...how this unstable, racist, utterly incompetent politician became mayor of Chicago.
Oh, I know, I know. It's Chicago, and the politically brain-dead majority were going to elect a Democrat, that was never in doubt; but it is difficult to imagine one more utterly repugnant - morally, temperamentally, aesthetically - than Lori Lightfoot. I mean, whatever happened to the days when the voters of the Windy City expected at least a modicum of safety and efficiency in return for permitting massive corruption?
I think I have mentioned that I worked in Chicago for a few years, in the late 1980s. I lived in the suburbs, but commuted daily into The Loop.
ReplyDeleteTo describe Chicago as "corrupt" is a vast understatement. It's effectively its own state (never mind the rest of Illinois, which loathes Chicago with a hot white passion), pretty much a collection of warring tribes split along racial lines.
People have been getting shot in the streets there for decades. Gang wars and drive by shootings were common. I know of one Guard officer who was murdered in front of his wife for the crime of stopping to help a broken down vehicle (yes, it was an ambush). There was a rumored retalation.
When Mayor Washington (the FIRST EVER BLACK MAYOR OF A MAJOR CITY!!!!!) died in office (literally, he had a heart attack at his desk, said condition rumored as resulting from a decadent life style), the feeding frenzy as to who would succeed him reminded me of a Third World s**thole following the death of a long ruling tyrant. And never mind that this guy was convicted of tax evasion while serving as a member of Congress -- he was a saint until the residents of the south side.
Not that the administrations prior to his were shining examples of civilization -- Washington and his successors merely followed in the footsteps of Daley and other mayors. I heard plenty about THEM whilst there. The stories about the 1968 riots were ... ... disturbing.
And the entire government is dedicated to graft. Officially, not, but patronage is an accepted practice. And the taxes! Dear God. When I was there, if you had a business meeting at a restaurant, there was a city tax for that.
Don't get me started on the unions, gerrymandering, and other areas of concern. Not to mention, the state of Illinois adds to the chaos by thinking up their own ways of digging into everyone's wallet.
My point being, long time residents of Cook County expect corruption on the part of their elected officials. Everyone is trying get their cut of the action. It's like growing up next to an airport -- you get used to the noise. Hell, they ADD to it, in the doofus approach so favored by people living in an urban environment that is one big bubble. Liberals love the place.
Al Capone set the stage (although he had fertile ground to work in), and subsequent generations took it from there.
So when Lightfoot was elected mayor, I had low expectations. But even those were optimistic, as she continues to dig that hole deeper and deeper. Eventually, I suppose, Chicago will have gated communities, with armed guards on the walls.
I am so glad I left that place.
Must have been awful. Also, a testament to how people can become completely desensitized to corruption. I knew a few people from Chicago who actually took a perverse sort of pride from living there; almost as if being surrounded by corruption and bad actors and rough characters made them feel tough in a vicarious sort of way (although they were just complacent - and perhaps complicit - victims). Madness.
ReplyDeleteMadness. That’s the word I was looking for. Thank you, Paco.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at Lori Lightfoot and tell me she doesn't convene a coven in the deepest, darkest crypt whenever there's a political decision to be made. That might explain her election. That and the fact that she's married to an eight-foot white Wookie.
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