Barack Obama once promised to put George W. Bush and Dick Cheney on trial if he were elected President. A year has passed since that comment, and nothing more has been said, either by Obama or the ever-watchful and unbiased media cabal. The same holds true for any investigations into Freddy Mac, Fanny Mae, the Wall Street CDO pandemic and the resulting global economic crash. That’s strange. By this time, the media could have surely identified, convicted and sentenced somebody responsible for this mess. The media firing squads would be back in their barracks, cleaning their muskets in anticipation of the next round of public executions.

Instead, there is silence. No one other than a few right-wing zealots have called for investigations into the actions of Barney Frank, Chris Dodd or Joe Biden as they related to Fanny Mae or Freddy Mac, much less other Democratic members of Congress, much less Obama adviser Franklin Raines. George W. Bush has not publicly stated his rage and frustration with Democratic maneuvering that blocked investigations into Freddy Mac or Fanny Mae when there was still time to save the economy. The President hasn’t commented publicly on the various bits of short-sighted legislation dating back as far as the early Clinton years which formed the underlying causes of the most current Wall Street debacle. Maybe he has, and the media cabal has effectively ignored him.

Should George W. Bush have made more noise about the impending disaster that engulfs our country and now the entire world? Did in fact he do so, only to be drowned out by American Idol, Brangelina, reality shows, Big Ten football, crime sprees of the rich and famous, etc., etc.? Will ‘historians’ blame George W. Bush for the economic collapse of the United States of America and its subsequent fall into socialism? Yes, they will. Except, it won’t be worded quite that way. Instead, Bush will be characterized as a foolish, impetuous leader who got us involved in a pointless foreign war, while ignoring the looting on Wall Street prompted by Republican-led deregulation. And it was only with great effort and foresight that heroic Democrats, with Obama in his winged chariot, surrounded by a heavenly host and a chorus of socialists, were able to pull the country back from the brink of anarchy and give everyone exactly what they wanted just by taking it away from the rich. That’s how mythologies are started, after all.

Chicago-style politics, aka Democrat-style politics, is an age-old system of patronage and tribute that has infested bureaucracies for centuries. It turns the concept of government on its head: you must bribe your local elected politician, or his/her unelected party boss, to provide government services that your tax dollars already cover. Government services are rationed so that citizens must pay tribute in order to receive what is rightfully theirs in the first place. It could be a streetlight, extra police patrols or even a new exit ramp. It is a purely parasitic notion — those who control the levers of government enriching themselves and their cronies at the public’s expense. Rod Blagojevich, Barack Obama, Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Richard Daley are all products of this system, from which they derive their political power. Obama, likely the smartest of the bunch, has additional dimensions of political power due to his associations with A.C.O.R.N., the ACLU, leftist extremists, etc., that propelled him into the White House, while Gov. Blagojevich is likely headed to prison.

Chicago ward politics aren’t unique to this Midwestern town. It is a microcosm of how the Democratic Party operates on a national scale, how it conducts business in Congress and how our new President will behave once he’s in office. Be prepared for bare-faced lies, obfuscation, power grabs and cronyism on an unparalleled scale. This will make the Clinton years look positively prudish. And oh, by the way, Obama will fire scores of US district attorneys, especially those conducting investigations into Democratic politicians and bureaucrats. And no one will complain. There will be no screeching by the media, no calls for investigations and no grandstanding by members of Congress. It will be business as usual.

Automakers are back in DC begging for money. Multimillionaire CEOs are compelled to grovel before narcissistic martinets filling the seats of both House and Senate hearing rooms. It’s a hoot. Ford CEO Mulally actually drove to DC. What an incredible waste of the man’s time. That noble gesture probably cost Ford Motor Company $10 million in delayed executive decisions and key milestones. The reason a gunslinger like Mulally can ask for a $36 million salary is because he makes billion-dollar business decisions every day. And he can’t be wrong, unlike the fools browbeating him from their bully pulpit in congressional hearing rooms.

Clowns like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd demand that senior management either vacate their positions or take a pay cut. Wagoner, Nardelli and Mulally offer a token pay cut. The automakers present plans for deep cuts in employee salaries and benefits for their non-union workforce. The UAW’s Ron Gettelfinger announces salary and benefit cuts for union employees. But what will remain unasked is what are the labor unions themselves giving up? Will Ron Gettelfinger and his cronies take a pay cut? Will they increase the co-pay on their own health insurance? Will there be any pay cuts or pink slips at Solidarity House? Will they at least stop showing up at labor-related events in stretch limousines? How about putting that posh union resort on Black Lake up for sale?

Democrat politicians don’t have the cajones to ask these questions. The labor unions own them. The labor unions funded them and put them in power. So the charade will continue. The productive part of the automotive industry - executives, managers, white-collar and blue-collar employees will feel the pain. The parasites - unions, politicians and bureaucrats - won’t feel a thing.