I hope we are cool. You are one of my favorites here. And I would not want to feel your full fury on a snarky day ;-)

Have a good day and weekend. I have lined up some to-dos today in front of the Iowa trip and a second job interview on Monday. We leave from Fox Lake at 6:30 tomorrow morning.


>No, you didn't - I just didn't want to type the word 'overweight' multiple times.
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>>Again, I did not use the word fat.
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>>You are right that my admiration of her did not come through in the first post. It was intentional that I did not choose sides. This is what I get for nuance in today's world. I just wanted readers to think, Hmmm, this is an interesting scenario and cast of characters. Sometimes I'm a dreamer.
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>>OK, I am trying to let myself off the hook. Sorry. By now I should be wise enough to know how words can come across. And I should have been more sensitive.
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>>>Unfortunately, to me, your admiration of her didn't come through in your words. Now if you had said something along the lines of "She's the first black woman to head up the union." or "After (insert number here) of years of teaching, she became the head of the union in a hard-fought election", then I might had said "Mike likes her". Instead you say she's "fat, black and combative". I think another point I'm trying to make is that you rarely hear men described in terms of their appearance while women are always generally described using physical appearance terms (or what they're wearing and how much it cost).
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>>>Reverse the genders in your statement and see if it makes sense to describe the man as "fat, black and combative" if he were.
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>>>>I did not word it that harshly but it's probably a distinction without a difference. What I was attempting to convey was that she does not fit the profile of the leader of a prominent political organization. I did not mean that those who are female, non-white, or overweight are incapable of leadership. More the opposite, actually. It's just unusual. Personally I admire her.
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>>>>>Yeah, I'm being nit-pickish but I'm feeling a wee bit snarky this morning - why do you describe the female side of the equation as, and I paraphrase, "Fat and Black"? What difference does that make in this discussion?
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>>>>>My point is, you give us, essentially, a resume for Emanuel yet his opponent is "Female, Fat and Black".
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>>>>>>Here in Chicago it is at the top of the news 24/7, even over the presidential election and the assassination in Libya. It was supposed to be day 3 of school. Talks were called off over the weekend and so far most schools remain closed other than some charter schools. This is actually rare in the famously combative relationship between the city and the teachers' union. They almost always settle at the 11th hour.
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>>>>>>In this corner: relatively new Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, a.k.a. Rahmbo. He was a top adviser to Bill Clinton and has now returned home to lead our fair city. He has made clipping the wings of the CTU a priority. The city is in financial disrepair and he doesn't want to give an inch. This is a guy who once sent a political opponent a dead fish. Another time he stabbed a Chicago steakhouse table repeatedly while saying, "Dead! Dead! Dead!"
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>>>>>>in the other corner, CTU leader Karen Lewis. She is female, black, overweight, and every bit as combative as Mayor Emanuel. The relationship between the city and the union has been combative without abatement since time immemorial. This is the first time in 25 years there has been a strike. All we need is a pit bull ring.
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>>>>>>And now in the third corner, a man who needs no introduction in Chicago, the Very, Very Rev. Jesse Jackson. He evidently heard the whir of news cameras and is all over the local TV stations offering to bring the flocks together.
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>>>>>>Chicago politics, there's nothing like it. When Carl Sandburg called Chicago the city of big shoulders he had no idea.
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>>>>>>John Ryan, if you are in the vicinity of the Chicago Hilton in the south loop, you could spend your evening less wisely than to head down there and see bare knuckled democracy in its full glory.
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>>>>>>UPDATE 9/13 6:44 a.m. CDT: The local news media are reporting that the two sides met until close to midnight yesterday. The leaders of both sides expressed optimism that the differences can be settled and schools might reopen as soon as tomorrow.