Corruption in Chicago

As I am native to Chicago, I am very aware of the corruption that has again dominated the national news and most tragically embarrassed Barack Obama.

One of the first political acts of my life was to serve as a poll watcher for a liberal opponent of the current mayor's father.

I am outraged by Gov. Blagojevich's crude and blatant behavior.

But I am disturbed by articles like the recent one in the NYT's :

In Illinois, a Virtual Expectation of Corruption

I don't think decent people ever accept corruption or other inappropriate behaviors. Rather, decent people are more likely intimidated into silence, either by retaliation or harassment they themselves suffered or what they observed happened to others who spoke out. The consequences of dissent can be high. While I hope the time has passed when one's physical safety is threatened, other very severe repercussions still occur such as permanent damage to one's career, personal or political.

Some who have opposed this corruption have found safe shelter, such Professor Dick Simpson at the University of Illinois, from whom I took a course when I was an undergraduate in the 1970s. Others have not been so lucky.

In a context where the consequences of standing up to corruption is retaliation and harassment with lifelong consequences and the perpetrators mostly get away, is it really acceptance or just a community battered into passivity and self preservation?