This is getting silly, again.

There is no place in the US that is corruption-free or crooked-politician-free. It would be nice if that wasn't the case, but that's what it is.

As far as Chicago is concerned, since it is the second-largest city in the nation it can expect to get the second-largest media exposure as well. That goes with the media turf, and the media has played up the Chicago story since the Capone days. It's history and publicity is tied to "The Untouchables," Mayor Edward Kelly, The Daley I years and all of that notoriety. So, when "stuff" surfaces on the current generation of polilticians, the leap is short by the media and everyone touched by it to look back at history and theorize a continuing trend.

My roots go back to Boston, and its a smaller media market, so less of the nastiness has made in onto the Big Screen, the History Channel or 60 minutes. It has had the same problems as New York or Chicago, and that's just the way of it. Ignoring its faults, history or current problems can't change the facts. The trick is to be able to recognize a place for what is is, and is not.

So, one can love a place all one wants, but one cannot deny its national image, which is indeed self-created and exploited for profit.