"Mafia" is just so... Italian

Besides which, they're virtually extinct in the U.S. (thanks in part to a Mr. Barack Obama). I believe there is a new syndicate being born. You can see the planted seeds in the crowds that amass for Sarah Palin's speeches. What originally seemed a dry, politically-motivated choice for veep may have given emergence to a new, all-American collective. All the elements are there. They do not consider themselves criminals– they see themselves as the last scion of their cause, the great hope to reveal a great new civilization which has peeked out its head in the last 20 years and now has the promise of being realized.

Time will tell (four weeks of time, specifically) whether this syndicate will come to form, but I believe that Obama's election could serve as the great catalyst to make them happen, and their coming out party will be January of 2009. Stay tuned...