Charged by the feds for the second time in a decade, Chicago political old-timer Edward “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak became the butt of new-media jokes Tuesday.
“For someone nicknamed ‘Fast,’ he sure seems to get caught a lot,” tweeted journalist Robert Loerzel.
“Not that fast, really,” quipped another local reporter.
Sure, Fast Eddie seems to have lost a step or two since his heyday as Democratic ward boss from the city’s gritty southeast corner and ringleader of the “Vrdolyak 29” bloc of aldermen.
Now 78, it’s easy to forget Vrdolyak was a 20th-century master at combining street smarts and City Hall wheeling and dealing.
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Until his relatively recent run-ins with authorities, he reportedly was often the subject of corruption investigations — but had always stayed at least a bit ahead of the law.
In the pre-Facebook era, Vrdolyak also provided many blunt observations about life and Chicago-style politics:
- On political, mutual back-scratching: “That’s the way life is. You do for one, he does for you.”
- On sinners who shouldn’t cast stones: “There aren’t too many rocks flying around Chicago.”
- On being public servant and private lawyer: “If you’re good to people, they reciprocate. They send business your way. So you get jobs for people. That’s the way it’s done.”
- On his role in the local political ecosystem: “Me — it’s the only place these people can go. I’m the committeeman, alderman, father confessor, cop, lawyer, employment agency. Me. I’m the man.”
- On trying to prevent Harold Washington from being elected Chicago’s first black mayor: “It’s a racial thing … don’t kid yourself. I’m calling on you to save your city … We’re fighting to keep the city the way it is.”
- On Richard M. Daley, who beat him in an election for mayor: “If his name was Joe Schmo, he’d be nobody, nowhere, pumping gas.”
- On his self-esteem: “I don’t lack for confidence. I never did that, rightly or wrongly.”
And a City Council colleague said Vrdolyak, fearing federal wiretaps, preached prudence in their discussions: “Always talk like the government was on the phone with you.”
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