John Kass: Fitzgerald’s future tied to election results too
Despite the national media’s childlike fantasy that Illinois is something like Camelot—where the knights rise to power without staining their shining armor—we’re still neck deep in corruption and sleazy pay-to-play politics.
The Chicago Outfit, though wounded, still reaches out to friendly pols. The bipartisan Illinois Combine that runs things isn’t finished, though a Republican boss was indicted last week. The Democratic half of the Combine, Chicago’s Daley machine, is now poised to leverage the awesome power of the White House. And what the machine wants is control of the federal hammer in its backyard.
Readers keep asking me the same question: Will the next president keep Patrick Fitzgerald as the U.S. attorney in Chicago?
I really can’t say. What are political promises worth from politicians with debts to pay?
But here’s what I do know. There is no story more important to the people of Chicago and of Illinois than the future of Fitzgerald, who has systematically hunted down the corruption.
Does your wanting to keep Fitzgerald in the job threaten any other political entities here in Chicago?
“I can’t speculate on that,” Obama said then. “I can’t.”
But you can.