Posted on 12/10/2012 12:20:03 PM PST by AtlasStalled
For decades the Mafia controlled gay bars, and in the 1950s Lee Mortimer was the first to unmask the relationship. Mortimer was a hybrid crime reporter/gossip monger who penned the syndicated column New York Confidential which took a walk on the Big Apple's wild side. The intrepid muckraker had a field day when he discovered that the wise guys were behind the so-called "daffodil dens." Although a homophobic tone is pervasive throughout his writing -- Mortimer obviously relished coining terms by which to slur gays -- the clear target was the mobsters. Indeed, Mortimer was a consistent crusader against the Mafia, and throughout his journalism career exposed a number of its rackets.
Mortimer first took aim at the mob's pervasive involvement in gay bars in his 1952 book USA Confidential with co-author Jack Lait, and the pair claimed:
"All fairy night clubs and gathering places are illegal, and operate only through pay-offs to the authorities. They are organized into a national circuit, controlled by the Mafia which also finds unique opportunity to sell dope in such dives. Many gangsters like it that way, too, after indoctrination in prison."
By the late 1950s Mortimer launched a campaign through his New York Confidential column to shine a light on the mob's role in gay bars. Mortimer specifically named the establishments and their addresses, identified the wise guys who were behind them, and explained in detail how the racket worked including the use of front men or clean names so everything looked legitimate on paper and the use of bribe or ice payments to keep the precinct cops and liquor authorities at bay.
(Excerpt) Read more at bitterqueen.typepad.com ...
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Given the choice between the mafia and the Obamadork West Wing Clown show of felon/cretins, I’d take the mafia.
They’re of much higher quality, more talented, and actually have done real work in their past.
Given the choice between the mafia and the Obamadork West Wing Clown show of felon/cretins, I’d take the mafia.
They’re of much higher quality, more talented, and actually have done real work in their past.
“They’re of much higher quality, more talented, and actually have done real work in their past.”
And they admit they are criminals.
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