THINGS (DON’T) CHANGE

I sent the following letter to Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass. I thought my readers might enjoy it:


4/8/10

Hi John,

Interesting hypothesis in today’s column regarding a possible Claypool draft for the Senate. As you said, it’s always fun to speculate, even on long shots. What better way to get the Organization’s attention, and “announce” one’s availability should they decide to dump Alexi, than to run against the nominal head of the Organization as he seeks a higher perch from which to do his puppetmasters’ bidding?

However, I have to argue with your contention, made when commenting on the GOP line of attack against Giannoulias, that “…corruption sells.” In this state? From Bob Merriam to Bill Singer (the 1975 Bill Singer, before he got cozy with Eddie Vrdolyak on the real estate deals) to pseudo reformer Tony Peraica to Ray Figueroa, Illinois and Chicago politics is littered with the figurative corpses of candidates who ran as reformers against Machine or Combine types. It’s difficult to cite a candidate who won on an anti-corruption platform. Yeah, Toni Preckwinckle beat Todd Stroger, but more because Todd is an incompetent boob; had he been competent in his corruption like his father, he would have still been in office. Glenn Poshard got trounced by George Ryan despite the by then increasingly obvious odor of corruption that stuck to George Ryan like a kielbasa and sauerkraut induced bout of flatulence. Paul Vallas couldn’t lay a glove on Rod Blagojevich despite Rod’s closeness to the Organization. (Okay, the Machine’s running Roland Burris as a stalking horse didn’t help Vallas, either, but that’s another issue.) And, going back in history (again), Leon Despres never ran for anything outside the 5th Ward because he knew how hopeless such a venture would be.

My point is that the voters of Illinois don’t get incensed about corruption, at least to the point of wanting to throw the rascals out. If this were not the case, why would we still have the same old cast of characters running the state? Why are we the most corrupt state in the union? People in this part of the world (or least not enough people to make a difference) don’t mind corruption as long as it works for them. As long as the streets are clean, police and fire protection is decent, and there might just be something in it for them, people will continue to send the same rogues’ gallery to high office in the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and state of Illinois. Only when the cost/benefit equation, in dollars and cents, starts to shift more dramatically and obviously against corruption will things change. We’re starting to see such a shift now, but it’s a slow, very slow, shift.