Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Should Have Taken a Lesson in L.A. Style Play for Pay

I was born and raised in Chicago. My father was a ward captain ( OK boss) in the late 1950's and early 1960's and if you know anything about Chicago machine politics a ward boss is the closest thing to being a Mafia capo or a made man. You are untouchable. If you want your trash removed, a light or a traffic ticket fixed, a visit by a cop to a noisy neighbor, a dead man's vote or two, and yes a contract, or a sweetheart business deal you talked to the ward captain. All of this came with a price. It was a legalized racket, the fix, play for pay. It was old, deep, blatant and institutional in Chicago. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the string of his gubernatorial predecessors who got popped were only following the well-honed dirty business script.

But lest we be too quick in L.A. to wag the moral blame finger at Chicago bossism. The pack of fat cat donors, developers, bankers, labor and corporate PACs, and a Billboard conglomerate haven't exactly been pikers when it comes to getting their way at City Hall and at the County board. Money screams in politics and it doesn't make much difference whether it's the old school crude Chicago stuff or the thinly cloaked play for pay L.A. stuff. Blagojevich might not have been marched off in FBI handcuffs if he paid a little more attention how it's done out here.