The Week That Was: Compare and Contrast
By Staff in News on Sep 28, 2014 8:00PM
It was a week of contrasts, one in which words didn’t mean what they appeared to mean, people refused to learn from history, and we were told to pay attention to symbolism rather than reality.
The oft-mentioned Diana Rauner, who was featured in one of husband Bruce Rauner’s campaign ads that debuted in April, gave her first interview this week and embraced a word the GOP isn’t particularly fond of: feminism.
Ms. Rauner, you see, (actually, it’s Dr. Rauner), claims to be a Democrat, despite having given lots of money to Republicans and falling off her proclaimed party’s voter radar around 2012.
This just as it’s becoming more apparent Illinois women will determine the November gubernatorial election between Bruce Rauner and incumbent Pat Quinn. She wants it to be clear that other women can be feminists while they enjoy the freedom to cross party lines to marry, so long as their future husbands are really, REALLY rich.
On the subject of mixed signals, the Sun-Times reported a new poll that has Gov. Quinn nearly tied with Rauner for the November election.
That comes on the heels of a Chicago Tribune poll that reported Quinn had sprung to his first lead, a surprising 48 percent to 37 percent advantage, after trailing since the Republican primary. Keep in mind, though, that the Tribune is the paper of record with far greater resources when it comes to matters such as polling. If you don’t think so, just consult anyone who was there for the inauguration of former president Thomas E. Dewey.
Meanwhile, Bruce Rauner is connected to a nursing home fraud scandal that went to court in Florida last week. It’s fair to assume that while women in Illinois like his wife and are not threatened by his pro-choice stance, they probably don’t want to end up in one of his senior care facilities.
Speaking of independent women, iconic encased meat emporium Hot Doug’s may be in its final days, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t creating lasting legacies. Two members of the Windy City Rollers, a roller derby team, had enough time in the line this week to contact an entire wedding party, have one of them secure an online ministerial certificate, and celebrate a same-sex wedding—all before lunch. It was thus proved women don’t need men for financial support, or, for that matter, sausage.
And who could think of sausage without Rob Schneider coming to mind, a man who now rates his own Urban Dictionary definition. Not understanding he is among the luckiest men alive, he took it as an insult when his 20-year-old gag—one that anthropologists claim was funny to some sub-primates for reasons still unknown—was pulled by Illinois-based insurance company State Farm because of his anti-vaccine beliefs.
You’d think he’d have cackled uncontrollably for pulling off his act this long. Instead, he took insult, and claimed his First Amendment rights had been violated. When even Jenny McCarthy sees the writing on the wall and backtracks from an untenable position, you REALLY have to ask yourself how far you’ve gone off the reservation.
But we also saw that it’s hard for people to learn from mistakes—even their own. It was revealed that Mayor Rahm Emanuel—the man who wants those red-light cameras to protect us has been caught speeding multiple times since publicly dressing down the police officers who drive him for the very same offense. Those officers know their job is to drive the Mayor, but they probably didn’t expect to be thrown under the vehicle.
Finally, there may be one organization in Chicago who understands a good thing. The White Sox drew one of their only near-capacity crowds on Saturday for the retirement of stalwart veteran Paul Konerko. Based on the attendance, the team is rumored to be planning to invite him back next year to retire again.
And that was the week that was.
'The Week That Was'' is a satirical, yet informative, look back at recent news. We consider it to be mostly accurate
By: Tony Boylan