Mob Boss' State Senate Brother

MSNBC reports:

It has all the hallmarks of a Greek tragedy: Two brothers whose lives diverge radically — one into an underworld of crime, the other into the upper echelons of state politics — yet whose fates remain inextricably linked.

Generations of Boston residents have watched that story play out in the real-life drama of former Democratic Senate President William "Billy" Bulger and his older brother, alleged gangster James "Whitey" Bulger.

At the heart of the story, at least for the younger Bulger, was a fierce loyalty to family and the shared experience of growing up in the working class Irish-American enclave of South Boston, where the line between brawling and bare-knuckled politics was easily blurred.

The two brothers also shared one more thing: A willingness to use whatever power was available to them.