Man Of The Year

To read the Irish Echo, you'd think Patrick Fitzgerald could hang his hat on Scooter Libby's prosecution and call it a day. There's the pinnacle of the man's career, they've declared. For that, Mr. Fitzgerald is their Person of the Year.

The Libby business is so painfully insignificant. The press took note of that case, however, because it took place on their home turf. They rarely stop off in Chicago, so they don't quite understand what is going on there and how wickedly significant Mr. Fitzgerald's dealings are in the Midwest.

Citizens of Illinois applaud Mr. Fitzgerald's newly acquired honor. He's the man of the year among the hard-pressed taxpayers and the average guys who don't someone who knows someone. He's the leader of the pack that is rooting out corruption in Chicago, unwinding the most convoluted schemes as he works his way up to the top. Nailing the participants in pay-to-play politics is big game, not the tempest in the teapot that was "Plamegate".

Prosecuting Scooter Libby? Child's play. In Chicago, Mr. Fitzgerald has shown how a heavily polluted piece of land next to Bubbly Creek could be magically transformed into a city park. He has demonstrated how a close personal friend of Mayor Richard Daley made a killing on the transaction. He has turned the screws on the deal makers, successfully prosecuted organized crime leaders, and revealed a connection between the Chicago Outfit and the political leaders of the City of Chicago.

His work is far from over. The powers that be in Illinois would like him gone, and they will support any candidate who promises to fire Patrick Fitzgerald, a man serving at the pleasure of the President of the United States.

Man of the Year because of a small beer trial in Washington D.C.? At the rate he's going, Patrick Fitzgerald will be the Man of the Century to the people of Illinois.