"The most odiously connected elements of the Machine"

From a fine Don Rose piece in the Sun-Times:

"The [5th, our] district’s power emanates from the most odiously connected elements of the Machine, lodged in the western wards and suburbs, where the line between crime and politics is often diffuse.

The big boss is State Sen. Jim DeLeo, indicted in the “Greylord” court bribery scandal, who got a hung jury in his trial then pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge to preserve his legislative post.

Then comes 36th Ward alderman/committeeman William J.P. Banks, whose opponents frequently accused him of ties to the old First Ward, when that term was a euphemism."

This blogger is torn between Tom Geoghegan and Mike Quigley for Representative of the 5th District.