Word: mafioso
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...first time, Bonanno's glib tongue could not keep him out of trouble, as it did in 1964, when three rival dons had him kidnaped after he tried to become the nation's top Mafioso, the capo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses). Bonanno persuaded his captors that under the Mafia's bylaws they had no authority to kill him. But they did not release him for 18 months, until he promised to retire and devote his remaining years to reading Aristotle and listening to opera. Instead, Bonanno quickly took over Arizona's burgeoning rackets...
Ultimately, not all the Congressmen may be indicted. But their names and faces have been splashed all over television and the press. It is one thing for a Mafioso to get bad publicity; his career hardly depends on public approval. But politicians who face re-election can be ruined by such press coverage. Only one of the members of Congress under investigation is a Republican, but G.O.P. Senate Whip Ted Stevens protests: "Reputations have been seriously damaged in a manner not consistent with the standards of American jurisprudence...