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If you closely follow American politics, you've probably heard the true story about a young Rahm Emanuel sending a pollster who angered him a dead fish.
Well, on his final day at the White House, aides -- playfully -- gave him a taste of his own medicine.
Emanuel gave a teary-eyed farewell after receiving the gift of an enormous dead Asian carp from economic adviser Austan Goolsbee (a fellow Chicagoan who volunteered on Rahm's first campaign for Congress).
"I know that I pushed you all very hard," Rahm said at the farewell. "But I did it in service to the president and I believe that our whole country is better off for it."
After his speech -- which was about five minutes long -- he received extended standing applause from the assembled members of the staff.
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Ah, that just great. Rahm is a hard worker with a ferocious appetite. He's going need that nourishment going up against all the hats tossed in the ring here at home. Glad to see Rahm go and fulfill and his dream as Da Mayor.
How many are in the race presently?
There are about a dozen people considered viable candidates.
http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Mapping-the-Mayoral-Candidates-103134299.html
Quite a spread: certainly more diverse than the candidates in Houston's last election.
*County Sheriff Tom Dart
*Mayor Daley's former chief of staff Gery Chico (Chico lost to Barack Obama in the 2004 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate)
*Ex congresswoman Carol Mosley Braun
*U.S. Rep.Danny Davis, my rep
*U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley
*U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.
* other aldermen
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/ct-met-obama-emanuel-09-10-20100909,0,4468955.story
There are some more too; I've heard.
Does anyone know what Mayor Daley is going to do after he leaves office?
Who really cares...
Not sure Gail... his wife Maggie has been battling breast cancer since 2002 which has spread to her bones..
I believe her health had something to do with his decision!
She's a SUPER lady & I wish her the best with her fight!
@Vote Dem Out!!: The people of Chicago. Derp-derp, bro.
Now's as good a time as any to make crass references to old memes about people getting slapped around with a large trout.
I heard yesterday that he may be running into some residency issues since he rented his house out.
Anything to stop the opposition, am I right?
Does he not own property in Chicago?
Kirby,
Since he has voted by absentee ballot - there is no issue.
Charles - what's the word on Dan Seals?
Seals has a really strong chance this time around. In any other political climate he would be a shoe in. This is one of the few pick up oppourtunites for the Dems.
I can't wait to vote for him for the thrid time!
Thanks Charles - I spent quite a bit of time up in your neck of the woods during the 08 election and thought he had a good chance then... I sure hope he gets the win this time!
Wish I could vote for him...
He's got more energy than just about anyone in DC.
"He pushed them all very hard."
Good for him.
He looks like the type to run Chicago. Good luck Rahm.
I now see why some posters here no longer watch Morning Joe. The program wants to be like Fox and Friends. It has become the place to dig at our President and promote the RightWing directly or indirectly.
No matter the topic, Joe always finds a way to fault President Obama and Progressives:
- Some GOPers make baseless statements about Islam, Joe while criticizing them links it to the President not taking actions to prevent such statements.
- Whitman and Brown debate on CA pension issues, Joe ties the conversation to repeal of Health Care law.
- Whenever there is news about a flap concerning a GOP candidate (CA GOP Gov candidate, CT GOP Sen Candidate), Joe ignores that and rehashes old news and spins it to show the President in negative light.
- Joe spent days indirectly talking up Glenn Beck's late-Aug rally but has largely ignored Oct 2 OneNation march
I, at one time, looked forward to Morning Joe but soon it became a"Book of the Minute Club". The only people who show up except the regular MSNBC people are hawking a book.
You're so right about that, New Wavez. I used to enjoy Morning Joe but now it is nauseating to watch. Mika behaves like a prop or a puppet, not sure which. I caught about two minutes this morning and Joe was saying Pres Obama will have to do some soul searching Nov 3. What? Did Bush search his soul after 2006? Did Clinton search his soul in 1994? What an idiotic comment. The others nodded their heads and I switched to CNN.
Jody, that's a great point about Morning Joe. A bunch of head-nodders. Joe's so full of himself that sometimes I marvel that he doesn't explode. I watch Willie Geist before Morning Joe - much more enjoyable.
Morning Joe went on and on about the POOR FAMiily of the student that killed himself over the Facebook guy-kissing incident. He just went ON and ON about that POOR FAMily, as he broadcast the story to hundreds of thousands of viewers this morning.....
He seems to be completely enthralled by the sound of his own voice most days.
Tried to watch Morning Joke, but found out it was not like Colbert.
I totally agree. I still Tivo it, but watch the whole show in about 5 minutes, if at all. To me, Joe seems to think of himself as presidential material, but is only an armchair quarterback. Willie Geist is the highlight of the show. I do appreciate Mika's remarks though.
One of the last straws for me (RE: Joe) what when he tried to show how "easy" it should have been for Obama to deflect a particular question, and even challenged Lawrence O'Donnell to ask him the question to demonstrate how easy it would be. Let's just say that Joe did not hold up too well under O'Donnell's questioning.
I whole-heartedly agree.
Morning Joe is following the same recipe used at Fox and Friends. In some ways, you can't blame them because Fox and Friends has all the ratings and audience and that's what Morning Joe wants as well.
If you think back, this is how reality TV started. First there was "Survivor" and next thing, we have Snooki and "Housewives from Everywhere". Everyone follows the model for success and Morning Joe is trapped in that cycle.
Unfortunately, news stations that try (not always succeeding ) to report the news like CNN are watching their ratings tumble through the floor.
Journalism is in a state of flux - journalist are not sure whether holding to the tenants of real journalism even matter anymore. I've heard over and over how America is in decline. I would say that the confused state of journalism is the biggest indicator of the decline. Journalists are supposed to keep everyone honest but these days, Morning Joe is working on becoming a popularity show.
I'm not sure why someone would give up a post as the Chief of Staff to the POTUS to run for mayor. Albeit its for Chicago a major city, but really. Read somewhere that Obama said Emanuel had his hand in crafting policy and being involved in every major issue that the administration pushed and strived for.
I for one, don't know much about the guy but I never liked the fact that during the throes of the HCR debate he was so willing to spout off that the public option was not necessary. I've also heard complaints that during the 2006 campaigns when he was heading up the House relection campaign he didn't follow a 50 state strategy to pick up additional house seats.
Interesting, I guess the long hours got to him. Hopefully the next chief of staff is more open to listening to progressives.
I would have liked to see more progressive ideas make thier way into law including a public option in HCR; but I see Rahm as a hard nosed pragmitist that was critial to getting balanced solutions that could actually get through congress. In my opinion he was the perfect guy for the job over the past two years where Dems had strong majorities in congress and the big things had a chance at getting through. The next chapter will be totally different with a resurgent Republican party and will require a different approach and is best handled by new leadership in the Whitehouse. So as I am happy to see Rahm move on, it is not because I did not approve of his job but becuase times are a changing and it is his time to go.
As for Major Rahm, I think his energy and pragmatism will serve Chicago well.
I don't think HCR can be looked on as any kind of achievement. I think that pragmatism you speak of resulted in the monster currently on the books - like it or not, the Republicans will try to do whatever they can to repeal it, even if they have to wait for one of their party to take the White House in 2012.
I don't think it is plausible that HCR will be repealed. The pre-existing conditions reforms are very popular. If they tried to keep those reforms intact while removing the unpopular mandates the CBO score and/or the impact to insurance premiums would be enormous. My prediction is that after the election and people calm down they will be more objective when looking at the pieces of HCR rather than just keeping a united front of opposition that we have now in this pre-election climate. Once the hysteria dies down, a majority of Americans will want to retain many of the benefits in HCR making a repeal and replace strategy extremely difficult.
We liberals would have liked more progressive legislation in HCR but the reality was that it could not happen given the entrenched blue dog, conservadem senators. Rahm knew that and he is a pragmatist just as Pres Obama is--work hard for what you want and take what is possible.
HCR is not perfect but neither was social security, medicare and every other major piece of legislation. But now there is legislation on which to build, improve, and fix; without that bill, nothing would happen for another generation.
Okay, but Jody, for seventy years there've been issues with SS and Welfare that haven't been resolved; I remember well the line that as long as HCR was on the books, it could be amended and altered for the better in the future.
Without kidding ourselves, can you honestly say you believe that will happen, with 100% certainty?
If Rahm was such a pragmatist about HCR and he wanted to push the centrist approach, then why did the so called centrist approach legislation still need to pass with reconcilliation. If they only needed the fifty one votes in the senate why not push for the public option. Surely that could have received fifty one votes.
As far as HCR being changed for the better, I know some people think that we can improve it now that we have a base. I disagree, we won't see major changes for the better for at least another ten to twenty years. In fact the only changes, which I'm sure Democrats will kowtow to is changes that Republicans want to make to it. Will it be repealed, no and I don't want it to be repealed. However, the legislation will only be made weaker by Republicans.
I know that many liberals and democrats didn't like the final product. It is just frustrating that the Dem senate dropped/gave up the ball.
Would have liked to see the administration and Rahm fight for the public option, and then showing that it was impossible to get it through and the blame would be on the Repubs, rather than it seeming that the White House did not fight for it enough. Perception is everything.
Speaking of perception, I have no understanding of how or why anyone would want to vote any Republican into office. They have done everything it is possible to do to slow the growth of the economy, to help the high rollers and to roll over the middle class. I cannot see how anyone of reasonable intelligence and independent thinking would believe that putting the Republicans in charge of the house or senate would do anything but push us back into devastation, as more and more of our infrastructure declines, that rules and regulations of any sort would be flung out, and that corporate America will control our elections even more than they do now.
It was time for Rahm to go regardless. The fact that there is an opening to run for Chicago mayor gives him an easy way out.
Yellowdog
It's an obvious step towards a campaign of his own for president in the future. Also, the Chicago Democratic machine has held sway in the Democratic National Committee for decades. Mayor Daily and his father before him had huge influence in the party and Emanuel wants to tie into that power base.
New Wavez
I now see why some posters here no longer watch Morning Joe. The program wants to be like Fox and Friends. It has become the place to dig at our President and promote the RightWing directly or indirectly.
Thanks for that observation. At least you are intelligent enough to realize MSNBC is not in the tank for the President as so many trolls here say.
During the 2008 campaign Pat, Boston, MA calmed me down once by suggesting I go to youtube to tune out Cheeto Joe's rants.
Nope didn't hear that story of Rham, but wouldn't be surprised by his actions. Glad he's gone and hope they are smart enough not to elect him as Mayor.
Of course nothing that goes wrong gets reported that way so that doesn't surprise me either..
Just wondering, There are five or six people bailing out from the WH. Now, this doesn't make sense. If Oblaba is the Annointed One, the Saviour why is it that his disciples are sneaking out the various exits? Why is it that these faithfuls are gone in only barely two years of the Oblaba administration? Something fishy is going on. I smell a rat. I thought that in the beginning with all that ground breaking inauguration of Oblaba, those he picked would have stayed until the end. Naah, they didn't want to be dragged out by their feet. They didn't see the writing on the wall as is the proverbial goes. They saw Oblaba and a useless ideology that have failed before and they knew it wouldn't work again. So they bailed. thus , they have no stigma attached to them.
I think what your smelling is a draft from your upper lip!
What smells is the crazy notion this is something new. Previous administrations had people leave within two years; it is about the length of time it takes to burn out. Rahm is leaving only because Daley isn't running for mayor and this has been his goal for years. This is not some new phenomenon. Google it. What is tiresome are right wingers calling President Obama the savior, the anointed one--the only people who ever said that are GOPers.
Juven,
You are STUPID!!!
Juven in an accompished practicioner of that one activity...What was it? You know, the one that Christine O'Donell rails against.....??
To use words like 'anointed one' and all, makes me think he's been practicing that one activity....what was it called?...... while listening to Sean Hannity all afternoon.
...masturbation?
Wait, was this a sex joke?
There is always considerable personnel turnover in the White House around the time of the midterms. It doesn't have the significance you are attributing to it.
The white house just got a little bit classier. Let's hope more trash gets removed soon!
If I lived in Chicago, I'd vote for him! I think he has a bad rep as a bull dog. Willing to go after anyone in his way. But in these days and times, that's probably what we need.
I'd love to see a runoff with him and Carol Mosley Braun. What fun that would be!
I watched the announcement and Rahm's heart-felt speech, he poked fun at himself and choked up. He has taken a lot of heat but no one should complain about his work ethic. He is a hard-charging, driver who does not give up. Chicago would be lucky to have him as mayor. There is a chapter in Alter's book "The Promise" devoted to Rahm. If anyone doubts his intelligence, his drive, his devotion to public service--that chapter puts those thoughts to rest. He really is a remarkable guy. Good wishes to him. Like the fish gift, too.
Really Willow? You would vote for a guy who has played a major part in this mess this white house has created? Have you picked up a news paper or paid any attention to the news in the last 2 years?
artyboy
It's obvious that YOU haven't pick up a newspaper or paid attention to the NEWS either. Fox doesn't count! You need some help because it seems you are stuck....on stupid!
Artyboy or are you the artful dodger? If you are not a con. you are a whinner.
Go back a bit further than two years and pick up the old news and pay particular attention to find the continuum, the pendulum swing, inertia, momentum before the reversal.
Willow is right we need more of these professionals in management in all tiers of necessary government.
MPevans
Brilliant response! Stupid ! wow you are a deep thinker!
agagnu
Look back and see what happens every time tax and spend dems get a hold of congress. We need more "professionals" in the white house like we need another stimuless bill.
You have to analyze the news...not just take Fox's word for it. How can anyone trust a network to be neutral when it has many of the Republican presidential candidates ON THEIR PAYROLL. Doesn't that strike anyone as strange? No matter how many times they say it, Fox is not 'fair and balanced'.
Colorado,
This is news, who said they're running for President? Who's the canididates that made it official?
The RightWing know how to frame topics:
- A GOP person pushes hard to get what they want and they are referred to as strong leaders
- A DEM person pushes hard to get what they want and they are referred to as arrogant bullies
Wisdom, New Wavez. It is a twist on the old: a man pushing hard is assertive, a woman pushing hard is aggressive.
Never known a "Right/Winger" to send asomeone a dead fish. Such class!
No, they just trample all over civil rights and @!$%# around on their wives while crying for Jesus.
Exactly. They bring the "dead fish" home to their wives, in their shorts.
Stay classy, RE-peat-the-lie-to-the-PUBLIC-ans.
artyboy,
But I bet you know a Right/Winger who sent our troops to a senseless war.......
I don't think a right winger would send anyone a fish, bu I bet they wouldn't hesitate to steal one from the plate of a hungry poor person.
Woo! Getting a little hot and heavy in here. I need to go jump out of a plane this weekend.
...yes, with a parachute.
MPEVANS
I know a lot of left wingers who voted to send them to war also
Don't worry, we'll start sending him some dead fish now!
Someone mentioned trout for a carp. Humour me.
Carp is good joss in chinese feng shui.
We see paintings/prints of them in chinese retaurants. Paintings of carp take a prime wallspace in chinese households too; usually 9 carps but 4 is a good number too.
To have carp is to have benefit, dead carp sounds like "4(for) benefits"; then again it could infer "sailei"-(sharp cookie) that he is.
Best of luck to you Rahm and thank you for your service to our great nation...
Gail, TN: I heard he was going to be digging up voters for 2012....
With all the praise, albeit undeserved, heaped on Obama by Rahm Emmanuel at his departure speech, I suppose that Lincoln, Roosevelt, and a few others have to take a backseat to Obama. In his short time in office, Obama has managed to alienate and infuriate a majority of the American people due to his socialist agenda - so I say - Lincoln I know about, Roosevelt I know about, and you Mr. Obama does not even begin to compare to those.
He certainly has infuriated you Amos...or were you ALREADY infuriated?...BTW...that last name of yours doesn't appear to be colonial....
Amos, hes deviding us on purpose. isint that obvious?
Anita, Birmingham: Sorry to disappoint you but my real name is not Amos Masurrpianski - I am Valerie from Omaha. So that "colonial spiel" of yours goes over like a lead balloon. Also, I suggest you thoroughly look at Obama's recent poll numbers. Apparently I am not the only one infuriated and sick and tired of him. Wait until November and you will REALLY see how immensely unpopular Obama is with the American people. The November election will largely be a referendum on him and his socialist agenda. And that's just the way it is whether or not you like it.
Infuriated and sick and tired of Obama out in Omaha
And what pray tell would you be feeling for McCain and Palin right now if they had managed to steal their way into office, Valerie? What would they have done differently which would have beneficial for the largest number of Americans? My bet is nothing. With a Democratic majority in Congress, we would probably have been plunged into a third war, a Global economic depression, 25% unemployment, and be finished with their impeachment convictions by now. Nancy Pelosi would be your new President with either Hillary or Barack as her V.P. Martial Law would like have been imposed, to top it off.
Care to explain what "infuriates" you about Barack Obama's presidency?
I have a GOOD idea... but if I said it... I would be accused of playing the race card ya know!
I can't begin to fathom where we would be today if McNasty & Bible Spice had somehow managed to pull off the win...
Probably not as deep in the hole as we are now that is for sure. Obama is a good speaker, with fresh ideas. That is what got him elected, but as much as he whines about the same old ideas in the GOP, he has taken the ancient Democratic party line in everything he has done. In another posting someone referred to the increase in drone attacks as being an aggressive measure on his part in Afghanistan. It is actually motivated as a cheap and easy way to show he is doing something he actually has no interest in completing. He wants out of the war on terror so he can slash defense and give away all that money in social programs just like Europe. Only Europe is going through some very difficult monetary times because of it. Don't be so quick to defend Obama, there is a lot that you are not getting from msnbc and cnn.
I am Valerie from Omaha...since that moniker of yours has been debunked...by your own admission (typical of arrogant baggers--without a wit of intelligence)...and in lieu of your stereotyped residential location (by you own admission being Omaha)...
It's very easy to understand why you seem to think as you do. You don't speak for a Nation...just a few misguided people and fake polls...and yes...November will definitely "tell the story"...
Valerie...get out of you bubble more often, then perhaps you'll be able to breathe the same "air" that the majority of us breathe...it will "clear your head" and allow oxegen to flow...
hmmm, I thought he used horse heads
Rahm quit a dead-fish administration and still cannot get away from dead fish.
Funny. All this time I thought Obama was a Democrat. Turns out he's a dead-fish RE-peat-the-lie-to-the-PUBLIC-an?
Rahm will be a good fit as Mayor of Chicago. Crooks, killers and world class bad politicians all come from there.