New York Magazine Just Can't Leave Well Enough Alone

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Dec 15, 2008 5:40PM

Oh, New York media. We've gone over this before: Chicago is a pretty happenin' town. Just because we've been in the spotlight in recent weeks (for reasons both good and bad) doesn't mean you have to get all riled up. Letting the inferiority complex shine through once more, New York Magazine has released its Reasons To Love New York 2008 issue and their number one reason is a doozy: "Because Obama Is One of Us, Despite All That Business About Chicago."

Oh HELL no.

First off, we get the argument. Obama lived in New York for four years and graduated from Columbia University. Fine. But, see, that's where the argument ends. Obama has lived here - with the exception of his time at Harvard Law School - for over 23 years. Obama has served as an elected official in Illinois for 11 years and is now prepping himself to lead the nation. There's his HQ in the Loop, the many press conferences from the downtown hotel, the whole Obamapalooza thing, and those are White Sox pinstripes, not Yankee pinstripes. So you'll forgive us for scratching our heads at such a claim. And, really, are you so concerned about losing your status at the "center of the world" that you had to give us the backhanded "All That Business About Chicago"?

Of course, it's silly for anyone to "claim" Obama anyway. That's part of the wonder of his backstory. Obama is a man of multiple races and multiple places. Part of his pragmatism that appeals to so many people is as a result of his background that saw him live in different parts of the world and exposed to a variety of ideas and religions. After all, as his birthplace, doesn't Honolulu have the best claim on him to begin with? To claim Obama is "one of us" would be to undermine the fact that he's not just Chicago's President or New York's President, but the United States President. Sure, maybe we're being a bit over-protective - if not a little hypocritical - here, but we thought New York already had it's Presidential Candidate. We're just sayin'...

But we'll stop there; we're not going to allow ourselves to get all worked up over this. After all, this is coming from the same magazine that got all up in arms over Fred Armisen's portrayal of New York Gov. Paterson on SNL this weekend...even after they had made the same jokes. Still, we're willing to share Obama, despite all this business about New York.

AP Photo