There’s a discussion going on Gawker right now about the recent right wing attack on the fact that Obama is from Hyde Park. The post mentions the thoughtful, accurate rebuttal my hero (and fellow U of C alum) Thomas Frank wrote for the WSJ.  Behold the hilarious inaccuracy of the Gawker post!

Bill Ayers wanders past the Milton Friedman Institute on his way to teach kids about the coming end of the bourgeoisie…(ed. Ayers teaches at UIC, you lazy New Yorkers)

But wait! It gets worse! Check out what the commenters were saying a mere five minutes after the item was posted:

“Hyde Park is an enclave within a largely depressed neighborhood. It’s always been protean, eccentric, and I’d call its bent ‘bent’ rather than place it on a political continuum. I.E.: it’s fecund territory for insular nutcases, among the bright lights such as Obama or Ali who’ve rested there.”

Insular nutcases!?!?!?! Did I just hear someone on a New York-based blog call Chicago insular?  And really, why did this person feel the need to call the neighborhood “protean?” I feel a protean desire to kick his or her ass.

In the meantime, I think this is a good opportunity to remind everyone that Thomas Frank’s new book, The Wrecking Crew, comes out August 5. The thought of reading it makes my heart sing as I drool onto my laptop.