I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as it used to be.

Rahm wants to be president, and he is independently worth $14 million, at least, from his ibanking days. He wouldn't touch any of that shit with a 100 foot pole.

The Outfit may still have a little influence with a few of the ancient alderman, but by and large the days of Sal the Knee Breaker delivering brown bags full of cash are over.

In some of the suburbs, though, there is a lot more ancillary evidence that would suggest continuing corruption.

It is DEFINITELY a far cry from the Humphries Days or even Pat Marcy days.

As for McCormick however, using Fratto's indictment to represent what the Outfit has going there isn't really representative however...Rudy was shelved by the Outfit already when he was pinched there. You neglect the real powers at McCormick that run large companies like Bill Daddono and the Salamone brothers. I would go as far as to say they are getting cuts of almost everything happening at McCormick. It's still a major cashcow...a larger version of the Stephens Convention Center that the Daddono family has run for decades.

PB--I agree and that's why I respect you buddy. You don't see me talking about the Bronx!

You're crazy if you don't think Cicero, Elmwood, Melrose, and Norridge are corrupt.

They may be getting a cut and have some scams but they aren't controlling anything.

It's difficult to know where legitimate businesses end and Outfit-related scams begin these days, although I agree with you that there is likely fishiness going on at McCormick Place.

But some people still say any business run by some old mobsters' grandson is an Outfit endeavor, whereas in reality many of them are just legitimate businesses.

I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as it used to be.

Rahm wants to be president, and he is independently worth $14 million, at least, from his ibanking days. He wouldn't touch any of that shit with a 100 foot pole.

The Outfit may still have a little influence with a few of the ancient alderman, but by and large the days of Sal the Knee Breaker delivering brown bags full of cash are over.

In some of the suburbs, though, there is a lot more ancillary evidence that would suggest continuing corruption.

As far as the northeast goes, what Ivy says is 100% correct, in theory. Dems be da rules. But in practice? Meh, who knows?

Best example I can give is here in the Bronx, early 2000's. Vinny had just become official boss of the Bonannos, but Prisco had just gotten out of Jersey State prison on a bullshit technicality (thanks to Governor McGreevey, a gay guy, Ivy ). Anyway, they were both quite active in the East Bronx at that time. Now Vinny as boss of the Bonannos technically outranked Angelo, a skipper with the Westside. But if you polled a hundred street guys, I guarantee you 90 of them would have told you that Angelo was the heavier guy.

But that example is moot anyway. Because I know for a fact that Angelo likes Vinny a great deal. I'll bet if Vinny had it to do all over again, he'd have gone in with Prisco back in the '80s instead of with Patty D and the Bonannos. He and Patty ended up hating each other like poison, and look at the end result for both of them. But again, that may be a poor example. Because Prisco's dying in jail, too.

Moral of the story: Mob guys die in jail. A lot .

Since 9/11 the feds have largely concentrated their resources on terrorism. Factor in every other problem they have (drug trafficking etc.) and I doubt there is anywhere near the resources being directed toward the mob as there used to be.

Particularly in a place like Chicago where by all visible evidence the crime is nonviolent and basically amounts to a fairly small scale network of illegal gambling.

Look at the drug/streetgang problem here in Chicago. Hundreds of people are killed every single year in their turf battles. How much time can they devote to the mob, that hasn't killed a single person in years?

The danger of the mob of course is its capacity for corruption.

I'm sure law enforcement still have a fair amount of agents dedicated to the Outfit, but I doubt its that high on their priority list these days.

I said they probably have much more influence in the suburbs.

However, I think it is still probably not nearly as widespread as some people like to believe.

Are we talking about the same thing? In the context I'm looking at it in, it would be Bonanno family vs Prisco, not Basciano vs Prisco, if that makes sense.



Even in New York the FBI's LCN squads have been drastically downsized. There's now one Gambino/Lucchese squad, one Colombo/Bonanno squad, and only the Genovese family has it's own squad. Total agents in NY investigating the LCN is around 50 or so, if I remember right, compared to hundreds in the 1980's and 1990's. In Chicago there's one squad that investigates the Outfit, as well as other newer OC groups.



Yeah, there is still some limited, narrow corruption related to the Outfit. And a mistake many make is not differentiating that from the general corruption that has always plagued Chicago. Comparatively speaking, I'm not sure Chicago is any more corrupt than Jersey is. At least in ways that benefit the mob.

that's the dumbest shit I've read you write

you wanna discredit the outfit so bad that now you're babbling about Chicago not being more corrupt than jersey. Chicago is so corrupt that all of it's suburbs are corrupt.

the last two governors of the IL got indicted (that's corrupt)

the syndicate operates primarily in suburbs around Chicago

First, that you really think I'm out to "discredit" the Outfit shows your mentality. Second, notice I said corruption that actually is tied to, and can benefit, the mob. The vast majority of the corruption in Chicago has nothing to do with the Outfit.

why are you basically repeating something that I just said?

I was rather surprised after reading the Chicago Alderman Danny Solis not only isn't in jail, but is still an alderman after publicly praising the psychopathic sadist killer Angelo La Pietra and presenting him a plaque. I mean, couldn't he choose a less psychopatic mafioso if he really thought it was his duty to publicly lick one's boots?

In order, my opinion

Barney
Danny Leo
John Gambino
QD Cirillo
Dom Cefalu
Crea
Muscarella
Dentico
Ianniello
Cali

Well during Family Secrets in 2007 it came out that a current State Rep (Jimmy DeLeo) was in business deals with Michael Spilotro and other mobsters. He left office with honors in 2010

But was Michael Spilotro as crazy as La Pietra? I thought only Sam De Stefano is his equal in temrs of sadism. I mean, somebody can do business with mobsters, but to publicly praise one who isn't just a criminal, but more a sort of medieval torturer, that's a thing that really stands out even among mafia politicians.

Actually I think doing business with mobsters, most of which are convicted fellons, should certainly be considered "criminal" if you are elected to represent citizens.

To clarify something, "The Hook" was a name given to LaPietra by the media. Most called him "The Bull" on the street or simply "Ange." The media created the nickname of "The Hook" because so many people would say "Ange has me on the hook." It has nothing to do with torture or hanging people from hooks or any Chuck Goudie wet dream. It means you are "indebted" to Angelo...he got his "hooks" into you or your business.

If the La Pietra torture stories are made up, then who was the most sadistic of them all in reality in your opinion? I mean, somebody has carried out the Action Jackson murder and the Accardo home burglars' murders. Who is generally thought to have carried them out?