The God of "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak

Question: Which God was "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak referring to in this quote:

QUOTE: On exiting the courthouse, Vrdolyak was asked if he had dodged a bullet. "I feel great, thank you," he said. "God is great." :UNQUOTE [article by Jeff Coen, Feb. 26, 2009]

"Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak:

If you're from my home town (Chicago, Illinois), then you've heard of Ed Vrdolyak, dealmaker extraordinaire. If  not, the following will still be of interest because (in a manner of speaking) "Fast Eddie" is everywhere.

Answer (a partial answer):

I was stunned when Eddie V said, "God is great." I was even more stunned that local newspaper columnists took absolutely no notice of those three words.

The former alderman and mayoral candidate has never been noted as being a religious man - quite the opposite, I dare say. Yet, the babblemouths of the airwaves and the inhabitors of the Fourth Estate took absolutely no notice of such a contextually odd utterance.

But I took notice. How could I not? I meditated long and hard on "God is great" coming from Fast Eddie's mouth. Also thinking of why our lapdog media so obviously ignored it.

So why did Ed Vrdolyak say "God is great?" What was he thinking of? My answer lies here: "It is Satan who is the God of our planet and the only God." [I'll properly cite the source of this quote a bit later.]

Answer (a more complete answer):

I think Fast Eddie was viewed by an inner-circle as being too self-centered, too arrogant, and not sufficiently beholden to (shall we say) a Higher Power. So he was forced to endure as punishment a bit of public humiliation in the form of an indictment by a grand jury and an appearance before a federal judge. Eddie had to be knocked down a couple of notches.

He was forced to proclaim, "God is great," which could only have one meaning coming from someone like Eddie.

I also believe that the judge who decided to punish so lightly (not even a single symbolic day in jail) was part of this scheme. The intention was to humble Eddie, not destroy him. And to show others that even such a towering figure as this could be made to heel. Of course, the "hurt" could have come later if Eddie had a change of heart, refusing to declare publicly that "God is great."

So I'm going to bet, since Eddie was a good boy and uttered those three deadly words, that one of two things will happen:

• The prosecutor's office will not appeal his embarrassingly light sentence or

• If appealed, Fast Eddie will still end up walking.

The gist of the matter

QUOTE:

One of the most hidden secrets involves the so-called fall of Angels. Satan and his rebellious host will thus prove to have become the direct Saviours and Creators of divine man. Thus Satan, once he ceases to be viewed in the superstitious spirit of the church, grows into the grandiose image. It is Satan who is the God of our planet and the only God [my emphasis - Steve]. Satan (or Lucifer) represents the Centrifugal Energy of the Universe, this ever-living symbol of self-sacrifice for the intellectual independence of humanity.
...attributed to Sister H.P. Blavatsky, a founder of Theosophy

:UNQUOTE:  http://www.freemasonrywatch.org/luciferquotes.html

I draw your attention to the words divine man in the above quote. There are a lot of Eddie Vrdolyaks out there who think they're better than everybody else. That they belong to a species known as divine men, who are vastly superior to the common herd. Their attitude shows it, their behavior shows it, and their swagger shows it.

According to Wikipedia: "Vrdolyak, born to Croatian immigrant parents, entered a Catholic seminary at age 13, but decided against joining the priesthood."

I believe Eddie found a Higher Power than the Catholic Church; higher than the Pope; even higher (some claim) than the I AM spoken of in the Bible. This particular Higher Power entices people by saying, "Really! You are better than everybody else. Why follow like a sheep when you can join me and have others envy you?"

And there are a lot of Fast Eddies out there who believe this and join the club. But...there's a price to be paid. That Higher Power expects His ring to be kissed and He must be given His due. Or else there will be Hell (on Earth) to pay.

A Brief Bio of Ed Vrdolyak

As a lifelong resident of Chicago, I've seen a lot of newspaper coverage of Mr. V for decades. A recurring theme is that he has a knack for making profitable backroom deals. As a lawyer and politician, those skills could come in very handy indeed.

My sense of Eddie is, he's been a very capable self-promoter. He doesn't really stand for anything, except self-advancement. Case in point: He dumped the Democratic Party and joined the Republican Party when it became obvious he couldn't advance himself any further among the ranks of the party of the ass.

About Vrdolyak's recent legal encounter

In a Plea Bargain with the US Department of Justice, Mr. V. pleaded guilty to one charge:

"conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, US  Code, Section 317."

This stands in stark contrast to the Grand Jury indictment which included a charge of bribery, citing violations of five sections (not just one, as in the Plea Bargain) of the US Code.

In a nutshell, Vrdolyak admitted to being in league with an insider to "participate in a scheme to defraud The Finch University of Health Sciences/Chicago Medical School ("CMS") of money, property, and the intangible right to the honest services of Levine [the aforementioned insider]..." [from the Plea Bargain].

CMS had property it wanted to sell, which the insider (Levine) wanted sold through Vrdolyak, who in turn would cut him in on a lucrative "finder's fee" ($1.5 million). Once a purchaser was found, Levine was to use his influence as Chair of the seller's Board of Trustee's Real Estate Committee to assure sale to Vrdolyak's client.

The judge's verdict: Judge Milton Shadur sentenced Fast Eddie to five years of probation (instead of the 41 months in jail requested by the prosecution), a $50,000 fine, and 2,500 hours of community service. Here in Chicago, this was widely interpreted as a sham sentence, with some commentators wondering "What's up with this judge?" - an ancient jurist who has an overall sterling reputation. [My verdict? Even those with sterling reputations have rings they have to kiss.]

The lightness of sentence: Judge Shadur decided not to jail Fast Eddie because he felt that Eddie's actions didn't cost CMS any money. This contention is dubious, given that fair market value of the property in question was much higher than the price Eddie V obtained (not to mention the $1.5 million dollar Eddie V stood to gain had he not been caught). Also, no one has ventured to define how quickly and in what manner the 2,500 hours of community service has to be rendered by the defendant. [Oh, one local columnist suggested that would be time well spent working on Eddie's tan...and he was serious!]

Further action: Yes, the prosecutor's office cited the possibility of pursuing an appeal of this light sentence. And it's true that the State of Illinois, and also CMS which was the victim of this conspiracy, could initiate their own legal actions, regardless of how the federal prosecutors might wish to proceed. However, I won't be terribly surprised by either of these two:

• No further legal action will ensue, thereby closing the book on this case.

• If there is additional legal activity, nothing will come of it.

Of course, it would be interesting (in either case) to learn which parties would become the behind-the-scenes operators in support of Fast Eddie and whose ring they'd be kissing. But such identities rarely become known, since working in darkness is the preferred MO.

Satan? The hell you say!

I am a Buddhist, so it might surprise you when I say, "I believe Higher Power devil types exist and even walk among us." But I don't believe in the Devil (as in, there's only One), just as I don't believe in the God (as in, there's only One, who also happens to be the Creator of the Universe).

According to one Buddhist scripture:

"There will be no workings of the devil [in the land ruled by the Buddha named Light Bright], and although the devil and the devil's people will be there, they will all protect the Law of the Buddha." [Page 108, Burton Watson's Lotus Sutra].

In the world of Buddhism, all Gods and all Devils aspire to the same thing all other beings aspire to: the attainment of Buddhahood. That's in sharp contrast to a Western tradition that believes in an ironclad polarity: An Ultimately Evil Being vs. An Ultimately Good Being. That polarity is a representation of what Western man has always been searching for: "Who's # 1? Who's in charge?" Hierarchy, and where we fit within it, being of utmost concern.

Fortunately, that view is false.

People like Eddie Vrdolyak have a deluded sense of wealth, without which they wouldn't so easily sell their souls. Instead of greedily seeking to attract more wealth to themselves, they should follow another example (from page 246 of Watson's Lotus Sutra):

"And imagine that, among all this vast number of living beings [numbering in the trillions], a person should come who is seeking blessings [my emphasis - Steve] and, responding to their various desires, dispenses [great quantities of treasure like gold, silver, etc.] for a full 80 years [to each of them]."

The lesson is: A person who genuinely wishes to seek blessings (for himself) would do well to bestow treasures unto others. Such a person is encouraged by Buddhist teachers to bestow other types of treasures as well, such as acts of loving kindness. Unfortunately, there are too many like Fast Eddie who could not even imagine such generosity being to their own advantage.

But I suppose everything hinges on how one defines that which is to one's own advantage.

Steven Searle (was) a candidate for U.S. President in 2008:

"Hmm, let's see. Both John McCain and Blacque Obammer* have urged their fellow Americans to serve a cause higher than themselves. I wonder who gets to decide Who or What that cause is" - Steve

Founder of The Best Party Available

* The following essay explains why I refer to him as "Blacque Obammer": http://bpa-cinc.gaia.com/blog/2008/12/why_blacque_obammer

Contact me: bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

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