So i guess Obama is both listening too much to Rahm and not listening to him enough

[impik]

The whole difference is what story you read and where.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/01/AR2010030103934.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. It's ALL Rahm's fault! Obama is just a passive puppet. nt

[dkf]

2. We assumed the bad decision making was Rahms but maybe Jarrett is the problem

Someone is stinking up the place. I sure would like to know who cuz they have got to go.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

6. I am putting my money on Obama being the problem n/t

[nevergiveup]

3. Rahm is a scapegoat.

The buck stops with Obama and everyone knows it. He is not a perfect man....he has made mistakes and will continue to do so and would likely be the first to admit it. Looking at the big picture he has done a good job. My biggest worry has been that Obama would become too sheltered/secluded from what the average American is feeling and thinking. It happens with all presidents to some extent. It is the nature of the beast.

[zipplewrath]

4. I see Rahm is on the defensive

Rahm, as this article explains, has extensive contacts within the media. And I see that he is using them to help defend himself publicly. You have two conclusions to draw, neither is favorable to him. Either he is the cause of the problems, or he is incapable of executing Obama's strategy. Either way, it doesn't look good for him going forward.

And I note that some of the most corrosive strategies can be traced back to Rahm, and yet are not mentioned in the piece. Negotiating, in private, with big pharma and the insurance companies was his baby, and it has contributed to the GOP mantra of "back room deals", that and the Nebraska and Louisiana "sellouts". Those last two can be traced to what this article calls his "frustration" with how the senate works. All of this together is what has democrats having to claim that "the people are frustrated with the process, not the reform bill itself". And no mention of how Rahm's strategy of protecting the blue dogs and conservadems and instead trying to blame the GOP has completely failed. Supposedly pointing out the reality was "retarded" and we were suppose to pursue a kabuki theater of blaming the GOP. How'd that work in Massachusetts?

It was also his strategy to "let the congress write the bill" so that now Obama has to hold 11th hour hand holding sessions with the GOP to get a bill passed. So much for letting congress do it.

[wyldwolf]

5. there were a few voices saying what the Times is reporting all along (excerpts)

... 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... in the search for what has gone wrong, influential Democrats are -- in unusually frank terms -- blaming Obama and his closest campaign aides for not listening to Emanuel.

(Now Cenk and his crew will probably say Emanuel fed Jason Horowitz this story like they said about Dana Millbank :eyes: )

[WhiteTara]

9. doesn't make it less true n/t

[wyldwolf]

12. like most conspiracy theories, there is a large deficit of facts to support Cenk

[Arkana]

14. From "The Audacity to Win", Plouffe on why Rahm was made CoS:

"We needed a chief of staff who would be an uncommon leader, someone tough, with a huge bandwidth and the ability to transact business at the highest domestic and international levels<...>Obama would need a strong general."

"Ax and I were convinced only one person could play this role--Rahm Emanuel, at the time the number three leader in the House and a legendarily intense Democratic operative. In baseball, a five-tool player refers to someone who excels at just about everything. Rahm was a five-tool political player: a strategist with deep policy expertise, considerable experience in both the legislative and executive branches, and a demeanor best described as relentless."

...

"I signed off my conversation with Rahm by saying 'Enjoy your afternoon, Mr. Chief of Staff.'"

"'Fuck you,' he replied. For Rahm, famously profane, it was like saying 'See ya.'"

[Jennicut]

7. If Rahm controlled Obama then why did Obama decide he wanted to do civilian trials?

Obama's mistakes are his own. Sometimes he listens to Rahm and sometimes he does not. Sometimes he took the easy road and other times he didn't. Nothing is fitting in to some people's preconceived notions.

[wyldwolf]

8. After reading the entire piece...

... the Obama/Rahm Batman and Robin relationship is seen by different people in different ways:

We know many progressives blame Emanuel for giving Obama bad advice on important issues.
We know many "influential Democrats" blame Obama for not listening to Rahm's advice on important issues.
We know some believe Rahm hasn't been aggressive enough in his objections to Obama's perceived bad political moves

Confused yet?

[Jennicut]

10. Because many have a different take on their relationship.

I really don't know, unless I could listen in on their conversations...:)

[ProSense]

11. What an utterly bullshit story

When health-care reform became the administration's focus, Emanuel's public persona was that of a partisan field marshal. But before Obama and his advisers settled on a policy of expansive scope, Emanuel back in August suggested a smaller bill that would be easier to pass, according to another administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

When the larger measure stalled, Emanuel harangued Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and later argued to Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) to strike the public option from the legislation to expedite passage, the source said. Reid insisted on putting it in.

"One thing that has frustrated Rahm," said Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), "is how the Senate works."

As health-care negotiations inched along at the end of last year, Emanuel grew impatient about addressing national joblessness concerns. One Democratic senator who wanted to pivot to unemployment said Emanuel shared his thinking. " 'I understand, I understand. We have to get to jobs,' " the senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, recalled Emanuel commiserating. In a meeting with the president and chief of staff, the senator stated his case, but Obama decided the priority was seeing health-care reform through.

What the hell are they talking about? The bill has gotten larger and larger with each vote. In fact, the fixes the President unveiled makes the bill larger still.

The MSM just keeps feeding people bullshit spin and people just keep eating it up.

[WeDidIt]

13. I think that Rahm Emmanuel is both an angel and a demon

depending on who you talk to.

:shrug:

I think he's just one of many advisers.