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We don't know whether you've been following the trial of Joey "The Clown" Lombardo or not, but even if you haven't you would still be able to appreciate yesterday's courtroom antics.
Like some improbable and ridiculous movie or TV sketch, Lombardo took the stand in his own defense yesterday and basically danced circles around the cross-examiner in what was either the most convincing declaration of innocence or the most hilarious way to go down. He's on trial for leading the Chicago Outfit, implication in 18 unsolved murders and more, but to hear him you'd think he didn't have a care in the world.
Aside from admitting he was a hustler who ran a notorious floating craps game, Lombardo flatly denied any ties to the Chicago Outfit, links to any murders and anything else that was thrown at him. On top of outright denials, Lombardo seemed in light spirits when questioned by the federal prosecutor, even in the face of fairly damning transcripts of recordings. One involved some pretty raw threats against a St. Louis lawyer in 1979, to which Lombardo responded that he was just pretending to be a mobster to be intimidating.
"That was a good role for you, wasn't it, Mr. Lombardo?" the prosecutor challenged.
"Yeah, like James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson..." Lombardo said.
It must have been pretty frustrating to have an old man mock his way through a serious trial. We don't believe for a second that Lombardo wasn't a part of the syndicate in its Chicago "glory days" or that his hands are clean of any of these bloody crimes, but that doesn't mean the man isn't funny.
Image via Wikipedia.com.
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We shouldn't rush to judgement on Joey "The Clown" Lombardo. He is a very intelligent and charismatic man--the type of guy you would expect to run for office. He is really just misunderstood and needs counseling and perhaps our sympathy (where is Amnesty Int'l when we really need them??). Nice glib headline, Chicagoist.
Misunderstood enough to put a couple chills in Chuck Goudie's spine, of course.
Oh sure. It's all fun and games until somebody gets whacked.
Guest #1: I fucking love you.
I like how when they caught him he had a saddam hussein beard. Very arrrested development like. I bet he also drove a Ford Escape.
I love this title. Dorr's stuff rocks.
The "Hyuck, Hyuck, Hyuck" combined with the picture is "one for the books"!
I would'ev loved to have seen the light buld go off for that one
FREE THE CLOWN!
my light buld just went off.
Yeah, real funny when a murderer and sociopath makes jokes in court.
Ha
Ha
Yeah, real funny when a murderer and sociopath makes jokes in court.
Murderer? Probably. Sociopath? Probably not. Point being, not every murderer is a sociopath. He was a mobster, for chrissake! That's what they do...
These police are profiling our Sicilian brothers and incarcerating them solely on race! How many LITHUANIANS have you seen charged with murder and extorsion lately? As long as society continues to turn the blind eye to the day-to-day opression and indignity the Sicilian faces at the hands of police, he will do what he must to maintain his dignity the only way he knows how - by standing up to the man and refusing to play nice!
Yes, free the clown! No justice, no peace!
And none of you think Daley is connected to any of this? He has ties to mob too.
uhmmmmm guest 12, guess you are glossing over the fact that back in the days of the Clown a good chunck of the police force was on da payroll of da clown and his buddies and I belive a few x cops are part of this trial
Yes, but can Spook, from the air-conditioned comfort of his insular world, truly pass judgment on these urchins of the street, or disavow the unflattering profile their existence casts, while reaping benefit from the injustice that created them?
Ignorance created the Mob, not racism. Violent guys who just found it too damn hard to make a living honestly, like the school bully who, ultimately, can't think his way out of anything. Sure, people are afraid of them - but how many MENSA cards will you find in the wallets of these defendants?
They might not have book smarts, but they've got more street smarts than most...
You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.
~ Al Capone
Maybe it was ignorance of sarcasm.
[i]Murderer? Probably. Sociopath? Probably not. Point being, not every murderer is a sociopath. He was a mobster, for chrissake! That's what they do...[/i]
And you don't think all mobsters are sociopaths? Really? They kill people the same way normal people flick a mosquito off their arm, and justify it as "defending their honor" or "protecting business interests". How can a non-sociopathic person be a part of that?
I don't know ... ask George Bush.