Posted by
Jesse "The Mind" Norman on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 1:45:00 PM
Chicago is the head of Illinois. Maybe it's not the capital of Illinois, but it's certainly the head. The corruption that has trickled throughout Illinois started with Chicago. The master was former Mayor Daley, father of the current Mayor Daley in Chicago. The tenure of the old Mayor Daley was known as the "Daley Machine". The Daley Machine was about "pay to play" politics. We heard many times yesterday the term "pay to play" when discussing Gov. Rod Blagojevich. While Blagojevich took it to an insane, superbly arrogant level, he just took the baton from the old Mayor Daley. The current Mayor Daley is also following in his father's footsteps.
Chicago is the most corrupt city in the entire country. For decades it was known how to do political business in Chicago, and everyone was willing to play. This is the backbone of Chicago. It's soul is corrupt. It would trickle soon throughout the state and has taken down many governors in the past few decades. Former Gov. George Ryan was mentioned many times yesterday as well. He's currently serving in a federal prison for his involvement in taking money in an illegal driver's license scam. He would receive payments to give licenses to truckers who shouldn't be driving. This was known in Illinois before he was even elected. Illinois didn't care. Rod Blagojevich is the fourth Illinois governor to have the law come after him, and the second in a row.
The people of Illinois aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. As I said, George Ryan had these strong accusations before he was elected. Blagojevich also had allegations of mispropriety before he was re-elected. The current Mayor Daley is as crooked as they come. He's all about "pay to play", and sees himself as a king rather than a mayor. And why not? I would bet 95% of Chicagoans can't name the opponent in the last election against Daley (Dorothy Brown and William Walls, both democrats). They pretty much all hate him, but they vote him in by percentages that would make Saddam Hussein jealous. They certainly wouldn't dare vote a republican into office in Chicago. Daley has had numerous members of his administration that have come under indictment. This would be news in most cities, but people in Chicago are more worried about curses and da Bears than corruption running rampant in their city.
Former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski was convicted of mail fraud in the House's Post Office scam. His father was Joe Rosteknowski, known as Chicago's "ward boss". Former Illinois Otto Kerner Jr. was convicted of receiving stock in a horse track in Arlington as a form of bribery. Former Gov. Daniel Walker was convicted after his term for fraud in a savings and loan scam. Former Congressman of Chicago Mel Reynolds was convicted of sexual assault, solicitation of child pornography, bank fraud, and lying to SEC investigators.
This is the Chicago, and Illinois as a whole, culture. Tony Rezko was involved very much with Rod Blagojevich and also with Barack Obama. What Obama's ties in yesterday's scandal is unclear. Maybe it's nothing, but I will say something I've said many times. No one that comes out of Chicago politics comes out clean. It's impossible. In order to play, you must pay. I'm sure Obama played quite well. He certainly played Rezko pretty well when he bought his home for a discounted price. Who knows who will be the next governor of Illinois? One thing is almost certain, they will not be clean. Who in Illinois is?