there is one other thing everybody in Chicago is saying...

I'm sick of hearing about this s***.

the national media is having a field day...

and everyone with whom i'm talking here in Chicago is amused.

we shrug our shoulders because the idea of corruption in the city goes back well over a hundred years. the history of the city around the turn of the 19th to the 20th centuries makes fascinating reading in books like The Devil in the White City and Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul, two of the more unique stories.

truthfully, Chicago can be blamed for the ascension of religion into politics that has had the country in a mess for the last 20-30 years. the stage was set right here. if you're familiar with the second book i mentioned, Sex in the Second City, you will discover just how that is the truth.

our biggest amazement is just how stupid Gov. Blago has been. real stupid! one local politician told one of the local TV stations that he is learning sign language to talk with colleagues because "You have to believe that everyone you're talking is wearing a wire." sad, but true.

Rachel Maddow last night pointed out that the media in Chicago was not focusing on what Blago did but on the possibility that he might just be loco. she seemed surprised with it. there are stories popping up about his delusions and behaviours all over the Chicago media. Check out this story in today's Chicago Sun-Times: Hairbrained? Is Blago's hair a sign of sickness?

or the Chicago Tribune: By Chicago standards, Blagojevich isn't crazy.

Illinois' Attorney General, Lisa Madigan [who i wouldn't trust as far as i can spit either] is talking about going to the Illinois Supreme Court to declare Blago unfit: What's next for Blagojevich? Removal?



Obama at his new conference this morning was asked what's wrong with politics in Illinois. he has two views of people involved in government, first as service to others and second as a business; a business that says, "What's in it for me?" he went on to say that there is a great history of Illinois politicians who have been of the former view, but you also have people with bad habits and a culture of politics as a means of self-aggrandizement. that has to change. the latter is the far end of the spectrum, but there are elements that are more subtle in the middle. he mentioned other governments even the federal that do things for political reasons. he hopes his campaign modeled and hi administration will model it. [the previous are more or less my notes while listening to Obama this morning.]

i would add another element - enriching your friends. Bush is using his pen and pencil to do all kinds of orders that Mr. Obama can't do anything about for at least a year. today he doomed polar bears by an order allowing more exploration for oil, gas, etc. and he is about ready to destroy the Utah Redrock wilderness for the same thing.

of course, this is the same thing as Blago did, but Tsar George was willing to wait the eight years to get all the money after he leaves the White House. Blago wanted the money now. it's all a matter of degree.

to paraphrase an old adage:

politicians - you can't live with them...
and you can't kill them.

[for those of you unfamiliar with the original, the word politician was family.]

one of the sadder parts to the Blago business is...

...the Illinois state legislature was getting ready to vote on a bill giving civil union rights to same-sex partners. Blago was a supporter and said he would sign the bill if it came to his desk. his sister-in-law, Debbie Mell, was just elected to the Illinois House of Representatives as openly lesbian/gay, ironically to Blago's own old state seat in the House.

now, that's all on hold. [i'm sure Peter LaBarbera is down on his knees thanking his god for that right now.] it may not even be possible for the new legislature taking office in January to deal with it.

with the pressing matter of this folly and the dire straits of the state budget, it's going to be tabled. it was the closest to passage from years past. Chicago and most of Illinois is quite accepting of LGBTQ citizens. there are detractors, like LaBarbera, but most go with a live and let live outlook.

big mistake in Illinois?

living in Chicagoland all my life, none of the Governor Blago stuff is surprising. [we can't spell the governor's name so we just call him Blago] it's politics as usual. it's tit for tat. it's the way things are and always have been.

ABC World News interviewed people in Chicago and made a point of saying that no one they spoke to here really saw it as a big deal. there was no real reaction to speak, well except from other places around the country that aren't used to the way we do things here. remember, we are The City That Works, and there are reasons for that.

at the least, it sells newspapers and that's something that the Chicago Tribune can use right now.

however, did U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald get pushed into something that will not hold up in court? is there a political agenda for which he has fallen? was he made to jump the gun before he had a solid case? think about it.


what exactly did Blago do that is illegal? Pat Buchanan brought this up on the Cris Matthews' show tonight. Blago is taped saying some things he could do, some things he could ask for, and some things that had naughty words in it. does saying things that might or could happen constitute illegal behaviour?

did he accept any bribe? did he coerce any one to do anything illegal? did he break any ethics laws? these are all questions that will have to be answered in a court of law.

now, they are reporting that Rahm Emanuel was the one who alerted Fitzgerald. possibly because Blago would not name the person that Obama and Rahm wanted to replace Obama in the Senate? like i said in the first paragraph - politics as usual, and Emanuel is an expert at it, even more than Blago.

i may have used this metaphor in previous posts, but it bears repeating. in Chicago we have da Bears, da Bulls, da Cubs, da Sox, and da Blackhawks but the favorite sport in the city [county and state for that matter] is politics.

now the rest of the country gets to be part of the team playing, fan rooting, unquestioning supporting, cross-town fighting...

enjoy...


oh, and if i may add my 2¢, i think Governor Blago should go ahead and name Obama's replacement, that is totally within his legal right as governor, but i think that he should screw them all by naming his arch-enemy's daughter to the post - Lisa Madigan! her father, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Michael Madigan, has been doing everything in his power to undermine everything that not just Blago but all other Democrats and Republicans in Illinois have been trying to do. IMHO, only for getting her elected governor. Madigan has refused to even meet with Blago for years.

i'd love to see some corruption stuff on them. everything they've done is under the (dis)guise of making her governor.

it would also make for greater sport...

silly laws...

There are a lots of silly laws on the books all over the country. I'm sure that you can name a few in your own town.

Two years ago, Chicago banned the sale of foie gras, a delicacy of duck and goose livers elevated to near cult status by the French, on restaurant menus. Consequently, there have been duckeasy's in the city either selling it on the qt or giving it away since the law only bans selling it. Even Mayor Daley thinks it is one of the stupidest laws passed in recent history.

Well, today, the Chicago City Council lifted the ban and are setting the ducks free. Well, letting us eat their livers, at least.

Didier Durand, chef/owner of Cyrano's Bistro on the near Northside, is leading the cheers. "Break out the champagne!" he cried.

Opponents to the delicacy, as well as to any animal-based food, were quick to cry out:

"To reverse a compassionate and admirable decision under pressure from political bullies and special interests shows a cowardly brand of cynicism unlike any we have seen in our efforts to give voice to the most vulnerable beings in our society - animals raised for food," said Julie Janovsky, director of campaigns for animal rights group Farm Sanctuary.

Pot calling the kettle burnt, you ask? PETA and Farm Sanctuary are political bullies and special interests, aren't they? I don't know of any other groups who physically attack their own species to make a point.

The nature of homo sapiens has been as hunter/gatherers for millenia. Much has been written of our current modern diet of grains and cereals and the problems they cause digestively. We are meat eaters.

I, for one, love foie gras and always have. I have had it many different ways, but the best is lightly seasoned and sautéed in butter, served with a good Sauterne.

I might be convinced that the method of force feeding the birds to produce larger, more veiny livers is harsh and, if someone could show me that a natural method of feeding produces the same flavors, I would go along with it.

but... i will stay my gross self, as some would label me, and continue to eat, not very often I might add, one of my favorite delicacies...



i'm almost drooling...

now that was a snowy winter...

We've been hearing news story after news story and weather report after weather report about the amount of snow the country is having this winter. Milwaukee seems to be leading the totals this year when it is usually Buffalo, New York.

With all the talk of weather change, we have forgotten exactly what winter is about. Chicago for the last several years has had very mild winters. However, we've had a lot of snow this past week and the temperature outside right now is -2° with windchills of up to [or should I say down to?] -26°.

This is more like the winters I grew up with. As a reminder, here is a picture from 1967 and the snowstorm/blizzard on January 26th. We had 23 inches of snow in 12 hours with 6-12 foot drifts!


Lake Shore Drive, the major lakefront roadway
No one was going anywhere.

Over the next couple of weeks there was more snow and, in typical Chicago fashion, the temperatures plummeted. It seems, for as long as I can remember, that everytime there is a major snowfall in Chicago the thermometer drops and we have a period of extremely cold weather.

I remember the storm in 1967. I was at university and hardly ever came home. I did that weekend for a friend's wedding. She had the wedding [it ended in divorce; I wonder if there's a connection?] I also made it back, driving, to school on Sunday. I don't remember how. The buses were stranded in the middle of the major streets. It took weeks for people to dig out in some cases.

Weather is always a topic of conversation with people. Usually one of the first things we talk about when we meet. We're the same here in Chicago. We have one other saying about weather that is really pretty accurate:

If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes. It'll change.

it's usually true...

an idea the Repubs could use to get the voters up and out...

Rival woos voters with Viagra: campaigner

Honest!

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Vote-buying is an old practice in Thai politics, but one candidate for December's Thai election has reportedly come up with a new tactic -- handing out Viagra instead of cash.

The allegation, made Thursday by a campaign worker against a rival party, comes as rules about handing out favors to voters have become stricter than ever, barring even the distribution of free T-shirts and soft drinks.

Sayan Nopcha, a campaigner for the People's Power Party in Pathum Thai province just north of Bangkok, said the drug used to treat sexual dysfunction in men was being distributed to elderly male voters at social functions. AP

NOT even in Chicago, the home of Vote Early and Vote Often, would we stoop so low to do something so insulting as this.

at the lease, we'd make sure there was a hooker chaser...

tequila or otherwise...

a family rememberance...

I'm not sure how widely known Maxwell Street is in other parts of the country, but in Chicago people still talk about it. It was an institution, especially during the Great Depression, where most people could afford to buy the things they needed. The market was notorious for not just sales but the shenanigans that went on with them. It was filled with characters such as street-hookers, scam artists, immigrants, fair-minded merchants, pickpockets, and an entire gamut of society that would make a great movie.



I remember hearing about Maxwell Street from my family when I was growing up. Most stories were really funny. They needed, as did most people in Chicago at the time, to shop for necessities to survive, as well as amusement, I'm sure.

Like the time Aunt Sarah was walking through Maxwell Street to purchase something. One of the hawkers approached her and quite assertively tried to sell her underwear. Her response was, "I don't wear underwear." This was probably back in the 1930's. You can imagine she not only had a mouth on her but wasn't afraid to use it. I loved her for that as well as much else.

My grandmother, Nu Zina, told the story of going there to buy a pair of shoes for one of my uncles or my grandfather. She picked them out; the salesperson wrapped them in the finest newspaper; and she took them home. When she got home they were both left-foot shoes. I can hear her swearing and cursing in her Italian dialect of Gok in my head right now.

She went back to Maxwell Street and lambasted the man. Of course, she really didn't speak English, so one of my aunts or uncles went with her - probably Aunt Sarah. He relented and gave her another pair.

When she got home she unwrapped the shoes and the epithets spewed forth from her mouth so loud and fast that the whole neighborhood knew what had happened. This time, he gave her two right-footed shoes.

My grandfather had to go back this time. He was afraid she'd kill the guy. He got a right and a left shoe this time. He probably told the guy that, though my Nana was only about 4'9", she'd kick his ass right into Lake Michigan from where he stood on Maxwell Street - a mile away from the lake.

There are many notorious reasons and stories why Maxwell Street is so famous. There is one with which a lot of people around the country would be familiar - Chicago-style Blues.



made even more famous by Jake and Elwood -



These are the types of memories that give Thanksgiving meaning...

hope you're having a great one...

m/