Chicago is the heart of America's agricultural and industrial base — from slaughterhouses, grain dealing, steel mills, even Al Capone, it is a man's town … settling its differences in blood and guts.  For a long time it was run by Mayor Richard J. Daley, the Boss.  After him came a series of short-timers until the son Richard M. took over.  He rounded those big shoulders just a little … building 'parks and arts'.  Now comes Rahm Emmanuel, a former high school ballet dancer, currently leading in the Mayoral candidate polls and loaded with outside money.   

If you are a ballet dancer in high school, you have to do something for self-preservation — oh, yes,  we older folks understand dance exhibits graceful masculinity … but high schoolers?  Rahm's solution against the inevitable ribbing was to take up swearing … with a vengeance.  The habit has stuck … but so has the vision of him pirouetting in a tutu.

Imagine a confab of mayors:  the Milwaukee guy hoists a six-pack, Chicago's man pulls up tights and walks with splayed feet.  It's a fate worse than … .  Will the embarrassment lead to another flight to the 'burbs?  Will rivals start calling the White Sox the White Tights?  Will opposing fans rename the Chicago Bulls, the Chicago Belles? Will the Blackhawks become  known as the White Swans? Think hard Chicagoans; think what's going to happen to you.

One can imagine Rahm at his inauguration — a pirouette, a leap, a pirouette, a bow, places a crown on his head turning a frog into a prince.

This is the man who has a B.A. in Liberal Arts and a M.A. in Speech and Communication — no law or business education or experience to contribute.  Yet in two and a half years, he was included in eight deals as an investment banker at Wasserstein Parella that 'earned' him $16.2 million.

Not surprisingly, this is the man who had his protege, Congresswoman Melissa Bean, pull any remaining teeth out of the Financial Industry Controls bill, while the President mouthed platitudes about restraining excess; yes, the same man who called supporters of single-payer health care — a position favored by a substantial majority of citizens — "fu**ing retards"; yes, this man is now laden with promises to help ordinary folks.  Well you can believe it if you believe the frog actually turned into a prince.  And who knows … in this topsy-turvy world, enough money and PR can do anything!

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