December 7, 2024
Illinois politicians talk of ethics, fairness and decency. But what they’re really saying is ‘Shut up and take it’
Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski attends a board meeting Jan. 16, 2020. FBI agents raided his home and the village headquarters of suburban McCook, where he is mayor, in September. His chief of staff, Patrick Doherty, was recently indicted in a federal red-light camera probe.
Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski attends a board meeting Jan. 16, 2020. FBI agents raided his home and the village headquarters of suburban McCook, where he is mayor, in September. His chief of staff, Patrick Doherty, was recently indicted in a federal red-light camera probe.

We’re in the political season in the broken state of Illinois and the crooked county of Cook.

And as the federal corruption investigations continue, as the big federal bus rolls from Chicago to Springfield and back again, our political class is determined to distract us.

They use fine words with which to assault us daily, like one meaty slap in the mouth after another.

They talk about ethics, fairness, decency. And they toss out mysterious slogans like “restorative justice” that are repeated verbatim in news reports, but whatever that is, exactly, they don’t quite say.

What do all these fine phrases mean? I don’t think we’re supposed to ask. I think we’re just expected to nod, approvingly, like 18th century peasants doffing our caps to some great lord.

Illinois’ great lord, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the multibillionaire with his offshore accounts and the nagging toilets scandal, talks of setting an example for the people.

He talks urgently of the need to “root out the purveyors of corruption,” and returns to Springfield this week pushing for a whopping tax increase. He’ll rely on the purveyors of corruption to get that done.

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See Also:

(1) Bought and Paid For

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