Well, it turns out the “Cook County coup” never got off the ground.

Ailing Cook County Board President John Stroger delivered a message Tuesday to those with their eyes on his job:

“I’m still the president.”

Reportedly unhappy with moves to replace him — temporarily or permanently — Stroger met with ministers Larry Trotter and Al Sampson and Ald. William Beavers, who said Stroger “understands everything.”

The three painted a picture of Stroger being on the road to eventually reclaiming his seat — if that’s what he wants. The group prayed together, with Stroger tightly squeezing a hand. […]

Commissioners Larry Suffredin and Bobbie Steele told the Sun-Times on Monday that they expected Steele to have the votes to serve as interim board president for the rest of Stroger’s term.

The two didn’t abandon those plans Tuesday, but faced quiet criticism from colleagues who felt it was still too soon to talk of succession.

Some commissioners felt blindsided by the publicity, while others said any deals quietly being cut were hampered by Steele’s disclosure in the newspaper.

But Steele insisted that “if it’s done right and President Stroger is unable to serve. . . . I believe the board members will support me” to take over.

Mark Brown thinks otherwise, however.

But the Beavers meetings (he saw Stroger on Monday and brought the ministers with him for a second session Tuesday) certainly changed the landscape, especially politically. Beavers’ pronouncements will make it especially hard for African-American elected officials to campaign for Stroger’s job.

The first victim of that was Commissioner Bobbie Steele, who had been lining up support to finish out Stroger’s term, that being a separate question from who would replace him on the ballot.

I’m afraid that contrary to the impression created by a headline in our newspaper, the County Board was never “set to replace Stroger” Tuesday with Steele. She’s savvy enough not to attempt a coup, at least not yet, and found herself scrambling to distance herself as much as possible from a move by Peraica to forcibly oust Stroger.

But the damage was done, reopening some old wounds between South Side and West Side politicians. Stroger and Beavers are South Siders. Steele is a West Sider. State Sen. Rickey Hendon, another West Sider, hovered near her during Tuesday’s County Board meeting to offer counsel.

And the Daily Herald adds this twist.

The maneuvering has left endless crossed signals, including published reports Commissioner Larry Suffredin, an Evanston Democrat, had secured the nine votes necessary to install Commissioner Bobbie Steele, a Chicago Democrat, as Stroger’s replacement.

Suffredin denied that Tuesday.

“I haven’t talked to one commissioner (about Steele),” Suffredin said. “What I have talked to people about is a process.”

Suffredin said he’ll introduce an ordinance June 20 to set up a process for temporary replacement of a president should he become incapacitated.

Steele’s name came up, he said, because he was estimating that on party lines, there would be 11 votes for an agreed-upon Democrat and Steele would be a likely choice.

And Peraica’s resolution went nowhere.

The resolution, introduced by Tony Peraica (R-Riverside), Stroger’s opponent in the Nov. 7 election, called for a hearing within 10 days to gather evidence about Stroger’s fitness to serve as president.

On a 10-5 vote, the board refused to send Peraica’s proposal to committee for discussion. The board’s other four Republicans sided with Peraica, saying past practice has been to allow issues to be sent to committee to die.

John Daley (D-Chicago), a close political ally of Stroger, said Peraica’s proposal was a “damn disgrace.”

Elizabeth Gorman (R-Orland Park) said the proposal would “get buried either way.”

Peraica said his candidacy for Stroger’s job was unrelated to the proposal.

“I take no pleasure in doing this. I really don’t, regardless of what other people may think and roll their eyes here,” Peraica told commissioners. “I would ask President Stroger and I would ask his team to take down this wall of silence.”

After this blowup yesterday, it’s doubtful we’ll see any moves until Stroger makes up his mind what he wants to do. But the time to level with the voters is long overdue. Yes, Democratic voters knew he had a serious health problem when they nominated him for another term. But, in political terms, the primary was a long time ago. It’s time for some openness.