Gov. Rod and Me

I am shocked. Shocked at the wide-eyed innocence that it appears the world operates with outside of the State of Illinois, the County of Cook and the City of Chicago.

Quid pro quo must not really be Latin, but a code developed in Bridgeport back when the effluvium of the stockyards made our rivers bubble with decaying waste.

Do you really think that our governor was going to bequeath a senate seat on the most capable public servant he could find? Our president-elect differentiates between those who view politics as a noble service and those who view it as a business. I truly hope that he knows something that I do not. I hope that he is not just blinded by the dew on his freshly bloomed rose.

The last time that I checked I couldn't find much here that was not for sale.

When a politician goes to jail he goes to jail because he drove too hard a bargain and/or over estimated his clout.

The Tribune Company did not blow the whistle on Gov. Rod. They know how the game is played. They were looking for a capital gains rebate on the sale of Wrigley Field. Whose pocket was that going to come out of? It was a negotiation. Call off the criticism if you want to play ball. A couple of years ago, the mayor had sent in building inspectors to insure the public safety and threatened to hold up reconstruction of the Wrigley Field bleachers and additional night games. In return criticism of the mayor ended.

Children's Memorial Hospital isn't complaining either. They are building a new hospital in what is rapidly becoming a hospital campus in the Streeterville neighborhood. How many permits can be held up during new construction? How many wheels need to be greased? We are the city that works and if you know how to play the game, it works for you. If not you applications languish.

So why is Gov. Rod the poster boy? He just can't get along. His father-in-law is powerful alderman Dick Mell. They are so estranged that the grandkids have to meet grandpa at a skating rink. The good alderman brokered Rod's ascension. He replaced the jailed Dan Rostenkowski in Congress (after a brief term by Mike Flanagan who ran against Rosty on a barroom bet and lucked out when the incumbent was indicted) and then replaced the jailed George Ryan as governor. It was nothing out of the ordinary when the good alderman wanted a little cream cheese for his bagel. Sunday morning with the grandkids soured when Gov. Rod told the alderman to get in line over a Joliet landfill project. The boy got above his raising.

Gov. Rod even criticized Mayor Daley. He threatened to call the National Guard in to quell our crime rate. The mayor went into one of his nonsensical rants (these have probably prevented him from being indicted so far) and more Americans died by gunfire in Chicago than in Iraq this year.

Democrat power broker Mike Madigan is the stepfather of states attorney Lisa Madigan. He sees his grandkids on Sunday and Lisa wants to be governor.

Jesse Jackson Jr. wants to be senator. He is not above bartering for a good price. Sr. won a beer distributorship when he accused Budweiser of racism and African-American performers regularly duck the old man when they come to town. He always has his hand out.

Gov. Rod stopped talking to lieutenant governor Pat Quinn a while back. A lot of people voted for the gov. because they didn't expect him to make it through his term and Pat would take over. Pat seemed always to be in wait like a Shakespearian character.

Rahm Emmanuel took over for Gov. Rod in Congress and may have blown the whistle on him to protect his man. He is a pragmatist.

Dick Durbin is so pure of heart he could not stand up for the people of the United States when he was secretly informed that we were invaded Iraq on a sham premise. Lately he has been campaigning to pardon the last governor. There is no pardon available for people that died on our highways at the hands of drivers who purchased licenses from Gov. George the kindly pharmacist from Kankakee.

I could go on, but if you want Illinois to operate on altruistic vision you better send in the UN. I truly hope that goodness and mercy will impose itself on our government. I hope that Pat Fitzgerald will put the fear into those who blatantly debauch the populace for personal gain. Yet, I am reminded of another former prosecutor who became our governor, Jim Thompson. Jim was smart enough to avoid jail, but he drove George Ryan, his former secretary of state, there in a limousine. He is a good friend who doesn't abandon a friend who gets caught. Where Pat winds up I don't know. President Bush already wanted to fire him for messing with Karl Rove. I hope that he is as pure of heart as he expects everyone else to be.

I lived in the congressional district represented by Rostenkowski, Gov. Rod and Rahm. Rahm had been in my store. Lisa Madigan had been in my store Patti Blagojevich had been in there too. Brian Daly, a deputy chief of the gov's staff was a regular who offered me help in one of my battles with the city. Dick Mell has always been a good guy to know. Jesse Jr. is an e-mail pal and pretty qualified to represent us in Senate. Jesse Sr.'s record of public service speaks for itself. The big man, president-elect used to be an e-mail pal when he was my senator. I haven't heard from him since the election.

My mom worked at Finkl Steel with Rod's dad as I did.

Chicago was built on the backs of those who were trying to put a little distance between themselves and abject poverty. It has been that way since Hubbard drove his pigs downtown and land was bought in the morning and sold at a profit in the afternoon. The Everleigh sisters developed the "Mickey Finn" and left horny farm boys in the alley in their longjohns. You could buy back your stolen hubcaps for a price down at Maxwell Street on a Sunday morning. Al Capone laid the foundation for the modern insurance business. It ain't pretty or fair, but we know how it works.

What you don't do is get so arrogant that six kids dies on a highway because a trucker bought his license from you. That is why Gov. Ryan is sitting in the pen in Terra Haute and not what they nailed him for. He never even said he was sorry that the six Willis kids died. I am all for mercy, but he should sit there until he expresses remorse.

Likewise, Gov. Rod will suffer because he forgot who his friends were and neglected to take care of them. Please spare us, however, your moral indignation. If anything, we are a bit more 'honest' when we examine the true nature of our souls.