I know mayor Daley prays for US attorney Patrick Fitzgerald just like the old Russian Jews prayed for the tsar, “May G-d bless and keep him, far away from us.” Because the more time Fitzgerald spends investigating DC scandals the less time he’ll spend incarcerating Chicago pols.
Before he became “Mr. Plamegate” Fitzgerald was Mr. Indict Everybody in Governor George Ryan administration and Mr. Scare the daylights out of anybody involved in Chicago’s hired truck program. Fitzgerald’s investigation scared Mayor Daley so bad that for weeks hizzoner was speaking in whole sentences.
I am certain that with a single heart, every Chicago pol wants to hear but one news item this week, “Plamegate probe extended!” I can hear Alderman Stone, saying “Fitzgerald needs to stay on the job. He needs to ask a whole lot more questions about …uh Karl Rove.”
I’m sure Alderman Dorothy Tillman thinks Fitzgerald ought to find out a lot more about Scooter Libby, like, what exactly did he say to that New York Times reporter and why do they call him “Scooter” anyway? America need to know these things.
And you know the whole Plamegate thing is ultimately about the Iraq war. So IÂ’m positive Alderman Beavers wants Fitzgerald to get himself over to Baghdad with his whole staff, espprosecutors his prosecuters, and take some time and find out what really went down with the whole Niger, yellow cake, forgery thing. ThatÂ’s a much more important for the country and the world.
I bet the entire city council believes FitzgeraldÂ’s talents are wasted on piddly little political patronage nonsense here in Chicago.
A got to admit that as a lifelong Chicagoan I am with my City Hall brethren on this one. I hope Fitzgerald indicts huge, splashy DC names before he comes back here. ItÂ’s not that I donÂ’t want to see Chicago pols doing the perp walk, Lord knows itÂ’s always highly entertaining. But I do worry a bit about our cityÂ’s international reputation. I donÂ’t love that we are the worlds punch line for political sleaze. I am not thrilled that Kurdish politicians were accused of stuffing ballot boxes in the recent Iraqi referendum reporters said theyÂ’d taken a page from Chicago. IÂ’m not saying it ainÂ’t true but IÂ’d like us to be seen in context.
If folks are going to say Chicago pols are dishonest, corrupt and immoral I’d rather that they also said, “Just like them folks in Washington.”
And if the mayor has to jet off and turn himself in to the federal prison in Minnesota IÂ’d like him to fly up there with his fellow, newly convicted felon, aboard Air Force One.
