Buy Sev's Latest Book

Be sure to buy my latest e-book at Amazon! Dark Matters

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Ward Heeling

The one thing the Obama Administration has demonstrated very clearly is that they firmly believe in ward heeling. Ward Heeling is the very essence of Chicago Politics. According to WordReference.com a ward heeler is:

ward-heeler
noun
1 machine politician, ward-heeler, political hack, a politician who belongs to a small clique that controls a political party for private rather than public ends

Sounds ominously familiar, doesn't it. It's eerily Alinskyesque.

A little history is needed here for the generation that came after me who did not receive and education in school. Blame the NEA for that, they were busy teaching self-esteem and diversity and The Test.

It kind of all started in New York City (that other hotbed of political corruption). Wards are the smallest political division of a city. Where better to astro-turf? Right? Especially in immigrant communities where you could promise anything to the ghetto-bound and they would believe! The epicenter of ward heeling was at Tammany Hall, named after Tamanend, a Native American chief of the Lanape tribe in New York. Built in 1830 on East 14th St. in Manhattan the hall became the stronghold of Democratic Party politics in the mid-1800's. WAKE UP! I didn't sit through years of American History in high school and college for you to fall asleep during my lecture! Next I'll gargle while reciting the Smoot Hawly Tariff Act.

Where was I?

The Tammany Hall ilk quickly realized that immigrants were the base of their political capital. (Oh wow, I just had an idea about modern day politics...) Back then the ghettos were full of Irish, Italian and Germanic immigrants. Still mainly European descent. Each ward a "boss". The main boss was William M. "Boss" Tweed. Oh yeah, I'm including a lot of Wikipedia links today so that you guys can refresh your 9th grade education. Catch up, there will be a test later at the ballot box.

Tammany Hall quickly became the symbol for corrupt politics. It is now synonymous with corrupt cronyism. Immigrants gleefully exchanged their votes for Tammany patronage, never realizing they were helping to exploit themselves. FDR finally withdrew federal patronage from Tammany and it fell like flan in a cupboard.

Tammany ward heelers were instrumental in helping millions of immigrants become familiar with the American (read Tammany) political system and got them citizenship so that they could vote for Tammany candidates. Sounding familiar to anyone in the LA & Houston Barrios? At first it was mainly the Irish, as they flocked to American and jobs and freedom, and in the early 20th century they embraced the heavy influx of Italian Immigration... see where this is heading? I'm already hearing the theme to The Godfather. One of the last Tammany "Bosses" was Carmine deSapio.

Yeah, I'm really good at following the dots. Where's my crayon?

Ward heeling was HUGE in Chicago politics, which helped with the corruption so inherent in city politics back in the Gangland Era and prohibition. It's never really left Chicago and makes following the politics there so much fun. Especially with the Daley family. There are a million really good books out there about Chicago Politics, find a few, read them. Educate yourself. Find out the real story.

The great thing about the Obama Administration is that it's forced me to go back to school, American History-wise and reacquaint myself with the history of politics in our country. It's made me recognize, very quickly what's going on with our highest elected "community organizer". Ward Heelers are thugs. They are liars, exploiters and the worst part of the political machine. Right now they are combing the immigrant communities looking for the next registered democrat. Those immigrants will only be welcome, accepted as long as they stay within the Progressive Liberal agenda and don't stray off the reservation. If they do they will be labeled hateful names, portrayed as race haters, you name it. Nothing is more reviled by the liberals than the former liberals who realized the lie.

Do this, think about any true racism you may have experienced or witnessed at any Tea Party events you may have attended. True racism, not what leftist plants trying to discredit that party are doing, and badly at that. Write it down, tell me about it.

I'm not really expecting my mailbox to explode. And I'm OK with that.

No comments: