The Shameless and the Gullible

Things aren’t going as smoothly in Arlington Heights as the Bears expected. Those pesky school districts aren’t rolling over in support of the idea of letting the team negotiate their real estate tax assessment. Apparently, the McCaskeys aren’t big on literacy for their future fans. So, last week the team let it be known that they’re looking elsewhere for a new stadium. No, not Chicago. The McCaskey family wants to run operations now, be the landlord, not the tenant. Instead, the Munsters are looking at Naperville, a good drive away from Arlington Heights in west-suburban DuPage County. Oh, the Naperville mayor thinks his community could accommodate the Munsters nicely while the Arlington Heights’ mayor he’d be doing the same thing if he were the team, because, really, extortion and due diligence are one and the same. Then, today, I see a letter to the editor in the Tribune from a self-appointed group of Arlington Heights’ business people and residents calling for everyone to pull together to get this “unique opportunity to do something big” “across the goal line.” Talk about good little Quislings. At no point in the letter did the writer acknowledge the school districts that would be affected by a new Bears’ stadium development are doing fine as is; it’s the tax break the team wants that threaten to hurt the schools’ funding. And, of course, nobody talks traffic. You can get to Soldier Field any number of ways. In Arlington Heights, it’s pretty much going to be one or two roads, and they won’t be leading to paradise. What looks to be the most likely site in Naperville is even less accessible. But to point out the obvious renders me a killjoy. So be it.