I know Ryan was just making a joke in his post below, but I have to step up and defend Chicago - the band, that is. Their second album, released in 1970, has withstood the test of time, and if you peruse the list of songs on their first Greatest Hits Album (released in 1975) you'll see a number of classics. After that, however, it was pretty much all downhill.

As for the city, the big box ordinance is bad policy and counterproductive to economic growth, but it's hardly the stupidest idea to come out of the City Council. To wit:

Earlier this year the Chicago City Council passed a law banning foie gras. Just months ago former Alderman Ed Burke went even further, proposing a ban making it illegal for restaurants to use oils that contain trans fats.

Last year the City Council banned smoking at all restaurants and some bars. Six months later they tried to ban smoking on the city's beaches.

In 2000 the City Council passed a resolution by a margin of 46-1 urging Congress to consider reparations for slavery. Two years later the Council made history by passing the Slavery Era Disclosure Ordinance requiring companies bidding on city contracts to file a form disclosing "whether or not they profited from slaves."

I could go on. By the way, we're just talking about the City Council. Don't get me started on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, which is an entirely separate yet equally disgraceful monument to bureaucratic corruption, inefficiency and nepotism.

Earlier this year Board President John Stroger had a debilitating stroke a week before what was shaping up to be a tough primary. He ended up winning easily (53-47) thanks in part to a sympathy vote, but has been unable to resume his duties as board chairman and hasn't been seen in public since the day of his stroke.

Instead, Stroger engineered a backroom deal from his bedside to clear the way for his son, poorly regarded by many of his fellow Democrats, to take the job.

The young Stroger is on the ballot and favored to win this November. To bring this post full circle, Todd Stroger is currently an Alderman sitting on the City Council who supports the bix box ordinance and voted unsuccessfully to override Mayor Daley's veto this week.

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