Come on, Illinois...

Can you get your act together for one damn minute?

If it ain't the last TWO governors being indicted, it's Mayor Daley spending the city into near-bankruptcy in a failed bid for the Olympics nobody but his cronies wanted, or finding the body of the Chicago Board of Education floating in the river.

Can't Illinois political figures just lay low and do their dirty work on the sly, like everybody in government everywhere else in the country/world? Why do they seem to think they are impervious to punishment when lately everybody either gets busted by the only honest man in government, Patrick Fitzgerald, or winds up the victim of a "suicide?"


I have no doubt this guy was a corrupt asshole--he stood to make a lot of money from the Olympics on a property development deal, he was friends with Jesse Jackson for 30 years, and he was embroiled in some sort of scheme involving admission to the (very few) elite Chicago Public Schools--and I have no doubt he deserved what he got.

What did he get, you ask? The modern version of cement shoes. A couple thugs drove his car over to the river, put a bullet in his head, threw the gun in the river, and hopped into an idling car down the block--all as their boss watched through a telescope from the penthouse of Trump's new skyscraper. End of story.

If he was going to kill himself, do you really think that is how he would do it? Do you really think this is when he would choose to do it?

Basically, if you ever watched The Wire--and you should, if you haven't and you want to see exactly why and how we are in a never-ending political shit cycle-- this Michael Scott asshole is a bonafide Clay Davis sorta fella. And Clay Davis finally got his. Good job, Lester!

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Come on, Feel the Illinois!

It's not like other states (or the Feds) are that much cleaner, but it's hard not to agree with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald when he says the actions of notoriously corrupt--and finally busted--current Governor Rod "The Hair" Blagojevich have "taken us to a truly new low."

With Obama's ascendance to the Presidency nigh, it is easy to forget that Illinois politics are not that far removed from the Al Capone or Richard J. Daley days. Let's recap:

1. The current mayor of the city of Chicago is Richard J. Daley's son, Richard M. Daley. He has kept Chicago extremely clean, helped preserve historic buildings, planted many trees, etc...but has also helped steer most of the city funds into the pockets of his friends, among other nefarious things.

2. Our last governor, George Ryan, is currently in an executive prison camp, serving a 6.5-year sentence for his 2006 conviction on racketeering and fraud.


The funny thing is that this is simply how politics works. The reason you don't hear more about it is that most politicians are smart enough to leave it at a nod and a wink, or meet in random delis or highway rest stops if they need to lay down specifics. Most of them do not get caught. Most of them don't have Patrick Fitzgerald chasing after them.

And so, while every governor/senator/mayor/alderman/etc frantically searches their offices and homes for bugs, the public rejoices in the fact that the lone bad apple has been removed from the bunch.

NOW the halcyon days of universal, transparent honesty can finally begin!

(A link to the full article in the New York Times)