Tannishblog

Chicago’s Mayor Richard M. Daley was questioned yesterday for two hours by Federal authorities regarding a massive hiring scandal that has besieged city hall for the last few months. Many opponents of both the mayor, who has been in office for the past sixteen years, and of the Illinois Democratic party has been having fun spouting the usual hyperbole and rhetoric about how corrupt is…well, you know how this type of thing plays out.

Corruption is a problem. But to spin facts and infer that said corruption is partial to any political party, group or sub-group is in itself an effect of the same corrupt minds. If Party A is involved or under investigation for alleged crimes, Party B comes out of the woodwork to smirk and shake admonitory fingers at them, thereby inferring guilt in the press and in the public eye before all facts are collected. Thus Party B also acts in a corrupt manner for using the doubt created by the investigation and spinning it for its own benefit. That in itself is another example of corruption; the correct thing for Party B to do is to stay mum and let the investigation go on unhindered.

But that is not how things are done in America. Why? Because over the years the entire system has fallen, much as its Roman predecessor, into a corrupt state. No longer can this nation function within the ideals and limitations accepted by our founders. We have strayed off the path too far and are lost in the jungle of political backstabbing and advantage. We are too greedy for personal gain to understand that to benefit society is ultimately to benefit ourselves. America has lost its way, and in so doing, it has lost itself.

Whether Richard M. Daley is involved in the city’s penchant for questionable hiring practices, bribery, patronage, is beside the issue. The greater issue is no matter who is guilty, Chicagoans lose, no matter who replaces the guilty, the new people will soon become corrupted; because that’s how the system works, that’s how business is done. The problem of corrupt government trickled down, as George H. W. Bush informed us; as state and local government must take their cues form the federal level.

As my departed brother liked to say: illegal is only getting caught. The corrupt within government are the guilty, if you never get caught, then you are a viewed as a saint. But even the so-called saints deal with unethical practices, they must or they would not be able to accomplish anything. No amount of finger-wagging will dry their hands of the muck.

Chicago is “The City That Works.” In order to function in our political climate, one must “Do What’s Necessary” and “Bite the Bullet” to “Get Things Done.” Once in a while you’ll get caught - just the law of averages playing out. Does that Make our Mayor “Evil?” No. To have juggled so much for so long and stayed mostly in the clear makes him effective, if not pure. But then, may those without sin cast the first stone.