The Godfather

 

"The Boss".
A BAD guy.
It can be argued, at one point he RAN Chicago.
But his reach extended way beyond the city limits of Chicago. I have heard stories of conflicts between  "Bosses" in St. Louis and Chicago.
About what? Yes, money. But what did that money bring?
POWER.

Young readers won't remember the TV series "The Untouchables". They MAY remember the movie of the same name starring Sean Connery and Kevin Costner.
Big Al had his tracks pretty well covered. He laundered his money through legitimate businesses. All the nasty stuff... keeping underlings and others under control, was done through subordinates.
They kept his hands clean so he could use some of the money coming into his organization to do philanthropic things. He could appear to be a "Robin Hood" in his neighborhood.
So since he was "clean", the FBI went after his Capos.
And knowing the extent of the funds that were coming into his organization they found a way to get to him via the tax code.

I'm thinking today of Vladimir Putin, and how much his place in this world resembles Alfonse Capone.
Yes, he has lots of money coming into his coffers. But that's not what he really desires.
What he wants is to be considered a player on the biggest stage in the world. A BOSS.
And to show the rest of the world he is a powerful man, Ukraine suffers.
I think he's made a horrific mistake, but right now he's certainly showing he has power.
And we need to figure out a way to stop him. Hurting the Russian people will be counterproductive.
They're NOT our enemy.
Putin is.

I think we must find a way to hurt him through his Capos... his Oligarch friends.
We've started that process. Taking away their spoils will eventually hurt Pootie.
And then I hope at some point Putin says, "Et Tu Brutus"?

(And as an aside, of interest maybe only to me... Capone died on the day I was born.)