February 2003

Fire Finger Pointing

ArchPundit February 21, 2003 No Comments

I’ve not commented on the fire at E2 yet because I was unable to make any reliable judgments of the politics surrouding the whole deal. Certainly, the city dropped the ball in checking on the location as Phil Kadner points out. This seems to me not to be a big story.

The question is whether there is more going on underneath. The uber-cynical version is in audio by NPR which interviewed John Kass.

Kass’s argument is that a restaurant that fell on the wrong side of the oxymoronic Coalition for Better Government and the power brokers in Chicago.

The problem I have with Kass’s argument is that it is a lot different to neglect to figure out whether a club is open and actively trying to shut down a restaurant. That being said, Kadner’s last few lines explain what probably happened.

The problem of corruption in Chicago is not that all politicians are corrupt, it is that too many accept it as a way of doing business and don’t actively root it out. And Kass points out the problem with having few independent voices willing to stand up to Daley.

Jesse Jackson came to Chicago as an outsider, but now has an amazing degree of influence over local politics. That influence is unfortunately more interested in Jackson family wealth than making waves.

Kass points out that Sr. was more upset over the Barbershop than he was over 21 young adult African-Americans losing their lives. For this and many other reasons, Chicago misses having people like Harold Washington around. They played the political game and the greased the wheel, but they also kept people honest. In fact, you didn’t see Jackson in Chicago much during Washington’s time in office because he exiled him.

Devine Starting To Wake Up?

ArchPundit February 21, 2003 No Comments

It might seem odd to many readers of this blog why I have so much respect for Richard Devine. I am highly critical of his positions on death penalty reform and what is a somewhat mediocre view on prosecutorial misconduct. In the interest of disclosure, I’m familiar with some people close to him though I don’t receive tips from them. From those relationships, I’ve developed a good deal of respect for him.

He is moving in the right direction on two issues. First, he is working on a pilot taping program for police. Much of the resistance to taping confessions is coming from the police departments. They feel taping will hamper their effectiveness. The flip side of the argument is that by taping confessions, claims of coercion won’t be so easy to make. I fall in the second camp and believe taping will ultimately improve police effectiveness. The problem is getting police to buy into it. Devine is seeking to start a pilot program that will help do so. What has seemed like intransigence is starting to look like consensus building.

On a second issue, Devine has set up a special team to examine DNA evidence of convicted felons in Cook County. This is to be commended. While I would like to see a team working on all prosecutorial misconduct, this is a good start.

If death penalty reform is to work in Illinois, supporters of the Death Penalty such as Devine will need to seek some common ground with reformers. While I have no hope for DuPage County prosecutor Joe Birkett, there is some hope for reform with prosecutors like Devine.

Chicago Aldermanic Races

ArchPundit February 21, 2003 No Comments

Steve Neal of the Sun-Times is running an excellent series of columns on the upcoming Aldermanic races. This is an excellent series and well done.

The columns on the 12th, 20th and 18th are probably the best in learning about Chicago politics and how it works.

If there is a reason to celebrate Fitzgerald

ArchPundit February 21, 2003 No Comments

Here it is. Segal has been targeted by the most aggressive federal prosecutor since Jim Thompson, and well, frankly, Patrick Fitzgerald is probably more aggressive than Thompson since it doesn’t appear Patrick Fitzgerald has any political goals in Illinois. Peter Fitzgerald is responsible for placing him, and it has produced excellent results.

While no single guy can clean up Northern Illinois, there are more active investigations of politicians and corruptions at one time than at any time I can remember, and these are the ones we know about.

Sneed’s Stuff

ArchPundit February 21, 2003 No Comments

Oh please, no. Poshard is thinking of getting in the Senate Race. Poshard is a nice guy and clearly a stand up guy, but he is too conservative and too old. One of the promising aspects of this race is that there are excellent young candidates running.

If he wants to be of service to the State of Illinois, take out Shimkus.

Sneed also calls into question some of the numbers in the DCFS missing kids problem. I’ve largely ignored the issue because the original reports made it sound mild. If Sneed is correct, the problem is quite significant.

Is Carol Mosely Braun a Crook?

ArchPundit February 20, 2003 No Comments

Asks Slate.

They kind of let her off the hook and certainly don’t draw a conclusion.

The nearly five-year investigation did turn up some splurges, like a $4,000 tab at the Four Seasons Hotel in Maui, but the agency declined to take legal action, citing a lack of resources. The Justice Department similarly turned down two requests from the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Moseley-Braun for criminal misappropriation of campaign funds.

Moseley-Braun seems to think she was vindicated. Not only was she not vindicated, she demonstrated incredibly bad judgment.

Blagojevich Rumors

ArchPundit February 20, 2003 No Comments

It looks like some operatives out there are trying to tie the Madigan line about indiscretions on the part of Blagojevich to an extramarital affair. The story hasn’t broke that I have seen and my guess is there isn’t anything to it. It is ugly politics though.

Rename the Chicago Cultural Center

ArchPundit February 20, 2003 No Comments

As I predicted in my Political State Report article on the death of Sis Daley, John Kass is pushing for the Chicago Cultural Center to be renamed for her again. He had pushed the idea previously, but she had called and asked him to not continue.

I agree with Kass and would hope that it becomes so.

WMD Sailing in Circles?

ArchPundit February 20, 2003 No Comments

Via Centerpoint–

Apparently there is speculation that three ships might contain Iraqi chemical or biological weapons. The ships have been sailing around in circles for months and even stranger they are maintaining radio silence.

What isn’t said in the article is what seems pretty clear to me–that before hostilities break out, those ships will have to be taken by the US and Great Britain. If, by chance, they do have biological or chemical weapons they could be used on ports in a terrorist attack.

Weyrich Letter is very strange

ArchPundit February 19, 2003 No Comments

Virginia Postrel points out the Weyrich letter to The New Republic isn’t even about an article in TNR and that it is weird. She is correct. Then again, Lind and Weyrich are pretty weird guys.