This Race is Torture

John Fritchey

For Congress ... For Clout

That's whats written on the poster-board hanging from the fence in front of nearly every empty lot or construction site in the northside neighborhoods of Johns Center & Fritchey Square. No? OK. They actually say "For Congress… For Us." And the neighborhoods are still officially called North Center & Lincoln Square. But it's an honest mistake.

Picture being water-boarded. Now picture staring into the smiling face of your local powerbroker, begging for the permit you'll need to pay your mortgage and kids tuition, heavy poster-boards leaning against the counter, as you hope that taking one is all it will take to save your business. Poster-boarding is our very own, local form of "intense interogation."

To those new enough to the city who notice Chicago's torturous political poster-boarding, and to those vigilant veterans who've always noticed, and to those whose recollection has been refreshed (Grazie alla Blagojevich), there is a perfect example of the "Chicago way" on display in the Fifth Congressional District.

Or maybe this is just cynical. All the builders and business owners may just find themselves with a sudden and complete commonality of values in one another; a once in a lifetime synergy of interests making it clear that among 23 candidates in total, and 12 Democrats in particular, there is only one possible - rational choice.

But just for a moment what if?

What if the developers, builders, businesses, and empty lot owners are being subjected to poster-boarding?

Poster-boarding is the process - express, implied, or ingrained – of extracting political support from companies and people who rely on the city for their financial well being. To loosen the squeeze, to grease the skids, to stop the pain, businesses, developers, builders, generally "the beholden," all tell their "beholders" what they want to hear – in this case apparently – "I'm for John Fritchey," or "I'm for John Fritchey the most."

And then these people who do business with the city will prove their devotion by competing against each-other for the honor of displaying the most visable, largest poster-board they can find.

To be completely fair, lets assume that all parties involved in this play are free from any illegal, immoral, dishonest or untrue intentions – and further, that none asked or insinuated that political support of any sort would loosen the squeeze or grease the skids or stop the pain – the ingrained culture that leads to poster-boarding should still be stopped.

In fact, that particular type of culture, "ingrained culture," is the only one that can be stopped at the ballot box. This is an entirely circumstantial case but it begins from the unavoidable, and of late rather "unimpeachable," (pun intended), premise that the "Chicago Way" is "Pay to Play."

Since the thesis is that there are "beholders," (read: aldermen, zoning board members, etc.) who are being beholden too, test it by looking at the interests of the "beholders" who support and endorse the candidacy of John Fritchey.

Above is a small sampling from our neighborhod. Feel free to post, it shouldn't be hard, look next door or across the street.

Ed Burke and Ghostly Silence

At least two local columnists, Mary Mitchell & then Carol Marin, noticed the ever-ridiculous Ald. Ed Burke (Dem - I.O.C.) comparing Roland Burris to Martin Luther King. He even quoted King's line "you will remember not the words of your enemies, but the silence of your friends."

Somehow, neither brought up my favorite story about Ed Burke's silent friends. After all, Ed has good reason to thank his silent friends. His silent dead friends.

In 1997, the Sun-Times questioned whether his legal clients might be paying him not for legal help, but for his vote on the council, since he had repeatedly voted on bills directly affecting companies paying him for legal advice. Burke asked that his votes be changed to 'abstentions' and blamed the conflict of interest on a man who everyone knew had no interest in the subject -- Alderman Tom Cullerton. He claimed that Cullerton had recorded his vote inaccurately. Culleron couldn't contradict Burke, since he had died three months earlier. (see Sun-Times, June 10, 1997)

By the way, it's a wonderful concept, this changing your vote to abstention after the fact. Retroactive Abstention! Even Sarah Palin's daughters could practice abstention retroactively. The problem being that by the time Burke decided to abstain retroactively, you and I had already been screwed.

And back in 1995, Burke had an uglier situation. One of his finance committee employees admitted she was a ghost payroller, doing no work for two years while on the city payroll and reporting to him. But again, Burke had a silent dead man at hand, his recently departed staffer Howard Lindsey. Burke claimed Lindsey "connived" with the sister of (current) Ald Marge Laurino, and that he had no idea what was going on. (see Sun Times, Jan. 30, 1995)

Some are haunted by the ghosts of dead men. Ed Burke has the clout to command dead men to bury his ghosts. Silently.