The Jussie Smollett case is still far from over, but some of the major players in that debacle are clearly ready to put all of the unpleasantness behind them and get on with their lives. Such is the case with Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, she who dropped all the charges against Smollett and sent him merrily on his way. Turns out that she’s up for election once again. And despite the trail of wreckage she left in her wake after the Smollett affair, the Cook County Democratic Party Organization is offering their full endorsement for Foxx to be granted another term. Phil Kadner of the Chicago Sun-Times finds no lack of irony in all this.

Democratic Party bosses have enthusiastically endorsed the re-election bid of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, giving a symbolic high five to Jussie Smollett, the TV star who claimed he was assaulted on the streets of Chicago and humiliated the city…

And now the Cook County Democratic Party Organization, which includes party bosses from the city and the suburbs, has announced that it agrees. It has endorsed Foxx for re-election.

Why not?

This is a city where FBI agents raid the offices of Ald. Edward Burke (14th) who is charged with extorting bribes from businessmen and he is re-elected. Chicago’s the place where an alderman wears an FBI wire to collect evidence of public corruption and is called a “rat” by other aldermen.

Even if the party couldn’t bring themselves to directly call for her removal, you’d think that the Democratic bosses in the Windy City might have at least felt embarrassed enough to hold their tongues and not endorse anyone. But that’s not how things are played in Chicago. The names and faces in positions of power may change over the years, but underneath it all, the Chicago Way is still alive and well.

Jussie Smollett may have brought an incredible amount of shame and negative attention to the city, and it’s still possible (though unlikely) that he may face some reckoning for that. But Foxx was obviously caught red-handed trading political favors with influential Democrats and cutting a deal to allow Smollett to walk because he has powerful friends. Which of the two sins was actually worse?

Every version of the story released by Foxx’s office smelled worse than the last, and it all added up to an obvious case of justice being run off the rails. It all centered on Foxx herself, ranging from her phony recusal to the reasons offered as to why Smollett shouldn’t be punished. (They’re focusing on violent crime, you know. Not the penny-ante antics of Smollett and his friends.) The State’s Attorney has managed to raise the anger of everyone from the Chicago PD to City Hall and has been widely condemned. But will she let that stop her from sticking around in her taxpayer-funded job?

Nope. And the leadership of the Democratic Party in Cook County is just fine with that.