Saturday, January 10, 2009

Funniest Thing I Heard Today: Chicago Politics

Speaking as a Chicagoan, the notion that people in Illinois actually enjoy political corruption is a vicious stereotype. Illinois is the heartland. It is the most American of states.

When I was a boy, growing up in Chicago, we had a roadside stand in front of my beloved alma mater, Al Capone Jr. High School, named for an esteemed local philanthropist. We sold lemonade, chocolate chip cookies, zoning permits and seats on the Chicago City Council.

In Illinois, we don't dismiss governors selling favors, or public officials getting tailored for prison jump suits, with a single, tired, overworked cliché like corruption. In our little village of Chicago, we call it something else: Tradition.

2 Comments:

At 1/11/2009 1:24 PM, Blogger sethstorm said...

It's also the city where its airport has prominent notices about not bribing public officials.

 
At 1/11/2009 4:08 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sounds just like the kind of "Hope and Change" the country has been waiting for.

Of course, corruption is quaint when perpetrated by a Democrat and evil when done by a Republican.

 

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