Givin' it to you straight.

Mayor Richard Daley has named Cortez Trotter as the city’s new fire commissioner. Chicagoans may recognize Mr. Trotter from his many appearances on TV a little over a year ago. He was the man the mayor placed before the cameras to convince us that Meigs Field was torn-up in the dead of night, not because Mr. Daley had long wanted to turn Meigs into a park, but for "reasons of homeland security." Mr. Trotter repeated the mayor's alleged rationale even when the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Homeland Security both denied any prior knowledge of Meigs’ destruction.

I am sure that Mr. Trotter's ability to keep a straight face in front of the TV cameras will serve him and the mayor well when it comes time to answer questions about the fire department's handling of the October 17 fire that killed six at the Cook County administration building and questions regarding the recent slew of racial slurs heard over department radios.

But Chicago needs straight answers, not just a straight face.