The light sentence awarded to ex-Ald. Ed Burke for his crimes and betrayal of the public trust was, as the Tribune Editorial Board noted, a gift (“Ed Burke, Chicago’s rich, powerful pol, snags some of the luck of the Irish,” June 25).
As a private citizen, I attended many days of the Burke trial, witnessing the methodical assemblage of evidence that ultimately, in a very complex case, proved his abject corruption to the jury.
Few, if any, of those who wrote letters attesting to Burke’s kindness and generosity were present to see, hear and read what he did when he thought no one was watching him. It was a clear pattern of sleazy, greedy, criminal behavior by a tinpot dictator, a man who used his public position to become extremely wealthy, to threaten and shake down honorable business people, to intimidate and extort museum officials, to use his public role over and over again for his personal benefit.
As the editorial notes, we saw only a small slice of the Burke record. After watching dozens of his colleagues go to prison for corruption over many decades, what did this churchgoing Catholic, already rich and in his mid-70s, do? Did he decide to sin no more and become an exemplary alderman? No, he was instead collegially confiding to people like Danny Solis that his “old-school” ways, assisting the efforts of people who needed help navigating Chicago government only after they fed “tuna” to Burke’s business, was the right and proper way to govern.
His age was cited as a factor. The five-plus years it took to bring this case to a conclusion is one reason why Burke is now 80. His ability to pay a large fine was a mitigating factor. But, like Donald Trump, this fine could be paid from political donations he received from supporters and may have no effect on his personal wealth. The volume of letters attesting to his good works was cited as a factor. He undoubtedly provided kind and generous service to many during his long career. But he’s a criminal because he crossed the line, over and over again.
Burke cannot be sentenced for events never presented at trial, but no one can imagine that he learned how to squeeze people for money, contracts and favors only when he was in his 70s. This was an opportunity to sentence one of the most notorious public officials of our time to a prison term that would have been a clear, harsh, definitive warning to all who consider the path of corruption.
We, the public, and the jury that convicted him have good reasons to be disappointed that it is not.
— Doug Hurdelbrink, Chicago
Burke’s obstructionism
In the past weeks, I have read thousands of words devoted to the indictment and subsequent trial of Ed Burke for using his long-held position as perhaps Chicago’s most powerful alderman in repeated attempts not only to extort dollars from private businesses for the benefit of his personal law firm but also to strong-arm a beloved Chicago museum into accepting an internship application from his goddaughter — or else. But for this 70-year-old writer, there is a different Burke I will always remember.
That would be the Burke of the mid-1980s, his baby-faced cheeks looking like they’d never felt a razor. Yet there was nothing babylike in the harm he did Chicago from 1983 to 1986, when he and his partner-in-dirt “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak — also a Chicago alderman — spearheaded the so-called Council Wars in an attempt to throw up a roadblock every time Chicago’s first African American mayor, Harold Washington, attempted to pass a bill or otherwise get something done.
Three years is a long time to have one’s breakfast orange juice soured by opening the paper to read of the latest monkey wrench with Burke’s and Vrdolyak’s names on it, thrown into the great cogwheels of the workings of our city.
Hence, I admit it is hard for me to work up much sympathy for the old man about to hear steel doors clanging behind him for the mere months he is likely to serve.
— Rob Hirsh, Chicago
Bipartisan climate action
Every day, we are bombarded with a glut of images of a planet in turmoil. Every coast and much of the midsection of this country seem to face extreme weather threats continually throughout the year. Polls show the majority of Americans believe the government should take action in combating climate change. Yet half our country belongs to a party that subscribes to perpetuating the status quo.
Even as chunks of Florida have drowned in floods and other swaths have been blown away in hurricanes, the Florida governor has banned wind turbines off the coast and struck “climate change” references from state law.
The fossil fuel industry, exposed for its decades of lies, denial and deceit, still pumps millions of dollars into the coffers of (mainly) Republican politicians who seem happy and willing to be complicit in ruining their own citizens’ lives. I find it incomprehensible.
The climate crisis is real. It is not political. The only path forward to tackling this truly existential threat is for both parties to actually work toward a common goal — a cleaner world, for the sake of humanity.
— Therese Kane, Oak Park
What one person can do
Thank you to Jerry Hanson of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, for a well-thought-out and -written letter to the editor (“There are millions of us,” June 22).
In almost every discussion I have been included in with friends, neighbors, retirees, former co-workers, men, women, all generations, we all ask each other the same question: What can one person do?
Take a stand in public.
Vote. Encourage others to register and vote. Don’t throw your vote away! Watch the debate.
Read in-depth coverage from multiple media sources. Know where you stand on the critical issues. Have an informed opinion.
I am praying that there are millions of us who will vote this November to maintain common sense and sanity in this nation.
— Sunny McGuinn, Lake Villa
Doing what’s possible
I was heartened to read Jerry Hanson’s letter. It exactly expresses my beliefs, and I am hopeful there is a majority of Americans out there who quietly live their lives without fanfare while doing what they can to save our earth.
Hopefully, we will all show up to vote in November.
— Georgia Dower, Grayslake
We’re among the millions
We agree completely with every single thing written by our fellow American to the north, Jerry Hanson of Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Count us among the millions.
— Chuck Jacobson and Mary Lou Vainisi, Chicago
I’ve said the same, too
I couldn’t agree more with Jerry Hanson. I’ve often thought and verbalized his very words many times, although never collectively and succinctly as he.
— Tim Ladwein, Matteson
Spread these words
Jerry Hanson’s letter should be translated into every language in the Western Hemisphere and then printed on the front page of each and every newspaper in each and every town, from big cities to the smallest rural hamlet.
— Sean Nettle, Homewood
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