Thursday, March 24, 2011

THE ARROGANCE OF DALEY FAMILY POWER. “THEY’RE NOT LIKE US.”



   What did F. Scott Fitzgerald mean in The Great Gatsby where he has the novel’s narrator, Nick Carraway tell the mysterious stranger Jay Gatsby (who changed his surname to Anglo from the Jewish Gatz):  “The rich are not like us. They don’t care who they hurt!  They’re a rotten crowd. You’re worth more than the whole damn bunch put together!”
       He meant that encrusted arrogance runs roughshod.   That arrogance of course pertains to the Daleys who have lived like a royal family here since the Old Man was elected in 1959.   What’s most offensive is Richie’s princelng attempts to avoid being pinned down with explosions of juvenile bluster.  When asked whom he voted for in the mayoralty the short, squat little bully boy walked over to the offending reporter and tapped his forehead:  Knock-knock!   Who’s dere?  Anybody home?  Supposed to be funny.
      What’s not remotely funny is how the Cook county states attorney is cooperating with our royal family to quash details theSun-Times has produced that cries to heaven for vengeance and at the very least an independent prosecutor to pin responsibility for a death that occurred after a drunken encounter outside a Division street bar on April 25, 2004 that led to the death of David Koschman following a punch thrown by a Daley nephew, Richard J. Vanecko.   Koschman fell backward, hit his head on the sidewalk and died 12 days later. 
       Verifying Carraway’s assessment that the powerful have ways to evade responsibility is the stalling that has taken place in the Chicago Police Department….the fact that for 12 days witnesses were not interviewed…and that law enforcement officials from States Attorney
Anita Alverez to the CPD to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to U.S.  attorney Patrick Fitzgerald—no one has the guts to break the impasse…hoping that it will all go away.

        It is clear that by not responding Alverez appears to be and maybe  is a glaring fraud and political hack who’s covering up…the liberal sweetheart of the Illinois political media, Lisa Madigan appears to be and maybe is unconscionably cowardly …and that Fitzgerald who may be named the next U.S. attorney general appears to be and maybe is spectacularly gutless: Having prosecuted a bevy of lesser lights who committed spectacular patronage abuse  crimes by following orders, he ignored the responsibility of  dirty little Richie and now seeks to give the family a pass.  
       The next time our little Blusterer meets the press somebody ought to rap his forehead and say…Knock, knock! Who’s dere?  Why are you running a cover-up for your bully boy nephew,  Richie? 

2 comments:

  1. Minor error Tom. Daley was elected in 1955.

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  2. Very revealing Tom, and it reminds me of a somewhat similar case here in Milwaukee. A young man I worked with who is Puerto Rican was missing three fingers on one hand. He told me he had worked for a company where he was once asked to operate a ‘guillotine’ machine – the kind that cuts through reams of paper. He had not been trained on it and was reluctant to do so but was forced to by his supervisor as the regular operator was out sick.

    These machines usually have a safety feature requiring you to use both hands to operate them. The safety feature was either not working or had been disabled. He ended up losing three fingers.

    You would expect that this would be a case for a massive personal injury lawsuit. He approached multiple law firms in the area. All initially agreed, eagerly, to take the case and assured him of a large settlement. Subsequently each dropped out one by one – even one of the most prestigious. These firms routinely tout their ‘massive settlements’ each night in television Ads.

    Why did they drop the case? Well it turns out that the owner of the company for which the man worked is a lawyer and prominent member of the Bar Association. He eventually found someone to take the case but received a pittance for his injury. And it wasn’t just the lawyers. In the course of the lawsuit it was found that the Police report on the incident had gone ‘missing’ - leading to conflicting reports on what had actually happened. And, of course, he was just Puerto Rican and 'not like us'…

    Justice…? Yeah, right!

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