Longo Strikes Again -- Sort Of

For the same reasons as just about everyone else who writes about Chicago politics, Chicagoist loves Dominic Longo. He just can't resist the spotlight, and he doesn't seem to have a sense of how the outside world views him.

Longo, a leader of Ald. Dick Mell's (33rd) Better Government Coalition, was the subject of a flurry of stories a couple weeks ago. Mostly as a result of him announcing that Governor Rod Blagojevich was saying bad things about him that just weren't true. Trouble is, nobody was writing about what the Governor was saying until Longo held a press conference to tell everyone.

Rule number one in political press conferences, Mr. Longo: When giving a statement, don't repeat the charge. Like this, "Of course I don't break the law. I'm not a law breaker!"

So, despite the fact that nobody was really paying attention to Longo for a couple of weeks, he decided that this would be a good time to submit a letter to the Chicago Tribune asking everybody to leave him alone.

My criminal activity, however, began and ended 23 years ago. I have no other criminal history. Tribune columnist John Kass called me the King of Vote Fraud. Yet I was convicted of one count from an incident 23 years ago....

The media, and specifically the Chicago Tribune, have created a story where there is none. Please respect my family, my privacy and, most important, please respect the truth.

Aw, man Longo. You repeated the charge! Gotta stop doing that.

But hey, we're not as big and important as the Trib, but Chicagoist will make you a deal Longo, you stop telling the world that you're not a lawbreaker, and we'll stop writing about you.