I would like you to imagine a place, an urban landscape, gray men, gray faces, taunting you.

I want you to imagine a place where the leader of the party would call people in and remind them what they have done to him.

You criticized me.

You smirked at me. And imagine a place where the state

employs pretty much everyone and the media kowtows to the state because they need the

support of the subscribers who work for the state, imagine a place like that.

Well, you don't really have to imagine it.

You're in it if you're living in Illinois.

State-run media, state-run everything.

And up at the top of the pyramid, there is a ravenous king oligarch, desperately all the time stuffing his face pulling the strings

imagine sitting in a place like that you really don't have to imagine it because it's illinois

and you're in illinois this is john cass editor of john cast news. Jeff Carlin is here with me, as always, executive

producer at WGN Radio, future physics teacher and friend of cats. And joining us is going to be

Paul Bellis, former candidate for governor and mayor. and I guess you didn't want him because you didn't elect him, even though now you're seeing what you did wrong.

And it's too late because Illinois is now a sinkhole grabbing at you as it's collapsing, reaching up to grab your car and pull it down.

There's no way out.

And where are you?

As the sinkhole of Illinois grabs at you as the politicians set up a one-party state,

kind of like Bucharest in the 50s with Chowcesterscu.

You're on the Chicago Way podcast on WGN Plus.

So this is a guy who lives high on the hog, and he has this Tammany Hall-style attitude to power.

And it is, it's the Chicago Way way absolutely because the Chicago way is a deep

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