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What movie or book would you recommend that somebody watch or read to understand Illinois politics? Explain.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:01 am
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Boss by Mike Royko remains an essential read to understand Chicago, and therefore by extension has some lessons for the rest of the state.
Comment by Anon Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:03 am
It’s a Mad Mad Mad world
Comment by The Conservative Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:18 am
“Government for Dummies”, or the bestseller, “The Idiot’s Guide to Balacing a State Budget”
Comment by pickles!! Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:19 am
The Wizard of Oz using the Dark Side of the Moon as replacement audio
Comment by OneManBlog Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:23 am
HELP by the beattles
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:24 am
The Godfather - all of them.
Comment by Donnie Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:30 am
“Money Counts” by Kent Redfeld
Comment by Solidarity? Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:33 am
I’ll choose for historical purposes American Pharoah about Mayor Richard J. Daley. I don’t know of any that would be more contemporary.
Comment by Levois Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:34 am
the Godfather. someone needs to make an offer that can’t be refused to end the budget standoff
Comment by anonymous Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:34 am
Catch 22.
Comment by Say It Ain't So, Moe! Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:41 am
American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley - His Battle for Chicago and the Nation. By Adam Cohen & Elizabeth Taylor.
Fascinating read about how Daley I got power, kept power, racially segregated Chicago and how he dealt with Illinois politicians.
Comment by Fire Ron Guenther Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:41 am
Bio’s of Dan Walker, Otto Kerner, Paul Simon, Adali Stevenson, William Straton, Richard Ogilvie, Richard J. Daley, Paul Powell. All give a good flavor of IL politics from the 1950’s to end of the 1970’s. “Mostly Good and Competent Men”, a review of Illinois’ Governors up through Thompson. New Bio on Russel Arington. Someone needs to do a Bio on Thompson’s era. Rich needs to write one on Madigan, Rock, Pate, and Emil. One more book, City of the Century along with the PBS series. Movies - Godfather, Northside 777 with Jimmy Stewart has some great footage of the inside of the Capitol in the 1930’s or 1940’s. The son of the police officer killed in the movie served in the House in the 1970’s.”
Comment by Energy Consumer Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:42 am
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST.
Comment by General Assembly Watcher Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:47 am
Revenge of the Nerds
Comment by Bill Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:49 am
For Rod analysis: All the King’s Men (book), A Face in the Crowd (movie) and Saturday Night Fever (movie) … stayin’ alive, staying’ alive!!
Comment by jaundiced eye Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:49 am
1984 by George Orwell
Comment by Near&Far Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:53 am
Power House, Arrington From Illinois- Taylor Pensoneau
Comment by Welshman Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:54 am
I agree with the Godfather - all of them. I also would throw in Goodfellas.
Comment by anon Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:55 am
Clerks, the Kevin Smith movie that was depicted loosely on Dante’s “INFERNO”
Comment by Dante Hicks Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:55 am
flicks: “Power” (a sleeper with richard gere & gene hackman), “The Last Hurrah” and “Milagro Beanfield War”. book (obviously): “Currents of Power: A Modern Political Novel”
Comment by cool hand Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:06 am
Come on, Rich. My books, of course.
Mr. Chairman: Power in Dan Rostenkowski’s America.
Grafters and Goo Goos: Corruption and Reform in Chicago, 1833-2003.
The Man Who Emptied Death Row: Gov. George Ryan and the Politics of Crime (forthcoming).
Comment by Jim Merriner Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:08 am
In light of recent gubinatorial behavior: “Weekend at Bernie’s”.
Comment by one of the 35 Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:12 am
“Clout - Mayor Daley and His City” by Len O’Connor for the same reasons expressed by Anon.
Comment by GLT Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:16 am
Sinclair’s “The Jungle”, of course.
Comment by Ken in Aurora Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:22 am
I’d like to recommend everyone watch the budget discussion scene from the movie “Dave” (Kevin Kline) to see what should be done to fix the sorry state of affairs Illinois is in!
Comment by gotta be anonymous Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:26 am
Just going by title:
Les Miserables
The NIGHTMARE before Christmas (if this budget mess keeps going)
Say Anything (What the guv seems to do)
High Anxiety
Comment by Concerned Voter Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:35 am
I concur with American Pharoah, another is “The Wicked City: Chicago from Kenna to Capone” by Curt Johnson and R. Crain Sautter, which provides background info on how Chicago is the way it is and then there’s “When Corruption was King” by Robert Cooley and Hillel Levin. I tend to ignore Cooley’s self-aggrandizement, but the look behind the scenes from that era is fascinating. It has good notes too and references “Greylord” by Tuohy and Warden, which has now joined my reading list.
Comment by cermak_rd Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:36 am
This one is easy. Titanic.
Comment by JohnnyChicago Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:38 am
Nonfiction:American Pharoah is an excellent nominee - its definitely the best of many books about the late Mayor Daley.
Allen Drury’s, Advice and Consent might be instrictive in terms of working with a hostile legislature.
Fiction: All the King’s Men is definitely the greatest political novel of all time. The Governor’s poltical career showed a lot of promise, but like Huey Long’s career, appears to be destined to end tragically - either by indictment or ignominious political defeat in the next gubernatorial primary.
The Governor might Find Jerry Brown’s life story interesting, given that Brown has managed to resurrect his political career, by reincarnating himself as Mayor of Oakland.
But hands down. no contest, the best book the Governor and his staff needed to read and never did: Taegan Goddard’s practical primer on governing: We Won, Now What?
(I gave this book to Dan Hynes shortly after he was elected Comptroller. But Dan probably didn’t need to read this book because he definitely understands governing instinctively.)
Comment by Captain America Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:39 am
Dempsey J. Travis’ Autobiography of Black Politics
Comment by Levois Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:46 am
Currents of Power (http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-18518-5), by Claude Walker, Pat Quinn’s former communications director, is spot on. Plus it is fun to match up the novel’s cast with their real-life counterparts.
Comment by Shawnee Souix Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:48 am
Agree with those who picked Royko’s “Boss” and Taylor’s “American Pharoah”, but don’t overlook “Don’t Make No Waves, Don’t Back No Losers” and “We Don’t Want Nobody Nobody Sent” by the late Prof. Milt Rakove.
Comment by Sen. Jeff Schoenberg Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 11:49 am
“Blazing Saddles”. Think of the campfire scene.
Comment by irishpirate Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 12:03 pm
Here is a link for those of you lacking in taste and culture….likez me.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=R6dm9rN6oTs
Comment by irishpirate Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 12:04 pm
“Crime Story”: Rod IS Ray Luca.
Comment by Hoosiers can do it, why can't we? Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 12:11 pm
Dances with Morons…
Comment by Spanky Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 12:41 pm
I agree with Levois that Dempsey Travis’s book is a very enjoyable and seminal book about black politics in Chicago. Not sure how this book would help our Governor - he’s already popular in the African American community - but at this point not many other people like him.
I guess Senator Schoenberg is suggesting that Rod has “made lots of waves” without many results. and “backed some losers”in terms of his legislative proposals. “Somebody sent me,” but I still never got a chance with the Blago administration,despite an excellent graduate education and a wide range of relevant experience. (Rakove’s books are classic slices of Chicago political Americana)
Jeff - please go get Senator Jones and the budget whipped into shape. Julie really needs your help on the mass transit bill.
Comment by Captain America Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 1:04 pm
Barbarians at the Gate
while it is about a corporate take over of Kraft, the underlying story is one of corruption/entitlement/excess and those in power fighting to hold on to their largess.
Comment by Ghost Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 1:08 pm
The two essentials for understanding Springfield are Redfield’s “Lawmaking in Illinois” and Nowland and Gove’s book on Illinois politics from the University of Nebraska Press series on state politics. (The series, while incomplete, is excellent as a whole — my first reference when I work outside of Illinois.)
And I would also suggest Godfathers I and II; not so much Godfather III, since we don’t have anyone seeking redemption under the dome.
Comment by the Other Anonymous Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 1:09 pm
“Don’t Make No Waves, Don’t Back No Losers” By Milton Rakove
Comment by patient advocate Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 1:11 pm
“The Smartest Guys in the Room” (ENRON documentary) or The Simpsons Movie.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 1:16 pm
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Comment by Downstate and to the left Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 1:25 pm
“All the King’s Men” by Robert Penn Warren is still the best book about politics of any kind ever written. If you can find it, get the re-edition published after the author’s death. It applies to Illinois politics just as well as Louisiana. Same principles– or lack thereof.
Comment by HoosierDaddy Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 1:28 pm
Lord of the Flies
Comment by NoEndNSight Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 1:34 pm
Mission Impossible
Comment by Dan a Voter Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 1:59 pm
The Illinois Compiled Statutes, Annotated
Comment by Squideshi Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 2:02 pm
“Unfit for Command”
Comment by BIG R.PH. Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 2:08 pm
“How to Win Friends and Influence Enemy’s”. Take a guess for who that one is for.
Comment by Papa Legba Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 2:21 pm
http://www.marxists.org/reference
/archive/plunkett-george/tammany-hall/
Riordan, William L., Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics, Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1993. (Originally published in 1905)
Comment by "I seen my opportunities and I took 'em." Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 2:22 pm
“War in Illinois” by Donald Bain.
OK, it’s really about southern Illinois gangsters in the ’20s (Charlie Birger, et al.), but the title reflects the current climate in Springfield.
Comment by Fan of the Game Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 2:45 pm
Fire on the Prairie by Gary Rivlin
Comment by Antimachus Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 3:17 pm
The initial Star Wars trilogy. Turns out everyone’s related.
Comment by SeerSucker Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 3:23 pm
Ward Just’s great novel “Jack Gance” - a classic. Nothing takes place in Springfield (that I can recall, it’s been a few years since I read it)in the book, but from Chicago to DC - and it’s spot on.
Comment by babs Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 4:42 pm
The Peter Principle. If you read it you will understand that Blago has risen to his level of incompetency and will rise no further.
Comment by Little Egypt Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 5:20 pm
There was a paperback with “Fly on the Wall” in its title that I read in the 1970’s. It seemed that the reporter who wrote it had spent some time in Springfield, as well as at least one other state capitol. If I could find it, I would read it again.
Comment by Cal Skinner Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 5:28 pm
THE GOOD BAD AND THE UGLY…GUESS WHO’S UGLY? hehe
Comment by state worker Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 6:03 pm
“The Maverick And The Machine” by Dan Walker,
along with “Clout” by Royko.
Comment by Esteban Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 6:16 pm
Heading up the River - starring Curley , Moe & Larry
Comment by Really tired State Employee Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 6:59 pm
Supermob, Gus Russo. Hey Blago, the plot thickens.
Comment by dis-connected Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 7:50 pm
Hands Down…..Captains and the Kings by Taylor Caldwell.
Comment by anon Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 8:25 pm
Shawnee Souix,
Not so sure about Claude Walker’s “Currents of Power” (Writers Club Press, 2001). It kind of goes over the top. E.g.,
“‘J.J. Springfield’s Daily Bulletin,’ the daily fax and e-mail communique . . . was must-reading for public officials, reporters, lobbyists, grapevine shakers and political junkies across the state, despite its pricey subscription. Everybody read JJ.”
Who’s going to believe that?
Comment by Ivory-billed Woodpecker Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 8:48 pm
A compilation of all issues of Capitol Fax
Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 8:54 pm
A lot of great suggestions. I liked SeerSucker’s a lot.
My suggestion: Interpersonal Diagnosis and Treatment of Personality Disorders by Lorna Smith Benjamin.
Comment by Ahem Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 9:08 pm
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Somewhere in a dark corner is a photo of the real Rod R. Blago, bald, wrinkled, plague-ridden, toothless and he will get more so as he becomes more and more corrupt.
Comment by Disgusted Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:02 pm
The instructions for the ethics test.
Comment by Shadoobie Monday, Jul 30, 07 @ 10:28 pm
Power w/ Richard Gere
City Hall w/ Al Pachino
Brave Heart w/ Gibson …to understand the Downstate Scots who are dominated by the English of Chicagoland
Comment by Mark Tuesday, Jul 31, 07 @ 12:18 am
The Mouse That Roared
Comment by Patriot Tuesday, Jul 31, 07 @ 8:44 am