Chicago Sun Times Editorial - This kind of politics is what gives outrage a bad name

Chicago Sun Times Editorial - This kind of politics is what gives outrage a bad name
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
July 16, 2006


Here's the most brazen and outrageous thing about the powerbrokers who are orchestrating the coronation of Ald. Todd Stroger to his father's seat as Cook County Board president: They're not even pretending they have the public's interest at heart. Instead, it's all about quid pro quos, tit-for-tats and raw me-first politics, without even an insincere wink at good government. They are arrogant and unafraid, because they think the voters can't or won't do anything to stop them. When will voters decide enough is enough?

ust listen to the self-appointed spokesman for the Stroger family, Ald. William Beavers. There's no talk about doing what's right for the public good. He explains that Democratic committeemen are backing Todd Stroger because they are in debt to his father, John, who suffered a stroke in March. More than a dozen committeemen are county employees or have relatives who are. "You pay your debt. You're loyal to the people who are loyal to you. [John Stroger] has been loyal through the years to every Democratic candidate that the party ever put up to run for election. ... It's time for payback."

That's the way it too often goes in Cook County government. You don't hire the best person for the job. You hire the person who can continue the status quo. You hire the person who can keep the insiders happy. You hire the person you can control. You hire the person who can give you the biggest political bang for your political buck. As for the public? They're sheep. They'll stay in line.

If all goes according to plan, Todd Stroger will be given his father's place on the November ballot as the Democratic nominee at a meeting on Tuesday. Beavers will relinquish his job as alderman and take over John Stroger's 4th District commissioner's seat. And Beavers' daughter -- has anyone ever heard about her? -- will take over his job as alderman. If you're scoring at home, that adds up to three insiders getting new posts because of who they know.

Are they qualified? Maybe. The best for the jobs? Most likely not. Consider: One reason why Beavers is moving from the city to the county is so he can watch the younger Stroger's back and ward off "problems" -- in a democracy, we call it legitimate debate -- from hostile commissioners. And yet Beavers insists Todd Stroger is "not a puppet" and "has a backbone."

As the old adage goes, "good government is good politics." The folks now running the show at the county don't aspire to either. The government is in terrible shape, bloated with patronage and facing a massive financial crisis. The politics have been a circus since Stroger's stroke, with his loyalists insisting he was recovering before finally acknowledging -- after the deadline for an independent candidate had passed -- that his health precludes him from governing. There still is no interim leader at the helm. If anyone ever doubted that bad politics is bad government, they have only to look to Cook County.