In Chicago, 35,000 people have been murdered in 50 years

[Flightmare]

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/chi ... -50-years/

Illegal firearms still flow into the city, feeding violent crime despite Chicago’s strict gun laws. To measure that inflow, Chicago Police Department tracks the number of seized illegal guns.

As of Sept. 6, the Chicago Police Department confiscated 6,043 guns, a 22-percent increase over the 4,952 firearms officers confiscated last year, according to Anthony Guglielmi, the department’s director of communications.

Chicago police officers seize one illegal gun every 59 minutes on average, during search warrants, traffic stops and investigations, he said. Guns range from AK-47 models to sawed-off shotguns and homemade handguns.

Emphasis mine. Sounds to me like these guys are desperate to be armed.

[Beiruty]

So what is the punishment for the criminals/felon with guns?

[Flightmare]

The last 3 lines in this article kinda tell you what they're doing

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/colu ... olumn.html

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has asked for tougher laws to keep shooters behind bars. But Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and her allies in the Black Caucus in Springfield keep dragging their feet.

There is an obvious disconnect between the needs of the poor in violent neighborhoods and the agenda of the elite African-American political class.

The politicians will make fine speeches. And more will be shot. And the numbers of the dead in Chicago grow.

[Bolton Strid]

Some reading that helps explain -
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magaz ... s-Explain/

Long article, but here is a sample of what's in store -

"The Daleys are the most visible example of another characteristic of local government: It’s a family business (with friends welcome, too). Just as the Flying Wallendas have their high wire, the Daleys have their government positions—as do the Strogers and the Madigans and the Hyneses. But it’s not just the dynasties for which public office has become a birthright. “I’m talking about the people whose grandfathers were precinct captains, and now they’re precinct captains,” says Dominic Pacyga, a political science professor at Columbia College. “The father worked for the waterworks; now his kids work for the waterworks; and his grandchildren are getting ready to work for the waterworks—or the fire department or the police department. So you get these families that have controlled large swaths of the city for a long time. It reaches way down deep into the political system, and it maintains itself. When you’re in power for so long, the downside of this autocracy is corruption and a system that begins to fail the people.”

* * * *

"Owing to historical factors, Illinois developed a labyrinthine governmental structure that offered fertile ground in which corruption could sprout. The Illinois constitution of 1870, in effect until 1970, limited the amount of debt counties and municipalities could carry and taxes they could levy. When cities needed to fund improvements, they got around those constraints by creating new units of government with the capacity to borrow—a library district, for example, would be created to build and administer a new library. “The 1870 constitution almost forced you into multiple units of government if you were going to deliver services beyond your municipality or modernize your municipality,” says Redfield. Today the state contains almost 7,000 separate governmental fiefs—far more than any other state—ranging from counties, towns, and school and fire districts to water reclamation and mosquito abatement districts. Most have budgets to protect and authority to wield. “It’s very hard to stay on top of it all, and it creates many more opportunities for patronage,” says Cindi Canary. “It creates ways for small islands of graft and corruption to stay hidden.”

* * * *

"One way incumbents stack the odds in their favor is by designing legislative districts to produce the electoral results that they—not the voters—desire. Much ink has been spilled on the ludicrousness of Illinois’s redistricting process. If representatives from the two parties can’t agree on legislative boundaries when it’s time to redraw them, they resort to a “tie­­breaker”—pulling a name out of a hat to determine which party gets sole power to design the new map. Lawmakers from the winning side have not seemed terribly interested in promoting competitive races, employing cartographic artifice to create districts with grotesque bulges connected by narrow, snaking corridors—usually assuring the outcome of races before the first vote is cast. Under the current legislative map, drawn in 2001, 45 percent of House and Senate races have been uncontested (not including this year’s November 2nd elections), according to CHANGE Illinois!, a coalition advocating political reforms. And in contested races over the past ten years, incumbents have won 98 percent of the time."

[Bolton Strid]

PS -

[Abraham]

What does a precinct captain do?

The name conjures up, for me at least, some sort of iron fisted gangster type who thinks he can make people vote for whatever he insists they vote for.

Am I close...?

[bblhd672]

In Chicago the only thing that matters to elected officials is enriching themselves and remaining an elected official. (And hopefully remaining out of prison!)

[The Annoyed Man]

What does a precinct captain do?

The name conjures up, for me at least, some sort of iron fisted gangster type who thinks he can make people vote for whatever he insists they vote for.

Am I close...?

Voting precincts captain. He/she "organizes" the vote......as it were.

[Abraham]

I can't imagine such a thing happening in Texas.

The sheer audacity of an individual thinking he/she can force you to vote for their 'fill in the blank' person or issue.

I can see me and other Texans telling an individual with this much chutzpah to take a flying leap...

That said, how did such a thing as a, gag, 'precinct captain', (the name alone annoys me) ever evolve with Americans? "Precinct captain" reminds me of the mafia 'capo di tutti capi' or some such... Are the residents of Chicago some sort of serfs who must obey? Have they so little dignity or courage to stand up to this sort of medieval nonsense?

I can just see some doofus coming to my door and claim he's the neighborhood " precinct captain" and me telling him - My lawn, get off it...

[Jusme]

I can't imagine such a thing happening in Texas.

The sheer audacity of an individual thinking he/she can force you to vote for their 'fill in the blank' person or issue.

I can see me and other Texans telling an individual with this much chutzpah to take a flying leap...

That said, how did such a thing as a, gag, 'precinct captain', (the name alone annoys me) ever evolve with Americans? "Precinct captain" reminds me of the mafia 'capo di tutti capi' or some such... Are the residents of Chicago some sort of serfs who must obey? Have they so little dignity or courage to stand up to this sort of medieval nonsense?

I can just see some doofus coming to my door and claim he's the neighborhood " precinct captain" and me telling him - My lawn, get off it...

Political corruption in Chicago, predates all other organized crime there. The title "Windy City" refers not to the weather, but the politicians who have been running the city forever. Whenever one group loses clout, usually because of long multi person prison sentences, the next group moves in to take their place. I guess the people of Chicago, have just gotten so used to business as usual, that they don't even pay attention anymore. This is the same political machine that spawned Barry Hussein. And all of his minions are big time players there.

[bblhd672]

I can't imagine such a thing happening in Texas.

The sheer audacity of an individual thinking he/she can force you to vote for their 'fill in the blank' person or issue.

I can see me and other Texans telling an individual with this much chutzpah to take a flying leap...

That said, how did such a thing as a, gag, 'precinct captain', (the name alone annoys me) ever evolve with Americans? "Precinct captain" reminds me of the mafia 'capo di tutti capi' or some such... Are the residents of Chicago some sort of serfs who must obey? Have they so little dignity or courage to stand up to this sort of medieval nonsense?

I can just see some doofus coming to my door and claim he's the neighborhood " precinct captain" and me telling him - My lawn, get off it...

But if he gets off your lawn how is he going to tell you about all the free stuff the government is going to give you if only you vote correctly?

[Abraham]

Years ago, my company was bought out by a Chicago based company.

Soon, some of their folks showed up at my office.

It was immediately apparent they believed in posterior smooching and fear. They strutted and preened and expected to be accommodated to.

None of us were belligerent or in any way antagonistic towards them. It was also apparent we neither feared or catered to them. They were confused.

As time progressed, we recognized they depended on a butt smooching hierarchy and we simply didn't operate that way. Being, for the most part, Texans, no one obliged their Chicago culture of fear and loathing.

They were flummoxed. My own immediate superior was aghast his people didn't go out of their way to ingratiate themselves with him.

After awhile, he grew accustomed to those lesser in his estimation not going out of their way to score brown nose points. Eventually, he became a pretty likeable guy. I liked him once he got over being addicted to thinking he considered lesser mortals (in his Chicago opinion) should be subservient because of his position and their lower status, but didn't acquiesce to his bogus belief he was superior in every way...

Finally, he got a promotion out of the department, but it would be awhile before he left to his new position in Chicago. He immediately reverted to his old ways. He came into my office, blustering. I ignored him until I got off the phone. He started into his old Chicago ways and I just looked at him. No recriminations, no ugliness. I just looked at him and laughed. He left in a huff...

Ultimately, he reminded of some 3rd world country despots that depend on butt smooching, fear and loathing... What a creep.

Chicago business culture is apparently based on this approach.

What gladdened my heart is that our employees would have rather been fired than butt kiss those folks behinds.

[Oldgringo]

I went from 2nd midway through the 11th grade in southern Illinois. Illinois wouldn't be such a bad place if it could/would secede from Chicago.

[joe817]

I went from 2nd midway through the 11th grade in southern Illinois. Illinois wouldn't be such a bad place if it could/would secede from Chicago.

But you have it bass ackwards. 'Illinois wouldn't be such a bad place it it could/would expel Chicago from the rest of Illinois.'

The people of Illinois are good people, but due to the population of chicago, and the ensuing corruption, the city dictates what the rest of the state does.

[Oldgringo]

I went from 2nd midway through the 11th grade in southern Illinois. Illinois wouldn't be such a bad place if it could/would secede from Chicago.

But you have it bass ackwards. 'Illinois wouldn't be such a bad place it it could/would expel Chicago from the rest of Illinois.'

The people of Illinois are good people, but due to the population of chicago, and the ensuing corruption, the city dictates what the rest of the state does.

I think we're sayin' the same thing?