>>>http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/10/emanuel-to-end-tenure-as-white-house-chief-of-staff.html
>>>
>>>This move was widely expected. White House years are like dog years and very few in key roles stay for long. Especially when you are engaged passionately 24/7, in the same sense a pit bull locked onto your leg is engaged. He was indeed the bad cop to Obama's good cop. And you know it wasn't just playing a role. This is a guy who sent a dead fish to a political opponent.
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>>>Everyone here thinks he is leaving to run for mayor of Chicago. Probably he is. We'll see. He does not have a natural constituency other than being a Democrat and Jewish, and that may not be enough. He is vulnerable to Chicago politics by the numbers. The numbers have ground down many before him. It may be an anachronism but the politics of ethnicity and connections still drive this great roaring city. Chicago is equal parts old world pugnacity, Irish and Poles especially, with all the new waves following the same model. The unofficial motto of Chicago is "ubi est mea" -- where's mine?
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>>Just curious since I don't know Chicago well. Is there still a large Jewish community inside the city? I know there is in the metro area.
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>>FWIW, a quick search indicates that Chicago has never had a Jewish mayor.
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>
>There is a relatively large Jewish population in the city as well as the northern suburbs. The neighborhood where I lived in the city was the old Jewish part of Chicago, gentrifying (gentilizing?) but still filled with synagogues and guys walking in funny hats on the Sabbath. Saul Bellow lived there for a time while growing up. As little kids, ~2-4, my daughters played at the park and had sleepovers with Jewish children. They were all just kids laughing. Allie and Emily have both always had friends who are black, Hispanic, Asian, you name it, not forced on them, and don't think anything of it. Call me a utopian but I have hope the upcoming generation will far outstrip ours in this department.

Same here. It is normal, not unusual for kids to have friends from all cultures, religions, and races. It's not even thought about. Parents don't even think about it really anymore. It just doesn't even enter their consciousness and that's the way it should be. It may not be like that everywhere or for all generations, but I am really surprised when I read stories posted here (usually by those from other countries) of racial incidents in the U.S. I know it still occurs and it needs to stop, but it just isn't the norm.

When I was growing up in Wisconsin there were many cultures (surprising when you think about the farming communities). I had a neighbor who was a close friend of mine who was Jewish. We never discussed religion. The only time it ever came up was when I asked her why they didn't have a christmas tree. As a child, I thought that was sad. Nowadays I have Jewish friends who have christmas trees. It is more a part of the commercial holiday, and not really anything to do with the birth of Jesus. They feel that they can have a christmas tree without endorsing the Christian religious element of the holiday.