Thursday, February 21, 2013

Decorating The Congressional Office

It's the little things that often trip up the most clever fraudster.

In the case of Jesse Jackson Jr., it was the elk heads he purchased to decorate his Congressional office. What African-American man from a big city like Chicago would even think to use taxidermy to decorate his digs?

Then he went and returned them for a cash refund, but he got the cash while his campaign funds covered the original bill. The Justice Department couldn't help but notice.

We can't discount Mr Junior's senior, who has accumulated a fair share of enemies over the years. You just know that there were plenty of other political operatives who were lined up and ready to take a swing, to bring down a competitor and move their own into a position of power.

Mr. Jackson is merely the next in a steady chain of corrupt politicians, but that chain stretches back over one hundred years. He fell victim to his own hubris, unaware that he was far from untouchable. Yet the same could be said of those who came before him, those who helped to construct the machine that is Chicago politics.

That's why THE KING OF THE IRISH, a debut novel from Chicagoan Jack O'Malley, is so pertinent today.

In this intriguing work of historical fiction, you will experience the infighting and all-out warfare that was waged to gain influence and power. It's the same thing that goes on today, with lessons from the past thoroughly forgotten and thus repeated.

It is a tale of those associated with the powerful who are made to pay the price of the endless struggle for supremacy.

THE KING OF THE IRISH is very much a tale of our modern times, even if it is set in 1889.

Chicago wasn't ready for reform back then.

Is it ready now? The leading candidate poised to replace Mr. Jackson is being investigated for her own fraudulent activity.

Apparently it ain't ready for reform just yet.

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