Posted on 03/02/2010 11:55:21 AM PST by Baladas
Rahm Emanuel is officially a Washington caricature. He's the town's resident leviathan, a bullying, bruising White House chief of staff who is a prime target for the failings of the Obama administration.
But a contrarian narrative is emerging: Emanuel is a force of political reason within the White House and could have helped the administration avoid its current bind if the president had heeded his advice on some of the most sensitive subjects of the year: health-care reform, jobs and trying alleged terrorists in civilian courts.
It is a view propounded by lawmakers and early supporters of President Obama who are frustrated because they think the administration has gone for the perfect at the expense of the plausible. They believe Emanuel, the town's leading purveyor of four-letter words, a former Israeli army volunteer and a product of a famously argumentative family, was not aggressive enough in trying to persuade a singularly self-assured president and a coterie of true-believer advisers that "change you can believe in" is best pursued through accomplishments you can pass.
By all accounts, Obama selected Emanuel for his experience in the Clinton White House, his long relationships with the media and Democratic donors, and his well-established -- and well-earned -- reputation as a political enforcer, all of which neatly counterbalanced Obama's detached, professorial manner. A president who would need the deft navigation of Congress to pass his ambitious legislation turned to the Illinois congressman and former chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee because he possessed a unique understanding of the legislative mind.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
If Rahmbo isn't blunt enough to stop Barry from being stupid no one is.
How Dana Milbrookish of Jason. Guess he finally got the memo from RE.
Rahmbo may be an a$$ but he not a stupid a$$.
...says the memo we got from Ralm Emanuel.
Do not believe a bit of this. It is nonsense propaganda.
This article sounds like it was written by Evil Emanuel himself... might he be throwing 0bama under the bus and disassociating himself before he gets out?
It is Soetoro’s people jockeying for position and shedding blame.
According to Juan Williams, Rahm’s a nasty vile individual who couldn’t sell the dog food (health care) to the voters.
There’s some truth to this. But he really needs to lay off the stabbing tables and screaming obscenities, if he expects people to pay attention to his pragamatic recommendations.
I think it is all about fooling the sheeple into thinking Rahm is advising reason into Obozo over Healthcare. Pure BS, because the crap parts of this bill are still in there. It is a way to make it appear Rahm is instilling reason into Obozo by urging some moderation by the “so called” adoption of some GOP views.
Pure and total BS cover tactics to explain why all at once Obozo has “seen the light” on Healthcare.
Make me laugh if it wasn’t so sickening.
Reads like damage control on the part of Emanuel. When health care reform (ahem!) goes down for good, someone is going to take the fall. Rahm is conveniently appointed and only has a constituency of one.
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