The Machine

I first saw machine politics at its worst in the person of Mayor Richard Daley at the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968. Forty years later, I am appalled that the behavior persists in the person of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Is the Chicago Machine a cesspool of graft and corruption so deep that it has become an every day experience for people in that state? Is our president-elect a product of this thugocracy? Is he tainted by this civic rot? Let us hope not. The future of our republic deserves objective leadership, high integrity, and the selfless pursuit of commonwealth.