This segment from PBS’s evening “News Hour” is really worth watching (scroll to Wednesday, August 16, fourth item down). It’s about the current trans fats debate in Chicago initiated by Alderman Edward Burke, who thinks the artery-clogging ingredient in many fried foods and packaged crackers, chips, and baked goods should be “outlawed.” Keep watching until you see the best part: Mayor Richard M. Daley, who is opposed to this notion, saying: “If we start going in that direction, we’ll all start eating carrots and…and tofu!”

Oh my, Dick. A Google search has just revealed to me that your own father, Richard J. Daley, died of heart failure at 74. Maybe it’s time to stop joking about healthy eating.