"Bet your bottom dollar, you'll lose the blues in Chicago"

Indeed, but you might well lose several other things, too, like your liberty or your life, if you are not ultra-careful.  15 years ago Marco Morales was downright careless when, sitting pretty at the top of a corrupt construction company paying off huge wedges to the Mayor Daley adminstration, he helped a friend score a kilo of heroin.  Unfortunately, the 'friend' turned out to be an FBI informant investigating another case altogether so Morales was arrested and charged.  Fear and trembling replaced the normal fear and loathing at City Hall who sent some heavy hints to Morales that he should keep very, very 'schtum' concerning the city contracts and pay-offs with which he was involved - or else!  Thus warned, Morales, who for some reason unknown was permitted to drive himself to prison having been found guilty on the drug charge, instead drove himself to Mexico where he remained until recently.  Thus removed from the possibility of facing a Federal grand jury, surprise, surprise, Morales junior took over the firm and was instantly showered with hefty contracts by Mayor Daley's administration.  Shocking, shocking, but hell, this was all 15 years ago and there's been a hellava lot a' blood under the bridge since then, so no-one cares any more.  Anyway, in the same Federal court building all the crowds were hanging round ex-Governor Blagojevich's trial and just down the corridor the former Police Chief was denying using torture on suspects back in the, er, good ol' days!

Amazing really, how the slim, elegant Barack Hussein Obama managed to step lightly through all the filth without so much as dirtying his shoes.  The man's a miracle!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-0618-20100618,0,674826.column?page=1

Comments

[hank]

Dave

Amazing really, how the slim, elegant Barack Hussein Obama managed to step lightly through all the filth without so much as dirtying his shoes. The man's a miracle!

No miracle. Just an old Chicago political tradition for those with more ambition than a cushy low work high paying job. Don‘t take bribes or kickbacks. Facilitate and broker others who do. Never ever, especially on a phone line, make a statement that sounds like a quid pro quo.- Even if a tape is not running a Morales may turn states evidence.

He always did as the machine told him, but he did not take anything directly, especially if there was an obvious quid pro quo. Instead by voting the line and not collecting up front he had a huge pile of IOU’s that he turned into a Senate seat and support of a presidential bid. I’m sure he did end up with some financial benefit, but it was many steps removed from the source, and he did not take anywhere as much he could have claimed. The IOU’s were much more important.

[David Duff]

Thanks, Hank, that explains a lot; and whatever his politics are, Obama is a bit more intelligent that 'Blago' who appears to be as thick as a sack of spanners! Even so, there might be some juicy titbits to come from his testimony.