12/22/23
The verdict is in, ladies and gentleman; former 14th
Ward Alderman and Committeeman Ed Burke stands convicted on all but one of the
many counts federal prosecutors brought against him. This comes as no surprise to my readers,
and, to be uncharacteristically humble, just about anybody else. As I wrote in my already seminal piece of
11/28/23, WE
HAVE TO TALK ABOUT ED BURKE, despite the apparent flaws in the logic of the
arguments of the prosecution,
“… given the resources of the federal
government and its determination to go after corruption, both real and
perceived, it is a rare occurrence for a federal defendant, especially a high
profile federal defendant, to walk out of a Dirksen Building corruption
trial a free man or woman. The odds,
therefore, do not appear to favor Alderman Burke.”
Am I happy about the verdict? Yes.
It is always reassuring to see justice being done and, especially given
those taped comments by Ed Burke, it’s hard to argue that justice was not done
here. Mr. Burke’s defense team could argue all it wants about
the low character of former 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis (Though I
haven’t been in that part of the world in a while, I highly recommend the
Italian restaurants on the stretch of Oakley Avenue on which the former
Alderman’s former office sits. Most people
seem to like Bruna’s, which is great, while the Quinns prefer Bacchanalia. But I digress.), who wore the wire on Mr.
Burke to save himself from a future in federal housing, but, as the prosecution
in this case, and in most such cases argued, correctly and using different
words, St. Francis is rarely a party to the types of discussions that get
people tossed in the hoosegow.
What the jury was not even asked to consider was Mr. Burke’s
most salient offense: an astounding
lack of good, solid judgment. Such poor
judgment was evident most immediately in trusting the likes of Danny
Solis. You can’t tell me that Mr.
Solis’s colleagues, certainly including Mr. Burke, did not know that Mr. Solis
has certain, er, eccentricities that were indicative of his low character and,
morality aside, his consequent vulnerability to blackmail and the attention of federal
law enforcement.
However, Mr. Burke’s lack of judgment was more profound in something
less immediate. One of my oldest
friends, a guy with whom I went to grammar school at St. Walter, sent me a quick
e-mail in response to my 11/28 piece that read, simply, “When is enough enough?” As he usually does, my old buddy hit the
proverbial nail on the head. Ed Burke
had it all…power, prestige, the admiration of most of his colleagues, and, as
far as anyone without access to Mr. Burke’s financial records can tell, enough money
to enable him to live in luxury for several lifetimes. Why didn’t he just pack it in five or ten
years ago? Why did he find it necessary
at this point in his life to, of all things, shake down a Burger King franchisee
a few blocks off the Stevenson? Such questions
doubtless apply to former House Speaker and 13th Ward Committeeman
Mike Madigan, whom we will surely be discussing in a few months, but I again
digress. At any rate, Mr. Burke’s life
seems to be the perfect Greek tragedy: a
guy who was to the manor born (Yes, the manor happened to be in Canaryville,
but Joe Burke had constructed quite the political manor for his son.) who did
not rest on his father’s legacy but took the ball and ran with it, accomplishing
much for his ward, for the city, for his family, and, yes, for himself, but,
unable to decide when, as my friend put it, “enough is enough,” flew too close
to the sun and crashed to the earth.
While I am happy that justice seems to have been served in
this case, I will not join the jubilant crowds cheering the demise of Mr. Burke
as “the final nail in the coffin of the Machine,” or something similarly inane. Why?
First, the lid on the coffin of the Machine has been firmly
welded in place for decades, a tale I have told in my two books, The Chairman, A Novel of
Big City Politics and The
Chairman’s Challenge, A Continuing Novel of Big City Politics,
and would have remained so regardless of the outcome of Mr. Burke’s trial.
Second, I reference a paragraph in the obviously ebullient
reporting of the Chicago Tribune on the conviction of Mr. Burke:
"It’s a trial that in many ways has reflected the
man and his career. The son of a Democratic ward boss and alderman, Burke grew
up in a home steeped in Chicago’s particular brand of street-level politics. He
was expert at smoothing potholes, fixing up friends with patronage jobs, and
making sure everyone who benefited knew how to vote -- and for whom to
vote."
Give me fifty people like that in the City Council rather
than the assemblage of self-proclaimed Democratic Socialists, goo-goos, popinjays, poltroons, poseurs, mountebanks, and other misfits
who currently populate that body. I
would much rather pay the notorious “corruption tax,” which, in retrospect,
looks like a bargain, than be a lab rat in Brandon Johnson’s social
experiments. Yeah, the Machine guys
weren’t saints, but the city worked when they dominated the City Council and occupied
the Mayor’s office. Further, while politicians
on the take present the world with a relatively trivial degree of danger, idealists
who are adamant about reshaping the world to their liking have caused the deaths
of hundreds of millions throughout history.
You might argue that the choice does not have to be
between leftist loon-tunes and self-aggrandizing politicasters who see their
craft as a business and public service as a means of advancing that business. There must be, you might argue, a third way,
a good, responsible, city government without a trace of corruption. While I, too, would like to live in that
world where sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows sustain herds of friendly
unicorns, yours truly is too old and has seen too much to think there is such a
yellow brick road to good government in Chicago…or much of anywhere else, for
that matter. People’s motivations and
ideals matter far less than the results they achieve.
Let me close with one question and one observation:
Who would you rather have as your alderman: Ed Burke or Scott Waguespack? Unless you’ve never lived in the city of
Chicago, the answer is obvious.
In light of the Burke trial and the upcoming Madigan
trial, it’s more important than ever that you read my books, both of which
would serve as fertile bases for compelling feature films:
The
Chairman, A Novel of Big City Politics, and its sequel
The
Chairman’s Challenge, A Continuing Novel of Big City Politics.
Both are available at Amazon and several other online
booksellers.
Blessed and joyous Christmas to you and yours, everybody,
along with a happy, holy, healthy, and prosperous 2024. You could help on the last by buying my
books.
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