OK, I'm thinking some folks on this thread lose sight of two concepts: irony and sarcasm.

And specifically to our exercised Irish American brother/sister. As the granddaughter of immigrants from four different ethnic groups, it bears pointing out that under da mare's watch much of Chicago's old (white) immigrant communities have been pretty solidly eviscerated. Instead we have a row of trendy suburban-populated nightclubs and a couple of columns in Greektown; a concrete architectural atrocity called UIC which was constructed on paved over homes of Italian immigrants in the name of urban 'renewal'; a "German Town" that is increasingly colonized by isolationist yuppies; and a city administration that openly touts its Irish heritage at the same time it has steadfastly refused to install a monument to the German anarchist martyrs who were massacred by our city's finest and their political stooges.

Folks from other ethnic groups would be less cranky about the whole Irish thing if the city's Irish Americans actually heeded the words of Irish patriots like Bernadette Devlin McAlisky (deported from Chicago's O'Hare airport last month for being a 'national security threat) when they exhort Irish Americans to stand up against racism and imperialist oppression. Thankfully, many local Irish Americans do. More should. I certainly didn't see any sweeping expression of outrage over Devlin's deportation at this month's downtown St. Patricks' Day parade.

We have a lot of work to do within all of the constituencies that still hold to some sense of identity with their ethnic roots -- including urging people not to continue to fall for the tried and true ruling-class device of 'divide and rule'. Meanwhile, fuck Daley and every moron who remotely identifies with his racist, tokenist, jack-boot pro-corporate regime, including all of the dumb-ass south side Irish who cheer him on as 'their' mayor. The guy is planning on moving to Jefferson Park, for christ's sake. Lots of cops up there, including the top brass, except, of course, for Black cops...

And it would be great if 'Angry Irish' were right about there being less racism in the remnants of Chicago's working class communities, but that's just not so. Been on north Milwaukee Ave. lately, well west of Wicker Park yuppieville? Fortunately, despite the incipient prejudice among a lot of Polish immigrants (I know about this, since they're my relatives), there are vital points of resistance -- including among new Polish youth immigrants who have been vocal regulars at anti-nazi actions in the neighborhood.

Also, as the offspring of three generations of steel workers, I'd appreciate it if people wouldn't assume that just because someone you disagree with posts to this thread they must be some sort of effete, spoiled, upper-middle-class white bread product of Northwestern University. Seems sort of elitist to me to assume that if you can type in English you must be one of 'those' people. Kindly suspend the anti-intellectualism. Us working class folks can parse the fucking language, too.

Meanwhile, New York, where's the numbers throwdown? Still waiting.