to pass a Natarus-sponsored ban on cell phone use without a hands-free device while driving -- had nothing to do with Maureen Tarara's height, her son said.

I agree. The operative terms here are "her" and "cell phone." Perhaps if we didn't have these helpful (ahem) public servants, this idiot driver would have hit a pole or a tree or City Hall instead.

Marguerite Green, another petite cop working downtown, said the job is all about confidence . . .

"Petite", yeah. "Cop", uh huh...I tire of you Fran Spielman.