Sneed Smoking Crack?

Who's been slipping her the crazy pills again?

• Sneed hears rumbles Mike Masters, top aide to former Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis, is being pitched by some within the Rahm Emanuel circle as a possible top cop replacement.

  Backchat: “His [Masters’] name has surfaced within the Rahm ranks, but the selection process is still in its infancy,” a source said.

  Hotshot: Masters was dispatched by Mayor Daley to be his eyes and ears at the Police Department during the early days of the Weis regime. However, Masters developed a close working relationship with his new boss.

Close, as in Daley put him there to make sure J-Fled answered the phone when Shortshanks called. We've all heard that one after the mayor's infamous temper tantrum when Jody ignored a few calls in a row.

Didn't we hear the candidates for mayor agree that someone who came through the ranks was to be the next superintendent? Didn't Rahm himself say something along the lines of J-Fled the outsider didn't have the confidence of the rank-and-file? How would bringing in some golden child who was just deposited in the Superintendent's office without any historical background in law enforcement and making him the head of the second or third largest department in the country instill confidence in anyone, especially the citizens?

This rumor has a bit more credibility, and even it strains the limits:

• Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey has told associates he would love to come home to run the Chicago Police Department, but probably won’t apply without assurances he is Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel’s choice to replace Jody Weis.

  Ramsey’s interest in the Chicago job was disclosed as Emanuel appointed a 17-member public safety transition team that includes another possible contender: former Deputy Police Supt. Harvey Radney.

  Radney is a partner in the security consulting firm run by Interim Police Supt. Terry Hillard. The transition team will screen potential candidates for consideration by the Police Board.

  Ramsey, 63, is the former head of Chicago’s community policing program who left the city in a huff after Daley’s surprise choice of Hillard in 1998. He spent nine years as Washington D.C. police chief before moving on to Philadelphia in 2008.

Ramsey is 63, he left town in a snit after missing out on the top spot, he's got Chicago political connections out the ass. That's three strikes alone, yet he's touted as a credible choice. And Radney is Hillard's partner in a connected security firm? You think the press isn't salivating at these names already?

We're hoping this is all classic misdirection, Masters (Masters Masters), Ramsey and Radney. We're pretty sure none of these would instill any confidence except in the idea that Rahm is just business as usual.