Bryan W. Alaspa 1The thing about politics
July 20th 2009 00:00
Chicago is a political town and it has been for a long time. Back when unions were a relatively new thing, it was here that some of the most famous riots and confrontations between working men and their bosses took place. Throughout the history of this town the politicians have been notoriously corrupt. Some of the administrations that ran this town have been so famously corrupt that the rest of the country, even other parts of the country that were more corrupt at times had to look at Chicago and shake their heads.
We are city famous for being a “fly over” city but when you consider that we are a “fly over” city we sure have had a lot of influence on the country. There was a time when the first Mayor Daley was so powerful that if you were a Democrat you wanted to just been seen or photographed with him. Chicago was the city that helped invent the idea of a “Machine” which meant a city government that was vast and powerful and ran like, well, like a machine.
Some of the most colorful people in Chicago history have been politicians. Daley was certainly one. Then there was Harold Washington, the first African American mayor for the city of Chicago. He was reviled when he was elected by far too much of this town. If you listen to early radio broadcasts where Mayor Washington participated in call-in portions, you hear people ask the most outrageous questions. Yes, that's Chicago for you, a place where racism was as inbred as some towns and cities in the deep south.
This is an influence that has lead to the most powerful offices in the entire state. We haven't really had an honest governor for pretty much my entire life. Of course, none of them have been quite a nuts as our most recent governor, who is more of a haircut masquerading as a man than anyone I have seen since Donald Trump. How he thought he could get away with the things he did is beyond me except to think that he figured governors before him did, and why not him. Of course, the governor before him is currently in jail, so he might have learned something from that.
It takes something to be a politician in this city. I think it takes a willingness to compromise. I think it takes a willingness to sell your soul. I think it takes a willingness to play the games that have been played around here since the city of Chicago first became a city. Sure, you hope maybe you do some good things, but you also spend time trying to ban goose liver in restaurants as if all of the real problems throughout the city have been taken care of.
There is also something about the working class nature of this city. Sure, we have shiny skyscrapers and we have offices and places that are as technologically advanced as anywhere in the world, but this is a town that used to run trains and slaughter houses. This is a town that has that blue collar feeling and that blue collar blood running through its very DNA and bloodstream. Somehow that feeling manages to permeate even our politicians even though you know not a single one of them actually leads a blue collar life.
Corruption in this town is part of life. I grew up knowing that you didn't get a job in the city or with the city unless you knew someone. It's only the journalists with columns of space to fill and hours of TV to put pictures on that act surprised from time to time that this is how the city works. Those of us who live and work her know that's how it works and as long as the city keeps working, we don't really mind.
That's the thing that really sets Chicago apart. It's the people here that separate us from other cities. We accept that our city has faults and we just appreciate them. Sure, it would be nice if things ran perfectly and everything was shiny and new and wonderful, but that isn't how it happens. You just shrug your shoulders and live with it. You understand how it works and you accept it and just keep your head down and your shoulder to whatever grindstone you have decided to press it against.
This is the city we live in. We know it. We appreciate it. We accept it. We even admire it. That's how you survive in this town. In a way, it's part of what makes this town great.
We are city famous for being a “fly over” city but when you consider that we are a “fly over” city we sure have had a lot of influence on the country. There was a time when the first Mayor Daley was so powerful that if you were a Democrat you wanted to just been seen or photographed with him. Chicago was the city that helped invent the idea of a “Machine” which meant a city government that was vast and powerful and ran like, well, like a machine.
Some of the most colorful people in Chicago history have been politicians. Daley was certainly one. Then there was Harold Washington, the first African American mayor for the city of Chicago. He was reviled when he was elected by far too much of this town. If you listen to early radio broadcasts where Mayor Washington participated in call-in portions, you hear people ask the most outrageous questions. Yes, that's Chicago for you, a place where racism was as inbred as some towns and cities in the deep south.
This is an influence that has lead to the most powerful offices in the entire state. We haven't really had an honest governor for pretty much my entire life. Of course, none of them have been quite a nuts as our most recent governor, who is more of a haircut masquerading as a man than anyone I have seen since Donald Trump. How he thought he could get away with the things he did is beyond me except to think that he figured governors before him did, and why not him. Of course, the governor before him is currently in jail, so he might have learned something from that.
It takes something to be a politician in this city. I think it takes a willingness to compromise. I think it takes a willingness to sell your soul. I think it takes a willingness to play the games that have been played around here since the city of Chicago first became a city. Sure, you hope maybe you do some good things, but you also spend time trying to ban goose liver in restaurants as if all of the real problems throughout the city have been taken care of.
There is also something about the working class nature of this city. Sure, we have shiny skyscrapers and we have offices and places that are as technologically advanced as anywhere in the world, but this is a town that used to run trains and slaughter houses. This is a town that has that blue collar feeling and that blue collar blood running through its very DNA and bloodstream. Somehow that feeling manages to permeate even our politicians even though you know not a single one of them actually leads a blue collar life.
Corruption in this town is part of life. I grew up knowing that you didn't get a job in the city or with the city unless you knew someone. It's only the journalists with columns of space to fill and hours of TV to put pictures on that act surprised from time to time that this is how the city works. Those of us who live and work her know that's how it works and as long as the city keeps working, we don't really mind.
That's the thing that really sets Chicago apart. It's the people here that separate us from other cities. We accept that our city has faults and we just appreciate them. Sure, it would be nice if things ran perfectly and everything was shiny and new and wonderful, but that isn't how it happens. You just shrug your shoulders and live with it. You understand how it works and you accept it and just keep your head down and your shoulder to whatever grindstone you have decided to press it against.
This is the city we live in. We know it. We appreciate it. We accept it. We even admire it. That's how you survive in this town. In a way, it's part of what makes this town great.
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