One of the things I miss these days is the good old fashioned Italian mob.

The Guido boys, La Cosa Nostra, Vinnie and da boys, the Wise Guys. I miss them.

They never bothered the average guy on the street and never stole from him. For that matter the biggest soup kitchen in Chicago was run by Al Capone.

Of course, if you got involved with them you could wind up in a pair of cement overshoes but that was your own doing. Anyone that had an inkling knew to steer well clear of them.

Sure, the mob ran numbers games. You could play your number and if it came up and you won they paid you. They knew it was the cost of doing business. They were reasonably honest.

 On the other hand if you decided you didn't want to play anymore that was OK, too. You just stopped playing and nobody bothered you.

The mob did run narcotics and prostitution, gasoine and cigarette scams. I'd bet to this day in New York if you know someone you can get a carton of Marlboros for under $100. A deal when you consider a box runs about $120 in a store in the Big Apple.

The mob quietly covers their mistakes, too. I met an old timer that had a neighbor get caught up in mob crossfire. The man was killed leaving a wife and six kids. 

His wife never  had to work to send the six kids through college. The mob quietly took care of their mistake.

Of course, these guys were pikers compared to a lot of our elected officials. Those guys have stealing down to a fine art the mob never even dreamed of.

It's a scam beyond belief.

Problem is, unlike the mob, they are fleecing the little people. This is something the mob never even considered.

Sometimes I wish the mob had gone into government. They would have been smart enough to know that if they created a healthy economy they would have us all working and have more to steal.

Of course the government doesn't think like that. They sell our jobs overseas and leave us poorer. We don't have money to play numbers or chase hookers with. The clowns in government always seem to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

One thing I can say right now is the difference between Vito Corleone and the Congress critter.

Vito Corleone is an honorable man.



To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY