Tangent

I'm going to have to go off on a tangent tonight. I'll get back to writing my story another time soon.

A couple of interesting things happened today. First, there was the blockbuster political slam-dunk this morning about Rod Blagojevich, the Governor of my home state, Illinois. I lived in the Chicago suburbs for over 40 years, and often heard about Chicago's "machine politics." I didn't know that much about it, and I didn't really follow politics much as a younger man. I remember hearing the name of Mayor Richard J. Daley all the time.....he was an iconic figure in Chicago. After Daley, there were a few other mayors, Jane Byrne (1st female mayor of Chicago), Harold Washington (1st Balck Mayor of Chicago), and then here came Daley's son. He won the 1st race he ran in for mayor, to the surprise of no one.

But political corruption, I now know, has been a way of life in Chicago for decades, maybe longer. For that matter, apparently, the whole state of Illinois has been known to be crooked for a long time. The list goes on and on; the last Governor before Blagojevich is still in prison, the guy before him served time (forget his name right now), but "pay to play" is a way of life in Illinois.

One of the more interesting facets of this whole thing, and one of the things that will be watched closely, is the fact that President-Elect Obama comes from Chicago, politically. Obama claims not to be connected to Blagiojevich, but he is a Chicago-based politician. He comes from Chicago "machine politics", and Obama and Blago have a common thread in Tony Resko. So, yes, Obama is innocent until proven guilty, but he will be under the microscope, we can be sure of that.

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My other issue today is the fact that I heard from a woman who I dearly love, but live far from. I think we could make something work if I was back in Illinois. She is pretty, shapely, and we have something vital in common, in that we are both recovering alcoholics. I think we would be good for each other. But I can only dream about it for now.............