NY Times: Emanuel is arguably the second most powerful man in the country

[wyldwolf]

(Joe Scarborough just lost his breakfast)

Earlier this month, Barack Obama was meeting with the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and other lawmakers when Rahm Emanuel, his chief of staff, began nervously cracking a knuckle.

Obama then turned to complain to Emanuel about his noisy habit.

At which point, Emanuel held the offending knuckle up to Obama's left ear and, like an annoying little brother, snapped off a few special cracks.

The episode, relayed by someone familiar with the incident, underscores some essential truths about Emanuel: He is brash, has a deep comfort level with his new boss and has been ever-present at Obama's side of late, in meetings, on podia and in numerous photographs.

Emanuel is arguably the second most powerful man in the country and, just a few days into his tenure, already one of the highest-profile chiefs of staff in recent memory. He starred in his own Mad magazine cartoon, won the "Your New Obama Hottie" contest on Gawker.com and has become something of a paparazzi icon around Washington.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/25/america/emanuel.1-414971.php

"Your New Obama Hottie" contest??? WTF?

On edit: Yes, we know who the boss is, though.

[Clio the Leo]

1. Isn't that story hillarious......

... wonderful article too.

[wyldwolf]

2. sounds like any number of incidents that happened in my house with my brothers growing up

[rocktivity]

3. And where was the press when Rove was doing things like this?

:boring:
rocktivity

[wyldwolf]

4. what does Rove have to do with this?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. he was very powerful too ...

[wyldwolf]

10. he wasn't chief of staff, and media DID cover him, so I was curious about the poster's point

[La Lioness Priyanka]

17. i think you jump down peoples throat if you see a potential for someone being critical of obama

in this case, i think the person was just trying to say that the media was asleep during rove and seems to have awakened for emanuel

[ebdarcy]

5. Okay, I had to go find the "Your New Obama Hottie" contest.

http://gawker.com/5134953/pick-your-favorite-obama-hottie

Such a very odd poll. And it's not exactly a flattering picture of Emanuel. I'm surprised he won.

Nice article though.

[shifting_sands]

6. Oh Great another smart aleck in the WH

Guess we cannot get away from them, first GWB and now Emanuel. Too bad, we and the President will regret we ever knew this guy in another two years or less. Someone above said he remembers when he and his brothers used to do that and I remember when my son's use to do that kind of thing as well, when they were in JR HIGH, not a great example of putting away childish things. I wonder if we will ever again have a president that doesn't display their jock room immaturity. Rahm thinks he is just too cute by half, didn't we just get out of that type of behavior

[wyldwolf]

7. well, if we're counting "smart alecks in the White House," we can't start with Bush

How about FDR who had a wicked sense of humor? Or maybe JFK. And thank god the ultimate smart aleck kid brother Bobby was never elected. You'd be pulling your hair out at all the smart alecks.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

9. obama will not regret emanuel, this is hardly emanuels first foray into politics

obama knew what he was getting into

also Emanuel is aging. you aren't as fierce at 40 as you are at 28

[mucifer]

13. he's actually 49

[depakid]

12. Sooner or later, Emanuel's going to end up causing some trouble

Guys like that almost always do.

My bet is that he doesn't last past the mid-term elections. Maybe less.

[Frank Booth]

14. I agree.

He seems like the type to think he's always the smartest person in the room, and he doesn't seem like the type to always keep his impulses in check.

[avaistheone1]

15. I really don't care for Emanuel and would be glad to see him go.

[salonghorn70]

11. Won't Argue With The Conclusion

White House Chief of Staff has always been a powerful position. Some chiefs have been more powerful than others.

[AtomicKitten]

16. Emanuel has a fascinating life story.

As much as I don't care for his political bent, I think he is eminently suited for this position and will serve Obama well.