Just by the own admissions of him, saying how he hated Federal work, it shows how disassociated we are with the way things should be today. You were hand-tied back then...the way it was supposed to be in Congress. But locally, he made his mark. Albeit corrupt, and disgusting. We need to have the power of the states and local government again. Not federal. In Tweed-like neighborhoods, we need balls and spine and guns.
LOL Well he was only like Robin Hood in the Mel Brooks sense, "He robbed from everyone and kept everything"
19th century New York with its Tammany machine was different from say 21st century Chicago insofar as what a man likeTweed could get away with which was quite alot.
No, he was like Robin Hood except: when he stole from the rich, kept 1/3, gave 1/3 to the Merry Men, used 4-5% to bribe Newspapers, gave the rest to the poor, and he stole the money from the rich 2 forests away.
And also except for little things like graft,, bribing officials, The Tweed Courthouse which was built with taxpayer money
(a massive amount of taxpayer money,)
voter fraud, intimidation, He courted the poor and the immigrant vote certainly and made a big show out of concern for immigrants and the poor, even though it was more of a concern for them as a voting block than anything else.
Plus The Merry Men got considerably more than 1/3, see above.
That Al Capone comparison is really unfair, Tweed did make quite a fair number of improvements for N.Y.C. the widening of Broadway among other things, and he drew attention to the plight of immigrants and the urban situation although if your house caught fire and you weren't a Tammaty voter you were shit out of luck.
Tweed stole between 40 million and 200 million dollars, That money went into the Tammaty machine not into things like remodeling The Lower East Side or cleaning up Five Points.
Just by the own admissions of him, saying how he hated Federal work, it shows how disassociated we are with the way things should be today. You were hand-tied back then...the way it was supposed to be in Congress. But locally, he made his mark. Albeit corrupt, and disgusting. We need to have the power of the states and local government again. Not federal. In Tweed-like neighborhoods, we need balls and spine and guns.
pfizzbones 1 year ago
People love to complain about corrupt politicians like Blago but they're choirboys compared to Boss Tweed.
cha5 3 years ago
Tweed was like Robin Hood, don't compare him to corrupt assholes.
Supergungun 3 years ago
LOL Well he was only like Robin Hood in the Mel Brooks sense, "He robbed from everyone and kept everything"
19th century New York with its Tammany machine was different from say 21st century Chicago insofar as what a man likeTweed could get away with which was quite alot.
cha5 3 years ago
No, he was like Robin Hood except: when he stole from the rich, kept 1/3, gave 1/3 to the Merry Men, used 4-5% to bribe Newspapers, gave the rest to the poor, and he stole the money from the rich 2 forests away.
Supergungun 3 years ago
And also except for little things like graft,, bribing officials, The Tweed Courthouse which was built with taxpayer money
(a massive amount of taxpayer money,)
voter fraud, intimidation, He courted the poor and the immigrant vote certainly and made a big show out of concern for immigrants and the poor, even though it was more of a concern for them as a voting block than anything else.
Plus The Merry Men got considerably more than 1/3, see above.
cha5 3 years ago
But "The Boss" was certainly in a class of his own, no question about that.
cha5 3 years ago
He was the only person from that era who even gave a tiny bit of help to the poor. Just accept that.
Supergungun 3 years ago
Uh no, There were some others Elizabeth Ann Seton, Lincoln,
Dickens was very concerned about poverty and always drew attention to it right up to his death.
'The Boss' wasn't unique in that regard.
That's a bit like saying Al Capone was the only one concerned about the plight of poor Italian Americans in Chicago.
cha5 3 years ago
That Al Capone comparison is really unfair, Tweed did make quite a fair number of improvements for N.Y.C. the widening of Broadway among other things, and he drew attention to the plight of immigrants and the urban situation although if your house caught fire and you weren't a Tammaty voter you were shit out of luck.
cha5 3 years ago
Writing books doesn't do jack shit. Now Tweed, he was different, he actually supported Immigrants with money.
Supergungun 3 years ago
So does abolishing the poor law qualify as jack shit? Not to mention drawing international attention to things like
'Five Points' long before Tweed was on the scene?
cha5 3 years ago
People could also say drawing cartoons doesn't do jack shit although a cartoonist had a hand in taking Tweed down hard.
cha5 3 years ago
Tweed stole between 40 million and 200 million dollars, That money went into the Tammaty machine not into things like remodeling The Lower East Side or cleaning up Five Points.
cha5 3 years ago
He'd be the least friendly president to Israel.
miri53 3 years ago