Rahm Emanuel: Saboteur Of Hope And Change

[BigBearJohn]

The latest toxic meme to spread across the pages of my once-beloved Washington Post is that President Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is the one reasonable man in the White House.

First came perpetually disgruntled columnist Dana Milbank, suddenly a little ray of sunshine on the subject of the terribly underappreciated chief of staff: "Obama's first year fell apart in large part because he didn't follow his chief of staff's advice on crucial matters," Milbank wrote. "Arguably, Emanuel is the only person keeping Obama from becoming Jimmy Carter."

According to Milbank, Emanuel is the antidote to "Valerie Jarrett and Robert Gibbs, and, to a lesser extent, David Axelrod" who "are part of the Cult of Obama. In love with the president, they believe he is a transformational figure who needn't dirty his hands in politics."

Then came a front-page "news" story this morning by Jason Horowitz fully subscribing to the "contrarian narrative" that is "emerging" -- that "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."

But Emanuel is not the would-be savior of this presidency. For one thing, there really isn't that much daylight between him and his boss, or between him and his top White House colleagues. Had things gone even more his way, it's possible that he would have squelched a few more of what few bursts of idealism and principle survived Inauguration. But people looking for the reasons why the Obama presidency has not lived up to its promise won't find the answer amid the minor rifts between key players. Nor will they find the answer in how well or poorly this White House has played the game of politics. The fact is that after a campaign that appealed so successfully to idealism, Obama hired a bunch of saboteurs of hope and change.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/02/rahm-emanuel-saboteur-of_n_482638.html

[mod mom]

1. "Had things gone even more his way, it's possible that he would have squelched a few more of what

few bursts of idealism and principle survived Inauguration."

NOT ON OUR SIDE!

[DCKit]

2. The WaPo is just another propaganda outlet.

And, ewwwwww, I touched one today.

[Coyote_Bandit]

3. While he may be an enabler

the proverbial buck still stops at the top. Obama got elected by selling a message of hope and change. Pity he could not deliver on that - or select staff that might make that possible. The Obama administration is a lost opportunity. Nothing more.

[nashville_brook]

4. remember the meme that he was appointing conservatives in order that they'd

put his progressive agenda forward -- that, this would make the change all the more politically viable. Hence began the 10-level chess hallucination.

[bigwillq]

5. ....

:thumbsup:

[democrank]

6. K & R

"....saboteurs of hope and change."

[mod mom]

7. Tweety covered this story w someone from Politico & Douglas Brinkley

Neither believe Rahm will leave because it will say the WH made mistakes. They said Rahm protected Geitner because firing him would have indicated they made an error.

I read this approach as similar to the * Administration's stay the course-right or wrong. :mad:

[troubledamerican]

8. Mr. Mega

[Vidar]

9. K&R.

[upi402]

10. Obama knew what time it was. Rahm was no mystery man

and Obama no kitten.